Spring 2008

E 325 • Creative Writing: Fiction

Course Description

The quality of the student's writing is an important factor toward the course grade. The course is, above all, an English course. The insistence on English usage should not come as a surprise; you are enrolled in an English class in a university of the first class.

This is an upper division course for writers, and the instructor expects well-written papers. This includes 1) clarity, 2) grammar, 3) punctuation, 4) mechanics, and 5) usage. Students who are not up to the mark are advised to consider this most seriously before enrolling because the instructor insists on those basic requirements. They are basic since words are what writers work with; you are advised to keep this in mind.

No old creative writing material will be considered; hence, the student is to hand in a detailed outline of the first proposed story by the third class meeting. No late papers, no excuses. Late registrants enter this class at their peril.

Grading Policy

Four thousand words is the required minimum in Substantial Writing Courses. Toward this, three stories of 1500 words minimum are required for the course. These will be rewritten until all lapses are corrected; do not expect an increase in your grade because you corrected the material; consider this part of your learning experience.

In-class assignments will also be included as part of the grade.

The papers will be critiqued, e.g., misspellings will be labeled SP, lapses in tenses will be marked T, lack of agreement (pronoun and antecedent; subject with verb) will be marked LA. Other lapses will be marked accordingly. If you have more than three misspelled words, the highest grade to expect is a C, provided there are no other errors. The same applies with errors in tenses, and so on.

For your information: towards, backwards, amongst, and similar terms (which the instructor will point out) are examples of British-English usage; use American English.

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