Introduction to Creative Writing and Practice module (EN11011)
20
EN11011
- Level 1
- Semester 1
- 100 places
- English - School of Humanities
- Coursework 100%
Whether you are a poet, dramatist, essayist, novelist, story-writer, or a combination of these things, this module introduces you to key skills in critical-creative ways of reading and writing and guides you to start thinking about how you produce, collect, reflect on, and perform both your own and other people's work. The module covers a range of genres and styles, from poetry through to creative non-fiction, and does so by addressing key issues in the way we think about writing. You will begin to develop techniques through which you can begin to speak, read, and write creatively and with confidence, both in-class and in your own time. By the end of the course you will have produced a recording of a literary work, a writer's manifesto, and a portfolio of creative work, and will have begun to think like a writer, and be able to critically justify the decisions you make in your reading and writing practice.
Convenor
Teaching staff
Dr. Heather H. Yeung (module leader); Professor Andrew M. Roberts; Dr. Tim Morris; Professor Mark Robson; Dr. Nicole Devarenne
Assessment
This module is assessed as follows:
- Audio recording of a literary work (6-8 minutes)
- Reflective essay on audio recording (800 words)
- Portfolio of creative work (2000 words / 6-8 pp)
- Writer’s manifesto to accompany the portfolio (800 words)
Reading
Topics covered (by critical and creative lecture and/or field-trip, supplemented by workshop sessions) are as follows:
Creative reading and writing; Point-of View; Figurative Language; Literary Form; Literary Performance; Nature Writing; Ekphrasis; the Writer’s Manifesto; Putting together a portfolio (anthologizing skills).
Primary texts for each session will be a selection taken from all major genres (poetry, prose fiction, prose non-fiction, and drama); core books used are The Norton Anthology of English Literature Volumes 1 & 2 (Norton, 2000)*; Eavan Boland and Mark Strand’s anthology The Making of a Poem (Norton, 2003); Andrew Bennett and Nicholas Royle’s This Thing Called Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing (2005)
Students are required to buy a number of core texts to a maximum value for £60, note that one of the core texts for the module – the Norton Anthology of English Literature - is also a core text for EN11001 ‘Introduction to Literary Study’, and various other modules in English Studies.
Access the online reading list system
Module Aims
To introduce students to key skills in critical-creative ways of reading and writing at a university level (for students from any age group and a variety of educational backgrounds, including Advanced Higher, Advanced Level, Baccalaureate, and University Access courses and qualifications).
Guides students towards thinking about how they produce, collect, reflect on, and perform both their own work and that of other writers. Students will develop skills in critique and editing as well as a professional approach to the spoken and written presentation of their work and that of others.
Introduces students to a toolbox of writing techniques and critical approaches applicable to writing and reading creatively and with originality in all the major genres in literature (including poetry, prose fiction, prose non-fiction, and drama), developing skills in the writing, editing, close analysis, and presentation of texts.
Intended learning outcomes
- Knowledge and understanding.
Students will develop the ability read and write independently, creatively, and with confidence across major genres in literature (including poetry, prose fiction, prose non-fiction, and drama)
Students will be aware of key techniques and their literary effects in their own writing and that of others, and be able to discuss and productively critique this using relevant literary vocabulary
- Subject-specific practical and intellectual skills and attributes.
Students will be able to critically justify decisions made in their own creative practice, and communicate these often complex processes of decision-making in well-structured, coherent, and relevant argument
- Transferable, employability and enterprise skills and attributes.
Students will begin to be able to use and critically assess the importance of digital media for the recording, publication, and dissemination of their work
Students will develop a professional approach to the critique of literary texts in small group discussion and in written work