creative writing class description

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Creative Writing Major and Minor, Course Descriptions

Creative writing major and minor, course descriptions.

ENG 209. Introduction to Creative Writing. 3 Credit Hours.   This is an introductory course in writing fiction and poetry.  A basic premise of this course is that powerful stories and poems often emerge from attentive reading, fearless writing, and rigorous revision.  Some writers may be born, but all writers are made (as are athletes, doctors, painters, lawyers, and musicians) through the deliberate and persistent practice of discipline.  In English 209, readings, class discussions and in-class writing exercises will focus on the elements of craft.  We will pay special attention to reading as models and jumping off places into our own work.  We will, in effect, “imitate toward originality.” 

Learning Outcomes

Develop a working knowledge of the differences between poetry, fiction and the third genre.

Understand how to talk about these genres as writers.

Become familiar with the workshop as a form of receiving and giving feedback.

Understand the writing process, from idea to draft, workshop to revision, and the importance of all steps.

Gain a familiarity with reading and writing work that is multilingual.

Attend literary events and write reflections about them.

Produce a final portfolio of writing samples, including first drafts, intermediate drafts, and final revisions (three samples—one in each genre).

ENG 290/219. Introduction to Fiction Workshop .   3 Credit Hours.    This course is an introduction to the writing of contemporary short fiction where you will develop critical as well as creative thinking and writing skills.  We will focus on building your understanding of the elements of fiction and how you might use these elements to design your stories.  We are also concerned with developing your sense of what it means to be part of a writing community. The workshop environment requires extensive peer collaboration as we practice various writing strategies and examine the stages of the writing process: mining, collecting, shaping, drafting, and revising. This course meets requirements for creative writing majors and minors.

Prerequisite:  ENG 209 or   Requisite:   Creative Writing Majors or Creative Writing Minors. May not be taken in the same term with another Creative Writing course

Define and know the difference between a short story, vignette, flash fiction, novel, and the novella.

Develop and implement a vocabulary for talking about the craft of fiction. Terms should include tension, conflict, character, setting, plot, structure, pacing, voice, point of view, tone, revision, epiphany, resolution, scene, exposition, summary, narrative, sensory details, concrete details.

Recognize scenes as the building blocks of stories.

Write from the ground up, i.e. begin with the writing of scenes that develop character and conflict, that can move a story forward.

Write complete short stories, built upon the work done at the scene level.

Become comfortable with the workshop, with the giving and receiving of feedback.

Become aware of their personal writing process, and be able to describe it in reflection.

Continue to become familiar with work that is multilingual.

Produce at least one assignment that is multilingual.

Write work that fall under the literary tradition.

Produce a final portfolio of writing samples, including first drafts, intermediate drafts, and final revisions.

ENG 292/219.  Introduction to Poetry Workshop. 3 Credit Hours.   Our aim is to help each of you develop your interests and abilities as poets. This means we’ll be doing a lot of reading, writing, and revising during this semester. We’ll spend much of our time in the detailed discussion of your own creative work. We’ll also read the work of a diverse array of contemporary writers to gain an understanding of contemporary American poetry. You will learn the state of the art and you will contribute to its continuing evolution as engaged and active artists.

Actively participate in the workshop by receiving and providing critical feedback

Define key terms including diction, syntax, line break, stanza, image, metaphor, simile, and cliché.

Define the term ‘free verse’ and write free verse poems that feature tactile imagery and original phrasing/description free of clichéd language.

Understand the difference between concrete and abstract language.

Understand the poetic line as a unit of sound and meaning.

Generate evocative titles for their poetry.

Understand how punctuation shapes rhythm, cadence, and meaning in a poem.

Produce at least one poem that is multilingual.

Produce a final portfolio of free verse poetry that includes first drafts and final revisions.

ENG 390/391. Intermediate Fiction Workshop. 3 Credit Hours.   This workshop will look at the construction of effective contemporary stories. Its intention is to build a community of writers with a commitment to craft, to risk taking, and to building each other’s own sense of story. Students are expected to generate 20-30 pages of new writing and to complete one revision of a full-length story. In addition, each student may be expected to discuss writing from a reflective and critical perspective in the form of an annotated bibliography, close reading, essay, presentation, response paper, review, or some other form determined by the instructor. Topics may include an element of craft (i.e. balancing story with flashback), a narrative strategy (such as the unreliable narrator) or an exploration of a particular writer, group of writers, or writing school. This course meets requirements for creative writing majors and minors.

Prer equisite:  ENG 219 Or ENG 290 Or Permission of Creative Writing Director.  May not be taken in the same term with another Creative Writing course.

Write and revise 20-30 pages of new writing.

Develop and refine the use of literary elements in their short stories.

Develop their sense of what it means to be part of a writing community via workshop, attendance of literary events.

Read contemporary writers, including work from multilingual and/or multicultural writers.

Discuss writing from a reflective or critical perspective in the form of an annotated bibliography, close reading, essay, presentation, response paper, review or some other form determined by the instructor.

ENG 392/391. Intermediate Poetry Workshop .   3 Credit Hours.   This course will continue your development as writers and critical readers of poetry. While you may be familiar with workshop practices from prior courses, this intermediate workshop will challenge you into offering increasingly sophisticated feedback to your peers. We’ll be seeking similarly sophisticated turns of thought and language in the poems you write. Our course reading will complicate your notions of what’s possible in poetry and inspire you to write poems unlike any you have written before. 

Prerequisite:   ENG 219 Or ENG 292.  Or Permission of Creative Writing Director. May not be taken in the same term with another Creative Writing course.

Learning outcomes

Receive and offer critical feedback in workshop with an eye towards submitting their work to undergraduate literary journals like   Mangrove .

Display a deeper understanding of the terminology and elements of craft introduced in ENG 292/219.

Experiment with more figurative language, unconventional forms, and cross-genre work.

Be able to distinguish between free verse and formal poetry with an increased knowledge of terms like metered verse, blank verse, rhyme scheme, and fixed form.

Develop a stronger sense of his/her revision process with an emphasis on independent self-direction.

Produce a final portfolio of free verse poetry that includes first drafts and final revisions with an eye towards submitting their work to undergraduate literary journals at UM or elsewhere.

Read and offer original analysis of poetry by contemporary writers, including work from multilingual and/or multicultural poets.

ENG 404. Creative Writing (Fiction Prose). 3 Credit Hours.   This workshop will look at the construction of effective contemporary short stories. Its intention is to build a community of serious writers with a commitment to craft, to risk taking, and to building each other’s own sense of story. It is my hope that you find the material deep inside you and that you use your craft, your ability to risk and your community to develop your works. In addition to workshopping student narratives, we will ground our discussions in published contemporary short stories to give your own stories context in form and inspiration to grow. In the end, I intend for you to be strong storytellers and readers, able to write, critique and revise your works in a confident manner. This course meets requirements for creative writing majors with a concentration in fiction.

Prer equisite : ENG 390 Or Permission of Creative Writing Director.  May not be taken in the same term with another Creative Writing course.

Students should produce 20-30 pages of writing.

Construct effective short stories and write outside the short story form as well. This may include flash fiction, novellas, chapters from novels-in-progress, digital expressions, etc.

Read at an advanced and challenging level.

Take risks in their writing in order to develop the content of their work.

Be introduced to basic ideas about publishing for emerging writers.

Create a portfolio that is future-minded. In other words, the portfolios should include samples of work and the revision process, as well as proposals regarding either longer work to be written post-graduation, or postgrad plans, a process letter that serves as self-assessment, or an annotated list of goals for continuing the life of the writer after the undergraduate degree is completed.

ENG 406. Creative Writing (Poetry Workshop). 3 Credit Hours.   Students in this advanced poetry workshop will have the opportunity for hands-on experimentation with poetic crafts—structure, language, musicality—as well as for research, collaboration, and critique.  We’ll mine memory, mix genres, and explore culture and linguistic inventions, while enjoying the work of a diverse array of contemporary and canonical poets.  Through annotations and lively discussions of both contemporary poems and student work, as well as through exercises and assignments, students will create poetry of increasing risk and quality and develop the skills necessary to advance their craft.  A final portfolio of creative and critical work is due at the semester’s end.

Prerequisite:   ENG 392 Or ENG 391 Or Permission of Creative Writing Director. May not be taken in the same term with another Creative Writing course.

Receive and offer highly informed and eloquent critical feedback in workshop with an eye towards submitting their work to undergraduate literary journals like   Mangrove   and/or towards the compilation of an MFA application portfolio.

Write original work that reveals their unique aesthetic interests and displays a strong sense of individual voice.

Discuss their specific literary models and influences by speaking and writing knowledgably about the work of published poets they either admire or find difficult.

Experiment with more figurative language, unconventional forms, and cross-genre work

Effectively experiment in multiple languages, including writing in vernacular, dialects, and even invented language.

Be able to dramatically transform their poems from one draft to another with an emphasis on linguistic originality, descriptive sophistication, and thematic complication.

Produce a final portfolio of poetry that includes final revisions with an eye towards submitting their work to undergraduate literary journals at UM or elsewhere or towards the compilation of an MFA application portfolio.

Course Description for 407

Special Topics Advanced Workshop in Creative Writing

This course explores special topics in Creative Writing. Students will be taken step by step through the process of writing compelling fiction, poetry or nonfiction in the genre and specific form of the professor’s choice. Students will learn the basic skills and attitudes needed to research, produce and write in that specific form. Readings in the form will be broad and challenging. By the end of the course, students will have developed a portfolio of work that reflects the form under study.

Prerequisite:  ENG 390 or Permission of Creative Writing Director. This course may not be taken concurrently with another creative writing workshop.

Produce a significant amount of written work, equivalent to what is asked of them in ENG 404, but tailored to the needs and standards of the form being studied.

Recognize the major elements of the topic under study, and be able to talk about them in formal terms related to that topic.

Model the readings in their work via writing assignments, reflecting an understanding of the topic.

Complete a final portfolio or project that reflects their best work, their understanding of the topic, and their process.

Course Description for 408

Writing Autobiography

This course explores the writing of prose or poetry as autobiography. Students will be taken step by step through the process of writing compelling memoir, the essay, blogging or creative nonfiction as a way of exploring the Self. Students will learn the basic skills and attitudes needed to research, produce and write autobiography. Readings in the form will be broad and challenging. By the end of the course, students will have developed a portfolio of work that reflects the form under study.

Recognize the major elements of autobiography, creative nonfiction and the essay; and be able to talk about them in formal terms.

Model the readings in their work via writing assignments, reflecting an understanding of form.

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ENG 231. Intro to Creative Writing

Spring 2014.

Introduction to Creative Writing

Course description.

Introduces the craft and practice of creative writing. Engages with both contemporary and classic authors within the primary genres of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. May also include exploration of other genres such as drama, screenwriting, digital storytelling, film, and performance genres. Develops use of craft elements discussed in class to compose original work in at least two genres. Covers revision practices for voice and purpose. Audit Available.

Course Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 

• Identify the basic craft elements of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction writing. 
• Read critically to analyze poetry, fiction, essays, and other written works. 
• Write original poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction works. 
• Participate in workshop method of critiquing creative writing. 
• Revise works within the creative writing process.

Suggested Outcome Assessment Strategies

The determination of assessment strategies is generally left to the discretion of the instructor. Here are some strategies that you might consider when designing your course: writings (journals, self-reflections, pre writing exercises, essays), quizzes, tests, midterm and final exams, group projects, presentations (in person, videos, etc), self-assessments, experimentations, lab reports, peer critiques, responses (to texts, podcasts, videos, films, etc), student generated questions, Escape Room, interviews, and/or portfolios. 

Department suggestions: Original poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction works, peer workshop, written analysis of creative texts.

Course Activities and Design

The determination of teaching strategies used in the delivery of outcomes is generally left to the discretion of the instructor. Here are some strategies that you might consider when designing your course: lecture, small group/forum discussion, flipped classroom, dyads, oral presentation, role play, simulation scenarios, group projects, service learning projects, hands-on lab, peer review/workshops, cooperative learning (jigsaw, fishbowl), inquiry based instruction, differentiated instruction (learning centers), graphic organizers, etc.

Course Content

Outcome #1: identify the basic crat elements of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction writing..

• point of view
• symbolism/allegory
• figurative language
• rhyme scheme
• speaker vs poet
• basic poetic forms (i.e. sonnet, haiky, villanelle, sestia, acrostic, ballad, ode, free verse, limerick, etc.)

Outcome #2: Read critically to analyze poetry, fiction, and essays.

• identiry genre
• identify main idea/point/purpose
• describe structure
• impacts of author choices
• annotating a text
• making claims
• summary vs analysis
• in class workshop
• instruction in constructive feedback (both written and verbal)
• crafting question as feedback

Outcome #3: Write original poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction work.

• Brainstorming
• writing journal 
• acrostic prompts
• hermit crab/mimic forms
• written description of images
• timed freewriting
• at least one fiction draft
• 2-5 poem drafts
• at least one creative nonfiction draft

Outcome #4: Participate in workshop method of critiquing creative writing.

• set community standards for in class workshop
• written drafts submitted in advance
• instruction on constructive and polite feeback
• guided workshop process
• both verbal and written feedback among peers

Outcome #5: Revise works within the creative writing process.

• reverse outlines
• cut & amp; rearrange
• scan and highlight
• revision checklists
• diction/word choice
• consistent point of view
• shifts in verb tense
• sentence/line variety
• paragraph breakdown
• integrate insights from workshop process in revision work
• integrate insights from readings in revision work
• write self-assessment of revision process

Suggested Texts and Materials

• OER Text:  Write or Left: An OER Textbook for Creative Writing Classes. Compiled and written by Sybil Priebe, an Associate Professor at the North Dakota State College of Science.
• OER Text:  the anti-textbook of writing (remixed). By Sybil Priebe and students.
• OER Text:  Introduction to Creative Writing. Linda Frances Lein, Alexandria Technical and Community College – Distance Minnesota
• OER Text:  Creative Writing, Creative Process. Matthew Cheney, Plymouth State University

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Creative Writing Course Descriptions

Winter 2021, wr 224, introduction to fiction writing.

See the Course Catalog for available sections.

WR 224 is an introduction to the writing of fiction. Our approach in this fiction writing workshop will be to develop your skills as a creative writer through several means: careful reading and analysis of our own work; careful reading and analysis of established writers’ work; the execution of several meaningful fiction exercises; and a constant commitment to revision. Assessment methods include creative writing exercises, quizzes and reading checks on textbook craft sections, peer review, and the evolution of a short story from first to final, polished draft by the end of the term. Successful completion of Writing 121 is a prerequisite for this course.

Bacc Core, Skills – Writing II (CSW2)

Liberal Arts Fine Arts Core (LACF)

Wayne Harrison

WR 224 is an introduction to the writing of fiction. Our approach in this online fiction writing workshop will be to develop your skills as a creative writer through several means: careful reading and analysis of our own work; careful reading and analysis of established writers’ work; the execution of several meaningful fiction exercises; and a constant commitment to revision. Assessment methods include creative writing exercises, quizzes and reading checks on textbook craft sections, peer review, and the evolution of a short story from first to final, polished draft by the end of the term. Successful completion of Writing 121 is a prerequisite for this course

WR 240, INTRODUCTION TO NONFICTION WRITING

Creative nonfiction is the genre of creative writing that bridges the act of making literary prose--the crafting of vivid scenes, a thoughtful narrative voice, and meaningful formats--with the kinds of practical personal writing often required in our academic and professional lives. In this course, we will discuss several published pieces from the creative nonfiction genre, including personal essays, memoir, and lyric essay. More importantly, we will also write, edit, workshop, and revise several pieces of our own creative nonfiction. Expect a lively class with lots of imaginative prompts, free-writes, and hardy discussion.

Bacc Core Requirement(s) Fulfilled: Core, Skills, WR II

WR 241, INTRODUCTION TO POETRY WRITING

“The art of poetry is ultimately an art of attention—Michael Blumenthal.” Throughout this course, we will consider the tools necessary to approach poetry more attentively as both readers and writers. This course will provide a firm grounding in the rudiments of poetic craft such as word choice, line breaks, imagery, structure, and other devices, as well as an introduction to different forms available to poets. We will consistently work through writing exercises and read/ discuss the work of various poets in order to aid us in the generation of our own poems.

WR 324, SHORT STORY WRITING

Kristin Griffin

Prerequisite: WR 224. This class is a workshop for writers experienced in writing fiction. Students learn techniques of the form by discussing their work, as well as the assigned readings, in a group setting. We’ll be reading work by current writers, some of whom will Skype in with advice, and learning the features of today’s literary landscape. The course assumes familiarity with major fiction writers and fundamental craft concepts such as point of view, characterization, dialogue, and theme. If you’re hoping to take your short story writing skills to the next level, this course is for you!

WR 424, ADVANCED FICTION WRITING

Rob Drummond

In this workshop we will read and write fiction.  Using published stories as models, we’ll discuss methods of characterization, plotting, scene-setting, dialogue, and so on.  Much of our work together will involve close reading and analysis of the texts in question.  Our emphasis will be on writing more complicated and sophisticated stories with concision and economy.

WR 440, ADVANCED CREATIVE NONFICTION

Justin St. Germain

In WR 466/566, Professional Writing, we’ll study texts, contexts and concepts important to the practice of professional writing and produce documents for both paper and digital distribution. As future professional writers, students will be expected to analyze organizations and institutions in order to develop effective communicative practices. Therefore, the class is organized with an eye towards future action: you will be reading what others have done and we will be developing strategies for your own future writing activities. The fundamental question addressed in this class is: what do professional writers do? Through the course, students will read definitions of professional and technical writing from academic and professional perspectives. Students will also research and report on a variety of documents in genres common in professional and technical writing as they develop an awareness of genre. Class reading and writing assignments have been designed to help students gain greater insight into the issues and challenges of professional writing in a variety of workplace contexts.

Click here for a full list of Winter 2021 course descriptions in Applied Journalism, English, Film, and Writing.

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Creative Writing Program

1000 E. University Ave.

Laramie, WY 82071

Phone: 307-766-6452

Fax: 307-766-3189

Email: [email protected]

Course Descriptions

CW 1040 Intro to Creative Writing    Bergstraesser      

This course is designed to help you craft various works of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. In addition to in-class writing exercises, creative exercises outside of class, and discussions, you will critique each other’s writing in a constructive workshop atmosphere—thereby developing useful editorial skills that will help you improve your own writing.

Through lecture and discussion, we will explore the technique and devices involved in creating these three genres. We will read and discuss the works of many different writers, using their technique and content as a guide for your own writing.

And if this course description seems dull, the class is anything but.

CW 2080 Intro to Poetry      Northrop        TR 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

In this course we will read and write poetry; we will discuss, enthuse over and question our responses, question the poems and our expectations of poems. Completing and revising both in- and out-of-class writing assignments, students should expect to produce, by the end of the semester, a poetry portfolio (and artist statement).  Class time will be divided between discussion of reading assignments and workshop submissions.  Please see instructor with any questions. 

CW 2125 Special Topics in Writing: Animals. Northrop. TR 2:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Our worlds are not the only worlds. We live with and beside the non-human animals: pronghorn, Swainson’s hawks, lap dogs, mountain lions straying through town, pine beetles, Mourning Cloaks, drowned kittens, nighthawks overhead, raccoons in the kitchen, Mountain Whitefish.  How do we sound these worlds?  And why? To what ends?  Writers have long looked to and imagined the non-human, but how  do  we do that?  How do we write (and think) that which we name but may not be able to fully know?  In this course we will consider (through class discussion of assigned readings, independent research, writing exercises and semester-long creative writing projects) ways of thinking / representing non-human animals and our relationships with them. In this course, we will approach and mind those relationships.

We will be considering a range of creative work: stories, poems, essays, short videos, dramatic monologues, paintings, photographs.  Of each creative piece we will discuss the questions that we read as driving the piece, and the questions the piece raises for us.  It’s not possible for me to know our questions now, ahead of time, but some  possible  questions, or rather, some of my own questions:  How do we look at non-human animals?  How are we looked at?  How do non-human animal and human animal lives intersect?  What boundaries have been erected historically and why, to what end?  How are our lives shaped by non-human animals?  How are non-human animals lives shaped?  What responsibilities do humans have?  What causes for joy, what concerns?

CW 4050-02 Writers Workshop: Fiction. Pexton. TR 1:20 p.m. - 2:35 p.m.  

In this class students will read examples of published short stories, and possibly some longer work, and participate in discussions that break down the elements of fiction at work: character, setting/place, point of view, tone/style/narrative voice, dialog, conflict/plot, main ideas, etc. The reading will be mostly, if not entirely, Realism. The writing will be short stories of varying length, from flash fiction to short-short stories to full-length stories. Students who wish to write longer pieces should discuss the work with the instructor before committing to such a project for this class. The writing will be approximately 30 pp +/- of original fiction (this excludes, for the purposes of this course, fan fiction or game fiction) plus additional writing of occasional exercises and critiques/analyses of the outside reading and peers' work. Attendance required. If circumstances force the class to move entirely online, attendance will consist of posting required materials on the required date at the required hour. Text materials supplied by the instructor.   

CW 5540-01 Seminar: Writing for Public Audiences. Brown. 

CW 5540-02 Seminar. Northrop. T 4:10 p.m. - 7:10 p.m.

CW 5560-01 Writing Workshop: Time & Place. Hagy. M 3:10 p.m. - 6:20 p.m.

CW 5560-02 Writing Workshop: Creative Nonfiction. Brown. W 3:10 p.m. - 6:20 p.m.

For a full listing all courses offered by Creative Writing, please use the UW Catalog .

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ENGL 2800 Creative Writing

Course description.

An introductory course in the theory, practice, and reading of fiction, poetry, and allied forms. Both narrative and verse readings are assigned. Students will learn to savor and practice the craft of poetry and narrative writing, developing techniques that inform both. Some class meetings may feature peer review of student work, and instructors may assign writing exercises or prompts.

Prerequisites

Completion of the First-Year Writing Seminar requirement.

Summer 2024: Online course

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Academic Catalog Toggle navigation Menu

Academic catalog, creative writing courses.

Introduction to Creative Writing (3-0) Study and practice of essential techniques of creative writing in at least two genres.

Department: Creative Writing

3 Credit Hours 3 Total Contact Hours 0 Lab Hours 3 Lecture Hours 0 Other Hours

Corequisite(s):

Study of the literary devices, techniques, and aesthetic ideas that inform the writing of peotry and narrative fiction. Required for creative writing majors and minors.

Reading and Writing Fiction (3-0) Intensive study, reading and practice in the various forms and approaches of fiction writing, including workshop discussion and individual studnet manuscripts. Prerequisites: CRW 3362 with a grade of "C" or better and department approval.

Prerequisite(s): ( CRW 3362 w/C or better)

Reading and Writing Poetry (3-0) Intensive study, reading and practice in the various forms and approaches within poetry writing, including workshop discussion of individual student poems. Prerequisites: CRW 3362 with a grade of "C" or better and department approval.

Writing in Society (3-0) Study of the creation of literature and literary movements as responses to historical moments and societal changes, e.g. war poetry, the development of literary magazines, the Harlem Renaissance, the Latin American Boom. Prerequisites: CRW 3362 with a grade of "C" or better and department approval.

Narrative Techniques (3-0) Analysis of techniques, methods, and theories employed in the making of fiction and/or non-fiction. Writings may include critical reflections and short exercises in style. Prerequisites: CRW 3362 with a grade of "C" or better and department approval.

Poetics (3-0) Analysis of techniques, methods, and theories employed in the making of poetry. Writings may include critical reflections and short exercises in style. Prerequisites: CRW 3362 or ENGL 3362 with a grade of "C" or better and department approval.

Prerequisite(s): ( CRW 3362 w/C or better ) OR (ENGL 3362 w/C or better)

Teaching Creative Writing (3-0) This course will teach pre-service teachers/instructors, as both teachers and writers, how to engage students in methods, techniques, and pedagogy relevant to literary analysis and creation. They will be expected to gain proficiency in writing one or more literary genres, while constructing syllabi and assignments relevant to the teaching of these same genres. Prerequisite: Department approval.

Playwriting (3-0) Intensive study, reading and practice in the various forms and approaches of playwriting, including workshop discussion of individual student plays. Prerequisites: CRW 3362 with a grade of "C' or better and department approval.

Screenwriting (3-0) Intensive study, reading and practice in various forms and approaches of screenwriting, including workshop discussion of individual student screenplays. Prerequisites: CRW 3362 with a grade of "C' or better and department approval.

Non-Fiction (3-0) Intensive study, reading and practice in the various forms and approaches of non-fiction, including workshop discussion of individual student non-fiction. Prerequisites: CRW 3362 with a grade of "C" or better and department approval.

Literary Translation (3-0) Theoretical consideration, reading and practice in various forms and approaches to literary translation, including individual projects. Prerequisites: CRW 3362 with a grade of "C" or better and department approval.

Senior Seminar (3-0) Small-group focus on a specific literary topic of relevance to creative writers, alongside individual projects leading to a senior research paper. Prerequisite: Department approval.

Honors Seminar (3-0) Individual creative manuscript projects under the direction and structured guidance of the honors instructor, including weekly meetings with the other seminar students. Prerequisite: Department approval.

Poetics and Performance (3-0) This course will engage pre-service teachers/instructors in examining the relationship between poetry and performance. Discussions will include the role of the poetry reading, the influence of musical forms on poetry, and approaches to performance poetry. Students will develop exercises that help them engage with and teach the historical models related to performance and poetry Prerequisite: Department approval.

Oral History Ethnography and Field Techniques (3-0) This course will engage pre-service teachers/instructors in basic techniques and theoretical concepts of oral history compilation and ethnography as they pertain to imaginative literature. They will be asked to use interviews and archival material as the genesis of a creative process, producing imaginative work themselves as well as creating assignments for student consumption. The course will provide a research component to help students correlate field study and writing practice with their work in classrooms. Prerequisite: Department approval.

Individual directed study. Instructor approval required.

3 Credit Hours 3 Total Contact Hours 0 Lab Hours 0 Lecture Hours 3 Other Hours

Course Syllabus

Course Description

"creative writing 101: nurturing the art of expression".

"Creative Writing 101" delves into the enigmatic essence of human creativity, especially as it manifests in written form. Our journey spans a vast expanse of genres: from timeless novels, intense dramas, lyrical poetry, insightful essays, screenplay arts, to the everyday stories that bind us. Each genre, in its own way, offers a fresh perspective on the creative impulse.

At the heart of any writer's work lies their unique voice. This course emphasizes the exploration of the Writer's Voice, its distinct resonance, and the personality it reflects. We will discuss how writing serves not just as a tool for storytelling but also as a therapeutic avenue. The course will dismantle myths surrounding the writing process, delving into the age-old legends and narratives that have shaped our understanding of the written word. The inspiration you seek might be found in the most unexpected of places, and we aim to guide you there.

Who can truly grasp the entirety of creativity? The one who does might be hailed as the most profound author of our time. Yet, it is this very search, this passionate pursuit, that forms the crux of our exploration. Your creative prowess isn't mere self-deception or hubris. Whether a neophyte or a seasoned professional, your creative essence is intrinsic, akin to your smile or the unique way you perceive the world around you. In many ways, tapping into this creativity is a spiritual endeavor, a connection to the larger tapestry of existence.

Creativity isn't limited to art; it's intertwined with our daily lives. For instance, consider the myriad choices that go into creating something as commonplace as a phone directory: from typography decisions to content layout. Yet, in the hands of an actor of Al Pacino's caliber, even a phone book can be rendered with the dramatic flair of Shakespearean prose. Creativity is everywhere, waiting to be recognized and harnessed.

Your understanding of your own creative process is deeply personal. It's a flame that demands nurturing. Writers, in particular, face unique challenges. Unlike instantaneous art forms, written works require time to be consumed. They demand dissemination, be it through publication or digital platforms. Recognition can be an arduous journey. Yet, the passion for writing, the irresistible pull towards self-expression, remains undimmed.

How does one cultivate creativity? It's akin to holistic self-care. Renowned figures like the Dalai Lama, St. Francis of Assisi, and Mahatma Gandhi have all contemplated the unfathomable depths of creativity without arriving at a definitive understanding. Instead of dissecting creativity, we should foster it, letting it grow organically. In essence, nurturing your creativity is synonymous with nurturing your very soul.

The benefits of creativity are manifold. It uplifts spirits, heals wounds, and brings joy. At times, it can be a ticket to prosperity or a tool for forging connections. Yet, as with all things, it comes with its risks. The very passion that fuels creativity can sometimes become overwhelming, so it's essential to maintain a balance.

As you traverse the world of creative writing, remember this: writing, at its core, is an art of innovation. It's a dance of ideas, a harmonious blend of thoughts and expressions. In the vast realm of creativity, there is no room for stagnation. Movement, growth, and evolution are its lifeblood.

What is creative writing? In its purest form, it's unadulterated joy!

Course Outline:

• Lesson 1 : Personal Creativity in Writing
• Lesson 2 : Exploring Various Written Forms and Their Creative Essence
• Lesson 3 : The Art and Soul of Poetry Writing
• Lesson 4 : Crafting Essays: A Source of Creative Bliss
• Lesson 5 : The World of Stories and Fiction
• Lesson 6 : The Spectrum of Dramatic Forms
• Lesson 7 : Novels: Diving Deep into Extended Narratives
• Lesson 8 : Writing From Experience, Acknowledging the Unknown
• Lesson 9 : Your Unique Identity as a Writer
• Lesson 10 : Embracing Writing as Therapeutic Practice
• Lesson 11 : Illusions in Writing: Separating Myths from Reality
• Lesson 12 : Culinary Arts as a Writer's Metaphor
• Lesson 13 : Writing for the Soul vs. Audience Pleasure
• Lesson 14 : Connecting Words with the Infinite
• Lesson 15 : Grappling with the Limitations and Boundlessness of Words.

Dive into the fascinating world of creative writing and uncover the artist within you.

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Learning Outcomes

• Define ways to develop personal creativity in writing.
• Describe various written forms and define the creative flow.
• Demonstrate creativity through easy essays.
• Describe dramatic forms.
• Demonstrate your personality in your writing.
• Compare and contrast writing a novel versus writing a short story.
• Describe how writing can be therapeutic.
• Demonstrate mastery of lesson content at levels of 70% or higher.

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Class Schedule and Course Descriptions

Fall 2024 class schedule and course descriptions.

C W 101 1  Introduction to Creative Writing   ONLINE  Matthew Davison      C W 101 2  Introduction to Creative Writing   ONLINE  Matthew Davison C W 101 3  Introduction to Creative Writing   Tuesday 12:30-3:15 PM TBA C W 101 4  Introduction to Creative Writing   Wednesday 12:30-3:15 PM TBA 

This introductory course focuses on the creative writing process of generating material through writing exercises in poetry, fiction and playwriting. It also examines for craft selected readings of exemplary stories, poems and plays. Open to all students. CROSS GENRE COURSE. 

C W 301 1  Fundamentals of Creative Writing   Thursday 4:00 – 6:45. PM   TBA

Prerequisite:  English 114, or equivalent. Enrollment limited to Creative Writing majors; non-majors admitted with consent of instructor. Instruction and extensive practice in writing poetry, fiction and plays, with selected readings of exemplary stories, poems and plays. This course is the prerequisite to Short Story Writing, Poetry Writing and Playwriting.  CROSS GENRE COURSE.

C W 302 2 Fundamentals of Creative Reading  Tuesday 12:30-3:15 PM TBA

Prerequisite:  English 114, or equivalent. Enrollment limited to Creative Writing majors; non-majors admitted with consent of instructor. Students learn to read like writers through lecture-discussion and reading assignments. Submerges the student in literature and asserts the importance of reading.

C W 511GW 1  Craft Of Poetry - GWAR   ONLINE Monday 4:00-5:40 PM   Paul Hoover

Prerequisites: Restricted to Creative Writing majors; GE Area A2;  C W 301  or equivalent. Focus on basic craft elements of poetry: diction, imagery, rhythm, voice and form. Close readings of published poetry. Creative and critical writing. (ABC/NC only)

C W 512GW 1  Craft Of Fiction - GWAR  ONLINE Tuesday 12:30-2:00 PM  Matthew Davison 

Prerequisites: C W 301; ENG 114; ENG 214; Restricted to Creative Writing majors. Focus on basic craft elements of fiction: plot, dialogue, character, point of view, and place. Discussion of student and professional writing. (ABC/NC only)

C W 520 1  Writers on Writing     Tuesday 7-9:45 PM   Caro De Robertis 

Prerequisite for C W 520 : Upper-division standing; GPA of 3.0 or higher; or permission of the instructor. Faculty and visiting writers representing a wide range of styles and subjects will visit the class to read and discuss their writing. Students will respond to the readings and visits on an ongoing basis through critical essays and creative writing exercises. Paired with C W 820. Note:  this course can be used to fulfill 3 units of the “creative process” requirement. It can only be taken once for credit. Students who have completed C W 820 may not take C W 520 for credit. CROSS GENRE COURSE.

C W 550 1   Poetry Center Workshop ONLINE Wednesday 12:30-3 PM Tonya Foster

Prerequisite for  C W 550 : Upper-division standing; GE Area A2; GPA of 3.0 or higher; or permission of the instructor. A poetry writing and study course aligned with The Poetry Center Reading Series. Features guest performances throughout the semester by outstanding local, national, and international poets, writers, musicians, and related artists. C W 850 / C W 550  is a paired course offering. Students who complete the course at one level may not repeat the course at the other level.

C W 601 1 Work In Progress  ONLINE Monday 4-5:40 PM  Andrew Joron 

Prerequisite: Senior standing in Creative Writing. 

Capstone course for seniors in which undergraduate final project is completed.

C W 606  Art of Revision  Thursday  12:30-3:15 PM   Matthew Davison

Prerequisites: C W 101 or C W 301; C W 302; C W 512GW or C W 603 Examine and experiment with the artistic processes of published writers (and a variety of other artists) who've taken a project from idea to completion. Study interviews, process notes, and "middle drafts" of these artists. Include analyses of the draft process, genre across artistic and literary forms, and creation and revision of student work. CROSS GENRE COURSE

C W 640 1  Transfer Literary Magazine     Wednesday  4-6:45 PM   Junse Kim

Prerequisite:  C W 301; C W 302; C W 511GW or C W 512GW or C W 513GW; or consent of instructor. This course will provide you with practical experience in literary publishing through work on  Transfer , SFSU’s undergrad literary journal.  Students will solicit and evaluate work for publication, gaining practical experience in editing, layout, and production of the journal, as well as in publicizing and promoting the finished product, and taking an active role in  Transfer ’s social media presence.  In addition, we will address various approaches to editing and aesthetics, as well as the politics of representation.  You will investigate your own editorial sensibility through exploratory essays and the creation of a hypothetical literary magazine.   Transfer  Magazine provides you with the opportunity to consider what’s currently being published in literary magazines and what you would add to that culture.  

This is a process course (not a lab) and can be used to fulfill 3 units of the Creative Process requirement. CROSS GENRE COURSE.

C W 675 1 Community Projects-Literature Tuesday 7-9:45 PM Michael David Lukas

Prerequisite: C W 101 or 301 with a grade of C or better. Enrollment is limited to undergraduate majors in English: Creative Writing and English: Education (Creative Writing). Non-majors admitted with consent of instructor. Paid and unpaid internship positions designed to give CW students practical knowledge and experience are available through local literary and arts organizations, civic and community organizations, Bay Area school districts and within the Creative Writing Community at SF State. Check out our Community Projects in Literature Internship Leads at  https://creativewriting.sfsu.edu/content/communityprojects-0 . Incredible academic internships are also available for C W 675/875 credit through SF State's Institute for Civic and Community Engagement (ICCE). Check out their list of paid and unpaid internships at  http://icce.sfsu.edu . These working by remote and/or in person internships are robust opportunities to 'learn by doing'. If you have any questions, please contact Michael David Lukas at [email protected] . C W 675/875 may be taken twice for 6 units of credit.     

C W 699   Independent Study          By Arrangement   

Prerequisite:  Consent of instructor and a 3.0 GPA.  Upper division students may enroll in a course of Independent Study under the supervision of a member of the Creative Writing department, with whom the course is planned, developed, and completed. This course may be taken for one, two, or three units. No priority enrollment; enrollment is by petition, and a copy of your unofficial SF State transcript. Petition for Individual Study forms are available online  https://registrar.sfsu.edu/sites/default/files/indstudyi.pdf . This form must be signed by the instructor you will be working with, and the department chair. Your instructor will give you the schedule and permit numbers to add the course during the first week of the semester. 

GRADUATE CLASSES:

Note:  Preference in all Creative Writing graduate courses will be given to students admitted to either the M.A. or the M.F.A. programs in Creative Writing.  Preference in M.F.A. level courses will be given to students admitted to the M.F.A. program.  Priority in M.A. and M.F.A. writing workshops and creative process courses will be given to students admitted in the genre of the course.  Other Creative Writing M.A./M.F.A. students may enroll in these courses only with the permission of the instructor.

C W 803 1  Advanced Short Story Writing   Thursday 4-6:45 PM   Junse Kim

Prerequisite: Classified graduate standing in Creative Writing. Priority enrollment given to graduate Creative Writing fiction students; open to Creative Writing students in other genres only on a space available basis, to be determined at the first class meeting. In this seminar/workshop we will dissect the intricacies of fiction craft in Short Stories through discussions of assigned readings, students’ work and in-class exercises. We will analyze character, conflict, narrative structure, plot development as well as other aspects of craft and consider how they all work together in fulfilling a story’s dramatic intent.  There will be an emphasis on integrating this knowledge into your own writing process, from initial draft to revision, in order to make your work fully realized.

C W 809  Directed Writing for Graduate Students      By Arrangement

Prerequisite: Classified graduate standing in Creative Writing. Permission of the instructor is required to take this course; you will be dropped without prior consent of the instructor. The semester before you plan to enroll in Directed Writing, submit a sample of your writing in the instructor’s mailbox along with a note explaining that you want to take their Directed Writing class. Be sure you include your name, address, phone number and email. If the instructor is on leave, please email your writing sample to her or him.                                                                 

 C W 809 1  Directed Writing BA Students     ARR          Michelle Carter [email protected]

 C W 809 2  Directed Writing BA Students     ARR          Caro De Robertis [email protected]

 C W 809 3  Directed Writing BA Students     ARR          Paul Hoover [email protected]  

 C W 809 4  Directed Writing BA Students     ARR         Chanan Tigay [email protected]

C W 810 1  Documentary Poetics, Lighting Up: Seeing Things, Feeling Spirit (an Image-Text Documentary Poetics Workshop) ONLINE Tuesday 4-5:40 PM Tonya Foster 

Prerequisite: Classified graduate status in creative writing or consent of instructor. In a conversation with cultural critic and musician Greg Tate, cinematographer and filmmaker Arthur Jafa asserted that “rhythm in black art illuminates the spirit.” Jafa went on to explain that rhythm may be understood as the “least material but the most felt.” Spirit occupies that rhythmic territory in that it is on the outer edges of the material, and at the center of feeling. In music, it is the rhythm which holds us and moves us emotionally and intellectually. What are the textual and visual analogues for how music moves us—both crowds of us and the crowds within us? This is a writing workshop in which we'll explore what it is to witness and document what is and register possibilities of what may yet be. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.

C W 810 2  Speculative Fiction  Thursday 4-6:45 PM  Andrew Joron

Prerequisite: classified graduate status, M.A. or M.F.A. in Creative Writing. Speculative fiction is a genre that gives priority to “cognitive estrangement,” using narrative prose to push beyond ordinary reality into a zone where the familiar becomes strange and the strange familiar. This course will survey various modes of modern speculative fiction, including science fiction and fantasy, dystopian and Gothic literature, surrealism and magical realism. Students will utilize readings in these modes as points of departure for their own creative writing. The assigned readings will include works by Philip K. Dick, Ursula LeGuin, Octavia Butler, Ted Chiang and Nnedi Okorafor.  

C W  820 1  Writers on Writing   Tuesday  7:00-9:45 PM   Caro De Robertis 

Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of the instructor. Faculty and visiting writers representing a wide range of styles and subjects will visit the class to read and discuss their writing. Students will respond to the readings and visits on an ongoing basis through critical essays and creative writing exercises. Paired with C W 520. Note:  this course can be used to fulfill 3 units of the C W 810 (creative process) requirement. It can only be taken once for credit. Students who have completed C W 520 may not take C W 820 for credit.  CROSS GENRE COURSE.

C W 840 1  14 Hills Literary Magazine  Tuesday 4-6:45 PM  Michael David Lukas

Prerequisite: Classified graduate standing in Creative Writing. Fourteen Hills is a working small press as well as a graduate course in editing, publishing, and other skills essential to thriving and leading in the contemporary literary world. Each year, we publish one issue of  Fourteen Hills: the SFSU Review , a nationally recognized literary print magazine, as well as the Michael Rubin Book Award (MRBA) winner, a book-length work by an SF State student or recent graduate. Fourteen Hills is run entirely by students with support from our Faculty Advisor and the Department of Creative Writing. The course, taught primarily by the Editor-in-Chief, is designed to give students an opportunity to observe and engage in many aspects of running a literary magazine, from editorial decisions to distribution logistics, from public relations and author interviews to curating a literary prize, from aesthetic considerations to the dynamics of equity and narrative justice in the broader publishing field. Students in the class serve as staff for the journal, working closely with the editors to consider and evaluate work for publication as well as learning about the copy-editing process, visual art selection, cover design, distribution, sales, and promotion. This is a class designed to merge real-world, hands-on publishing experience with the honing of skills that can ignite, inspire, and empower us in all our literary endeavors. CROSS GENRE COURSE.

C W 850 1   Poetry Center Workshop ONLINE Wednesday 12:30-3 PM Tonya Foster

Prerequisite for  C W 850 : Graduate standing or permission of the instructor. A poetry writing and study course aligned with The Poetry Center Reading Series and with re-imagining the 70-year old Poetry Center as a Center for Poetry  and  Poetics. Graduate student writers will, in addition to writing their own poetry and short lyric essays, be asked to think through parts of the Poetry Center archives and propose PC multi-disciplinary futures. Features guest performances throughout the semester by outstanding local, national, and international poets, writers, musicians, and related artists. C W 850 / C W 550  is a paired course offering. Students who complete the course at one level may not repeat the course at the other level.

C W 853 1   Workshop in Fiction  Wednesday  4-6:45 PM     Nona Caspers

Prerequisite: Classified graduate status in the M.F.A. in Creative Writing or consent of instructor. Every work of art has its own consciousness and subtext waiting to be explored—its own demands and invitations.  In this graduate workshop course, we will strive to recognize what is alive and compelling in each other’s material, the invitations—and to help each other follow our own intuitive and intellectual impulses in developing the material. The following opening questions may help: what experience is being offered, on its own terms? And what’s strong and in motion? We’ll practice locating the heat, delights, surprises, intrigues. (These passages point to your subtext and once located can be further explored/crafted). We’ll locate possibilities for development and offer targeted writing experiments intended to unearth the real thing in the work-in-progress.  The intention is that the feedback discussions will stir up the writer’s (and everybody else’s) imagination in concrete ways, so they can further commit to and participate with the text’s deepest currents— on the text’s own terms .  Students can submit fresh work or significantly revised works-in-progress twice in semester (up to 25 pages)—projects that may already be in motion. Students will also have opportunities to show brief experiments. We will together create our class MFA Fiction Course Reader—to accompany each week’s discussion and inspire us toward the art of language and crafting possibilities. May be repeated for a total of 18 units. 

C W 854 1   Workshop in Poetry Wednesday 12:30-3:15 PM Paul Hoover

Prerequisite: Classified graduate standing in MFA in Creative Writing, the MA in English; Creative Writing, or the new MA in Creative Writing.  Students will concentrate on the creation and revision of their poetry.  The class format will include discussion of reading assignments, group discussion of student work, and in-class and at-home writing assignments. 

C W 855 1   Workshop in Playwriting Tuesday 4-6:45 PM TBA

Prerequisite: Restricted to graduate Creative Writing students or permission of the instructor. Students are expected to concentrate on the revision of a play, on bringing work to a finished state, ready for production. May be repeated for a total of 18 units.

C W 859 1  Practicum in Teaching Tuesday 4-6:45 PM  Michelle Carter

Open to both MA and MFA Creative Writing students.  Repeatable once for credit.  Students working for the first time as Pedagogical Apprentices to instructors of undergraduate Creative Writing courses are required to take this Practicum course concurrent with their work with a teacher of record.  Students meet as a group once every three weeks in tandem with asynchronous work on Canvas, posting teaching journals and case studies on a weekly basis.   This course provides pedagogical grounding for pragmatic classroom teaching work and offers students a structured forum in which to discuss their teaching under the supervision of an experienced teacher and in collaboration with other Pedagogical Apprentices.   NB: Each student must make arrangements with an instructor to serve as a Pedagogical Apprentice.

C W 860 1  Teaching Creative Writing Monday 4-6:45 PM  Nona Caspers

Prerequisite: Classified graduate standing in Creative Writing. This course introduces advanced graduate students to the art and practice of teaching creative writing. Creative Writing 301 will serve as our prototype. We’ll be reading essays and interviews, discussing aspects of creative writing pedagogy and performing a variety of rigorous teaching activities. We’ll discuss giving useful feedback for student writers; designing effective writing assignments; use of texts and craft models; strategies for leading discussions of literary works and student works-in-progress. Students will also prepare and execute mini-lectures on a range of craft and process topics and develop a detailed syllabus for an introductory creative writing course. CROSS GENRE COURSE.

C W 866 1  Craft of Translation Tuesday 4-6:45 PM  Caro De Robertis

Prerequisite: Classified graduate status in creative writing or consent of instructor. In this course, we will delve into the rich, nuanced, ever-evolving world of literary translation—which is a creative act of its own, one that draws not only on one’s knowledge of language, but on one’s sensitivity to its music, shades of meaning, culture, aesthetics, and language. To unfurl these themes, we will engage in comparative translation, taking a global tour of international literature through the centuries and exploring the vast range of choices made by translators in bringing them to life in English. A core component of this class will be your own original work as a translator, and workshop discussions where the rubber meets the road. Fluency in the language you’ll be translating from is wonderful, but not required. Literary translation is an exquisite training ground for creative writers of all genres; in this class, you are invited to intensify your love affair with language, and your capacity to wield it with precision and power.

C W 875 1  Community Projects-Literature  Tuesday 7-9:45 PM   Michael David Lukas

Prerequisite: C W 101 or 301 with a grade of C or better. Enrollment is limited to undergraduate majors in English: Creative Writing and English: Education (Creative Writing). Non-majors admitted with consent of instructor. Paid and unpaid internship positions designed to give CW students practical knowledge and experience are available through local literary and arts organizations, civic and community organizations, Bay Area school districts and within the Creative Writing Community at SF State. Check out our Community Projects in Literature Internship Leads at  https://creativewriting.sfsu.edu/content/communityprojects-0 .  Incredible academic internships are also available for C W 675/875 credit through SF State's Institute for Civic and Community Engagement (ICCE). Check out their list of paid and unpaid internships at  http://icce.sfsu.edu . These working by remote and/or in person internships are robust opportunities to 'learn by doing'. If you have any questions, please contact Michael David Lukas at [email protected] . C W 675/875 may be taken twice for 6 units of credit.                         

C W 880 1 Vampires, Androids, Detectives Tuesday 12:30–3:15 PM   Michael David Lukas

Prerequisite: Classified graduate standing M.F.A. C W or consent of instructor. Over the past two decades, the field of creative writing has undergone a number of significant developments. One of the most exciting and far-reaching is literary fiction’s cross-pollination with what has been called “the more speculative genres.” Authors as stylistically diverse as Kazou Ishiguro, Karen Russell, Marlon James and Michael Chabon have used the tropes of science fiction, fantasy, detective novels and comic books to help revitalize literary fiction in an age of hybridity and interconnection, while at the same time helping to redefine the very idea of realism. In this course we will map the “genre borderlands” exploring the idea of genre fiction, how various genres have changes in the past fifty years and how writers of all stripes have used genre tropes to push the boundaries of both literary and genre fiction. Concurrent with these discussions, we will also try our hand at writing in various generic styles, pushing our own work to new and exciting places.

C W 882 1  The Comedic Play  Monday 4-6:45 PM   Michelle Carter

The centuries-old comedic genres aren't going anywhere--satire, farce, burlesque, comedy of manners, parody. Nor is our pleasure in laughter, "that sudden glory," ever likely to wane.  It's hard to imagine a time in which comedy could feel more urgent, more necessary, or more impossible than our own. We turn to comedy, as ever, to entertain and amuse.  We also treasure it as a force of disturbance, of disruption. We look to comedy "to comfort the afflicted."  We also cherish its power "to afflict the comfortable." It can be a howl of pain, or an eruption of joy. It can interrogate or comfort. We hold dear its power to transgress, and at the same time, we fear its power to offend. And often struggle over the distinction.  

In this course, we'll read and view contemporary comedic works with a wide range of intentions. We'll analyze the aims of these works and the theatrical strategies their creators have employed, responding to creative prompts each week in search of our own discoveries. In the final weeks of the semester, each student will share a draft of all or part of a comedic play of their own.

C W 893  Written M.A. Creative Project (3 units)  By Arrangement

Prerequisite:  advancement to M.A. candidacy in Creative Writing.  Advancement To Candidacy (ATC) and Culminating Experience Proposal forms must be on file in the Division of Graduate Studies the semester before registration. These 3 units M.A. students sign up for while working on the culminating experience/thesis/written creative project, which may be a collection of short stories, a group of poems, a novel or a play.  To enroll: contact your thesis/written creative work committee chair the first week of the semester for the schedule and permit numbers to add the class. You must enroll in this course or you will not receive credit for your thesis.

C W 893  Written M.F.A. Creative Work (6 units)   By Arrangement

Prerequisite:  advancement to M.F.A. candidacy in Creative Writing; Advancement To Candidacy (ATC) and Culminating Experience Proposal forms must be on file in the Division of Graduate Studies the semester before registration. These 6 units M.F.A. students sign up for while working on the culminating experience/thesis/written creative project, which is expected to be a book length collection of short stories, or poems, or a novel or a play of publishable quality.  Enrollment is by permission number during priority registration/enrollment: you will be emailed the correct class and permission numbers to enroll in your section. You must enroll in this course or you will not receive credit for your thesis.

C W 899  Independent Study    By Arrangement

Prerequisite:  consent of instructor and a minimum GPA of 3.25.  A special study is planned, developed, and completed under the direction of a faculty member. This course may be taken for one, two, or three units. No priority enrollment; enrollment is by petition, and a copy of your unofficial SF State transcript. Petition Individual Study forms are available online  http://registrar.sfsu.edu/sites/default/files/indstudyi.pdf  (699, 899). This form must be signed by the instructor you will be working with and brought with an unofficial transcript for the department chair signature. Your instructor will give you the schedule and permit numbers to add the course during the first week of the semester.       

Archived Class Schedules

• Spring 2024 Class Schedule
• Fall 2023 Class Schedule
• Spring 2023 Class Schedule
• Fall 2022 Class Schedule
• Summer 2022 Class Schedule
• Spring 2022 Class Schedule
• Fall 2021 Class Schedule
• Spring 2021 Class Schedule
• Fall 2020 Class Schedule 
• Spring 2020 Class Schedule
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Creative Writing at City Tech

Course Descriptions

Current creative writing course offerings.

ENG 1141: Introduction to Creative Writing

Introductory techniques and skills in writing poetry, drama, the short story and the essay. Emphasis on the student’s awareness of creative potential. Foundation course for the Academic Minor in Creative Writing.

ENG 2142: Writing Poetry

Practice the craft of writing effective lyric, narrative, and experimental poems, studying poems by accomplished poets and producing poems in a seminar and workshop setting. Key concepts and skills include observation and description, the use of persona, imagery, metaphor, connotation, sound, line breaks, structure in poetry, syntax and grammar. The course incorporates a variety of cultural perspectives in the theory and practice of writing poetry.

Future Creative Writing Courses

Beginning in Fall 2024, new courses in creative writing will be added. See the appropriate college catalog for information on specific class offerings. Forthcoming courses include:

ENG 2143: Writing for the Stage and Screen

An introduction to writing dramatic stories for the stage and screen with a focus on creative processes and techniques associated with creating modern, conventional stories for theater and film. Covers developing scripts, creating story ideas, writing and formatting dramatic scenes, and pitching film and stage projects to peers. The course includes analyzing dramatic literature and engaging in research of dramatic texts, as well as studying methods and theory regarding act-based plays and films.

ENG 2144: Writing Fiction

An introduction to concepts of fiction writing, including strategies for plot and character development, expression, dialogue, point of view, effective language use, and revision. Read from a variety of fiction genres and forms from diverse voices to analyze choices made by professional writers. In-class workshops introduce methods for receiving and delivering effective constructive criticism with the goal of improving creative development.

ENG 2145: Writing Nonfiction: Memoir and the Personal Essay

An introduction to memoir and personal essay writing. Course topics include strategies and techniques to develop an autobiographical point of view, a unique reflective voice, storyline, expression, dialogue, effective language use, and strategies for revision. Read from a variety of genres and forms of memoir, autobiography, personal essays, journals, letters, and diaries to analyze choices and techniques used by professional writers. The workshop portion of this course introduces methods for receiving and delivering effective constructive feedback with the goal of improving one’s own creative development.

For specific course offerings, see the College Catalog for the appropriate semester or contact one of the Minor in Creative Writing program coordinators.

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Department of English

College of arts and sciences, course descriptions, introduction to creative writing.

(4 crs.) Introduction to basic principles of reading and writing poetry, fiction, and nonfiction (may also substitute genres to include drama and/or screenwriting). (Lec. 3. Project 3/Online). (A3) (B1)

Introduction to Literature

(4 crs.) Analysis of literature through reading and discussion of a number of genres derived from a variety of literary cultures. (Lec. 3, Online 1) (A3) (B1)

Poetry Out Loud

(4 crs.) Study of great poetry through the art of performance. Emphasis on public speaking skills, self-confidence, and study of literature to understand and express fundamental beliefs about life, love, pain, happiness. (Lec. 3, Online 1) (A4) (B2)

(4 crs.) Study of great poetry through the art of performance. Emphasis on public speaking skills, self-confidence, and study of literature to understand and express fundamental beliefs about life, love, pain, happiness. (Lec. 3, Online 1/Online) (A4) (B2)

OUTRAGE! Literature of Protest and Dissent

(4 crs.) Study of proud history of poems, songs, plays, and fiction speaking truth to power. Examination of the ways selected literary texts have engaged with different kinds of oppression. (Lec. 3, Online 1) (A3) (C1)

Poplife: How Popular Culture Explains the World

(4 crs.) Introduction to critical study of how social power and inequalities are reproduced and resisted through popular culture. (Lec. 3, Project 3) (A3) (C3)

Tolkien, Wordsworth, and Escapism

(1 cr.) Consideration of the political, intellectual, and aesthetic qualities of escapism as a practice of self care and engagement in challenging times, through the work of two master practitioners of the concept: Wordsworth and Tolkien. (Online) S/U only.

Literatures of the World

(4 crs.) Cross-listed as (ENG), CLS 160. Introduction to significant works of world literature. (Lec. 3, Rec.1, Online 1) (A3) (C2)

Principles of Literary Study

(4 crs.) Introduction to the study of literature through reading and discussion of major methodologies, analytical approaches, and perspectives in literary study. Students will also participate in a series of faculty presentations reflecting current critical and creative practices in the discipline. Restricted to English majors. (Lec. 3, Rec. 1)

Creative Writing: Poetry

(4 crs.) Writing and analysis of works written by class members and professional writers. (Lec. 3. Project 3/Online) ENG 205A may be offered online. Students may repeat ENG 205 for a total of 16 credits but may not repeat the same letter (A, B, C, D).

Creative Writing: Fiction

(4 crs.) Writing and analysis of works written by class members and professional writers. (Lec. 3, Project 3/Online) ENG 205B may be offered online. Students may repeat ENG 205 for a total of 16 credits but may not repeat the same letter (A, B, C, D).

Creative Writing: Nonfiction

(4 crs.) Writing and analysis of works written by class members and professional writers. Type of writing varies with instructor. (Lec. 3, Project 3) Students may repeat ENG 205 for a total of 16 credits but may not repeat the same letter (A, B, C, D).

Creative Writing: Screen Writing

(4 crs.) Writing and analysis of works written by class members and professional writers. (Lec. 3, Project 3) Students may repeat ENG 205 for a total of 16 credits but may not repeat the same letter (A, B, C, D).

Reading Sport, Seeing Life

(4 crs.) Analysis of texts in which literary, visual, and sporting cultures intersect, with a focus on critique of their aesthetic, symbolic, social, and political meanings in a variety of contexts. (Lec. 3, Project 3) (C3)

The Young Adult Novel

(4 crs.) Close examination of the young adult novel genre with particular attention to the cultures and ideologies of adolescence, the teenager, and the young adult. (Lec. 3, Project 3) (A3) (C3)

U.S. Literature I

(4 crs.) Selections from U.S. literature, beginnings to the mid-19th century. (Lec. 3, Project 3/Online)

U.S. Literature II

(4 crs.) Selections from U.S. literature, mid-19th century to the present. (Lec. 3, Project 3) ENG 241 not required for 242. (A3) (C3)

The Short Story

(4 crs.) Critical study of the short story from the early 19th century to the present. (Lec. 3, Project 3/Online) (A3) (B1)

Honors Section of ENG 243: The Short Story

(4 crs.) Honors Section of ENG 243: The Short Story. Critical study of the short story from the early 19th century to the present. (Lec. 3, Project 3/Online) Pre: 3.40 overall gpa. (A3) (B1)

Introduction to Film Decades

(4 crs.) Introduction to study of film in cultural context over an historical decade, e.g., Modernism and the Silent Era of the Twenties; Cinema of Wartime in the Forties; Vietnam, Nixon, and the Seventies Blockbuster. May be repeated once with a different emphasis. (Lec. 3, Project 3) (A3) (B4)

Honors Section of ENG 245: Intro to Film Decades

(4 crs.) Honors Section of ENG 245: Intro to Film Decades. Introduction to study of film in cultural context over an historical decade, e.g., Modernism and the Silent Era of the Twenties; Cinema of Wartime in the Forties; Vietnam, Nixon, and the Seventies Blockbuster. May be repeated once with a different emphasis. (Lec. 3, Project 3) (A3) (B4) Pre: Overall GPA of 3.4 or higher.

Introduction to Literature of the African Diaspora

(4 crs.) Cross-listed as (ENG), AAF 247. Major themes, genres, and motifs of the literatures of Africa and the Americas. Focus on one or more of these regions. Study of black oral and written literatures with emphasis on cultural, historical, political, and socioeconomic contexts. (Lec. 3, Project 3) (A3) (C3)

African-American Literature from 1900 to the Present

(4 crs.) Cross-listed as (ENG), AAF 248. Twentieth-century African-American literature, with emphasis on major issues, movements, and trends, including the study of W.E.B. DuBois, the Harlem Renaissance, the civil rights movement, and the black arts movement. (Lec. 3, Project 3) (A3) (C3)

British Literature I

(4 crs.) Selections from British literature, beginnings to 1798. (Lec. 3, Project 3)

British Literature II

(4 crs.) Selections from British literature, 1798 to the present. (Lec. 3, Project 3) ENG 251 not required for 252. (A3) (C2)

Women and Literature

(4 crs.) Critical study of selected topics. (Lec. 3, Project 3/Online) (A3) (B1)

Introduction to Literary Genres: The Poem

(4 crs.) Introduction to the study of the poem. (Lec. 3, Project 3/Online) (A3) (B1)

Introduction to Literary Genres: The Drama

(4 crs.) Introduction to the study of the drama. (Lec. 3, Project 3) (A3) (B1)

Introduction to Literary Genres: The Novel

(4 crs.) Introduction to the study of the novel. (Lec. 3, Project 3) (A3) (B1)

Honors section of ENG 265: Introduction to Literary Genres: The Novel

(4 crs.) Honors section of ENG 265: Introduction to Literary Genres: The Novel (Violence and the Novel). (Lec. 3, Project 3) Pre: must have a 3.40 overall GPA. (A3) (B1)

Introduction to Shakespeare

(4 crs.) Introduction to the major plays and poetry of Shakespeare. (Lec. 3, Project 3) (A3) (B1)

Honors Section of ENG 280: Introduction to Shakespeare

(4 crs.) Honors Section of ENG 280: Introduction to Shakespeare. Introduction to the major plays and poetry of Shakespeare. (Lec. 3, Project 3) Pre: Must have a 3.4 GPA or higher. (A3) (B1)

Literature Into Film: Narrative

(4 crs.) Analysis of themes, techniques, printed and film narratives. (Lec. 3)

Topics in Film Theory and Criticism

(4 crs.) Introduction to film theory and criticism. Emphasis on semiotics, auteur theory, psychoanalysis, genre studies, feminist theory, materialist critique, or cultural studies, with focus on range of popular, experimental, and documentary film traditions. May be repeated for credit when taken with different emphasis. (Lec. 3, Lab. 2) (A3) (B4)

Film Genres

(4 crs.) Literary study of the particular conventions and evolution of one or more film genres (e.g Romantic Comedy, Science Fiction, Western). Emphasis will vary. (Lec. 3, Lab. 2/Online) May be repeated once with a different genre. (A3) (B4)

Advanced Creative Writing - Poetry

(4 crs.) Intensive writing and reading workshop for students at the advanced level who have preferably taken at least one previous class in creative writing. (Lec. 3, Project 3/Online) Student may repeat ENG 305 for a total of 16 credits but may not repeat the same letter (A, B, C, D).

Advanced Creative Writing - Fiction

Advanced creative writing - nonfiction.

(4 crs.) Intensive writing and reading workshop for students at the advanced level who have preferably taken at least one previous class in creative writing. Type of writing varies with instructor. (Lec. 3, Project 3) Student may repeat ENG 305 for a total of 16 credits but may not repeat the same letter (A, B, C, D).

Advanced Creative Writing - Screen Writing

(4 crs.) Intensive writing and reading workshop for students at the advanced level who have preferably taken at least one previous class in creative writing. (Lec. 3, Project 3) Student may repeat ENG 305 for a total of 16 credits but may not repeat the same letter (A, B, C, D).

The Sensuous Sentence: Grammar for Grammarphobes

(4 crs.) A critical and historical examination of style, tone, diction, grammar, and sentence form as aesthetic and ideological qualities of literary texts. (Lec. 3, Project 3) (A3) (B2)

(4 crs.) A critical and historical examination of style, tone, diction, grammar, and sentence form as aesthetic and ideological qualities of literary texts. (Lec. 3, Project 3) (A3) (C3)

Native American Literature

(4 crs.) Study of literature written by Native Americans. This course may consider early texts and traditions as well as contemporary works. (Lec. 3, Project 3)

Literary Nonfiction

(4 crs.) Intensive study in one or more forms of nonfiction narrative (memoir, nature meditation, medical narrative, extended journalistic account, true crime, science narrative, historical account). (Lec. 3, Project 3) May be repeated once for a total of 8 credits when taken with different emphasis.

Topics in American Colonial Literatures

(4 crs.) Studies in the literature and culture of the New World. Topics include discovery, exploration, early modern empire, settlement of the Americas. May include fictional and non-fictional prose, poetry, or dramatic works by major authors and their contemporaries. (Lec. 3, Project 3) May be repeated once for a total of 8 credits, barring duplication of topics.

Antebellum U.S. Literature and Culture

(4 crs.) Study of literature and culture in the United States during the decades leading to the Civil War (the period also known as the American Renaissance/American Romanticism). (Lec. 3, Project 3)

U.S. Literature and Culture from 1865 to 1914

(4 crs.) Study of post-Civil War poetry and prose. Readings may include Chesnutt, Chopin, Crane, DuBois, James, Twain, Wharton, and others. (Lec. 3, Project 3)

Literary Theory and Criticism

(4 crs.) Introduction to theories of literature and their application in the analysis of selected texts. Topics may include representation as problematized in works selected from classical to contemporary thought. (Lec. 3, Project 3) May be repeated for credit as often as topic changes.

Black Images in Film

(4 crs.) Cross-listed as (AAF), ENG 352. Exploration of the cultural, economic, political, and ideological motivations behind the standard representation of people of the African diaspora in cinema in the U.S. and other areas of the world, while examining film as a genre with a vocabulary and idiom of its own. (Lec. 3, Project 1) (A3) (C3)

Literature and the Sciences

(4 crs.) Study of the representation of scientific themes in literature and/or the relationship between literature and the sciences. (Lec. 3, Project 3) Pre: Junior or senior standing. Enrollment priority given to students majoring in the sciences.

Topics in Literature and the Sciences

(4 crs.) Study of the representation of scientific themes in literature and/or the relationship between literature and the sciences. (Lec. 3, Project 3) Pre: Junior or senior standing. (D1)

Literature and the Law

(4 crs.) Study of the representation of legal themes in literature and/or the relationship between literature and the law. (Lec. 3, Project 3) Pre: Junior or senior standing. Enrollment priority given to students with career interests in law.

African-American Literary Genres

(4 crs.) Cross-listed as (ENG), AAF 362. Study of drama and poetry in the continued oral and written heritage of Africa and America, excepting short story and the novel. Focus on Baraka, Bullins, Dunbar, Giovanni, Hughes, and Walker. (Lec. 3, Project 3)

African-American Fiction

(4 crs.) Cross-listed as (ENG), AAF 363. Study of formal and thematic developments in the African-American novel and short story. Focus on Baldwin, Chesnutt, Ellison, Gaines, Hurston, Jacobs, Marshall, Morrison, Naylor, Reed, Walker, Wideman, Wilson, and Wright. (Lec. 3, Project 3)

Contemporary African Literature

(4 crs.) Cross-listed as (ENG), AAF 364. Study of contemporary African literature by genre, region, or theme, with emphasis on literary traditions, issues, and socio-cultural contexts. (Lec. 3, Project 3)

(4 crs.) Studies in epic literature from Homer to the modern period. Historical emphasis will vary with instructor. (Lec. 3, Project 3)

The Bible as Literature

(4 crs.) Study of the Bible in English (Old Testament, New Testament, and Apocrypha) as a literary text. (Lec. 3, Project 3) (A3) (B4)

British Literature: 1660-1800

(4 crs.) Study of major trends in late 17th- and 18th-century verse, prose, drama, and fiction by such writers as Milton, Dryden, Behn, Congreve, Pope, Finch, Swift, and Johnson. (Lec. 3, Project 3)

Topics in Victorian Literature and Culture

(4 crs.) Notable literary and cultural movements and motifs of the Victorian era. May include prose, poetry, or dramatic works by major authors and their contemporaries. May be repeated once with a different topic. (Lec. 3, Project 3)

Topics in Romanticism

(4 crs.) Notable literary and cultural movements and motifs of Romantic literature and culture. May include prose, poetry, or dramatic works by major Romantic authors and their contemporaries. May be repeated once with a different topic. (Lec. 3, Project 3)

Aspects of Postmodernism

(4 crs.) Introduction to major issues and theories of Postmodern Literature and Culture, emphases may include temporality, borders, cyberculture, theories of the image and constructions of subjectivity. (Lec. 3, Project 3)

Contemporary Literature

(4 crs.) Studies in contemporary literature with an emphasis on cultural and interdisciplinary issues. Movements and emphases may include multiculturalism, culture and technology, globalization, and politics of the body. (Lec. 3, Project 3)

Topics in Medieval Literature

(4 crs.) Emphasis on cultural and interdisciplinary issues. (Lec. 3, Project 3) May be repeated once with a different topic. (A3) (C3)

Topics in Renaissance Literature

(4 crs.) Emphasis on cultural and interdisciplinary issues. (Lec. 3, Project 3) May be repeated once with a different topic.

Modernist Literature, 1900-1945

(4 crs.) Poetry, drama, fiction, and/or nonfiction prose with an emphasis on writers such as Eliot, Faulkner, Hurston, Joyce, Stevens, Yeats, Woolf, and Wright. (Lec. 3, Project 3)

Women Writers

(4 crs.) Cross-listed as (ENG), GWS 385. Analysis of the poetry, drama, or fiction of women writers. Emphasis on 18th-century, 19th-century, 20th-century, or contemporary authors. May be repeated for credit when taken with different emphasis. (Lec. 3, Project 3) (A3) (B4)

Queer Literatures, Queer Cultures

(4 crs.) Cross-listed as (ENG), GWS 388. Study of queer cultural productions, literature, and related theory, with a focus on historical, aesthetic, and political developments in ongoing contestations around the representations of gender, sexuality, and identity. (Lec. 3, Project 3) (A3) (C3)

Independent Study

(1-4 crs.) Extensive individual study and research, culminating in a substantial essay. (Independent Study) Pre: permission of chairperson. May be repeated for a maximum of 8 credits.

Literature of the Sea: The Rumowicz Seminar

(4 crs.) Studies of maritime literature and culture. Guest lecturers and field trips. (Seminar)

Special Topics in Literature

(4 crs.) Specialized topics in the study of literature offered by specialists in the field. May be repeated with change of topic. (Lec. 3, Project 3)

Creative Writing Capstone

(4 crs.) A capstone course in creative writing for English majors taking the Creative Writing Option; includes workshop, portfolio creation, critical responses to texts, exploration of creative writing field. (Lec. 1, Workshop 2, Online 1) Pre: ENG 205 and 305, or two ENG 305 courses in different genres (ENG 305A, 305B, 305C, or 305D). Not for graduate credit.

Capstone Seminar in Literary and Cultural Studies

(4 crs.) A capstone course in literary and cultural studies research for English majors: requires the completion of a scholarly essay or another research-intensive project.(Lec. 3, Project 3) Pre: two 300- or 400-level ENG courses (excluding 477). Not for graduate credit. (B4) (D1)

(4 crs.) Intensive studies in Drama. May include special topics in plays, performance, and playwrights. (Seminar) Not for graduate credit.

(4 crs.) Study of major contributions and movements in poetry of any period. (Seminar) Not for graduate credit.

Performing Race

(4 crs.) Interdisciplinary consideration of drama, race, and performance in political, historical, cultural, and ethical contexts. (Lec. 3, Online) (D1) (C3) (GC) Not for graduate credit.

Advanced Topics in International Film Media

(4 crs.) Cross-listed as (FLM), ENG, CLS 451. Study of international film genres from one or more national, regional or diasporic cultures and traditions. Emphases on theoretical, historiographic and media research methods. (Lec. 3, Lab. 2) Pre: junior standing or permission of instructor. FLM 204 or 205 recommended. May be repeated for a maximum of 8 credits with change of emphases or topics. (A4) (C2)

(4 crs.) Focuses on generic considerations of the novel in relation to historical contexts such as national/cultural politics, philosophy, psychology. The 'novel' is examined against the historical specificity of its production. (Seminar) Not for graduate credit.

Shakespeare

(4 crs.) Studies in Shakespeare's drama and poetry. (Seminar) Not for graduate credit.

Internship in English

(1-8 crs.) Exploration of career goals and job opportunities. Participate in a variety of work situations, supervised by both faculty member and onsite personnel. 35.75 hours (2.75 hrs/wk) per 1 credit. May be repeated to a maximum of 8 credits. (Practicum) Pre: 20 credits in English, permission of chairperson, and prior completion of or concurrent enrollment in ITR 303 or 304. Total credits from ENG 477 may not exceed 8, of which 4 may be used as credit toward the English major. Not for graduate credit. S/U only.

Medieval Authors

(4 crs.) Studies in works by one or more major medieval authors. May be repeated once, barring duplication of writers. (Seminar)

Renaissance Authors

(4 crs.) Studies in works by one or more major Renaissance authors (excepting Shakespeare). May be repeated once, barring duplication of writers. (Seminar) Not for graduate credit.

British Restoration and Enlightenment Authors

(4 crs.) Studies in works by one or two major Restoration and Enlightenment authors. (Seminar) May be repeated once for a total of 8 credits, barring duplication of writers. Not for graduate credit.

American and U.S. Authors to 1820

(4 crs.) Studies in works by one or two major American and U.S. authors to 1820. (Seminar) May be repeated once for a total of 8 credits, barring duplication of writers. Not for graduate credit.

U.S. Authors after 1900

(4 crs.) Studies in works by one or two major United States authors. (Seminar) May be repeated once for a total of 8 credits, barring duplication of writers. Not for graduate credit.

British Authors: 19th Century

(4 crs.) Studies in works by one or two major British authors. (Seminar) May be repeated once for a total of 8 credits, barring duplication of writers. Not for graduate credit.

Literature and Empire

(4 crs.) Studies of specific authors, literary movements, or comparative themes in texts reflecting the impact of colonization and imperialism. (Seminar) Not for graduate credit.

Crossing Borders: Writers Writing Their Lives

(3 crs.) Cross-listed as (GWS), ENG, WRT 492. This advanced creative nonfiction seminar combines a rigorous commitment to the craft of writing with an investigation of how 'crossing borders' functions as a thematic, structural, and feminist framework for helping writers access and create personal essays. (Seminar) Pre: Junior or senior standing or permission of the instructor. (D1) (B1)

Workshop in Creative Writing

(3 crs.) Close supervision and discussion of creative writing, including poetry, nonfiction, short prose forms, scripts, and novels. (Lec. 3) Pre: Graduate standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated once if emphasis changes.

Introduction to Professional Study I

(1.5 crs.) Orientation to the critical frameworks and professional skills important to graduate work in literary and cultural studies, including digital and public humanities. (Seminar 1.5) Pre: graduate standing or permission of instructor. S/U grades only.

Introduction to Professional Study II

(1.5 crs.) Orientation to the critical frameworks and professional skills important to graduate work in literary and cultural studies, including digital and public humanities. (Seminar) Pre: ENG 510. S/U credit.

History of Critical Theories

(3 crs.) Historical survey of critical theory from antiquity to the present. (Lec. 3) Pre: graduate standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated once if emphasis changes.

Studies in American Texts Before 1815

(3 crs.) Cultural texts and topics of the Western Hemisphere before 1815: literary and nonliterary writings and genres; exploration and captivity narrative; African transmissions; critical theory; culture, gender, race, and class. (Lec. 3) Pre: graduate standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated once if emphasis changes.

Studies in 19-Century American Texts

(3 crs.) Literary and nonliterary cultural texts, genres, and topics of the Western Hemisphere. May include media; oral, industrial, and popular cultures; critical theory and the analysis of discourses; issues of class, gender, and race.(Lec. 3) Pre: Graduate Standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated once if emphasis changes.

Studies in American Texts After 1900

(3 crs.) Modern, contemporary, and postmodern cultural texts, genres, and topics of the Western Hemisphere; e.g. literary and nonliterary writings, performance modes, media, theory, and cultural studies of race, genre, and class. (Lec. 3) Pre: graduate standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated once if emphasis changes.

Studies in British Texts 1700-1832

(3 crs.) Literary and nonliterary cultural texts and genres during the Restoration, Augustan, Enlightenment, and Romantic periods; e.g., drama, media, rhetoric, theory, and discourse analysis of gender, class, race, and other social relations. (Lec. 3) Pre: graduate standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated once if emphasis changes.

Studies in 19-Century British Texts

(3 crs.) Literary and cultural texts and genres during the 19th century. May include drama and other performance modes; critical theory and the analysis of discourses; representations of class, gender, and race. (Lec. 3) Pre: Graduate Standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated once if emphasis changes.

Studies in British Texts After 1900

(3 crs.) Modern, contemporary, and postmodern cultural texts; e.g., literary and nonliterary writings, drama, colonial and European cultural relations, film, theory, and cultural studies of institutional life and other social relations. (Lec. 3) Pre: graduate standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated once if emphasis changes.

Selected Topics

(1-3 crs.) Selected topics in American and British literature and topics of special interest not covered by traditional department offerings. (Lec. 1-3) Pre: graduate standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated once if emphasis changes.

Master's Project

(1-6 crs.) Student produces MA portfolio in consultation with major professor and committee. S/U only. Pre: Graduate Standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated once if emphasis changes.

Master's Thesis Research

(1-6 crs.) Student produces MA thesis in consultation with major professor and committee. (Independent Study) S/U only. Pre: Graduate Standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated.

Seminar in Creative Writing

(3 crs.) Seminar for advanced students under supervision of a member arranged to suit individual project requirements of students. (Seminar) Pre: graduate standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated once if emphasis changes.

Seminar in Genres

(3 crs.) In-depth study of a single or several genres and/or subgenres, such as epic, drama, or horror film. (Seminar) Pre: graduate standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated once if emphasis changes.

Seminar in Historical Periods

(3 crs.) Selected topics of relevance for historical periods. Periods emphasized are medieval, 16th- and 17th-century British, 18th- and 19th-century British, North American, and postcolonial. (Seminar) Pre: Graduate Standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated once if emphasis changes.

Seminar in Authors

(3 crs.) In-depth and critical study of selected works of one or two authors from any historical period, genre, or medium; theories and traditions of authorship; authorship and gender. (Seminar) Pre: graduate standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated once if emphasis changes.

Seminar in Culture and Discourse

(3 crs.) Contrasting theoretical conceptions of culture, discursive practices, hegemony, the public and private spheres, and related concerns; may cross any historical formation or period. (Seminar) Pre: graduate standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated once if emphasis changes.

Seminar in Media

(3 crs.) Critical and theoretical conceptions of one or more media across any historical formation or period. (Seminar) Pre: graduate standing and permission of instructor. May be repeated once if emphasis changes.

Seminar in Subjectivities

(3 crs.) Critically investigates class, race, gender, sexuality, and/or other subject positions as they are constructed by literary or other media. Might emphasize reading and writing communities, form and ideology, or identity politics. (Seminar) Pre: graduate standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated once if emphasis changes.

Seminar in Special Topics

(3 crs.) Topics of special interest not covered by other offerings. (Seminar) Pre: graduate standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated once if emphasis changes.

Independent Graduate Study

(3 crs.) Advanced study of an approved topic under the supervision of a faculty member. (Independent Study) Pre: permission of ENG Graduate Director. May not be repeated for credit.

Practicum: Teaching College English

(1 cr.) Practicum for students teaching a college-level English course. Supervision of course preparation, presentation, and evaluation. (Practicum 1) S/U credit. Pre: permission of the Chair. May be repeated for a total of 3 credits with permission of the Chair.

Doctoral Dissertation Research

(1-12 crs.) Number of credits is determined each semester in consultation with the major professor or program committee. (Independent Study) S/U credit. Pre: Graduate Standing or permission of instructor.

Methods of Teaching Literature

(0 crs.) Materials and various methods of teaching literature on the college level. Required of graduate students who teach English Department literature courses. (Seminar) Pre: graduate standing.

Academic Catalog

Creative writing (crw).

The course is structured toward producing literary fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction and dramtic forms. Student writing will be the primary basis for critical discussion with emphasis on fundamental aspects of fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, and/or drama, as illustrated in master writers' work and demonstrated in student work. Readings, craft analysis, workshops, exercises, discussions, and lectures provide students with the opportunity to develop the craft of creative writing. CRW1001 is a writing credit course. Students must earn a minimum grade of C to meet the requirements of the Gordon Rule for writing. CRW1001 meets the International/Intercultural competency requirement.

Lectures, readings, craft analysis, discussions, writing exercises, and workshops provide students with the opportunity to analyze fiction and practice the craft of writing fiction. The course is structured toward producing literary fiction. Student writing and master writers' works will be the primary basis for critical discussion, with an emphasis on the fundamental aspects of fiction.

The course is structured toward producing poetry. Student writing will be the primary basis for critical discussion with emphasis on fundamental aspects of poetry, as illustrated in master writers' work and demonstrated in student work. Lectures, readings, craft analysis, discussions, exercises and workshops provide students with the opportunity to develop the poetic creative writing craft.

• Prerequisite: ENC1101

A continuing development of creative writing ability.

• Option 1 - Prerequisite: CRW1001 (minimum grade: C)
• Option 2 - Prerequisite: CRW1100 (minimum grade: C)
• Option 3 - Prerequisite: CRW1300 (minimum grade: C)

A continuing development of creative writing ability. Students may work on independent writing projects. Directed independent study. Instructor's Approval.

• Option 1 - Prerequisite: CRW2002
• Option 2 - Prerequisite: CRW2002

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Full Academic Catalog

PDF of the entire 2023-2024 Academic Catalog.

• Creative Writing 
• Beginning Algebra
• Algebra 1.5 A & B
• Applied Statistics
• Applied Geometry A & B
• Applied Geometry Survey
• Geometry A & B
• Algebra 2 A & B
• Algebra 2 with Statistics A & B
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• Two-week Video and Soundtrack Summer Immersion Project
• Elements of Music: From Bach to the Blues
• Introductory Theory: The Minutiae of Music
• Guided Study in Music
• AP Music Theory
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• Physical Education (PE)
• Advanced Physical Education
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Home » Course descriptions » Language Arts courses » Creative Writing 

Creative writing is designed to aid students in their creative expression. Students will explore the basic elements of writing including voice, tone, dialogue, setting, and plot. They will also work on using descriptive and figurative language. Students will read a variety of mentor texts and essays, as well as view videos, on writing craft and literary conventions in order to develop the essential tools to effectively analyze and write various pieces including a memoir, fictional narrative, several pieces of poetry, and a children’s book.

Course materials : A variety of online resources

Standards met : This course can be taken for Language Arts elective credit only.

Credit : 0.5

Honors Opportunity : Yes

Prerequisites : None—this course is appropriate for students at all levels.

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Nationally accredited online learning for grades 9-12.

Minnesota Online High School

MNOHS is a public charter school for students in grades 9-12 (and younger students who are ready for high-school) who need a flexible schedule.  We offer full-time and part time enrollment.

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