Fall 2022 - ENGL 374 E100
Creative Writing II: Fiction (4)
Class Number: 4524
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
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Course Times + Location:
Sep 7 – Dec 6, 2022: Wed, 4:30–8:20 p.m.
Burnaby
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Instructor:
Anakana Schofield
anakanas@sfu.ca
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Prerequisites:
30 units; or two 200-division English courses; or formal declaration in the creative writing minor and ENGL 272.
Description
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:
A seminar-workshop in the theory and practice of creative writing with specific emphasis on prose fiction.
COURSE DETAILS:
This course will introduce students to the practice of creative writing, with the understanding that there is no one way to write something. Students will learn through analysis and revision. Our focus will be on locating language, craft, and challenging our understanding of what narrative/storytelling can be and become. Using examples from fiction, we will examine various elements of craft such as: form, character, setting, dialogue, point of view, plot, pace, syntax. The course will include an ongoing discussion of how to read like a writer. We will explore experiments in writing practice with short assignments designed to broaden students’ ideas and skills. We will use interdisciplinary forms to inform how we think about sentences. There will be a strong focus on creative decision making by the student. This is a creative process led class. Curiosity is essential. Every week students will produce work and revise it. Through these constant revisions students will learn to edit their work.
Unlike traditional university courses which are normally delivered in a lecture setting, this class is structured as a practical creative writing workshop. This means that active participation in classroom exercises and discussion is a requirement of the course rather than an option. A writing workshop succeeds or fails based on the amount of energy and care the students bring to the table and the way in which they feed and respond to each other’s work. It is essential, therefore, that every student in this workshop give their most focused attention to each of the selections we consider and how they might prompt questions or inquiry in your own work.
Grading
- Weekly Writing Assignments 30%
- Workshop Participation 30%
- Final Writing Portfolio 40%
Materials
MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:
Please Note: You are responsible for obtaining both required texts for the class. You may order them through local independent bookstores (Massey, Iron Dog, etc.) or through online retailers.
REQUIRED READING:
Elif Bautman, Either / Or, Penguin (2022)
ISBN: 978-0525557593
Barry, Kevin. That Old Country Music. Knopf (2021)
ISBN: 978-0345810694
REQUIRED READING NOTES:
Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.
Department Undergraduate Notes:
IMPORTANT NOTE Re 300 and 400 level courses: 75% of spaces in 300 level English courses, and 100% of spaces in 400 level English courses, are reserved for declared English Major, Minor, Extended Minor, Joint Major, and Honours students only, until open enrollment begins.
For all On-Campus Courses, please note the following:
- To receive credit for the course, students must complete all requirements.
- Tutorials/Seminars WILL be held the first week of classes.
- When choosing your schedule, remember to check "Show lab/tutorial sections" to see all Lecture/Seminar/Tutorial times required.
Registrar Notes:
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS
SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.
Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html