CRWR: Creating Writing
This study introduces the student to multiple genres within the craft of creative writing. Poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction will be explored through readings, written application of techniques and concepts, and careful attention to the writing process including pre-writing and revision. Readings will be drawn from a diverse range of perspectives and voices, and students will trace the development of each form within its historical context. Along with craft practice, students will gain experience in describing, interpreting, and critiquing poetry and prose.
Attributes: Liberal
Creative nonfiction refers to the genre of writing that is 'true' yet draws upon the techniques of craft which fiction writers make use of in order to tell richly detailed and often moving personal stories, and/or to explore ideas through writing in creative in ways. Students will fain familiarity with the stages of developing a work of creative nonfiction, from brainstorming to drafting and revising the finished piece. Prerequisite (must complete before registering): The ability to write clear, grammatically correct paragraphs at the college level.
Attributes: Liberal
Creative Nonfiction: Introductory focuses on items such as memoirs, personal essays, portraits, essays of place, and/or narrative journalism/personal essays. Students use the tools of storytelling to develop an engaging voice, add personal authority to their expression, and write truthfully about the real world. Students will both analyze published works and create and revise their own writing via peer writing workshops. Students should take either CRWR 1015 Creative Nonfiction: Introductory or CRWR 3015 Creative Nonfiction: Advanced - not both. This course can fulfill either Humanities OR The Arts general education credit (not both).
Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Arts Gen Ed, *Humanities Gen Ed, *The Arts Gen Ed, Liberal
How can a poet, like a painter, effectively present the personality, appearance, history and nuances of a dimensional human being? Does a poem become a true homage to another person and tell a larger story for the reader? This study will explore ways that poets bring the people in their lives - friends, family, strangers, celebrities, the inhabitants of random encounters and imagination - to the page in evocative and vivid ways. We will examine how they use various poetic elements, including imagery, description, narrative, observation, and voice (or its absence), in addition to creating atmosphere and an emotional or political environment, to create these 'portraits.'
Attributes: Liberal
Students will learn about and practice the conventions of dramatic writing for the screen. They will study dramatic structure, character development, and techniques for telling a story through film. Students should be prepared to engage in writing exercises as well as developing a new screenplay.
Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, *The Arts Gen Ed, Liberal
This study will explore the mechanics, research, development, design, and technical considerations (direction, budget, casting, props, filming, studio/recording facilities) when constructing and writing scripts for theatrical film and feature video. Commercial properties and documentary film will also be examined as an influential force, both in television, independent, and wide-release entertainment.
Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, *The Arts Gen Ed, Liberal
Students in this course will study and practice the art of writing the short story. The course will begin with discussing short story writing theory and by analyzing sample stories, if deemed necessary. The student will work with the instructor for aid in planning and developing one's own stories and for purposes of critiquing and rewriting. The student will write an appropriate number of short stories as deemed appropriate. During the course, the student will demonstrate a competency in the use of story elements--e.g., situation, conflict, plot development, scene and summary treatment, characterization, character relationships, description and dialogue, and theme.
Attributes: Liberal
Students will consider the basic elements of fiction (e.g., plot, character, setting, theme) from the point of view of the creative writer, who makes both conscious and unconscious choices about these elements in the process of artistic creation. They will read about the process of writing short fiction, and read a variety of short works that exemplify fictional elements to analyze the choices that other writers have made. They will also apply concepts to the creation, discussion, and revision of your own creative work. This course focuses on the writing process. This course was previously CUL-222504 Creative Writing: Fiction.
Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, *The Arts Gen Ed, Liberal
What do we really know about the stories of American women? What stories do they tell about themselves in the letters they write? In this course, we will explore women's letter writing from the Colonial Period to the present day. Students will not only read primary source letters written by women they might know about from history books, but we also read letters written by diverse groups of women across different time periods of the American experience. We also will engage in creative non-fiction epistolary (letter writing) activities and writing assignments to imagine the time, space, and place in which these women lived. Students will use the tools of storytelling, thematic analysis, and character development as they interact with and analyze women's letters. During this course, we will cover the themes of letter writing; communication; creative non-fiction; first person narrative; and the concept of public versus private discourse. Note: Students should only take the introductory or advanced level of this course but not both. This course was previously CRWR 1045 Narratives We Think We Know - Intro.
Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Arts Gen Ed, *The Arts Gen Ed, Liberal
Attributes: Liberal
Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Creative Writing (CRWR). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.
In this course, the student will become familiar with "Flash" or "Micro Fiction." They will study its form within the context of conventional short and longer prose pieces, and submit pieces of original microfiction for review and critique. Elements such as plot, characterization and motive, narrative and tense will be examined.
Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, *The Arts Gen Ed, Liberal
Family narratives give us a sense of self, family, tradition, and place. Writing family stories is a creative way to examine family structures, loyalties, and how identities are molded. This study examines the connection of self with the rites, rituals, values, beliefs, and intergenerational relationships that come to us through our family stories.
Attributes: Liberal
Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Creative Writing (CRWR). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.
This study will build upon and enhance the student’s basic understanding of the craft of creative nonfiction and how to make use of literary techniques to develop engaging creative essays and writings inspired by real life. Students will refine their own writing craft, learn to provide insightful and constructive critiques of the writing of others, and read significant works of contemporary creative nonfiction. Prerequisite (must complete before registering): Creative Nonfiction: Introductory (CRWR 1015), or equivalent.
Attributes: Liberal
Creating Fictional Worlds explores the ways that writers create vivid and immersive settings for their stories, whether they are realistic, make-believe, or as deeply imagined and researched as Tomi Adeyemi's Legacy of Orisha trilogy. Students will learn theoretical and practical aspects of worldbuilding and create a world of their own. They will research sources and materials appropriate to discovering and refining the world of their stories, including library and online research in matters of culture, history, geography, ecology, ethnicities, socioeconomics, and more. They will analyze several well-known books to understand what gives them their fascinating power, and write one or more stories/chapters/acts/poems set in the world they have created.
Attributes: Liberal
Creative Nonfiction: Advanced focuses on such items as memoirs, personal essays, portraits, essays of place, and/or narrative journalism/personal essays. Students use the tools of storytelling to develop an engaging voice, add personal authority to their expression, and write truthfully about the real world. Students will analyze published works through discussion and literary analysis essays. Students will also create and revise their own writing, participating in peer writing workshops to help move drafts into more final form. Creative Nonfiction is offered at both introductory and advanced levels. Students should take the course just once, either CRWR 1015 Creative Nonfiction: Introductory or CRWR 3015 Creative Nonfiction: Advanced - not both. Prior to taking this course, students should take a course in literature, college writing, or creative writing. This course can fulfill either Humanities OR The Arts general education credit (not both).
Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Arts Gen Ed, *Humanities Gen Ed, *The Arts Gen Ed, Liberal
In this contract the student will study examples of outstanding and poetry, consult poetry and poetry writing handbooks as appropriate or necessary, and meet regularly with his/her mentor as well compose her/his own original poems.
Attributes: Liberal
This course will engage students in the exploration of women’s letter writing from the Colonial Period to the present day. Through reading and analyzing letters written in a myriad of formats from the Colonial Period to the present day, students will learn about women's letter writing as a form of personal (and at times public) representation of feelings, thoughts, and historical recordings. Additionally, the course builds upon and enhances students’ understanding of the craft of creative writing with a focus on creative nonfiction in the form of epistolary writing (the writing of letters). Using literary techniques inspired by the real life events and content of primary source letters, students will engage in research and refine their writing craft through creative non-fiction epistolary (letter) writing. Students will move beyond the tools of basic storytelling and character development to scene development, dramatization, dialogue, and description. During this course, we will cover the themes and topics of letter writing and its evolution; creative non-fiction; primary source analysis; research; and the concept of public versus private discourse. Note: Students should only take the introductory or advanced level of this course and not both.
Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Arts Gen Ed, *The Arts Gen Ed, Liberal
This course examines Joseph Campbell's work about the hero's journey with specific focus on character development and action. Students will develop an appreciation of the hero's journey structure, and the many possibilities of application that this model offers to screenwriters and playwrights. Students must have the ability to write clearly and effectively at the college level.
Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, *The Arts Gen Ed, Liberal
The principal aim of this course is for the student to write their first play. Secondarily, the student will study as appropriate important and model plays by outstanding modern American playwrights.
Attributes: Liberal
How can a poet, like a painter, effectively present the personality, appearance, history and nuances of a dimensional human being? Does a poem become a true homage to another person and tell a larger story for the reader? This course will explore ways that poets bring the people in their lives - friends, family, strangers, celebrities, the inhabitants of random encounters and imagination - to the page in evocative and vivid ways. We will examine how they use various poetic elements, including imagery, description, narrative, observation, and voice (or its absence), in addition to creating atmosphere and an emotional or political environment, to create these 'portraits.'
Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, *The Arts Gen Ed, Liberal
In this course, the student will examine poetry as a literary art form that has been utilized as a tool for healing in personal and institutional situations, and within societal/historic contexts. Students will learn how expressing personal narratives through poetry can encourage personal healing. They will also create their own poems in this genre and develop their skills in writing poetry that heals.
Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, *The Arts Gen Ed, Liberal
This study will vary according to the special topic being offered and specified in the subtitle. Studies may include ground-breaking approaches to creative writing, new and/or hybrid creative forms, special thematic approaches, historical applications, major authors, emerging literary movements, and more. All special topic studies in creative writing will include reading and writing, critical analysis, and consideration of the content studied in relation to historical and contemporary literary practices.
Attributes: Liberal
In this course, we will read memoirs written by a variety of writers, look at how these writers have edited their lives, what they have included and omitted, and from a literary point of view, at the ways they constructed their stories. Students will write critically about the memoirs they read and use these memoirs as models to begin writing their own memoirs. This study will develop the students' critical thinking, reading and writing skills, and hopefully provide them with new insights and records of their lives. Students much have a prior creative writing course.
Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, *The Arts Gen Ed, Liberal
Nature writing begins with close observation of the natural world and recording what we see. Writing down our observations becomes a tool to explore our perceptions and reactions to what we are observing. Nature writing is exploratory and reflective; it teaches us how to look deeply. As part of the natural world, the writer must also observe him or herself and draw the reader into that world, too. Through written assignments, projects, discussions, and weekly oral presentations, we will use nature writing to learn not just about nature, but from nature about the interconnection, the interrelationships that form our world and give meaning to our existence. The course culminates in a final project which is then presented orally to the class. Prior to taking this course, students must take at least one college level writing course.
Attributes: Basic Communication Gen Ed, *Communication Gen Ed-Oral, *Communication Gen Ed-Written, Liberal
This study offers students the opportunity to consider their own and others’ faith-based and spiritual beliefs and traditions and discover how these mysteries can be revealed in concrete terms through memoir. Spiritual memoir include images and imaginings, memory and mystery, poignant memories and messy ones, in other words, life.
Attributes: Liberal
The content of this course will vary by term and section. Students may repeat this course for credit as long as the topic differs. Please refer to the Term Guide for course topic offerings.
Attributes: Liberal
Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Creative Writing (CRWR). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.
In this course, students will examine poetry created under the duress and extreme conditions of political oppression, war time captivity, and incarceration. They will analyze this poetry for its artistic significance in terms of style and content. They will also look at how each piece expresses the feelings and experiences of people in difficult political and personal situations.
Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, *The Arts Gen Ed, Liberal
Students in this course will study Graphic novels as a significant and influential part of the literary canon, capturing both personal odyssey and cultural events while heightening awareness of larger historical, political, and social issues. The student will have the opportunity to study, as resource material, what pivotal comics figure Will Eisner termed, 'Sequential Art,' and practice the nuances of storytelling through narrative and pictures. The student will then plot, write, and design a graphic manuscript of one of several genres: memoir/personal narrative, current/historic events, fictional, children's/YA narrative, or a subgenre with approval by the mentor.
Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, *The Arts Gen Ed, Liberal
Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Creative Writing (CRWR). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.