Syllabus

EN369/469 Intermediate Young Adult & Childrens Writing Workshop (Online)

Arcadia University English Department Summer II 2013 Gretchen Haertsch Office: Taylor Hall 223 E-mail: haertscg@arcadia.edu Cell Phone: 215-200-5087 Home Phone: 215-355-4775

Welcome! Welcome to your Arcadia University course, EN369/469 Intermediate Young Adult & Childrens Writing Workshop. The course further develops your knowledge and writing skills for the children and young adult genre with a concentration on your own work-in-progress. This course begins where the introductory course EN343/443 left off. It assumes an introductory knowledge of the various subgenres (nonfiction and fiction depending on our class makeup) and a commitment to writing for its population, from preschoolers to young adults (your choice, of course). It offers more intensive fullclass peer review, more advanced technique workshops, and one-on-one conferencing with the instructor. Required Materials

Choldenko, Gennifer. Al Capone Does My Shirts. New York: Puffin Books, 2004. ISBN: 9780142403709 Morris, Judy K. Writing Fiction for Children: Stories Only You Can Tell . Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780252026867 Also recommended: Wyndham, Lee. Writing for Children & Teenagers. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writers Digest Books, 1988. ISBN: 00898793475 (I will provide handouts of the required chapters during the Institute weekend if you dont buy the text). Since this course is being delivered online, your computer system will need to meet specific hardware and software requirements. For this course, you will need to have access to Microsoft Office, or

software that can author MS Office formats like Google Docs or Open Office. Additionally, we will be using other software packages, but I've tried to utilize free programs. The URL's for those programs will be provided in the course at the appropriate location. 1. Headset with microphone, or a built-in laptop microphone 2. Skype (conferencing software) - http://www.skype.com Prerequisites EN343/443; an equivalent YA/Childrens writing class from another institution; or other significant experience as demonstrated by writing samples and/or background information. Minimum Technical Skills Expected 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The ability to use a modern web browser, like Internet Explorer or Firefox, to navigate websites. The ability to use your Arcadia e-mail address to send and receive e-mails. The ability to learn My Arcadia features found in the Tutorials section of the course, as needed. The ability to use word processing software to read, author, edit and save documents. The ability to use a search engine, like Google, to find information on the web.

Evaluation

A B C D F

90% to 100% 80% to 89% 70% to 79% 60% to 69% Failure to complete required work

Participation in online and weekend discussions on craft and genre Manuscript for peer review Peer Review Final Portfolio of all revised work

10% 20% 30% 40%

Introduction

This course is being presented in a blended format as part of the Creative Writing Institute. The course consists of one intensive weekend on campus, July 26-28, followed by four weeks of online learning (July 29 Aug. 23). The weekend begins with a Friday night dinner and author reading. Saturday and Sunday

include craft workshops, lectures, peer critique, and individual conferences with the instructor. During the online portion of the course, it is important that you login on a regular basis (daily if possible) and work consistently to complete your requirements. Since we are not meeting face to face after the initial weekend, it is imperative that you participate in the critiques and discussion board with your classmates. The instructor will schedule a phone or Skype conferences at least once during the semester. Also, the Cyber Cafe is available for you to develop community outside of the course content. You will need to be self-motivated and try to stay as organized as possible; developing a schedule would be a good idea. I also suggest that you login in the beginning of the week and copy all assignments to a Word document. This will allow you to construct a quality answer, spell check, grammar check, and copy and paste it into the forum. Requirements for Discussion Board Sessions 1. When quoting the work of another writer either from a text or model work it is important that you cite the work correctly using MLA format. The following is an example of what I expect when you are referring to the work of another writer. Example within the context of the posting: Choldenko (Al Capone Does My Shirts 2004) seems to follow Lee Wyndhams advice on characterization when she has Moose involve Al Capone in getting his sister admitted to a prestigious school. As Wyndham writes, it is an absolute rule that heroes and heroines must be doers, not people watchers (30). Moose is certainly a doer when he makes that risky move. Feel free to bring in other model texts to provide examples to your peers. Just make sure you use proper citations. 2. You are required to respond to a minimum of three other student postings for a forum that requires interaction with your peers, and that includes the critiques. Each student must provide a written critique of the work of the student writer under consideration, but I will also be looking at the way you extend the conversation by responding and possibly disagreeing to the critiques of your peers. Please use this opportunity to share your own writing experiences and reactions to the student text, but remember to support your assertions with information from our texts when appropriate. At this more advanced writing level, we can all learn a great deal by sharing our writing and reading experiences.

3.

Your postings will be evaluated based upon their substantive nature and how efficiently they address the question at hand. Simple responses such as "I agree" are of no value and will not be counted as an acceptable posting. Try to use what I call the "no scroll" rule. If you have to scroll a great deal to read the posting, it becomes an arduous task. Please try to be succinct and to the point. Strive to respond at the synthesis or evaluation levels.

Discussion Etiquette In this course, I welcome the creation of a dialogue that is open, thoughtful, and founded on the basis of sound writing technique and broad reading in the children/YA genre. At times, some of you will not agree on the positions that are taken in the forum especially concerning the peer critique. This diversity is welcome. However, each student must exercise respect for the thoughts and comments and writing samples -- that are posted by their peers. Writers are sensitive creatures and we can get easily discouraged. If any posted comments are inappropriate or too harshly stated, they will be removed from the forum and I will address the issue with the author of the content. Please follow the following guidelines: Never post, transmit, promote, or distribute content that is known to be illegal. Never post harassing, threatening, or embarrassing comments. If you disagree with someone, respond to the subject, not the person. Never post content that is harmful, abusive, racially, ethnically, or religiously offensive, vulgar or otherwise potentially offensive.

Peer critique is a major requirement and responsibility of this course. As such, it is not sufficient to merely tell a fellow writer I really enjoyed your story. I expect you to strive to understand what the writer is trying to accomplish and provide candid (but kind) reaction to your reading of the work. Read Morriss advice on pages 156-157 on giving and receiving advice. You cant try to fix all the writers problems; that is up to the writer. But you can let her/him know when youre lost, when dialogue seems ungrounded, when the motivation of a character is unclear, etc. Likewise, as the writer of the manuscript, you must listen/read the advice with an open mind. As Morris says, no question is so dumb that you can ignore itEach reader brings his or her own personality and experiences to a story (157). Unit Schedule

Unit 1 Objectives (includes the initial weekend) To get to know one another and begin forming a writing community. (Course Objective) To understand the syllabus and course expectation. (Unit Objective) To set personal goals for the course and articulate them. (Unit Objective) To begin to have a deeper understanding of childrens fiction from the craft perspective using writing models. (Course Objective) To study the craft of character development and plotting from the perspective of the students own work. (Unit Objective)

Unit 1 Readings 1. Part I and Part V in Judy K. Morriss text, Writing Fiction for Children 2. Chapter 9 in Phyllis A. Whitneys text, Writing Juvenile Stories and Novels (provided)

3. Have Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko read by Institute weekend. Unit 1 Assignments 1. Prepare your submission for peer critique (students choose a critique date; critiques are active Week 1 through Week 4) 2. Submit your Letter of Intent 3. Submit your Agreement to Syllabus 4. Begin the Morris character exercises on pages 59 and 61 5. Post your peer critiques

Unit 2 Objectives To focus on creating your own fully rounded characters. (Unit Objective) To focus on creating your own meaningful settings. (Course Objective) To demonstrate the ability to participate in a workshop setting in a manner that is supportive, helpful to peers, and productive in terms of your own writing. (Course Objective)

Unit 2 Readings 1. Part II in Morris. 2. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 in Lee Wyndhams Writing for Children & Teenagers (provided) Unit 2 Assignments 1. Submit the Morris character exercises 2. Post your response on building characters 3. Post your peer critiques

Unit 3 Objectives To focus on creating a worthy theme. (Unit Objective) To focus on understanding and creating your own unique voice. (Unit Objective) To continue to refine your own creative output to reflect a growing understanding of the conventions of childrens/YA writing and a growing understanding of craft. (Course Objective)

Unit 3 Readings 1. Part III and IV in Morris. Unit 3 Assignments 1. Begin the Wyndham Plotting Recipe

2. Post your peer critiques 3. Conference Call with Instructor

Unit 4 Objectives To undertake a self-driven revision of your own manuscript based on the feedback of peers and your instructors. (Course Objective) To demonstrate your growing mastery of craft through revision of your manuscript. (Unit Objective) To review and assemble your final creative output for the course. (Unit Objective) To reflect on how you will continue the project after the course is complete (Unit Objective)

Unit 4 Readings 1. Part VI in Morris. Unit 4 Assignments 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Submit your Plotting Recipe Post your response on plotting Post your peer critiques Compose your Cover Letter for Portfolio Submit your Portfolio Complete the course evaluation. An email will be sent to you with a link to access the online form.