Spring 2007
Tuesday -- Reading Post Due
Thursday -- Writing Due
Sunday -- Workshop Responses Due
Week 1

8-21

 

Introduction:
1) Please post a note about yourself in the Virtual Cafe. List 10 unique details about you. Make one of them a lie.

2) Read the Introduction to our textbook (no post due).

3) Read the Course Policies, Course Schedule, and Course Assignments.

8-23
Introduction:
Please post a 500 word description of your personal course goals for this session. Please address the following questions: What has been your experience thus far with writing? With writing workshops? What do you hope to learn about writing? What type of feedback would you like to receive from your peers? From the instructor? How do you want your writing to change over the course of the semester?
8-26
Read the Workshop and Reading Instructions under "Course Materials"
Week 2
8-28
Reading: Preface, Appendix A and Appendix B. Post a response to the reading.
8-30

Activity 1 : Please submit 2 double spaced pages of text for the following activity. Spend one day assuming every single thing you see carries a message. Throughout the day, jot down your thoughts. Then write.

9-2

 

Workshop Responses
Week 3
9-4
Reading: Chapter 1. Whatever Works: The Writing Process. Post a response to the reading.
9-6

Activity 2 : Please submit 2 double spaced pages of text for the following activity. Take your notebook to a place where you can observe people. Choose a few people and describe them in detail. Next, choose one person and invent a life for him or her. Where does s/he live? Work? What relationships does s/he have? Worries, Fears? Desires? Secrets?

9-9

Workshop Responses
Week 4
9-11
Reading: Chapter 2. Seeing is Believing: Showing and Telling. Post a response to the reading.
9-13

Activity 3 : Please submit 2 double spaced pages of text for the following activity. Imagine a crowded, overwhelming scene. Use sensory detail to convey this experience. Don't tell how the characters felt. Use significant details to suggest emotional state.

9-16

Workshop Responses
Week 5 9-18 Reading: Chapter 3. Building Character: Characterization, Part I. Post a response to the reading. 9-20

Activity 4 : Please submit 2 double spaced pages of text for the following activity. Write a scene where two characters are having a hard time talking to one another.

9-23

Workshop Responses
Week 6
9-25
Reading: Chapter 4. The Flesh Made Word: Characterization, Part II. Post a response to the reading.
9-27

Activity 5 : Please submit 2 double spaced pages of text for the following activity. Write a scene in which your character gets into trouble.

9-30

Workshop Responses
Week 7
10-2
Reading: Chapter 5. Far, Far Away: Fictional Place. Post a response to the reading.
10-4
 Activity 6: Please submit a 5 page double spaced working draft of your first short story.
10-7
 Workshop Responses
Week 8
10-9
Reading: Chapter 6. Long Ago: Fictional Time. Post a response to the reading.
10-11

Activity 7 : Please submit 2 double spaced pages of text for the following activity. Imagine an accident. It might be minor or major. Now write several versions of the accident: in one sentence, in one paragraph, and in a scene.

10-14

Workshop Responses

Week 9

 
10-16
Reading: Chapter 7. The Tower and the Net: Story Form, Plot, and Structure. Post a response to the reading.
10-18

Activity 8 :Please submit 2 double spaced pages of text for the following activity. Write a scene placing two characters in a fundamental conflict: one wants something that the other does not want to give.

10-21

Workshop Responses
Week 10
10-23
Reading: Chapter 8. Call Me Ishmael: Point of View. Post a response to the reading.
10-25

Activity 9 : Please submit 2 double spaced pages of text for the following activity. Write a letter from the point of view of a character who passes judgement on another character, but who actually deeply loves or envies the person they judge.

10-28

Workshop Responses
Week 11
10-30
Reading: Chapter 9. Is and Is Not: Comparison. Post a response to the reading.
11-1

Activity 10 : Please submit 2 double spaced pages of text for the following activity. In a story you have drafted, look for potential symbols, or come up with new ones. Now, write a scene in which the symbol appears.
11-4

Workshop Responses
Week 12
11-6
Reading: 10. I Gotta Use Words When I Talk to You: Theme. Post a response to the reading.
11-8

Activity 11 : Please submit 2 double spaced pages of text for the following activity. Write a list of the things that scare you. Pick out the thing you dread the most. Write a scene where your character experiences it.

11-11

Workshop Responses
Week 13
11-13
Reading: Chapter 11. Play It Again, Sam: Revision. Post a response to the reading.
11-15
 Activity 12: Please submit a 5 page double spaced working draft of your second short story.
11-18
 Workshop Responses
Week 14
11-20
 Happy
11-22
 Thanksgiving
11-25
 Break
Week 15
11-27
Prepare for Final
11-29
Prepare for Final
12-2
Portfolio First Draft Due to "Course Discussion" area
Week 16
12-4
Portfolio Final Draft Workshop Comments Due
12-6
Portfolio Final Draft Due to "Course Assignments" area

12-9
Patricia Colleen Murphy, MFA* Arizona State University * Bell Hall Room M3 * 7001 E. Williams Field Road * Mesa AZ 85212-6032