Course Syllabus
WHERE I'M FROM POEM FORMAT
BE SURE TO CHECK THE CLASS LIST FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED CRITIQUES! BE SURE TO MAKE UP CRITIQUES BY THE TIME THE NEXT STORY IS DUE!
Creative Personal Essay-due Thursday 3/8
This assignment is the last assignment for nonfiction. You will be writing an essay. This is not a story, because it will not have conflict or characters. Rather, the point of this essay should be to TEACH. There are a couple of options that we've discussed in class:
-"How To" Essay: This is an essay that describes the step-by-step process of a task, explaining why it's important and how you accomplish it. This can be serious, such as "How to be Healthy" or funny, such as "How to Kill a Zombie".
-Persuasive Essay: This is an essay that is meant to convince the reader of something that you believe in by expressing your views and GOOD reasons for why you believe in them. The essay should take all possible arguments from different sides into account, but should settle on one opinion. Examples might be "Pirates are Better than Ninjas" or "Animal Testing is Wrong".
The essay (in any form) should be fewer than 3 pages in length, single spaced, Times New Roman font, and should have a title, AS ALWAYS. Enjoy!
Final Edit (Old Story)-due Thursday 1/12
For a final for this class, you will be editing a story that you have written this semester, improving it and making it better based on your own judgement and the critiques your received. Remember that YOU are the writer, and no matter what advice you have gotten (even from me), you do not have to take it unless you want to. This is YOUR story to revise.
-This assignment should be in the proper format (Times New Roman, size 12 font, single spaced)
-The edited version of the story can be UP TO 1 page longer than the original. Remember, improving your story does not necessarily mean making it longer, but IMPROVING it.
-Include a 3 paragraph reflection with the edited story, explaining what you wanted to fix about the first one, what you changed, and what you think of the finished product.
The order of the completed assignment is as follows:
-on top: original story
-middle: new story
-bottom: reflection
Limericks
Limericks are 5-line poems that usually tell funny stories. They have the rhyme scheme of AABBA. The number of syllables in each line vary, depending on the story, but the B lines are always shorter. A good way to test the limericks you write is to read them out loud, listening for the musical quality of the poem. Here is an example, with the rhyme scheme:
(A) There once was a teacher named Rowe
(A) He was a vampire, you know.
(B) He stayed out of the sun;
(B) The children he shunned.
(A) And they cried in the corner, alone.
Story Rules: Flash Fiction
-size 12 font
-Times New Roman font
-single spaced
-MUST include a title
-MUST be class-appropriate
-MUST be 30 words long (not including the title). No more, no less.
Story Rules: Scary Story
-1-2 pages
-size 12 font
-Times New Roman font
-single spaced
-MUST include a title
-MUST include a well-established setting (time, place, mood, vivid description)
-No alcohol, drugs or sexual content
-No direct violence (violence can happen before the story begins or after the story ends, but not IN the story)
Story Rules: Contest Story
-1-2 pages
-size 12 font
-Times New Roman font
-single spaced
-MUST include a title
-MUST include a contest in the story
-1st person perspective ("I went down the hall," rather than "He went down the hall")
Story Rules: Teacher Story
-one page maximum
-size 12 font
-Times New Roman font
-single spaced
-MUST include a title
-MUST include a teacher in the story
Homework:
3/21: 3 Paragraph science fiction/fantasty setting due Thursday 3/22
1/10: Final edits for an old story due on Thursday 1/12
12/1: Write 10 lines of conversation between two of your characters for the next story for Friday 12/2
11/15: Write a flash fiction story for Tuesday 11/22
11/8: Create a concrete poem for Thursday 11/10. The title should be the name of the subject you've chosen, but that word should not be used in the rest of the poem. Remember, a concrete poem is a poem that uses phrases to physically form a picture of the object the poem is about.
11/3: Write a limerick about a news article for Tuesday 11/8. Be sure to include a copy of the article with the limerick
10/18: Scary story due on Thursday 10/27
10/6: Write a 3 stanza ballad poem about something that scares you, due on Tuesday 10/11
9/30: Ballad Poetry worksheet due on Tuesday 10/4
9/15: Contest Story due on Thursday 9/22 (See rules above)
9/13: Finish your picture of your mental acre for Thursday 9/15. Be sure to include pictures on the front, and your name and a brief description of your mental acre on the back. Remember: whatever you put in your mental acre and how you put it in tells A LOT about who you are, so be prepared to talk about it.
9/6: For Thursday 9/8, describe this sentence in 3 paragraphs with as much description as possible: "The knight fought the monster." This can be any kind of knight, any kind of monster. (Use similes, it helps...)
8/30: First short story due on Tuesday 9/6. See rules above.
8/25: Think about/watch a favorite movie or TV show, and be prepared to discuss in detail the conflict that occurs in that story on Tuesday 8/30
8/23: Signed syllabus due in class Thursday 8/25, composition notebook (Creative Writing Journal) due in class Thursday 8/25 |
