Week by Week Schedule
for Readings & Assignments
As an aspiring writer, you should know that most speakers at writers' festivals, conferences, workshops, and seminars will say, "If you want to write good prose/poetry, you have to read good poetry/prose." By the way, in a quarter century of going to, and putting on, conferences, I have NEVER heard any speaker say something like, "I just write. I hate to read." A writer of mysteries, romances, or science-fiction may say that he or she doesn't read current mystery/romance, SF books. "I prefer to read biographies or histories because, when I'm reading [whichever], I'm too aware of what the writer is doing."
RAY BRADBURY ADVICE: Ray Bradbury told your instructor at a conference: "If you want to improve your writing, then every day you should read a poem, an essay, and a short story."
With Mr. Bradbury's advice in mind, I've taken several books and broken them down on a week-by-week schedule. You may make substitutions in the schedule, but do be sure that you are reading quality pieces on a regular basis. You may even select different books, perhaps from your local library. (I chose some of the following because they were inexpensive.)
If you want to focus on poetry, then you may wish to track down NORTON'S ANTHOLOGY OF MODERN POETRY (any edition). This book features more current poetry than does the inexpensive Warren-Erskine book below. For discussions of poetry, David Kirby's book is fine, but you may also want to read works on poetry by the late John Ciardi and Robert Graves.
For non-fiction narratives (articles, memoirs, histories, etc.), you may track down fine collections by hundreds of writers, including (as a sampling) V. S. Naipaul, James Baldwin, Virginia Woolf, E. B. White, and --
CWH: CREATIVE WRITER'S HANDBOOK -- Philip K. Jason and Allan B. Lefcowitz
In the week-by-week section below, the readings are laid out as they appear in the book. You have the option of following that order or, if you are interested mostly in, say, poetry, you may read that section first. Eventually questions from the book will appear in an online quiz so you will want to read everything by and by.
T2M: TICKET TO MINTO -- Sohrab Homi Fracis
Similarly, the week-by-week section lays out the stories as they appear in the book. You may wish to read in a different order. Most readers are captivated by "Falling," and, if you are working on a vignette exercise, you may wish to read the "Hamid Gets a Haircut" story, which began as a vignette.
Other Possible Books
You may like to use other texts that you may track down at Amazon.Com or an old book store:
SSM:
SHORT STORY MASTERPIECES -- Editors Robert Penn Warren and Albert Erskine
AOF: Art of Fiction -- John Gardner
WF: Writing Fiction -- Janet Burroway
6COGP: SIX CENTURIES OF GREAT POETRY -- Edited by Robert Penn Warren and Albert
Erskine
If you are zipping through your Minor Exercises, feel free to turn them in early. Ditto for Major Projects.
Unavailable Option: Turning in bunches of minor or major stuff at the last
minute, day, week, or month.
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A16 Week 1: Aug. 25 - 29 / Jan. 7-11/May 5-9
B12 Term Week 1 (Sept. 22-26 / Feb. 4 - 8)
CWH: Part I: A Writer's Concerns Working like a Writer Pleasure and Passion Attitudes A Digression for the Classroom User On Being Unprofessional Working Habits A Word About Intentions
Keeping a Journal Why Keep a Journal? Your Journal What to Write in the Journal Getting Started Keeping Up What Will You Do with It All?
--or-- SSM: EDITORS' NOTE
SSM: IMPULSE -- CONRAD AIKEN 2nd Saturday of month: North Florida Writers' meeting at 2 p.m. (The NFW is now meeting at the Webb Westconnett Library (corner of 103rd Street and Harlow Boulevard). Check the website at www.northfloridawriters.org to confirm meeting information.)
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A16 Week 2: Sept. 1-5 / Jan. 15-18 / May 12-16
B12 Term Week 1 (Sept. 22-26 / Feb. 4 - 8)
CWH: Point of View What Is It? Who Will Do the Telling? The Decision and Its Consequences The Range of Perspectives: Third Person, First Person, "Rhody's Path" by William Goyen
Language is Your Medium There Is No Such Thing as a Synonym Choosing Well: Accuracy, Precision, Concreteness, Appropriateness, Idiomatic Usage Some Diction Problems: Overwriting, Over-modification, Saying It Twice, Excessive Variations, Latinate Diction, Archaic Diction, Sonic Boom Fun with Words Figures of Speech A Few Words About Style
--or -- SSM: THE EGG -- SHERWOOD ANDERSON
SSM: TORCH SONG -- JOHN CHEEVER
Due: Minor Exercise
#1 (by Friday) |
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A16 Week 3: Sept. 8-12 / Jan. 21-25 / May 19-23
B12 Term Week 2 (Sept. 29-Oct. 3 / Feb. 11 - 15) CWH: Invention and Research The Original Originality and the Everyday The Relationship Between Invention and Research Searching and Imagining Beginning with Facts Field Work Example: "Ellis Island: Then and Now" by Sharon Spencer Research and the Internet The Time Capsule Game The World's Fair Game World's Fair Proposal
Part II: The Concerns of the Poet The Elements of Poetry The Nature of Poetry The Line The Line and Meter Lines and Rhymes The Line and Free Verse Lines in Combination Imagery Sound Patterns Off-Rhyme
--or--
SSM: AN OUTPOST OF PROGRESS -- JOSEPH CONRAD
SSM: THE THIRD PRIZE -- A. E. COPPARD
Due: Minor Exercise
#2 (by Friday) |
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A16 Week 4: Sept. 15-19 / Jan. 28-Feb. 1 /May 26-30
B12 Term Week 2 (Sept. 29-Oct. 3 / Feb. 11 - 15) CWH: Practicing Poetry Unscrambling Imitation Recasting More Unscrambling Memory Poem Formula Poems Ritual Poems List Poems Dramatic Poems/Character Poems Epistolary Poems Wordplay Poems Synthetic Poems Picture Poems Music Poems Found Poems Poetry Problems Archaic Diction The Anonymous Voice Appalling Abstraction Unintentional Humor Jarring Diction For the Sake of Rhyme The Clash of Poetic Elements Writing Past the Poem Treasure Burying Saying Too Much The False Start Punch-Line Endings Ineffective Line Break Out of Order Derivative Drivel Revision: A Brief Case Study
Part III: The Concerns of the Storyteller The Elements of Fiction The Nature of Fiction Plot and What It Does Setting Point of Attack Character and Characterization: Action, Appearance, Thought, Dialogue, Indirect Discourse, Other Means, Functionaries and Stock Characters, Naming Characters, The Relationship of Character, Plot, and Setting A Note on the Novel
-- or -- SSM: OPEN WINTER -- H. L. DAVIS
SSM: BARN BURNING -- WILLIAM FAULKNER
Due: Minor Exercise
#3 (by Friday) |
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A16 Week 5: (Hours 13-15) -- Sept. 22-26 / Feb. 4-8/ June 2-6 B12 Term Week 3 (Oct. 6-10 / Feb. 18 - 22) CWH:
Narration and Its Problems Exposition Flashbacks Scene and Summary Verisimilitude Problems: Needless Complication, Misuse of Dialogue, Sudden Comfort, Sudden Omniscience, Ping-Pong, Wrong Technique, Fogs Stick, Descriptive Clutter Other Problems Creative Nonfiction The Nature of Creative Nonfiction How the Writer Convinces the Reader: Exposure of Self, Testable Elements Hold Up to the Test, Anecdotes Must Feel Universal Virtues in Nonfiction Problems in Creative Nonfiction Finding Materials: Reading, Exploring Yourself, Exploring Others Stories and Memoirs "A Very Short Story" by Ernest Hemingway "Sunday in the Park" by Bel Kaufman "Balancing Act" by Joyce Reiser Kornblatt "The Boarding House" by James Joyce "Good Advice Is Rarer Than Rubies" by Salman Rushdie "Something More" by Jeff Minerd "Our Beautiful Clock" by Marian Pierce "Dialysis and the Art of Life Maintenance" by Cecilia Cassidy "Chinese Medicine" by Hilary Tham
-- or -- SSM: WINTER DREAMS -- F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
SSM: SOLDIER'S HOME -- ERNEST HEMINGWAY
Due: Major Project #1
(by Friday). . .When the Major Project is e-mailed back to you,
promptly repair the project so that it can be sent out to classmates for
workshopping. |
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A16 Week 6: Sept. 29 - Oct. 3 / Feb. 11-15 / June 9-13
B12 Term Week 3 (Oct. 6-10 / Feb. 18 - 22) CWH: Part IV: The Concerns of the Playwright The Elements of Drama The Nature of Drama Storytelling with People and Things Characters Presenting Character Stock Characters and Character Development Characters in Place and Time Beats Setting
T2M: Introduction Ancient Fire
--or-- SSM: THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE -- HENRY JAMES
SSM: THE BOARDING HOUSE -- JAMES JOYCE
Due: Minor Exercise
#4 (by Friday) 2nd Saturday of month: North Florida Writers' meeting at 2 p.m. in the meeting room of the Webb Westconnett Library (corner of 103rd Street and Harlow Boulevard) |
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A16 Week 7: Oct. 6-10 / Feb. 18-22 /June 16-20
B12 Term Week 4 (Oct. 13-17 / Feb. 25 - 29) CWH: Dialogue and Its Problems Dialogue: The Essence of Drama Principles and Common Errors: Your Exposition is Showing, Contractions and Formality, Interruptions and Other Ways of Creating Verisimilitude, Fake Dialogue or the Dialogue Dummy, Designators, or Stealing the Actors' and Director's Jobs, Long Speeches, Grunting and Pausing, Accents, Dialect, and Verbal Tics, Swearing, Locker Room Raillery, 323 Example: The Day They Shot John Lennon by James McLure Trifles Introduction Trifles by Susan Glaspell A Word on Plays for Film and Television Summary
T2M: Stray -- or -- SSM: THE HORSE DEALER'S DAUGHTER -- D. H. LAWRENCE
SSM: VIRGA VAY & ALLAN CEDAR -- SINCLAIR LEWIS
Due: Minor Exercise
#5 (by Friday)
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A16 Week 8: Oct. 13-17 / Feb. 25-29 / June 23-27
B12 Term Week 4 (Oct. 13-17)
CWH:
Part V: The Writer's Business From Revision to Submission Revision: When to Revise, How to Revise? Checklists for Poetry, Fiction, and Plays Mechanics: Checking for Correctness Facts A Desk on Your Disk Some Possible Problems Sonic Words About Proofreading Finding a Home for Your Work Manuscript Form Cover Letters A Miscellaneous Checklist What About Copyright?
T2M: Falling -- or -- SSM: MARRIAGE A LA MODE -- KATHERINE MANSFIELD
WF: 7. Call Me Ishmael: Point Of View, Part I
Due: Minor Exercise
#6 (by Friday) |
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A16 Week 9: Oct. 20-24 / Mar. 3-7 / June 30-July 4
B12 Term Week 5 (Oct. 20-24 / Mar. 3-7) CWH: Tools and Resources Keeping a Journal Language Is Your Medium: Unabridged Dictionaries, Abridged Dictionaries, Specialized Dictionaries, Thesauri Invention and Research: Reference, Facts, Quotations Writing Poetry Writing Fiction Writing Creative Nonfiction Writing Plays Additional Texts on Creative Writing
T2M: Rabbit's Foot. . .Flora Fountain
-- or -- SSM: THE OUTSTATION -- W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM
SSM: "CRUEL AND BARBAROUS TREATMENT" -- MARY
McCARTHY
Due: Major Project #2 (by Friday). . .When the
Major Project is e-mailed back to you, promptly repair the project so that
it can be sent out to classmates for workshopping. |
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A16 Week 10: Oct. 27-31; Mar. 10-14 / July 7-11
B12 Term Week 6: (Oct. 27-31 / Mar. 10-14)
T2M: Holy Cow. . .Matters of Balance
--or-- SSM: THE OPEN WINDOW -- "SAKI" (H. H. MUNRO)
SSM: MY OEDIPUS COMPLEX -- FRANK O'CONNOR
Due: Minor Exercise
#7 (by Friday) 2nd Saturday of month: North Florida Writers' meeting at 2 p.m. in the meeting room of the Webb Westconnett Library (corner of 103rd Street and Harlow Boulevard) |
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A16 Week 11: Nov. 3-7 / Mar. 17-21/ July 14-18 B12 Term Week 7: Nov. 3-7 / Mar. 17-21
T2M: Hamid Gets His Hair Cut. . .Ticket to Minto
--or-- SSM: THE NIGHTINGALES SING -- ELIZABETH PARSONS
SSM: FLOWERING JUDAS -- KATHERINE ANNE PORTER
Due: Minor Exercise #8 (by Friday)
Fall Term: Nov. 5, last day to withdraw
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A16 Week 12: Nov. 10-14/ Apr. 7-11 / July 21-25 B12 Term Week 8: (Nov. 10-14 / Apr. 7-11) T2M: Who's Your Authority?
--or-- SSM: THE EIGHTY-YARD RUN -- IRWIN SHAW
SSM: A COUNTRY LOVE STORY -- JEAN
STAFFORD B12 Term: Apr. 7, last day to withdraw
Due: Major Project #3
(by Friday). . .When the Major Project is e-mailed back to you,
promptly repair the project so that it can be sent out to classmates for
workshopping. |
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A16 Week 13: Nov. 17-19 / Apr. 14-18 / July 28-Aug. 1 B12 Term Week 9: (Nov. 17-21 / Apr. 14-18 T2M: Keeping Time --or-- SSM: A RED-LETTER DAY -- ELIZABETH TAYLOR SSM: A SPINSTER'S TALE -- PETER TAYLOR
SSM: YOU COULD LOOK IT UP -- JAMES THURBER
Due: Minor Exercise
#9 (by Friday) 2nd Saturday of month: North Florida Writers' meeting at 2 p.m. in the meeting room of the Webb Westconnett Library (corner of 103rd Street and Harlow Boulevard) |
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A16 Week 14: Nov. 24 - 26 / Apr. 21-25 / Aug. 4-8 Apr. 21-25
T2M: Mark Twain Outlook --or--
SSM: WHY I LIVE AT THE P.O. -- EUDORA WELTY
Deadline for submitting any exercises or doing any critiques (Dec. 8 /Apr. 25 /Aug. 17)
Due: Minor Exercise #10 (by Friday) |
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A16 Week 15: Dec. 1-5 / Apr. 28-30 / Aug. 11-15 B12 Term Week 11: Dec. 1-5 / Apr. 28-May 2
Due: Any Extra Credit Minor Exercise
(by Friday)
2nd Saturday of month: North Florida Writers' meeting at 2 p.m. in the meeting room of the Webb Westconnett Library (corner of 103rd Street and Harlow Boulevard) |
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Final exam period: Dec. 8-12; May 1-2 / Aug. 18-22
B12 Term Week 12 (Dec. 8-12 / May 1-2)
Last day to complete Blackboard tests (Dec. 10 / May 2 / Aug. 21)
First day of finals is the last day to submit ONE assignment (e.g., exercise) that does not require workshopping. (Again, no flooding of the instructor.) After the Course is Over: Your writing pad, your typewriter, your keyboard and The Rest of Your Life
Everything in life is material for your writing. Someone close to you dies? You weep and shed the tears, but eventually you realize, "It's material." You have a flat tire in your best party clothing, on the Matthews Bridge, during a driving rain storm? It's material.
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LATE POINTS: Although this is going to be an enjoyable course, the instructor has to build in some self-preservation tactics to head off Peter Procrastinator and Dolly Delay-Delay. Late work is susceptible to having 10 to 40% of the points taken off depending on the degree of lateness.
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