Course Syllabus
Schedule of Classes
**The instructor reserves the right to change any part of this schedule during the semester in order to adapt to changing course needs.
| Date | Before Class | After Class | |
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Week 1 Course Overview |
Th 1/26 |
Review syllabus and course blog
Sign-up for CUNY Academic Commons Complete Pre-Course Survey |
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Week 2 Notes on Craft |
Tu 1/31 |
Read “Write Like a Motherf*cker” by Cheryl Strayed;
“The Creative Process” by James Baldwin |
Accept author invitation to the CUNY Academic Commons
BLOG #1: LITERACY NARRATIVE DUE M 2/6 |
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Th 2/2 |
Read “25 Essential Notes on Craft” by Matthew Salesses;
“Annie Dillard and The Writing Life” by Alexander Chee |
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Week 3 Observation, Memory, & Imagination |
Tu 2/7 |
Read “On Keeping a Notebook” by Joan Didion;
“The Site of Memory” by Toni Morrison |
BLOG #2: WRITING PLACE & MEMORY DUE M 2/13 |
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Th 2/9 |
Read “The Body of Memory” by Brenda Miller & Suzanne Paola;
“Snakebit” by Alia Volz |
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Week 4 The Craft of Poetry: Language & Imagery |
Tu 2/14 |
Read “Poetry As Practice” by Scott Edward Anderson;
“Someone is Writing a Poem” by Adrienne Rich; “Invisible Architecture” by Barbara Guest |
Review Poetry Submission Assignment Sheet
BLOG #3: A POEM IN FORM DUE *Tu 2/21 |
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Th 2/16 |
Read “Learning Image and Description” by Rachel Richardson;
“the mother” by Gwendolyn Brooks |
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Week 5 The Craft of Poetry: Rhythm & Sound |
Tu 2/21 | NO CLASS SCHEDULED.
Classes follow Monday schedule. |
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Th 2/23 |
Read “In Pursuit of the Gorgeous Sound of Language” by Ursula K. Le Guin;
“Butter” by Elizabeth Alexander |
Sign up for peer review conferences | |
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Week 6 The Craft of Poetry: Message, Meaning & Form |
Tu 2/28 |
Read “Learning the Poetic Line” by Rebecca Hazelton;
“We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks
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POETRY SUBMISSION FIRST DRAFT DUE M 3/6 |
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Th 3/2 |
Read “Harlem” by Langston Hughes;
“Gardening” by Rhina P. Espaillat; “Lifeboat” by Janika Oza; Excerpt from Citizen: “You are in the dark, in the car...” by Claudia Rankine |
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Week 7 Poetry Workshops |
Tu 3/7 |
CLASS CANCELED. Group Conferences by appointment only |
Review each of your members’ drafts and post peer review comments no later than Mon. Mar. 13th. |
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Th 3/9 |
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Week 8 Revising & Editing Poetry |
Tu 3/14 |
Print ONE hard copy of your draft and bring to class
Read “The Warmth of the Messy Page” by Rachel Richardson; |
POETRY SUBMISSION FIRST REVISIONS DUE M 3/20 |
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Th 3/16 |
Read “How to Revise Poems Without Losing the Initial Spark” by Maggie Nelson | ||
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Week 9 The Art of Storytelling |
Tu 3/21 |
Read “That Crafty Feeling” by Zadie Smith;
“Girls at Play” by Celeste Ng |
Review Prose Submission Assignment Sheet
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Th 3/23 |
Read “Creative Lies I Tell My Nonfiction Students” by Liz Stephens;
“The Creative Nonfiction Police?” by Lee Gutkind |
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Week 10 Creative Nonfiction |
Tu 3/28 |
Read “How to Write a Personal Essay” by Leslie Jamison;
“What He Took” By Kelly Grey Carlisle |
BLOG #4: FLASH (NON)FICTION STORY DUE M 4/3 |
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Th 3/30 |
Read “Research your Life” by Alexander Chee
“The Devil’s Bait” by Leslie Jamison |
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Week 11 Setting |
Tu 4/4 |
Read “Beyond the backdrop: Mastering setting in fiction” by Sarah Van Arsdale;
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson; |
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Th 4/6 |
SPRING RECESS – NO CLASSES |
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Week 12
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Tu 4/11 | ||
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Th 4/13 |
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Week 13 Character & Conflict |
Tu 4/18 |
Read “On Breathing Life into Cliches” by Toni Morrison;
“Nuts and Bolts on ‘Thought’ Verbs” by Chuck Palahniuk Read; “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” by Flannery O’Connor |
PROSE SUBMISSION FIRST DRAFT DUE M 4/24 |
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Th 4/20 |
Read “Writing Personal Essays: On the Necessity of Turning Oneself Into a Character” by Phillip Lopate
“Ordinary Girls” by Jacquira Díaz |
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Week 14 Prose Workshops |
Tu 4/25 |
CLASS CANCELED.
Group Conferences by appointment only |
Review each of your members’ drafts and post peer review comments no later than Mon. May 1st. |
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Th 4/27 |
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Week 15 Revising & Editing Prose |
Tu 5/2 |
Read “A Survivor’s Guide to the Long, Slow, and Infuriating Process of Revision” by Peter Ho Davies;
“Evaluating Your Work in Process—as Author, Editor, and Audience” by Richard Thomas; |
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Th 5/4 |
Read “10 Things Wrong with All my First Drafts” by Jay Wilburn;
“The Art of Revision: Most of What You Write Should Be Cut” by Charles Johnson |
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Week 16 The Business of Publishing |
Tu 5/9 |
Read “Lit Mag Submissions 101: How, When, and Where to Send Your Work” by Lincoln Michel
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PROSE REVISIONS DUE M 5/15 |
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Th 5/11 |
Read “Why You Should Aim for 100 Rejections a Year” by Kim Liao;
“Ask the Writing Teacher: Fifty Shades of Rejection” by Edan Lepucki |
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Week 17 Open Mic |
Tu 5/16 |
Last day of class
Read “Why I Write” by George Orwell Open Mic Performances |
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Tu 5/23 |
FINAL CRAFT ESSAY DUE | ||
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