Mario René Padilla, PhD
Syllabus
ENGLISH 30A/B
MW 11:15am-12:35pm
BEGINNING AND ADVANCED CREATIVE WRITING
Fall 2004
MW 11:15a-12:35p, DH 211 Padilla_Mario@smc.edu
A: # 1872, B: #1874 – 3 units http://homepage.smc.edu/padilla_mario/
TEXTBOOKS
The Practice of Poetry, by Robin Behn & Chase Twichell
A composition book is required, college ruled, 8 ½ x 11 paper
A Typewriter or word processor is necessary for completion of all assignments
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Poetry, like all artistic disciplines, requires practice. The painter draws countless lines and figures, while the pianist spends many hours playing scales. Of course, the audience never sees the rudimentary exercises in the dance; as Yeats observed: "O body swayed to music, O brightening glance / How can we know the dancer from the dance." When writers become proficient at their craft, their work seems like instant thoughts and spontaneous inspirations flowing effortlessly, without the benefit of hours of training, polishing, drills and exercises. Yet, the words that appear are not effortlessly composed; their effectiveness, their excellence if you will, is very much the product of all previous exercises, experiences, conditioning, and imitations that, together, form the measure of the artist's craft. Natural talent is another issue—one that need not be addressed in this workshop, for we all know that some people are blessed with a certain gift that gives them an edge over another, which holds true for all endeavors. Personally, I pity more the gifted artists who fail, for lack of ambition, to develop craft and technique, whose gift then turns into a hated burden, consuming and destroying whatever joy they, as youths, had derived from their natural talent. Conversely, I support more the not-so-gifted artist whose ambition drives them to work harder towards developing craft and technique—especially since the latter represents the majority of writers—there are very few highly gifted writers. As Robert Behn and Chase Twichell state in their excellent book, The Practice of Poetry:
Since we consider ourselves already fluent in language, we may imagine that talent is the only requirement for writing poetry. Talent, certainly, is essential, but so are curiosity, determination, and the willingness to learn from others. Writing is solitary work, but most poets would argue . . . that the aspiring poet must apprentice him or herself, must master the elements of language, the complexities of form and its relation to subject, the feel of the line, the image, the play of sound, that make it possible to respond in a voice with subtlety and range when he hears that music in his inner ear, or she sees in the world that image that's the spark of a poem.
Thus, it is my hope that, through a series of exercises, the creative writing student will acquire skills that will cultivate, support, and refine whatever level of talent he or she brings to the classroom. The class will be conducted like a writer's workshop, a place where students should feel comfortable to introduce work-in-progress, and willing to receive critical commentary on the mechanics, theme, structure and intent of the poem. All critical comments will be constructive and supportive--the participant in a writing workshop should check his or her ego at the door.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The course objective is to teach students that there is a craft to creative writing, and that, along with inspiration and talent, a writer’s work can benefit with knowledge of the craft. In this sense, the student will be given a series of exercises that will facilitate the acquisition of certain tools, techniques and inventory that will develop and improve his or her basic creative writing skills. Students will accumulate a portfolio of work based on the various exercises that will be assigned throughout the semester. This portfolio will be submitted at the end of the semester. Students’ works will be read in a workshop atmosphere, then discussed, hopefully generating beneficial comments over matters of interpretation, technique, typography, and effectiveness.
Reading, critiquing and class attendance 25%
Portfolio 60%
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Success in this class will require active involvement in both the reading of your own material—a minimum of 5 of the 10 poems prepared for the portfolio—and in the critiquing of the work of your peers; thus, attendance is extremely important. After three absences for whatever reasons, except documented serious illness or emergency, you are subject to being dropped from the class. Please make every effort to be present at every class meeting. Grades will be based primarily on (1) class attendance & active critical commentary and discussion of peer’s work, (2) a completed journal of a minimum of thirty entries: each entry should be one page, single spaced covering the entire page, and (3) the portfolio consisting of ten poems which are “legitament” (per my interpretation) attempts at the ten assigned exercises. Please label each poem with the appropriate exercise title and your name. Late portfolios and/or journals (without medical excuse) will be lowered one full grade. Failure to attend the final (exam) five minute reading of your poetry will also lower your grade.
WRITTEN WORK
1. Journal Assignments: The purpose of the journal is to help generate ideas. The minimum number of entries expected will be two full-page, single space entries per week. Since there are fifteen weeks in the semester, this comes to 30 full-page entries. Write more if you can. You should write in your journals at moments of high emotion, or when waking up and recording dreams; other moments might be when agitated or elated by an event or episode in your life, or following the observation of something throughout the course of your day that has moved you; also, entries following a movie that has stimulated you can be quite interesting. Journal entries give the student an informal arena in which to state reactions to life experiences that often produce the "seed" or central idea of a creative effort. Be sure that each assigned entry is clearly dated in order to insure proper credit. Don’t underestimate the power of this exercise. Please use college ruled composition books 8 ½ x 11 inch paper and cover the entire paper. In order to receive full credit, you must have completed all assignments in a thorough manner. Journals will be collected along with the portfolios.
2. After a peer reads his or her poem in class, you will be asked to respond to their "work in progress." On the day you choose to read, which should average out to once every two to three weeks, you should bring xerox copies for at least every other classmate, which at current enrollment seems to be around twenty copies. Please insure that your name and the exercise category is on every submission. Poems in progress don’t have to have titles, but it is good practice to title the work from the first draft on (remember—titles can always be changed. Classroom seating will be arranged in a circle for readings and discussions—if you arrive early, assist in rearranging classroom chairs into a circle. All students before leaving must help return the class to its original condition. I will keep track of those students who have participated in the assignment, deducting class participation grade points from those who fail to fully participate in the workshop procedures.
3. Portfolios may be periodically inspected to insure that the student is keeping up with the assignments. Please do not expect to finish all the workshop exercises the night before the final submission of the portfolio. Obviously, your grade will reflect such lack of full participation in the class. The portfolio should be a thin pocket folder only, with the journal in one pocket and the ten completed works in the other, arranged in order of assignment, clearly dated, and labeled as to which assignment the work fulfills. No other folders will be accepted.
PLAGIARISM
Although I do not anticipate any problems with plagiarism, instructors have been asked to remind students that the use of another's ideas or words as if they were one's own--is a serious offense. A piece of work that is plagiarized will receive an F and subsequently reported to the chair of the English department for disciplinary action. Make sure any creative writing you turn in is your own! If you borrow the ideas or the words of another creative writer, you must: express the idea in language that is thoroughly you’re, own, and acknowledge the borrowing through documentation of the source: footnotes or works cited.
CLASS SCHEDULE
August 30
Introduction to the class. Class discussion on the general condition of poetry in America today, the reason for writing poetry, poetry's function as an art form, etc. These comments should not be meant to impress anyone—just respond! Students in 30A will be assigned various exercises. See the list below. Advanced students in 30 B will be working on a "chapbook," a collection of works linked by some common theme, structure, typography, character, symbolic repetition, etc.
September 1
Begin Reading material in class.
Automatic Writing/Stream of Consciousness
The purpose of the exercise is to teach the student how to extract from his automatic writing/journal writing material that can be shaped into a poem. See pgs. 5.
Object : “What’s on My Desk”
Write about a specific place filled with “hot” objects: your desk, a closet, a jewelry box, a hope chest, book shelf where the objects, as they are being defined or described, reveal a special connection or history—what Eliot called the “objective correlative.” Focus on communicating the emotional or personal connection through images that suggest deeper or more extensive “meaning,” rather than relating that “meaning” through concepts, feelings, and intellectual ideas. Avoid creating merely a list. See pg. 37. If you have one specific object in mind see also pg. 35.
Choose a setting—from the past or the present. Avoid relating merely a description, such as the kind beginning composition classes assign when learning how to write a descriptive essay. Choose instead a setting, which exudes some interesting experience, psychological connection, or buried meaning for the psyche. However, take care not to focus overtly on the “symbolic or psychic connections,” but rather the actual physical set, the details, the smells, colors, sounds that, out of a detailed description, the speaker’s emotional connection or interest comes into focus. Once again, speak in images, and concentrate on the physical “set”: pgs. 80, 89.
Write a poem centered around a character, real or fictional. Make sure, through description, that his or her “peculiar and particular humanity” comes through. There are exercises in the book that ask you to even give the character a voice. This is fine, but it does make the exercise more difficult, as any playwright would attest. Be sure to distinguish between characterization and dramatic monologue (another exercise). Choosing a family member often work best with this assignment; however, look around, the world is full of interesting characters. As always, pay attention to details that bring out the character’s distinct humanity—if you are having trouble with this exercise, follow one of the following exercises: pgs. 75, 91, 101, 40.
The most popular forms of figurative language, they serve an important place in creative writing. This exercise encourages the poet to employ this strategy within his or her work. We will also discuss the writing of a controlling metaphor. See pgs. 42, 51.
Picasso once said that “every artist is a thief.” We often learn by imitating the structure, language, and style of those poets we admire most. Or perhaps it is merely the poet’s theme you wish to use as either a reaction to, expansion on, or even a parody of the work. e.g. writing a poem entitled “The Heartland” as a parody of Eliot’s “The Wasteland.” See also pg. 153
.
Many writers comment, “If only my poetry could have the intimacy, the immediacy, and even the seductiveness of some of my letters.” Well, I often comment: “Why can’t they.”
pg. 70, 78
This exercise is very specific and will be discussed thoroughly in class. Take care to distinguish it from the “character” exercise—though there are similarities. A key requirement of the dramatic monologue is the establishment of the context which causes the speaker to speak: another character must be present to which the monologue is addressed and the dramatic situation must be clear to the reader: pg. 63.
Narrative Poem or Very Short Story or A Childhood Poem
Although the class will focus primarily on verse poetry, this exercise allows the student a chance to discover his or her narrative skills in prose. We will discuss the several forms the narrative poem can take. Please limit this exercise to under two pages prose or four pages verse: pg. 164.
Childhood has always been a popular subject for poets. pg. 80, 87.
Fixed Form
Of course, a majority of contemporary poets do not employ any definitive forms (shape or structure), such as sonnets, villanelles, sestina, terza rima, cinquain, haiku, etc., but rather, prefer to create their own structures and shapes, an “open form,” often in “free verse.” This is not to suggest that contemporary poets do not experiment with formally structured poems. Many contemporary poets have attempted sonnet cycles: pgs. 200, 239. Note: for successful completion of this exercise, you must pick an established form. In other words, you cannot make up your own structure for this exercise.
December 8
Submission of portfolios and journals. Works-in-process will continue to be read a
critiqued. For most creative writers, the grade is not the point—only the work matters,
and any opportunity to improve on that work should be welcomed.
December 13
Class is cancelled
December 20
Final Exam: 12:00p – 3:00p room 211 DH. Portfolios will be returned and a
poetry reading will conducted before theater seating. Plan your reading to be about five minutes long