Course Syllabus

Course Information
CRWT 3307.501
Fall 2010
Creating Short Stories
Wednesday 12:30 to 3:15
JO 4.312
______________________________________________________________________________
Professor Contact Information
Betty Wiesepape
Office: JO 5.205
972-680--6352
Bet@utdallas.edu
Office hours: Wednesday 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites, and/or Other Restrictions

CRWT 2301
Course Description
This course is a creative workshop in which students both investigate the creative processes involved in
writing short stories and experiment with a variety of traditional and experimental forms. Students will
perform written exercises, they will engage in oral readings and they will participate in class discussions and
workshop sessions. In the course of the semester, each member of the class will create 3 original short stories
and will rewrite 2 of these stories and submit one for possible publication. In addition, students will produce
3 critiques of student generated short stories.

Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes

Students will demonstrate their understanding of basic creative writing techniques.
Students will demonstrate effective written and oral communication skills.
Students will demonstrate an ability to evaluate the effectiveness of short stories.

Required Textbooks and Materials

R. S. Gwynn, Literature: A Pocket Anthology (2009 edition).
Jerome Stern: Making Shapely Fiction (any edition).
William Strunk & E.B. White: The Elements of Style (any edition).

Suggested Course Materials

Students will be expected to provide photocopies of at least one original story to each member of the class for
workshop. Students also will turn in 2 copies of each original story and 2 copies of each written critique. This
means that students enrolling in this class should be prepared to incur some photocopying expenses.

Assignments & Academic Calendar

AUGUST 25: INTRODUCTION: THE SHORT STORY

READ: Stern: “Imagination,” “Narrative,” “Short Story,” “Realism,” “Trust Your Material,” “Didacticism.”

SEPTEMBER 1: PAINTING PICTURES, MAKING MUSIC, CREATING A VOICE

READ: Stern: “Write What You Know,” “Realism,” “Style,” “Subtlety,” “Texture”; O’Brien, “The Things
They Carried”; Bobbie Ann Mason, “Shiloh.”
ASSIGNMENT DUE: Expand an exercise that you began in class last week into a 2 page narrative sketch. Also,
bring a photocopy of a photograph that includes at least one character to class.

SEPTEMBER 8: CHARACTER AND PLOT

READ: Stern: “Character,” “Plot,” “Names,” “Negative Positive Knowledge,” “Position,” “Stereotype,” “Psychic
Distance,” “Suspense,” “Tension,” “Science Fiction,” “Fretag’s Pyramid”; O’Connor, “Everything that
Rises Must Converge”; Chopin, “The Story of an Hour.”
ASSIGNMENT DUE: Produce a 3 to 4 page character sketch that grows out of your observation of a figure in a
photograph.

SEPTEMBER 15: BEGINNINGS, MIDDLES, AND ENDINGS

READ: Stern: “Don’t Do This,” “Beginnings,” “Premise,” “Resolution,” “Endings,” ”Sentimentality”; Atwood,
“Happy Endings“; Glaspell, “A Jury of Her Peers.”
ASSIGNMENT DUE: Choose a beginning sentence from a list supplied by the professor, and write 3 to 5 pages
of a short story, employing the sentence by sentence technique introduced in class on September 8th.

SEPTEMBER 22: SCENE AND SUMMARY--A MATTER OF TIMING

READ: Stern: “Scene,” “Showing & Telling,” “Exposition,” “Motif,” “Irony”; Oates, “Where Are You Going,
Where Have You Been?”; Galaspell, “A Jury of Her Peers.
ASSIGNMENT DUE: First draft of Story #1. Bring two copies to class, one for the professor and one to trade
with a classmate.

SEPTEMBER 29: REVISION

READ: Carver, “A Small Good Thing” (on electronic reserve).
IN-CLASS: Be prepared to sign up for a personal conference with the professor.
ASSIGNMENT DUE: 2 copies of a critique of a student story.

OCTOBER 6: STUDENT CONFERENCES—NO FORMAL CLASS

Read: Munro, “The Bear Came Over the Mountain.”

OCTOBER 13: SPEECH AND DIALOGUE

READ: Stern: “Dialect,” “Dialogue,” “Diction,” “Profanity/Obscenity,” “Interior Monologue,” “Workshops”;
Parker, “Here We Are”(on electronic reserve); Alexie, “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix,
Arizona.”
IN-CLASS ACTIVITY: Practice Workshop of a published story.
ASSIGNMENT DUE: Revision of Story #1.

OCTOBER 20: EPIPHANIES, DISCOVERIES, AND SENTIMENTALITY

READ: Stern: “Epiphany,” “Catharsis,” “Poetic Justice,” “Batho”; Jackson, “The Lottery”; Sanford, “Luck”
(available on electronic reserve).
IN-CLASS ACTIVITY: Workshop of student stories.
ASSIGNMENT DUE: Begin story #2.

OCTOBER 27: POINT OF VIEW

READ: Stern: “Point of View”; Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily”; Orozco, “Orientation.”
IN-Class: Workshop of student stories.
ASSIGNMENT DUE: Two copies of first draft of Story #2.

NOVEMBER 3: PLACE & SETTING

READ: Stern: “Places & Place Names,” “Suspension of Disbelief,” “Accuracy,” “Atmosphere”; Perkins, “The
Yellow Wallpaper”; Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.”
ASSIGNMENT DUE: 2 copies of a critique of another student’s story #2.

NOVEMBER 10: PUBLICATION

READ: Stern: “Avant-garde,” “Genre.”
IN-CLASS: Workshop student stories.
ASSIGNMENT: Begin Story #3.

NOVEMBER 17: STUDENT WORKSHOPS

IN-CLASS: Workshop of student stories.
ASSIGNMENT: 2 copies of 1ST draft of story #3.

NOVEMBER 24: STUDENT WORKSHOPS

IN-CLASS: Workshop of student stories.
ASSIGNMENT DUE: Critique of student story #3. Research possible publication venues.

DECEMBER 1: COURSE SUMMARY

IN-CLASS: Workshop of student stories.
ASSIGNMENT: Final draft of Story #2 or Story #3.
NOTE: All late assignments must be completed and turned in to the professor by this date.

DECEMBER 8: No final will be given in this class, but students must present proof that they submitted one
story written in this class for possible publication on the date reserved for the final exam.
____________________________________________________________________________
Grading Policy
Grades will be based upon: attendance, classroom citizenship, and participation in workshop sessions–10%;
Written Critiques--30%; Original short stories–40%; Final Assignment–10%. Reaction Paper to an Arts &
Humanities sponsored event—10% Students receive grades only on the final drafts of stories, but failure to
perform exercises or to turn in first drafts will result in the grade of the final draft being lowered one full
letter grade. The professor will assign grades of plus and minus.

Course & Instructor Policies

Students will be expected to read and be prepared to discuss all assigned readings and to complete all
assigned writing exercises. Failure to perform these assignments will have a negative effect upon the
student’s class participation grade. (See above)

During the course of the semester, each student will write 3 and revise 2 of these stories. Students will also
write a 2 to 3 page critique of another student's story on 3 separate occasions. NOTE: Stories written prior to
this class may not be submitted to fulfill the requirements of this course.

All written assignments including exercises must be typed, double spaced, and legible. Work submitted after
the due date will be accepted, but the grade on the assignment will be lowered one full letter grade, and the
professor will not make editorial comments on late work. In addition, the professor will not accept
handwritten work or work submitted by email.

Class attendance and participation in discussions and workshop sessions are mandatory. Attendance will be
checked each week, and a student who misses more than 3 classes should not expect to receive a passing
grade. (3 absences in this class are equivalent to 9 classes in as course that meets for one hour 3 times a
week.) NOTE: No make-up work will be assigned; no extra credit projects will be offered, and no absences
will be excused except those mandated by the administration of this university.

No exams will be given in this workshop class. In lieu of a final exam, each student will select one original
story to submit to a journal for possible publication and submit proof of submission in the form of a mailing
receipt to the professor on or before the final exam date.

The use of cell phones, recorders, laptop computer and other communication devices will not be permitted in
this class. Please turn off these devices off before entering the classroom.

NOTE: Descriptions and timelines in this syllabus are subject to change at the dis
cretion of the professor.

NOTE: The University of Texas at Dallas syllabus-policies can be accessed at:

http://go.utdallas.edu/syllabus-policies