ROLLINS COLLEGE
ENG. 167: Introduction to Creative Writing
You Get to Say
Monday. 6:45 to 9:15pm
Orlando 105
Professor Victoria Brown
[email protected]
Phone: 407-646-2047
Office Hours, Spring 2017
Mon: 10 to 11am; Tue/Thur: 1:00 to 3:00pm, and by emailed request for additional appointments.
Office location: Carnegie 115
Email correspondence: Email is the official mode of communication at Rollins College and
students are expected to check their email accounts frequently. In general, I respond to email within
24 hours of receipt, except on the weekend. Only rarely do I check my email after 5:30 pm.
Course Description: Eng-167: The title of this course, “You Get to Say,” intends students to
harness the medium of Creative Writing by encouraging them to own the genres for self-expression:
You write the story. This introductory course will familiarize students with the basic elements of
fiction, including, but not limited to, Character, Setting, Point of View, and Form. Its nonfiction
component will explore the various subgenres for writing truth. Eng-167 is a writing intensive course.
In the following weeks students are expected to keep a journal, write several short fiction and
nonfiction exercises, and one significant work in each genre. Both significant pieces will be critiqued
in an introductory workshop and both will be revised for your course final.
Required Texts
Janet Burroway: Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft
Mimi Schwartz and Sondra Perl: Writing True: The Art and Craft of Creative Nonfiction
Dedicated Journal (Something I can periodically collect)
You are required to attend at least one public reading event of your choice. I will frequently update
you about upcoming readings on and off campus, and please share any leads you have. After
attending a reading you must post to our Blackboard discussion group: Date and venue, author, title
of work the author read from, and general impressions about the event and the work. This is a
mandatory part of class and is required to get a passing grade.
Course Goals/Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course, you should be able to:
 understand the elements of literary fiction
 distinguish subgenres of creative nonfiction
 perform analytical readings of published short stories and essays
 reproduce both elements of fiction and nonfiction subgenres in their own writing
 revise first drafts for clarity of purpose
Course Requirements and Grade Distribution
(Detailed assignments to follow)
Major short story (revised for grade) 30% of final grade
Major essay (revised for grade) 30% of final grade
Journal 15% percent of final grade
Exercises 15% of final grade
Participation (to include verbal and written feedback) 10% of final grade
(No letter grade is assigned to the workshop draft of your writing. You will, however, receive
detailed feedback from me. If you want to discuss class performance or standing, please come to
office hours with specific questions for a chat.)
Attendance Policies
Class participation counts toward your final grade. Any more than three unexcused absences will
result in a failing grade. Three late arrivals (counted as ten minutes after start time) add up to one
missed class. There are no unexcused absences, but I’m not unreasonable. If you have to miss class
for any reason, please inform me beforehand. If you are unable to, please provide verifiable
documentation after the event. (Official absences for Rollins business are not counted in this tally.)
Once you are in class, be present. This class runs on discussion and peer-critique. Everyone needs to
participate.
Course Policies
 Stories and essays must be proofread and submitted on time. If you need help with an
assignment, see me beforehand or visit the Writing Center in Olin.
 Missing class and late arrivals lower your final grade (see above); unfortunately coming to
class and being on time do not increase your final grade. That is your obligation.
Professor’s Preferences
 No cell phones or open laptops. This is a decidedly low-tech class. (Of course if you have a
documented disability and need to use a device, I’m happy to oblige.)
 Please don’t talk when others are talking unless you just have to interject with the juiciest of
critique or commentary.
 All assigned reading must be completed prior to class; I’ll know if you didn’t read, and I
won’t be pleased.
College Policies
Academic Honor Code Reaffirmation
Membership in the student body of Rollins College carries with it an obligation, and requires a
commitment, to act with honor in all things. The student commitment to uphold the values of
honor - honesty, trust, respect, fairness, and responsibility - particularly manifests itself in two public
aspects of student life. First, as part of the admission process to the College, students agree to
commit themselves to the Honor Code. Then, as part of the matriculation process during
Orientation, students sign a more detailed pledge to uphold the Honor Code and to conduct
themselves honorably in all their activities, both academic and social, as a Rollins student. A student
signature on the following pledge is a binding commitment by the student that lasts for his or her
entire tenure at Rollins College.
The development of the virtues of Honor and Integrity are integral to a Rollins College education
and to membership in the Rollins College community. Therefore, I, a student of Rollins College,
pledge to show my commitment to these virtues by abstaining from any lying, cheating, or
plagiarism in my academic endeavors and by behaving responsibly, respectfully and honorably in my
social life and in my relationships with others. This pledge is reinforced every time a student submits
work for academic credit as his/her own. Students shall add to the paper, quiz, test, lab report, etc.,
the handwritten signed statement:
"On my honor, I have not given, nor received, nor witnessed any unauthorized assistance
on this work."
Material submitted electronically should contain the pledge; submission implies signing the pledge.
Credit Hour Statement
Policy AC 2000: adopted 4/7/16
Rollins College offers four‐credit‐hour courses that provide three (50‐minute) hours of direct or
indirect instructional contact. The value of four credit hours reflects the substantial individual
attention each student receives from instructors as well as additional out‐of‐class activities. Faculty
require that students undertake at least 7.5 (60‐minute) hours of outside work per week, averaged
over the course’s duration and equaling two and one‐half (2.5) 60‐minute hours of outside work for
every one (50 minute) hour of scheduled class time. In this course, the additional outside‐of‐class
expectations are [please fill in what this course requires, e.g., additional reading and/or
writing, fieldwork, research, experiential education, small group projects, etc.]:
Disability Services
Rollins College is committed to equal access and inclusion for all students, faculty and staff. The
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 create a foundation of
legal obligations to provide an accessible educational environment that does not discriminate against
persons with disabilities. It is the spirit of these laws which guides the college toward expanding
access in all courses and programs, utilizing innovative instructional design, and identifying and
removing barriers whenever possible.
If you are a person with a disability and anticipate needing any type of academic accommodations in
order to fully participate in your classes, please contact the Disability Services Office, located in the
Mills Memorial Building, Room 217, as soon as possible. You are encouraged to schedule a
Welcome Meeting by filling out the “First Time Users” form on the
website: http://www.rollins.edu/disability-services/ and/or reach out by phone or email: 407-9756463 or [email protected].
Title IX Statement (updated 7/12/16)
Rollins College is committed to making its campus a safe place for students. If you tell any of your
faculty about sexual misconduct involving members of the campus community, your professors are
required to report this information to the Title IX Coordinator. Your faculty member can help
connect you with the Coordinator, Oriana Jiménez ([email protected] or 407-691-1773). She will
provide you with information, resources and support. If you would prefer to speak to someone on
campus confidentially, please call the Wellness Center at 407-628-6340. They are not required to
report any information you share with the Office of Title IX.
Sexual misconduct includes sexual harassment, stalking, intimate partner violence (such as dating or
domestic abuse), sexual assault, and any discrimination based on your sex, gender, gender identity,
gender expression or sexual orientation that creates a hostile environment. For information, visit
http://www.rollins.edu/titleix/
ENG-167. Prof. V. Brown
Course calendar: Following is our tentative class calendar; assignments are bound to get
moved around, though always for good reason (and here comes Fox Day).
FICTION by the elements of fiction
WEEK 1: 1/23
Welcome and all round introductions
All the ways to begin (plus, keeping a journal)
(Sandra Cisneros, “Eleven”)
(Ex. 1)
WEEK 2: 1/30
Character WF 67 to 71
ZZ Packer, “Every Tongue Shall Confess”
Tobias Wolff, “Bullet in the Brain”
(Ex. 1)
WEEK 3: 2/06
Creating Place WF 156 to 159
Alice Walker, “The Flowers”
Eudora Welty, “A Vision of Charity”
(Ex. 4)
WEEK 4: 2/13
Point of View: WF 276 to 283
George Saunders, “Victory Lap”
(Ex.)
WEEK 5: 2/20
Story Form: Plot and Structure
Joy Williams, “Escapes”
Geoffrey Forsyth, “Mud”
Flannery O’Connor, “Everything that Rises Must Converge”
Bret Anthony Johnston, “Write What You Don’t Know”
(Ex. 1 and 5)
WEEK 6: 2/27
Introductory fiction workshop
4 to 5-page short story
WEEK 7: 3/06
Mandatory conferences
SPRING BREAK SATURDAY MARCH 11 THROUGH SUNDAY MARCH 19
(Yep, you’re reading Baldwin over Break!)
CREATIVE NONFICTION by subgenre
WEEK 8: 3/20
Personal Essay
James Baldwin, “Notes on a Native Son” (BB link or handout)
The essay you have always wanted to write
WEEK 9: 3/27
Portrait
Charles Simic, “Dinner at Uncle Boris’s”
Jill Lepore, “Poor Jane’s Almanac”
Max Apple, “Roommates”
WEEK 10: 4/03
Place
Yunte Huang “Southern Hospitality but not for Newcomers”
Dagoberto Gilb, “Living al Chuco”
E.B. White, “Once More to the Lake”
WEEK 11: 4/10
Narrative Journalism
Mattahaias Schwartz, “A Massacre in Jamaica”
WEEK 12: 4/17
Introductory nonfiction workshop
4 to 5-page essay
WEEK 13: 4/24
Mandatory conferences
WEEK 14: 5/01
Readings
CLASSES END 5/02