Sample Undergraduate Course Descriptions in Creative Writing at Ball State University

Sample Undergraduate Course Descriptions

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English 285: Introduction to Creative Writing

This multi-genre introductory course is designed to introduce beginning writers to creative processes and artistic expression through the medium of language. During the first week or two, students look at creative thinking and how to view the world with different perspectives, through different artistic mediums. Then, using Janet Burroway’s text, Imaginative Writing, as a guide, students will experiment in fiction, literary nonfiction (such as memoir or the personal essay), poetry, and drama. Small group workshops and collaborative writing will enable the writer to compile a body of work during the course of the semester. At the end of the semester, each student will choose what he or she considers to be his or her “best work” created during the course to submit for a grade (after workshops on selected pieces and conference with the instructor on work chosen). Required Text: Imaginative Writing by Janet Burroway.

English 306: Creative Nonfiction Writing

Professor Jill Christman
Prerequisites: ENG 285

There are two ways to improve writing—by reading and by writing. In this class we will do a lot of both, concentrating specifically on the techniques, craft, and art of the nonfiction personal essay. Using our own experiences and perceptions as the lens through which we record the world, we’re going to start by writing about the self (in a memoir piece) and as the term progresses we’ll expand our scope to both nature writing and literary journalism as we begin writing about things beyond the self—other people, other places, other ways of living in the world. We’ll work on the nuts-and-bolts of the writing (research and interview strategies, structure, point of view, storytelling, voice) as we tackle the really big questions that will face us: What do I want to write about and why? How am I going to write it? What am I really writing about? Class time will be divided between discussions of published works, writing exercises, and both small and large group workshops of student writing (knowing this, you shouldn’t submit any work that you aren’t comfortable sharing with the class). Written requirements will include three essays (drafts and revisions) and a final, expanded essay (with a companion critical essay), as well as regular readings (including responses and quizzes), and writing exercises. Required Texts: The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard; Shadow Boxing (edited by Kristen Iversen) and Literary Journalism: A New Collection of the Best American Nonfiction (edited by Norman Sims and Mark Kramer).

English 307: Fiction Writing

Professor Barbara Bogue
Prerequisites: English 285

This course centers on the fundamentals of the short story—original language, three dimensional characters, complex plot—with an emphasis on the student’s ability to write clearly and dramatically. Writing is revision and close reading—of one’s own work, peers’, and published writers. The course includes workshops on students’ original works and in-depth class discussions of the techniques of craft employed by authors recognized in the field. Writing exercises and in-class readings of the same encourages and nurtures the imagination and the confidence to recreate the fictional dream on the page. The class provides an audience and the opportunity to create a community of writers who respect each other and the art form. The course is designed for those who wish to develop their story writing skills, as well as for those who plan to continue the study of writing fiction in English 407. Required Text: Writing Fiction by Janet Burroway.

English 308: Poetry Writing

Professor Mark Neely
Prerequisites: ENG 285

The readings in this course are focused on modern American poetry, which Cary Nelson calls “one of the major achievements of human culture.” We will pay special attention to the long poem, an American tradition. The readings are arranged thematically, and these themes will also be the basis of writing assignments and reading responses. The first goal of this course is to make us all into better readers of poetry (a lifelong task), so throughout the term we will discuss poems by published authors. Part of this class will be devoted to small group and large group workshops, where you will critique the work of your peers. Requirements include readings and quizzes, ten poems, four short essays, a final portfolio and a final essay. Required Texts: Cary Nelson’s Modern American Poetry and the companion website.

English 310: Script Writing

This introductory course focuses on the nature of the art of scriptwriting, with practice of its forms and devices. Specifically, coursework will include assigned readings, viewings, and short writing exercises, with at least one short screenplay serving as a larger, final project. Discussions and lectures will focus on the above. Course materials and activities will help develop a foundation for students unfamiliar with scriptwriting.

English 405: Special Topics in Creative Writing

English 406: Advanced Creative Nonfiction Writing

Professor Jill Christman
Prerequisite: ENG 285 & ENG 306

This is an advanced writing workshop that will focus on the shaping of real lives on the page and the navigation of those slippery spaces between remembering and forgetting, truth and invention. In order to write well, we must read, and so we will split our time between workshopping and the discussion of published memoirs. We’ll read greedily with a writer’s attention to style and technique as we get in the practice of asking the questions that are essential in the crafting of real-life material. My hope is that when we apprentice ourselves to the memoirs on our reading list, we will practice the habit of art, honing our technical skills while we locate the patterns in our lives that have something to say about the human condition. Over the course of the semester, you will write two short nonfiction pieces (3 pp), two medium-length autobiographical essays (5-8 pp), and a final long revision (12-15 pp). Other requirements will include: quizzes and short writing exercises, reading responses, workshop critiques, and a class presentation. Required Texts: The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard; Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston; Goat by Brad Land; News of a Kidnapping by Gabriel Garcia Marquez; Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time by Michael Perry; and assorted essays on electronic reserve.

English 407: Advanced Fiction Writing

Professor Barbara Bogue
Prerequisite: Eng 285 & Eng 307 (not to be taken concurrently)

This course is a continuation of English 307 with a focus on the short story and an emphasis on the student’s ability to write clearly and dramatically. The workshop is designed for careful and considerate criticism of students’ work, plus the reading of published literature. Attention continues on the “root problems” of the writer: self-confidence, self-respect, and the freedom to write. The value of a writing class is assumed inasmuch as it addresses the individual’s fundamental need to be perceived and acknowledged. Writing IS revision and the workshop is intended to assist the author with that task. Formal class sessions may be replaced on several occasions by individual conferences with students. Assignments will differ, somewhat, during the first weeks of classes for students who have not taken 307 at B.S.U., and throughout the semester for those who have elected to repeat 407. At this level of writing, an essential aspect of the course is to produce a piece of work of literary quality that is absent explicit and/or graphic sex or violence to sensationalize the submitted story. A handout for criteria for grading of a short story will be distributed during the first class meeting. Each student will create two new stories and toward the end of the semester, you will turn in one of the two stories (after receiving comments from the workshops on each and my written comments and assessment); all drafts submitted to me will count toward your final overall grade. Participation in classroom discussions of published literature read and in workshops, as well as attendance, will also be factored in to your final grade. Required Texts: Writing Fiction by Janet Burroway and Best American Short Stories (current year).

English 408: Advanced Poetry Writing

Professor Mark Neely
Prerequisite: Eng 285 & Eng 308

This is a poetry workshop in which about half our time will be devoted to discussion of readings, including six collections of poems by contemporary poets. We will talk about how the authors attempt to unify these collections, and look closely at the dazzling number of formal choices poets make in their work. Groups of students will present each book to the class, and help focus discussion on relevant questions. The readings will help inspire the poems written for the class, inform the way we discuss student work, and offer strategies for revision. Assignments include one poem per week, presentations, readings and reading responses. At the end of the semester students will turn in a portfolio of poems and an essay on prosody. Required Texts: The Branch Will Not Break by James Wright; The Phoenix Gone, The Terrace Empty by Marilyn Chin; The Other Lover by Bruce Smith; American Girl by Cynie Cory; Song by Brigit Pegeen Kelly; and Komunyakaa's Dien Cai Dau by Yusef Komunyakaa.

English 409: Creative Writing in the Community

Professor Barbara Bogue
Prerequisite: English 285

This course is designed for writers to practice the techniques of characterization, point of view, setting, and conflict so that in any genre or form, language takes on new meaning, intensity, and originality by recreating a “real” or imagined world on the page. Additionally, community-based education offers the opportunity to share your skills as creative writers (as you hone the techniques) with citizens in the community. As you develop as a writer, you’ll also develop a broader perspective of the complex ways through which individuals cope with their situations and environments. Through your assistance, an often-unheard voice will shape a story that will be read and heard. Storytelling—fictional (or nonfiction) forays into the events that shape and influence the human condition—involves all of the techniques of fiction writing mentioned above and also applies to poetry and creative nonfiction. This experience in community enrichment also gives us an opportunity to learn about ourselves through others and to become more productive citizens of the community in which we live, academically and personally.

English 410: Advanced Script Writing

English 489: Practicum in Literary Editing and Publishing

Professor Mark Neely

In this class we will explore the history, theory, and practice of literary editing. We will talk about how writers and editors work together to produce various kinds of literary texts, and then produce texts of our own as a hands-on way to learn about this art. The students in this course will be responsible for the production of The Broken Plate, Ball State’s undergraduate literary magazine. Requirements include magazine and book reviews, various magazine production tasks, readings and quizzes, an individual final project, and an exam. Texts may include literary magazines, the AWP Writers Chronicle, The Whole Story: Editors on Fiction, Merriam-Webster’s Manual for Writers and Editors, and Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style.

Ball State University Creative Writing