New Perspectives—Creative Writing (13-15 years)

Oxford Royale Academy Summer 2008.

Course Instructor: Malini Roy

Course Summary

This two-week course in creative writing aims to foster the imaginative and
conceptual skills that the student already possesses to some degree. All classes will be
structured as workshops, and held in an atmosphere of collaboration where students
(and the instructor) sit in a circle, and group discussion will be a key feature of the
classes. Classes will cover short pieces over a reasonable span of genres, where the
act of writing will cross over into other sensory experiences. Locale will play an
important part in this course, keeping in mind the privileged location of ORA. Thus,
students will be directed towards the historical aura of the colleges and the Bodleian
library, and they will write their final piece based on these experiences in a genre of
their own choice.

Lesson Plan

7 July Monday

This starts with a general introduction to the structure of the course. We’ll get to know
each other in class and what brought you all to creative writing as a course option.
We’ll look at how creative writing reflects thinking outside the box, by looking at a
few samples of bad writing. Thus we’ll critically go through ways of improving them
by eliminating cliché and livening them up with description. The class will conclude
with a look at novels (such as Dave Eggers’s A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering
Genius) that cheekily describe this process of turning something bald into an
attractive written piece.

8 July Tuesday

Based on the previous day’s discussion, you’ll be given a set of abstract pictures and
be asked to conceive of them as a photo album, with one-line comments on each
picture (in 45 min). The comments should be evocative, and witty if possible. From
9:45 am onwards we’ll discuss these albums, so that you can explain what went into
your comments as well as receive feedback from others on your work. You’ll be
expected to hand in revised versions of these fictional albums the next day in class,
with appropriate labels that identify each picture in your sequence.

9 July Wednesday

Having collected the albums, I’ll show you a scene from a classic film (with little
dialogue) with two characters in a language likely to be unknown to most students
(possibly Satyajit Ray’s Song of the Road, but this is subject to the composition of the
class). Please note down your impressions carefully, as we shall discuss them in the
last half-hour of the class.

10 July Thursday
Imagine that the film scene you saw the previous day is part of a video game. Think
of the two characters in the scene as part of this game. We’ll divide the class into
approximately equal groups—each group will represent one of the characters. Now
these two characters/groups are supposed to fight each other. Note down the strengths
and weaknesses of each character in the fight.

11 July Friday

Based on the previous day’s activities, write a 10-line dialogue between the fighting
characters. From 10-10:30 am, do a peer-to-peer review and hand in the assignments
to me by the end of class.

14 July Monday

We’ll have a look at the art of writing honest self-portraits through Theodore Zeldin’s
Guide to an Unknown University. Once you have these examples, think of a painful
experience you’ve had—it might be the loss of a dear friend, or a nightmare about
spiders (it doesn’t have to be the most painful experience you’ve ever had, and it
doesn’t have to be something you’d rather keep a secret). Note these impressions
down.

15 July Tuesday

Write a 10-line rap number based on your previous day’s imagined self-portrait. Share
this in class—if you’d like to perform it, well and good, if not, don’t worry, just read
it aloud to us and let’s see how we like it.

16 July Wednesday

We’ll make a short tour of the Bodleian Library and its souvenir shop. Following this
we’ll look at Cornelia Funke’s tale of Igraine the Brave, a modern take of a medieval
romance about a set of magical singing books. Due to time constraints, we won’t go
through the whole book within class, but we’ll have a close look at the blurb of the
book, which gives some of the plot away. Note your impressions.

17 July Thursday

Based on your previous day’s impressions, write a short story/poem that might be the
content of Funke’s book, as you saw advertised on the blurb. You can draw upon your
reading of other novels or historical writings for this. Your piece should be no longer
than one page. Please hand in your assignment at the end of class.

18 July Friday

As this is the last day of the course, we’ll round up with a revision of the exercises
we’ve gone through. This is your opportunity to air general views you might have
about writing, or to revisit your favourite authors. I’ll hand you back all your
assignments, so that you can keep them for future reference.
General remarks:

Most of this is really common sense, but it’s worth knowing where we all stand in
matters of policy.

Attendance:

Compulsory every day. If you cannot make it to class please let me know on
07985712322, or convey the message through your counsellor or at least a fellow-
student.

Marking:

Your individual assignments will be marked in the following order:

90-100 A+
80-89 A
70-79 B
60-69 C
50-59 D
50 and below E

Each assignment will be marked out of 100. As there are 4 main assignments, your
final mark will be assessed as an average. However, please note that your overall
performance counts more towards your results than marks on your individual
assignments. Regular attendance and class participation will count crucially towards
your final results.

Cautionary remarks:

Malpractices like cheating or plagiarism are not acceptable. Also, please keep in mind
that we are working in a friendly, civilised environment here. Terms that are offensive
to anyone’s gender, race, class or religion are not allowed (except where these terms
are the subject of discussion within the assignments). If, for any reason, you feel
threatened by such issues within class, please feel free to come and discuss these with
me after class and I will try to resolve the issue myself or through other staff at ORA.