Thursday, December 5, 2013

Next Week:


Please join us for the Fall semester's
Creative Writing Capstone & Graduate Showcase
Wed. 12/11 @ 5 PM in Halle Auditorium
Featuring work in multiple mediums by:
Wayne Westcott 

Brooke Cancilliari

Kristen Gines

Michael McCarthy

Miranda Metelski

Final assignments Due in Class on Thur:
1.    Four pages of essay writing (1-2 creative essays from the Essay Writing Assignments)
2.    A collection of your own work in booklet form, open to interpretation, please see Assignment Sheet for Final Publishing Assignment on EMU Online; turn in one copy of the book and a written statement/description of the work according to the instructions.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Creative Essay Writing Assignment 2



Writing A Creative Essay Exercise (from: http://www.chsbs.cmich.edu/Robert_Root/AWP/cnf.htm)

Follow the instructions as described below to write a creative essay. Begin with writing the material for each of the 5 sections and then revise in whatever way you like to turn it into a complete essay.

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.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Creative Essay Writing Exercise: Memory, Person, Place


 
1.      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.


2.      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.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

For this Week

For your blog post on Tue you can write about any of the essays we read/discussed last week that you haven't written about already, or you can write about Maps to Anywhere as you begin reading the first half (up through p. 67).

On Tue we will start class late at 12:45. Please don't leave early. I will take attendance when I arrive. We will do some essay writing and discussion during class time.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

The Creative Essay




Alternatively known as "literary journalism" or the "literature of fact," creative nonfiction is that branch of writing which employs literary techniques and artistic vision usually associated with fiction or poetry to report on actual persons and events. Though only recently identified and taught as a distinct and separate literary genre, the roots of creative nonfiction run deeply into literary tradition and history. The genre, as currently defined, is broad enough to include nature and travel writing, the personal memoir and essay, as well as "new journalism," "gonzo journalism," and the "nonfiction novel."  (Bruce Hoffman, Univ. of Pittsburgh English Department Alumus)

*Writing Creative Nonfiction: The Literature of Reality, Gay Talese, with introduction by Barbara Lounsberry
*Contemporary creative nonfiction: the art of truth, Bill Roorbach
*The Next American Essay, Ed. John D’Agata


Also see pdf on Writing Creative Nonfiction on EMU Online and Essay Packets

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Thursday, October 31, 2013

For Next Week

Follow the syllabus, continue working on your own fiction stories, and plan to attend one or both of the Bathhouse events (see below) if you can.