Matthew T Valentine

This course will identify common techniques used in several forms of narrative, including fiction, creative nonfiction, narrative poetry, and memoir. We will study the work of professional writers and analyze exposition, description, language, character development, scene construction and the trajectory of the story. We will also discuss the role of research in writing a narrative.

Through short creative writing exercises, students will develop craft skills, which they will then apply in longer essays, articles, poems and short stories. Students will submit drafts of these assignments for critique in a workshop setting. At the end of the semester, each student will submit a portfolio of polished work, reflecting the revisions that resulted from workshop criticism.

Several distinguished guests will visit during the semester to give one-session master classes. In years past, these visitors have included Pulitzer Prize-winning novelists and poets, a National Book Award winner, several bestselling memoirists, two graphic novelists, and staff writers from respected media outlets such as the New Yorker, New York Times and Washington Post.

Readings:

The course packet includes work by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Marie Howe, Gerald Stern, Hunter S. Thompson, C.K. Williams, Philip Gourevitch, Barry Lopez, Jim Woodring, Ernest Hemingway, J.M. Coetzee, Philip Levine, Yusef Komunyakaa, Tobias Wolff, Mary Karr, Anne Fadiman, Chimamanda Adichie, Adam Gopnik and others.

Assignments:

Workshop participation: 20%

Nonfiction essay (10-12 pages): 15%

Short fiction story (12-15 pages) 20%

Journalism exercise (6-8 pages): 10%

Poetry exercise: 10%

Craft exercises: 5%

Portfolio of revised creative writing assignments: 20%

About the Professor:

Matt Valentine's fiction has been published in several magazines, and he has received writing awards and fellowships from New York University, the Michener Center for Writers, Playboy magazine, the Vermont Studio Center and the Greensboro Review. In 2012, he won the Montana Prize for Fiction, a national award for short story writing.

Description:

In a society saturated with photographic images, we have developed a visual literacy that enables us to interpret the implicit messages in the photos we encounter every day in advertisements, journalism and art. With no text whatsoever, a photograph can communicate a sophisticated and nuanced story containing essential components of narrative: character, setting, mood and plot. Thusly billboards can tantalize us with fantasies, and news photos can draw us into compelling dramas.

This class will have both analytical and creative components. Students will discuss the work of professional photographers, and also experiment with various photographic techniques to create their own narrative images.

We will discuss composition, lighting, camera perspective, focal length, depth-of-field, shutter speed, exposure and other technical and aesthetic aspects of photography. We will then explore the consequences each of these aspects can have on the “story” in the image. Work by Eddie Adams, Diane Arbus, Matthew Brady, Manual Alvarez Bravo, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gregory Crewdson, Philip Lorca diCorcia, Teenie Harris, Dorothea Lange, Annie Liebovitz, Helmut Newton, Sebastião Salgado, Jan Saudek, Cindy Sherman, W. Eugene Smith, and Alfred Stieglitz will guide our discussions. After studying the techniques of these renowned professional photographers, students will create their own narrative images and share them with the class for comments and criticism.

This course carries the Independent Inquiry Flag.

Texts/Readings:                                                                    Films (screened in class):

Course Packet (available at Paradigm on 24th street)              War Photographer (dir. Christian Frei)

On Photography, Susan Sontag                                              What Remains (dir. Steven Cantor)

The Photography Book (Phaidon)                                        

Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

Required equipment:

Any digital camera with manual exposure control will be appropriate for this class. A DSLR camera with an optical viewfinder and interchangeable lenses is ideal, but some compact cameras also offer manual exposure control, such as: Sony NEX (any model); Canon Powershot G12, G15, G1 X, or EOS-M; Fujifilm x10, S4500, HS30EXR, HS25EXR, or X-S1; Nikon 1-series (any model); Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5, DMC-GX1, or DMC-GF5; Olympus XZ-1, E-PL5, E-PM2, or OM-D; and Pentax K-01. Students on tighter budgets can find acceptable used digital cameras for under $100—please contact the instructor for advice before making a used camera purchase.

Requirements:

Participation: 20%

Response Paper: 15%

Documentary Project: 15%

Short Photography exercises: 15%

Group Presentation: 15%

Final Exam: 20%

About the Instructor:

Matt Valentine's fiction has been published in several literary magazines, and he has received writing awards and fellowships from New York University, the Michener Center for Writers, Playboy magazine, the Vermont Studio Center, the Greensboro Review, and Cutbank magazine. He won the 2012 Montana Prize for Fiction, a national award. Also a professional photographer, Valentine's work has been published by the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, O (the Oprah magazine), USA Today, Boston Review, Men's Journal, Audubon magazine, and on dozens of book jackets.

This course will identify common techniques used in several forms of narrative: fiction, creative nonfiction, narrative poetry, and subjective journalism. We will analyze and discuss the work of established professional writers to better understand key components of narrative: exposition, the development of characters, the construction of scenes, and the trajectory of plot. We will also discuss the role of research in writing a narrative.

Through creative writing exercises, students will experiment with narrative techniques in their own essays, articles, poems and short stories. Students will then submit drafts of these assignments for critique in a workshop setting. With guidance from the instructor, students will discuss each other’s work. At the end of the semester, each student will submit a portfolio of polished work, reflecting the revisions that resulted from workshop criticism.

Several distinguished guests will visit the class to discuss components of narrative.  In years past, our classroom visitors have included internationally distinguished novelists, journalists, playwrights, and poets.

Texts/Readings:

- Luminous Airplanes, Paul LaFarge

- Course Packet, including work by Hunter S. Thompson, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Marie Howe,     Gerald Stern, C.K. Williams, Lawrence Wright, Jim Woodring, Ernest Hemingway, J.M.   Coetzee, Philip Levine, Yusef Komunyakaa, Tobias Wolff and others.

Assignments:

Workshop participation: 20%

Nonfiction essay (8-10 pages): 20%

Short fiction story (8-10 pages) 20%

Journalistic article (6-8 pages): 10%

Poetry exercise (5-10 pages): 10%

Portfolio of revised creative writing assignments: 20%

About the Professor:

Matt Valentine's fiction has been published in several literary magazines, and he has received writing awards and fellowships from New York University, the Michener Center for Writers, Playboy magazine, the Vermont Studio Center and the Greensboro Review. He has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize for short fiction. Also a professional photographer, Valentine's work has been widely published, and exhibited in group shows at the Gulf and Western Gallery (New York), the Silver Eye Center for Photography (Pittsburgh), and the Harry Ransom Center (Austin). His photographs of the September 11th Tragedy were included in the book Here is New York (Scalo, 2002) and in group shows at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the International Center for Photography, where the exhibition was recognized with the ICP's prestigious Infinity Award. Currently, he is completing a series of photographic portraits of major contemporary poets.

Description:

In a society saturated with photographic images, we have developed a visual literacy that enables us to interpret the implicit messages in the photos we encounter every day in advertisements, journalism and art. With no text whatsoever, a photograph can communicate a sophisticated and nuanced story containing essential components of narrative: character, setting, mood and plot. Thusly billboards can tantalize us with fantasies, and news photos can draw us into compelling dramas.

This class will have both analytical and creative components. Students will discuss the work of professional photographers, and also experiment with various photographic techniques to create their own narrative images.

We will discuss composition, lighting, camera perspective, focal length, depth-of-field, shutter speed, exposure and other technical and aesthetic aspects of photography. We will then explore the consequences each of these aspects can have on the “story” in the image. Work by Eddie Adams, Diane Arbus, Matthew Brady, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gregory Crewdson, Philip Lorca diCorcia, Teenie Harris, Dorothea Lange, Annie Liebovitz, Helmut Newton, Sebastião Salgado, Jan Saudek, Cindy Sherman, W. Eugene Smith, Gordon Parks and Alfred Stieglitz will guide our discussions. After studying the styles and techniques of these renowned professional photographers, students will create their own narrative images and share them with the class for comments and criticism.

Texts/Readings:                                                                 Films (screened in class):

Course Packet (available at Paradigm on 24th street)        War Photographer (dir. Christian Frei)

On Photography, Susan Sontag                               What Remains (dir. Steven Cantor)

The Photography Book (Phaidon)                              

Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

Required equipment:

Any digital camera with manual exposure control will be appropriate for this class. A D-SLR is preferable, but some compact cameras also have this functionality. Students on tight budgets can find acceptable used digital cameras for under $100. Contact the instructor if you need advice regarding a camera purchase.

Requirements:

Participation: 20%

Response Paper: 15%

Documentary Project: 15%

Short Photography exercises: 15%

Group Presentation: 15%

Final Exam: 20%                                               

About the Instructor

Matt Valentine's fiction has been published in several literary magazines, and he has received writing awards and fellowships from New York University, the Michener Center for Writers, Playboy magazine, the Vermont Studio Center and the Greensboro Review. He has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize for short fiction. Also a professional photographer, Valentine's work has been exhibited in group shows at the National Arts Club (New York), the Silver Eye Center for Photography (Pittsburgh), and the Harry Ransom Center (Austin). His photographs of the September 11th Tragedy were included in the book Here is New York (Scalo, 2002) and in group shows at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the International Center for Photography. His portraits of writers have been published in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Boston Review, Men’s Journal, Austin American-Statesman and elsewhere.

Instructor: Matthew Valentine, Lecturer/Program Coordinator, Plan II Honors Program, College of Liberal ArtsDescription:This course will identify common techniques used in several forms of narrative: fiction, creative nonfiction, narrative poetry, and subjective journalism. We will analyze and discuss the work of established professional writers to better understand key components of narrative: exposition, the development of characters, the construction of scenes, and the trajectory of plot. We will also discuss the role of research in writing a narrative.

Through creative writing exercises, students will experiment with narrative techniques in their own essays, articles, poems and short stories. Students will then submit drafts of these assignments for critique in a workshop setting. With guidance from the instructor, students will discuss each other’s work. At the end of the semester, each student will submit a portfolio of polished work, reflecting the revisions that resulted from workshop criticism.

Several distinguished guests will visit the class to discuss components of narrative. Yale professor Anne Fadiman, whose award-winning book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is required reading for this course, will be among our classroom visitors. Other guests will include local and visiting writers and poets, a magazine editor, and UT faculty.

Texts/Readings:- The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman- The Ice at the Bottom of the World, Mark Richard- Course Packet, including work by Hunter S. Thompson, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Marie Howe,    Gerald Stern, C.K. Williams, Lawrence Wright, Jim Woodring, Ernest Hemingway, J.M.   Coetzee, Philip Levine, Yusef Komunyakaa, Tobias Wolff and others.

Assignments:

Workshop participation: 20%

Nonfiction essay (8-10 pages): 20%

Short fiction story (8-10 pages) 20%

Journalistic article (6-8 pages): 10%

Poetry exercise (5-10 pages): 10%

Portfolio of revised creative writing assignments: 20%

About the Professor:Matt Valentine's fiction has been published in several literary magazines, and he has received writing awards and fellowships from New York University, the Michener Center for Writers, Playboy magazine, the Vermont Studio Center and the Greensboro Review. He has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize for short fiction. Also a professional photographer, Valentine's work has been widely published, and exhibited in group shows at the Gulf and Western Gallery (New York), the Silver Eye Center for Photography (Pittsburgh), and the Harry Ransom Center (Austin). His photographs of the September 11th Tragedy were included in the book Here is New York (Scalo, 2002) and in group shows at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the International Center for Photography, where the exhibition was recognized with the ICP's prestigious Infinity Award. Currently, he is completing a series of photographic portraits of major contemporary poets.

Description: 

This course will identify common techniques used in several forms of narrative: fiction, creative nonfiction, narrative poetry, and subjective journalism. We will analyze and discuss the work of established professional writers to better understand key components of narrative: exposition, the development of characters, the construction of scenes, and the trajectory of plot. We will also discuss the role of research in writing a narrative.

Through creative writing exercises, students will experiment with narrative techniques in their own essays, articles, poems and short stories. Students will then submit drafts of these assignments for critique in a workshop setting. With guidance from the instructor, students will discuss each other’s work. At the end of the semester, each student will submit a portfolio of polished work, reflecting the revisions that resulted from workshop criticism.

Several distinguished guests will visit the class to discuss components of narrative. Yale professor Anne Fadiman, whose award-winning book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is required reading for this course, will be among our classroom visitors. Other guests will include local and visiting writers and poets, a magazine editor, and UT faculty.

Texts/Readings:

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman

The Ice at the Bottom of the World, Mark Richard

Course Packet, including work by Hunter S. Thompson, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Marie Howe, Gerald Stern, C.K. Williams, Lawrence Wright, Jim Woodring, Ernest Hemingway, J.M. Coetzee, Philip Levine, Yusef Komunyakaa, Tobias Wolff and others.

Assignments:

Workshop participation: 20%

Nonfiction essay (8-10 pages): 20%

Short fiction story (8-10 pages) 20%

Journalistic article (6-8 pages): 10%

Poetry exercise (5-10 pages): 10%

Portfolio of revised creative writing assignments: 20%

About the Professor:

Matt Valentine's fiction has been published in several literary magazines, and he has received writing awards and fellowships from New York University, the Michener Center for Writers, Playboy magazine, the Vermont Studio Center and the Greensboro Review. He has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize for short fiction. Also a professional photographer, Valentine's work has been widely published, and exhibited in group shows at the Gulf and Western Gallery (New York), the Silver Eye Center for Photography (Pittsburgh), and the Harry Ransom Center (Austin). His photographs of the September 11th Tragedy were included in the book Here is New York (Scalo, 2002) and in group shows at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the International Center for Photography, where the exhibition was recognized with the ICP's prestigious Infinity Award. Currently, he is completing a series of photographic portraits of major contemporary poets. 

Description:

In a society saturated with photographic images, we have developed a visual literacy that enables us to interpret the implicit messages in the photos we encounter every day in advertisements, journalism and art. With no text whatsoever, a photograph can communicate a sophisticated and nuanced story containing essential components of narrative: character, setting, mood and plot. Thusly billboards can tantalize us with fantasies, and news photos can draw us into compelling dramas.

This class will have both analytical and creative components. Students will discuss the work of professional photographers, and also experiment with various photographic techniques to create their own narrative images.

We will discuss composition, lighting, camera perspective, focal length, depth-of-field, shutter speed, exposure and other technical and aesthetic aspects of photography. We will then explore the consequences each of these aspects can have on the “story” in the image. Work by Eddie Adams, Diane Arbus, Matthew Brady, Manual Alvarez Bravo, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gregory Crewdson, Philip Lorca diCorcia, Teenie Harris, Dorothea Lange, Annie Liebovitz, Helmut Newton, Sebastião Salgado, Jan Saudek, Cindy Sherman, W. Eugene Smith, and Alfred Stieglitz will guide our discussions. After studying the techniques of these renowned professional photographers, students will create their own narrative images and share them with the class for comments and criticism.

Texts/Readings:                                                                        Films (screened in class):

Course Packet (available at Paradigm on 24^th street)                 War Photographer (dir. Christian Frei)

On Photography, Susan Sontag                                    What Remains (dir. Steven Cantor)

The Photography Book (Phaidon)                                

Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud

Required equipment:

Any digital camera with manual exposure control will be appropriate for this class. A D-SLR is preferable, but some point-and-shoot cameras also have this functionality. Recent point-and-shoot models that have the necessary features include the Nikon Coolpix P100, Canon Powershot G11, Canon Powershot S90, and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3. Students on tight budgets can find acceptable used digital cameras for as little as $75—please see the instructor for advice before making a used camera purchase.

Requirements:

Participation: 20%
Response Paper: 15%
Documentary Project: 15%
Short Photography exercises: 15%
Group Presentation: 15%
Final Exam: 20%    

About the Professor:

Matt Valentine's fiction has been published in several literary magazines, and he has received writing awards and fellowships from New York University, the Michener Center for Writers, Playboy magazine, the Vermont Studio Center and the Greensboro Review. He has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize for short fiction. Also a professional photographer, Valentine's work has been widely published, and exhibited in group shows at the National Arts Club (New York), the Silver Eye Center for Photography (Pittsburgh), and the Harry Ransom Center (Austin). His photographs of the September 11th Tragedy were included in the book Here is New York (Scalo, 2002) and in group shows at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the International Center for Photography, where the exhibition was recognized with the ICP's prestigious Infinity Award. Currently, he is completing a series of photographic portraits of major contemporary poets.

Narrative Writing
Plan II TC 357, Spring 2010


Instructor: Matt Valentine
Class meets: TTH 2-3:30PM, CRD 007B
Office Hours: T 3:30-4:30PM, F 3-4PM and by appointment
Office Location: CRD 007

Description:  
This course will identify common techniques used in several forms of narrative: fiction, creative nonfiction, narrative poetry, and subjective journalism. We will analyze and discuss the work of established professional writers to better understand key components of narrative: exposition, the development of characters, the construction of scenes, and the trajectory of plot. We will also discuss the role of research in writing a narrative.

Through creative writing exercises, students will experiment with narrative techniques in their own essays, articles, poems and short stories. Students will then submit drafts of these assignments for critique in a workshop setting. With guidance from the instructor, students will discuss each other’s work. At the end of the semester, each student will submit a portfolio of polished work, reflecting the revisions that resulted from workshop criticism.

Several distinguished guests will visit the class to discuss components of narrative, including New Yorker staff writers Adam Gopnik and Philip Gourevitch, and novelist Salvador Plascencia.

Texts/Readings:
The People of Paper, Salvador Plascencia
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with our Families, Philip Gourevitch
Paris to the Moon, Adam Gopnik
The Ballad of Abu Ghraib, Philip Gourevitch (optional)
Course Packet, including work by Joan Didion, Gabriel García Marquez, Jhumpa Lahiri, Gerald Stern, C.K. Williams, Ernest Hemingway, Philip Levine, Yusef Komunyakaa, Sharon Olds and others.

Assignments:
Workshop participation: 20%
Nonfiction essay (8-10 pages): 20%
Short fiction story (8-10 pages) 20%
Journalistic article (6-8 pages): 10%
Poetry exercise (5-10 pages): 10%
Portfolio of revised creative writing assignments: 20%

Policies on attendance and late work:
Because this course is designed with an emphasis on peer critique, attendance is especially important. Absences for documented health/medical reasons will be excused. Two unexcused absences will result in a half-letter penalty in your final grade. Five unexcused absences will result in a failing grade for the course. Late work is not accepted except in circumstances involving a documented health problem.  

The University of Texas provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-6441 TTY.

Jan. 19
Class overview, introductions, syllabus review
Reading assignment: “The Man I Killed” by Tim O’Brien (Course Packet)

Jan. 21
Discussion: sensory detail and figurative language
In-class writing exercise: description
Reading assignment: Plascencia, pages 11-119

Jan. 26
Discussion: narrative conceit
Reading Assignment: Plascencia, pages 121-194

Jan. 28
Discussion: characters and character development
Assignment: transcribe an overheard conversation
Reading assignment: Plascencia, 195-245

Feb. 2
Discussion: dialog
Assignment: scene with dialog, due Feb. 16
Reading Assignment: Gourevitch, pages 5-99

Feb. 4
Special guest: SALVADOR PLASCENCIA
Reading assignment: Gourevitch, pages 100-250
Salvador Plascencia reading in Joynes, 7PM

Feb. 9
Discussion: action and exposition (showing and telling)
Reading assignment: Gourevitch, pages 250-356

Feb. 11
Special Guest: Philip Gourevitch
Philip Gourevitch reading in Joynes 7PM
Reading assignment: “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved”
(online at http://bit.ly/38kuqL)

Feb. 16
Discussion: Literary Journalism
Reading Assignment: “Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream”

Feb. 18
Discussion: Craft elements in Didion’s “Dreamers”
Assignment: Journalistic article, DUE MARCH 2
Reading assignment: “The Pacific” (course packet)

Feb. 23
Discussion: Narrative Arc
Writing assignment: Precipitating moment exercise, DUE FEB 25
Reading assignment: “Good Country People” (course packet)

Feb. 25
Discussion: craft elements in “Good Country People”
Reading assignment: “Helping” (course packet)

March 2
Discussion: craft elements in “Helping”
Reading assignment: “Coffee” (handout)

March 4
Discussion: The Personal Essay
Assignment: Familiar Essay, DUE MARCH 11
Reading assignment: selections from Gopnik

March 9
Discussion: craft elements in Paris to the Moon
Reading assignment: selections from Gopnik

March 11
Reading assignment: “Interpreter of Maladies” (course packet)
Assignment: fictional narrative, DUE MARCH 23

March 23
Discussion: craft elements in “Interpreter of Maladies”
Distribute narratives for workshop
Reading assignment: selections from Gopnik

March 25
Fiction Workshop

March 30
Fiction Workshop

April 1
Special Guest: Adam Gopnik
Gopnik will read in the Blanton Museum at 7:30PM

April 6
Fiction Workshop

April 8
Fiction Workshop

April 13
Fiction Workshop
Reading assignment “Admiration of Form” (course packet)

April 15
Discussion: Narrative Poetry
Assignment: Narrative Poem DUE APRIL 29

April 20
Fiction Workshop

April 22
Fiction Workshop
Reading assignment: poetry selections (course packet)

April 27
Discussion: The Line
Reading assignment: poetry selections (course packet)

April 29
Discussion: Poetic devices
Reading assignment: poetry selections (course packet)

May 4
Discussion: continuing your development as a writer
Personalized reading recommendations.

May 6
Final portfolios due for all students