TEXTBOOK OPTIONAL: Pick up any glossary or handbook on writing: for
example,
Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms, 6th Ed. HBJ. 1993.
English 126/226 is a skill workshop that will focus on poetry, focusing
on the improvement of the student's craft with special attention to
imagery, figurative language and diction. Poetry writing, at least in
this class, does not mean writing "verse". Verse means "Hallmark"
(sentimental or nostalgic) children's poetry, and popular song lyrics.
Poetry, for this class, will mean works that explore a theme deeply
using historical, religious, psychological, political and social
allusions.
Written Critiques: 30%. Each student must respond verbally to each poem
offered during workshops. These verbal responses must comment on the
author's manuscript, must illustrate the student's knowledge of the
content and must illustrate a competent use of literary devices. Each
week student will be required to provide revision suggestions on all
poetry posted to the discussion board, receiving up to 2 points for each
comment. Each week student must also respond to 10 comments posted by
other students, receiving 1 point for each response. For example, if 20
poems are posted, then students could earn 40 points for substantive
revision suggestions, plus earn an additional 10 points for responding
to the revision suggestions made by other students for a total possible
50 points for the week.
All comments on poems and responses to comments must be posted before
5:00 p.m. on Friday each week.
Original Work: 30%. Each student must present a minimum of ten poems;
one poem must be posted each week by all students. Students who ignore
this schedule will be docked 10% of the grade for the work, each day the
work is late. Original work must be posted on Mondays by 5:00 p.m. The
ability to post poems on the weekly thread will be available Suday of
that week. Late poems posted after the end of the school week (Friday at
5:00 p.m.) will be removed from the discussion board.
Portfolio: 40%. Each student must present a portfolio of revised work at
the end of the class that reflects an improved ability in each of the
skills covered in the class. Due Finals Week.
Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. Points for the class will be
awarded for participation in the online discussion board where students
will post their original work, and post comments on each other's work.
Emergencies and illness will be handled on an individual basis
College Wide-Abilities: Following are Clark College's "campus-wide"
abilities that all teachers will encourage. English 123 will focus
primarily on numbers one and three: 1 critical thinking (CT); 2
information retrieval (IT); 3 communication (C); 4 effective citizenship
(EC); 5 life-long learning (LL); 6 multi-cultural awareness (MC).
Course goals include:
developing critical reading skills so that you may constructively
comment on creative works, developing creative writing skills which
include elements of critical thinking, audience awareness, development
and theme structure, improving confidence in presenting your work to
others, working with reviewers and editors by using their constructive
commentary to revise your creative work, improving your ability to
manage your time in order to meet strict deadlines.
Discussion/Attendance Rubric
Your participation in the discussion board represents attendance,
classroom participation, and weekly evidence that you are making
progress in achieving the goals and objectives of the class. Each
discussion thread will be worth sixteen points. Your participation will
be graded using the following criteria:
Response to students' poems
10-8 points for using poetic terminology correctly, providing
meaningful revision suggestions, and clear and precise explanations.
7-5 points for using mostly the correct terms, mostly providing
revision suggestions, and for providing reasonable explanation.
4-0 points for incorrect terms, minimal suggestions, and shallow
explanations.
Replies to others:
6-5 points for being polite, engaging, and thoughtful
4-3 points for being polite, engaging and not so thoughtful
2-0 for being polite and a bit shallow
For being impolite, rude, aggressive, insulting or otherwise
disruptive, removal from the class.