Creative Writing Minor

CREW1001 In this course, students will read and discuss contemporary literature in at least three of the four major creative writing genres: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and drama. And, in a workshop setting, students will also write in those genres, allowing them the opportunity to discover and explore areas for future study.

CREW2002 Study and practice of writing fiction. The workshop places the focus on student writing. Additional reading provides the context for discussion of craft and form.

CREW2003 Study and practice of writing poetry. The workshop places the focus on student writing. Additional reading provides the context for discussion of craft and form.

CREW2016 This is a writing workshop on literary, or Creative Nonfiction-which means we use stories from real life, and craft them into literary pieces similar to a short story, using our own experiences as raw material. Memoirs and collections of personal essays are examples of this genre, and we will read examples of these as well as write our own pieces for workshop. This is a required course for all creative writing majors and minors. Non Creative Writing majors and minors are also welcomed.

CREW2250 Students learn the basics of screenplay structure, character development, rising and falling action, conflict and resolution by writing scripts and reading and analyzing successful screenplays. Students complete short scripts that may be used in other classes as shooting assignments.

CREW2255 Through writing and revising a play, students discover and explore the dramatic form. Emphasis is placed on the nature and developement of conflict and strategies for resolution.

CREW2500 Using contemporary and classic art and writing inspired by art, this course is a multi-faceted exploration of the ways we see and how we can express that in our own poetry writing. Among other things, we will learn how teaching police (and others) to look at art has led to solving crimes in the real world; how learning such techniques of looking at and understanding art may enrich one's life, academic experience, and career; how contemporary and earlier art have been used to educate, create social change, religious change and so on. Students will write poems and critical responses to art and to assigned reading.

CREW3010 In this workshop students will examine various forms of speculative and fantastic fictions and generate a collection of interconnected stories set in a singular world of their own making.

CREW3018 Creative Nonfiction is one of the most exciting and explosive genres being published today. In this workshop we will focus on speaking our own truth. What is the difference between Memoir and Autobiography? What are the tools a writer can use to develop the first person "I" as a character? We use tools of fiction to expand our understandings of this genre, and through reading com temporary memoirs and writing with structured prompts, we will move toward writing longer sections of Creative Nonfiction by the end of the semester. Be prepared for an intense writing workshop, reading and class discussion.

CREW3020 An examination of craft and form in literary masterworks, both classic and contemporary, from the practitioner?s perspective. Texts will be analyzed to answer the questions: ?How does it work??, ?What narrative techniques or approaches to characterization does the writer employ??, ?What are the works? stylistic elements??, ?How can these elements be employed in new fiction?? Students will be expected to engage in discussions, write three analytical papers, and using as a model one of the texts studied, generate a short work of fiction. Prerequisite Course: Any CREW 2000 level course

CREW3080 This course examines the relationship between poetry & music throughout history, while providing students the opportunity to practice writing both poetry and song lyrics as well as critical papers on various topics. From the Homeric epics, to the chorus of Greek tragedy, to devotional songs in various traditions, to the ballads of Robert Burns, to the work of Bob Dylan, Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, Tupac and to an exploration of the extraordinary success of "Hamilton," we will study language and music work together, how the oral tradition survives in our time, how and when poetry broke away from song, and how and when they've come back together. Our primary method will be close reading of lyrics and poems, using the tools of poetry analysis to judge them; therefore, a good deal of our time will be spent mastering those techniques and listening to and reading great poetry and music.