Semester Plan
* Final Day in Class before Fall Break, September 30 through October 8
Equal Parts Creative, Equal Parts Writing
Students who choose to take Creative Writing come from a creative background. This class will cater to writing in a variety of formats, including fiction, non-fiction feature writing, non-fiction essay, song-writing, poetry, multimedia, or any other format students pursue. The formats may vary, but the goal will remain the same:
- Clear, concise, vivid verbiage.
- A distinct, expressive voice for each writer
- Editing and revision skills (consistently, 2nd drafts will show improvement from first drafts--moreover students will learn to edit each others' work).
To achieve this, students will help Mr. Dittes to develop rubrics from which grades will be given.
Students who choose a creative format will need to pay special attention to the elements we pursue in each lesson. A good poem is shorter than an essay, but it demonstrates just as much thought and creativity, if not more.
Goals for Creative Writing
- Develop a writing portfolio
- Understand how to market your writing for publication
- Practice writing in response to various stimuli
- Write in a variety of formats, including multimedia, fiction and nonfiction
- Each student will submit at least one work for publication in a journal
Tools for Learning:
Textbook: McCuen, Jo Ray and Anthony C. Winkler, Readings for Writers, Thompson Wadsworth, 2004.
Computer Access: for the wiki and the portfolios. Students who do not have computer access at home should be able to complete most assignments during school time. If you have a laptop of your own, you are encouraged to use it in this class.
Notebook, pencil and paper for daily work. Students may submit all work online (using their "Notebook" page), but paper and pen aren't out of style yet--are they?
Assignments
NO TESTS. Your written projects will count as tests. These will make up 50% of your grade, so if you have a hard time submitting written work on time, you will have trouble earning a passing grade.
Homework.
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1st 9 Weeks: There will be reading homework as we develop a framework for good writing and explore some pretty good writers.
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2nd 9 Weeks: Writing homework will be the focus, as the reading is done in class and we move to a project-a-week pace.
Deadlines. The key to getting and maintaining writing jobs is the ability to write on deadline. Pay attention to the goals that we set in class.
- Deadlines are listed on the Semester Schedule.
- REVIEW--is the draft that is ready to edit, this should include a complete work (it should not be missing a conclusion or other required elements
- FINAL--is the draft that is ready to publish.
- Late Papers lose a letter grade for each day they are late and may not be turned in more than one week after the FINAL is due.
You are welcome to begin a writing project at any time, create the unique page and link it to the Roll Call through the word, "DRAFT."
Other Resources:
Mr. Dittes's School Web Site: http://bisonscribe.com
Mr. Dittes's E-mail: james.dittes@sumnerschools.org
Daily Assignments
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12/6: Symbolism & Allegory Week
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Still need: Idea or Theme Week |
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Final Project: use these elements in non-fiction |
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11/29: Theme & Idea Week
Writer's Day. Help Mr. Dittes find a market for his magazine story and work on his query.
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11/22: Thanksgiving Week
We take a field trip to the Frist Center for the Visual Arts
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Book Thief, Part 5 discussion. |
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11/15: Symbol, Allegory, Theme
Writer's visit by Henry Jones, poet
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Experimenting with Symbols
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Experimenting with Allegory |
Experimenting with Fable, Parable and Myth |
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11/8: Setting Week
Start with what you know. Experimenting with Setting:
- a scene from your childhood
- a scene set in a school
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Experimenting with Research & Verisimilitue
- outdoor setting
- cultural setting
- technical challenge
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Writer's visit by Stacey Easterling, writing instructor at Volunteer State Community College |
Book Thief, Part 4 discussion circle
STORY DUE
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11/1: Point of View Week
Listen to story: Unconditional Love. Discuss character change & love
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No School, Election Day |
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Book Thief, Part 3 discussion circle |
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10/25: Character Week
On the Computer on Wheels, we will review each others' work and search for places to publish our work. Identify four favorite characters from fiction & their traits
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Experimenting with Character Traits
Link to list of character traits
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Experimenting with Revealing Character through Actions, Description, Dialogue, and Reputation |
Breaking the Rules: the dynamic character and character development |
Book Thief, part 2 discussion circle |
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10/18: Conflict Week
Kyle Gott will talk about songwriting and creativity
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Conflict and Climax: Experiment with teen conflicts, develop exciting climaxes
Go over Rubric
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Elements of Plot:
Listen to Sleep Walking story
Experiment with order in story, switch-around storywriting
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Breaking the Rules: rearrange the plots of fairy tales to learn flashback and framing techniques |
Book Thief discussion circle, Part 1 |
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10/11: Midterm Week
Sharon Payton will talk to the class about writing and getting published.
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Experimenting with Parody
Go over Midterm Rubric (due Thursday)
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Experimenting with
Time in class to work on the Midterm
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Share your favorite short stories (written by others) |
Share stories you have written/ illustrated |
| Trevena Rogan will talk to our class about her book, Traveling toward Transformation, and give us insights into getting published. |
Experimenting with Imagery
Begin: Describe a moment with no words.
Imagery Poems
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Experimenting with Figures of Speech and Metaphor |
Experimenting with Symbol |
8/6 |
| Go over the Writer's Market Entry |
Experimenting with Persona: Responding to the Speaker in a poem (or a pop song) |
Experimenting with Point of View:
Begin: using a separate persona, describe a scene a teen wouldn't normally be privy to (teacher, parents, elderly)
Rewrite "Poem" in a different POV, try to keep--or add poetic devices
Rewrite "Bonnie George Campbell" in a different POV, try to keep--or add poetic devices
Rewrite a friend's persona poem in a different POV
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Experimenting with Setting:
Begin: Create opening lines, then write a 4-line set-up setting
Examine poems & meanings from text
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Go over the Class Wiki, letter home, "Dream Dialogue." |
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Word and Line:
the Found Poem. Scour magazines to create a found poem from prose.
HW Find a work that creatively uses word, line and/or grammar
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Review the found works. Discuss how/why the writer took risks with the language
Go over Rubric. 1st draft due Friday
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8/10 |
8/11 |
8/12 |
8/13 |
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Introducing: The Personal Portfolio
Go over the Rubric in Class
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Critical Reading: teach the twelve kinds of reading |
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