ENGL 203: Introduction to Creative Writing

Course Syllabus
Fall 2020

Class Meetings: Tu Th: 10:00 AM-11:15 AM

Class Location: Remote
Instructor: Leah Davydov lcd51@case.edu
Office: n/a
Office Hours: By Appointment

Course Materials

Mary Oliver’s A Poetry Handbook 9789156724005

Course Description

English 203 works to help acquaint students with multi-generic opportunities for creative
expression, in addition to providing opportunities for reflection, self-assessment, and revision.
While this class will primarily attend to writing short fiction and poetry–we will also address
interaction fiction, and we will work together to provide an environment that is open and flexible
to generic styles of interest to the class as a whole. This course should prepare you to identify,
evaluate, and express what makes for effective writing as we examine ways to use metaphor and
simile, develop our literary voices, and craft engaging scenes, settings, and characters. By the
end of this course, you should have developed an understanding as to how you might use the
written word to convey your artistic ideas and how you might work to refine and revise your
skills as a writer.
Course Learning Outcomes

By the end of English 203, you should be able to:

 Recognize and describe basic forms of poetry and prose and the aesthetic conventions
typical of them.
 Make nuanced evaluations as to what you find compelling, artful, and productive in
written works, with an understanding as to what a writer has done to achieve those
effects.
 Establish a practice of regular writing, reflection, and revision.
 Provide helpful, supportive feedback to other writers as regards their writing.
 Revise your work in light of feedback you have received, figuring out ways to
reconfigure your words to experiment with new effects.

ENGL 203: Introduction to Creative Writing (Fall 2020) 1

 Written Assignments

Written Poems (15%): Over the course of the semester, you will be asked to write two pieces of
original poetry, and you will be asked to revise one of them using feedback from me as an
instructor and/or from your peers. Prompts will be distributed that will set constraints on these
works, but you will have full artistic freedom beyond this. Your work should show a good faith
effort to engage with the assignment and to revise thoughtfully.

Written Prose (15%): Over the course of the semester, you will be asked to write two prose
exercises, which may or may not amount to full fictional narratives, and you will be asked to
revise one of them using feedback from me as an instructor and/or from your peers. Prompts will
be distributed that will set constraints on these works, but you will have full artistic freedom
beyond this. Your work should show a good faith effort to engage with the assignment and to
revise thoughtfully.

Final Portfolio (50%): At the end of the semester, you will be asked to submit a final portfolio
of written creative work, and you will be given considerable leeway to decide what sort of
creative pieces you wish to include within it. This portfolio may include revised and potentially
expanded poetry and prose exercises from earlier in the semester, although it will need to include
additional creative work. You will need to have materials adding up to a total of at least 12
points on the following scale:

Poem 2 points per completed work

Flash Fiction 2 points per completed work
Other Prose Fiction 2 points for every three pages or 750 words
Interactive Fiction 3 points for every three pages or 750 words excluding code*
Play/Screenplay 3 points for every three pages or 750 words
Other Please consult with me

It should be noted that these values are based on the perceived time investment of crafting
various types of compositions and that they are not meant to indicate the literary “worth” of any
writing style. Furthermore, these are rough guidelines as to length requirements. I have no
interest whatsoever in taking exact word counts with the aim of penalizing you.

*IF that involves substantial amounts of code may warrant reconsideration of this scale, please consult with me if
you feel that your work might involve coding to the extent I should reconsider point values.

ENGL 203: Introduction to Creative Writing (Fall 2020) 2

 Attendance, Participation, Engagement and Grading

Class Attendance Policy. This class relies heavily on group participation and review, and it is
difficult to replace group engagement with work done independently and asynchronously from
the class. You will be allowed a maximum of three absences (or a class’ worth of missed
asynchronous participation) without penalty. After this, any additional absences will generally
result in a half letter deduction from your final grade in the absence of a reasonable explanation
as to your circumstances. Given that this class occurs remotely and we are living in strange times
in which we must adopt strange new methods, flexibility will be available as regards electronic
failures, medical issues, and other problems that may not have been expected over the course of a
typical school year.

Participation: One of the most crucial components of this course is your ability to participate
alongside your peers to create a welcoming, productive, safe environment in which you may all
discuss writing craft and technique and work to make fruitful revisions. 20% of your grade will
be based on how well you fulfill the demands of the course on this front, and it will be expected
that you engage meaningfully in group work; submit cohesive, thoughtful feedback during
downtime sessions that may require it; and generally work towards contributing to the class
community.

Electronic Devices “Policy”: We are all on electronic devices as the class is remote, and I have
no meaningful way to determine whether or not you are engaged with class or whether you are
engaged with twitter. Please note that if I see a repeated pattern of non-participation, delayed
response to questions, and general zoned-out-ed-ness indicative of you splitting your attention
unduly in a class session, it may affect your participation grade.

Background Distractions: There is a non-zero chance that you may have parents, siblings,
roommates, cats, toddlers, ferrets, roombas, or other distracting presences that might infringe on
class sessions. While there may be inevitable and perhaps even welcome intrusions of such
presences into our class time (I myself am in possession of one of a toddler), please do your best
to ensure that the these appearances are occasional cameos and not recurring guest stars.

Grade Percentages. You will receive credit for the following:

Poetry Exercises 15%

Prose Exercises 15%
Participation 20%
Final Portfolio 50%

Grading Scale. Percentages convert to letter grades on the following scale:

100-90% A
89-80% B
79-70% C
69-60% D
Below 60% F

ENGL 203: Introduction to Creative Writing (Fall 2020) 3

 Course Policies

Submitting Assignments. It will be expected that you submit complete versions of your
exercises in a timely fashion and that what you submit should meet the requirements of the
assignment as prompted. While it is a somewhat inexact business to determine what qualifies as
“complete” in the realm of creative writing, you will be expected to make a good faith effort to
produce compositions that are well-rounded and appropriate to share. Your writing should be
submitted on the date it is due.

Revising Assignments. As with your written compositions, you will be evaluated on your
revisions largely based on your ability to thoughtfully engage with your productions in good
faith. The revisions you make may not result in a final version of your work. You may even
come to the decision that you have encountered a “first draft best draft” scenario. However, in
the interests of building up robust revision practices, you should be willing to make changes to
your compositions that explore other directions that your text may be taken, and you will need to
make substantive revisions to the poems and prose exercises that it is required you revise.

Academic Integrity Policy. CWRU's academic integrity policy defines plagiarism as the
presentation, without proper attribution, of another's words or ideas from printed or electronic
sources. It is also plagiarism to submit, without the instructor's consent, an assignment in one
class previously submitted in another. If you plagiarize, I am required to report the violation to
the University. Sanctions I can impose range from failing the work in question to assigning a
failing grade for the course. Additional sanctions may be imposed by the University. 

For more information, see https://students.case.edu/groups/aiboard/policy.html

As you may have guessed, I am required to put this into this syllabus, dry and boring as it may
be. If you have successfully read this portion of the syllabus, please send me an email containing
a cat emoji for a 1% bonus to your final grade.

Support for Students with Disabilities. In accordance with federal law, if you have a
documented disability, you may be eligible to request accommodations from Disability
Resources. In order to be considered for accommodations you must first register with the
Disability Resources office. Please contact their office to register at 216.368.5230 or get more
information on how to begin the process. Please keep in mind that accommodations are not
retroactive.

ENGL 203: Introduction to Creative Writing (Fall 2020) 4

 ENGL 203: Introduction to Creative Writing: Course Schedule
Fall 2020

Note: This schedule and list of assignments may be altered to fit the needs of the class. All
meetings are tentatively synchronous. Readings in particular are open to revision and may be
altered based on student interests and needs.

Homework/Reading Due (for class

Date In Class
period on left)

Introductions; What constitutes creative

08/25 writing? Discussion of genre and introduction
to scansion.
Week 1:
Introduction How to read for the purposes of writing. Read Oliver 36-57
s and Rhythm, stanzas, caesuras, etc… Read Mike Bunn’s “Reading Like a
Scansion 08/27 Writer”

Poem #1 prompts assigned.

Sonnets, Sestinas, and other formal poems. Read Oliver 19-21

In-Class Exercise: Frankenpoems Read Shakespeare’s Sonnet LXXIII
Read Lucile Clifton’s “Won’t You
Celebrate With Me”
09/01
Bring one poem of your choosing to
class about which you have strong
Week 2:
feelings (love, hate, nostalgia… anything
Poetic
but indifference)
Structures
and Forms
Sound and Word Choice Read Oliver 59-66
Bring a poem you think of as producing
an interesting aural effect to class.
09/03
Poem #2 prompts assigned.
Poem #1 due at 11:59 on Friday
09/04

Blank verse and discarding the rules. Read Oliver 67-75

09/08
Week 3:
Blank Verse
Playing with forms and making revisions Read “Apples and Oranges” by Charles
and
Harper Webb [C]
Experimental
09/10
Poetry
Poem #2 due at 11:59 PM on Friday
09/11

09/15 The leap from poetry to prose Read Charles Baxter’s “Rhyming Action”

ENGL 203: Introduction to Creative Writing (Fall 2020) 5

 Recurring images, motifs, and figurative Read Haruki Murakami’s “The Elephant
language Vanishes”
Week 4:
Metaphors 09/17
Prose Exercise #1 prompts assigned
and Images
Revised Poem #1 at 11:59 PM on
Friday 09/18

09/22 Characters and their interactions Read “Amor Divino” by Julia Alvarez

Setting and environment Upload a poem of your choice (either

Week 5:
assigned poem or a poem of your
Characters
own devising) to Canvas in
and Settings 09/24
preparation for workshopping.
Prose Exercise #1 due at 11:59 PM
on Friday 09/25

How to give and receive feedback; First Bring a poem you have composed to
Week 6: 09/29 poetry assignment workshopping round #1 class and be prepared to both give and
Intro to receive feedback
Workshoppi
ng First poetry assignment workshopping round Revised Prose Exercise #1 due at
10/01
#2 11:59 PM on Friday 10/02

Genres and how we think of them. Read William Allan’s “Why Literary
Genre’s Matter”
10/06 Read Constance Grady’s “Why We’re
Terrified of Fanfiction”
Week 7:
Parallel
Fiction, Playing in someone else’s sandbox Read Neil Gaiman’s “A Study in
Pastiche and Emerald”
Fanworks
10/08
Pretend it’s Fall Break: No
Assignments

What is Interactive Fiction? Click through Abigail Corfman’s

10/13 interactive lecture on Twine and play
Week 8:
one piece of interactive fiction linked
Interactive
Fiction: An
Introduction to Twine
Introduction
10/15
Prose Exercise #2 prompts assigned

Week 9: 10/20 Playing around with Twine Browse Twine FAQ

Twine
Tutorial and The possibilities of unconventional formats Go to the Electronic Literature
Introduction 10/22 Collection, and select a piece of
to Hypertext Hypertext literature to examine.

ENGL 203: Introduction to Creative Writing (Fall 2020) 6

 Arrange a conference with me to discuss
the composition of your final portfolio.

Prose Exercise #2 due at 11:59 PM

on Friday 09/23

Playwriting, flash fiction, other forms of Watch one streaming online

interest. performance and come prepared to
10/27 discuss it.
Week 10:
Read Alicia Audley’s “An Introduction
Other Forms
to Flash Fiction”

10/29 NO CLASS: CONFERENCING Attend your conference.

Week 11: 11/03 The final three week “unit” of the semester has been tentatively been set aside to
Workshoppi workshop portfolio pieces, but they may be altered expanded to cover literary forms in
ng 11/05 which the class has shown a pronounced interest. We will address the needs of the class
during week ten to see if there are specific
Week 12: 11/10
Workshoppi
ng 11/12

Week 13: 11/17

Workshoppi
ng 11/19

Week 14 NO CLASS: THANKSGIVING BREAK

Week 15: Writing habits, writing practices, and a review

12/01
Wrap up and of what we’ve discovered.
the Basics of
Publication 12/03 Publication concerns and course wrap up.

ENGL 203: Introduction to Creative Writing (Fall 2020) 7