Creative Writing Sec 12
Monday, April 15, 2013
This Week
We are not meeting for class on Tuesday. See syllabus and myemich for final assignments, due Thursday. No assignments will be accepted after Thursday.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Thursday march 28
Focus on the first part of Essay Packet 1, the short essays. We will pick up with the rest of the packet next week. For next week, write your blog on the Essay Packet 1, particularly the essays by D'Agata and Dillard.
Also, another exercise:
Also, another exercise:
Creative Essay Writing Exercise
Choose one of the following to focus on:
A memory from childhood;
A particular person from childhood or who has been
intriguing to you or important in your life;
An animal, place, phenomenon that intrigues you and you want
to investigate further.
Then, write a detailed description that evokes every sense
through the language you use to show this memory/person/phenomenon, without using
the pronoun “I”; write at least 1-2 paragraphs.
Next
continue or revise or expand what you have to turn it into a whole essay. You
can add “I” or other characters and/or bring in other elements that will add to
the work.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Department of English Language and Literature Undergraduate Scholarships
The applications for our English Department
undergraduate scholarships are due on Wednesday.
Department of
English Language and Literature Undergraduate Scholarships
Irene Little Wallace Scholarship (Excellence, Need,
Majors): This scholarship comes with a
minimum, one-time award of $500. We will
be able to award this scholarship to at least five students in Winter 2013. Students applying for the award must be undergraduate
students in the Department of English Language and Literature (any program
area) with a GPA of at least 3.0 and demonstrated financial need (can be a line
or two description in the essay). Applications are due in hard-copy to the
English Department in Pray-Harrold (6th Floor) and should be
directed to the attention of Professor Melissa Jones. Students who do not receive the award upon
first application are encouraged to resubmit.
Deadlines for submission are listed below. To apply, a student must submit the
following:
·
Coversheet including:
Full Name and e-mail address
Student Number
Local Address
Permanent Address
Local Phone Number
Permanent Phone Number
·
A one-page summary of the following information:
Major
Class Level
Cumulative GPA
GPA in Major
Current Enrollment Hours
Planned Enrollment Hours Next
Semester
·
A short essay describing academic and
professional goals and achievements, including a statement showing evidence of
financial need (500-700 words).
Deadline for Winter 13 award: Wednesday, March 27, 2013.
Mariam Turbin Scholarship (University or Community
Service, Majors and Minors): This scholarship comes with a one-time award of
approximately $200. Students applying
for the award must be declared undergraduate majors or minors in the
Department of English Language and Literature (any program area), must have a
minimum GPA of 3.0, and must demonstrate leadership in University or community
activities. Applications are due in
hard-copy to the English Department in Pray-Harrold and should be directed to
the attention of Professor Melissa Jones.
Students who do not receive the award upon first application are
encouraged to resubmit. Deadlines for
submission are listed below. To apply, a
student must submit the following:
·
Coversheet including:
Full Name and e-mail address
Student Number
Local Address
Permanent Address
Local Phone Number
Permanent Phone Number
·
A one-page summary of the following information:
Major
Class Level
Cumulative GPA
GPA in Major
Current Enrollment Hours
Planned Enrollment Hours Next
Semester
·
A short essay describing the student’s
leadership activities and the place of service in his or her life.
Deadline for
Winter 13 award: Wednesday, March 27, 2013.
Madalene and Jack McClow Memorial End Scholarship
(Teaching, Need, Majors or Minors): This scholarship comes with a one-time
award of $1,000. Students applying for
the award must be declared undergraduate majors or minors in the Department of
English Language and Literature (any program area), must have a minimum GPA of
3.0, must have demonstrated financial need, and must be seeking a teaching
certificate. Preference will be given to
students who are preparing to enter their final semester and will be doing
their student teaching in the fall. Applications
are due in hard-copy to the English Department in Pray-Harrold and should be
directed to the attention of Professor Melissa Jones. Students who do not receive the award upon
first application are encouraged to resubmit.
Deadlines for submission are listed below. To apply, a student must submit the
following:
·
Coversheet including:
Full Name and e-mail address
Student Number
Local Address
Permanent Address
Local Phone Number
Permanent Phone Number
·
A one-page summary of the following information:
Major
Class Level
Cumulative GPA
GPA in Major
Current Enrollment Hours
Planned Enrollment Hours Next
Semester
·
A short statement describing the student’s
teaching goals and financial need (the latter can be a brief description of
self-sufficiency, dependence on loans and work study, etc).
Deadline for
Winter 13 award: Wednesday, March 27, 2013.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Creative Essay Writing Assignment
Writing A Creative Essay Exercise (from: http://www.chsbs.cmich.edu/Robert_Root/AWP/cnf.htm)
Kim Barnes: “What is a Word Worth?”
I often speak to
my writing students about "bringing their intellect to bear" as they
compose their personal essays. What I mean by this is that the best
literary nonfiction should work at a number of different levels, including the
level of intellectual stimulation. The problem we face as writers of
nonfiction is how to challenge our individual stories--how to take the
narrative itself and expand its breadth and reach to encompass more of the
world.
One exercise that I use to help
my students achieve this goal involves building an essay from a single word.
First, the students each choose one word--any word--to which they are
particularly drawn, a word that resonates for them. A young man just
discharged from the military chose "paratrooper"; a middle-aged woman
of Scottish descent chose "bagpipes." I then require that the
students write five sections of nonfiction revolving around this single word:
The first, third, and fifth sections must be personal memories triggered by the
word, and they must be written in present tense no matter the actual
chronology; the second and fourth sections must be more analytical,
intellectual, philosophical, and explore the word in a more scholarly
way. I direct the students to study the word's derivation and history.
They often find passages in religious texts and mythologies that inform the
word's meaning in their own experience. Some discuss the word's
appearance and use in contemporary literature or film.
The goal of this
exercise is to weave the word's broader application into the writer's personal
experience. Ideally, the five sections weave together and inform one
another and bring to the essay a kind of intellectual unity as well as a
greater depth and complexity.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Latest Updates
There are some poetry and creative writing performance events this weekend, come if you can: http://murielrukeyser.emuenglish.org/welcome/rukeyser-symposium-2013/
For next week follow the syllabus for assignments. You should have Cooper's Maps To Anywhere (the book) which we will be discussing.
As always you should write a response on your blog to the week's reading every Tuesday. If you haven't already, this week you should write about the first half of Cooper's Maps To Anywhere.
For next week follow the syllabus for assignments. You should have Cooper's Maps To Anywhere (the book) which we will be discussing.
As always you should write a response on your blog to the week's reading every Tuesday. If you haven't already, this week you should write about the first half of Cooper's Maps To Anywhere.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Have a good Break
Follow the syllabus. Readings for the week after the break are posted on myemich (Goldberg and Essay Introduction).
Write your blog post response on either or both of these.
Also of Interest:
http://murielrukeyser.emuenglish.org/welcome/rukeyser-symposium-2013/
Write your blog post response on either or both of these.
Also of Interest:
http://murielrukeyser.emuenglish.org/welcome/rukeyser-symposium-2013/
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