Course Syllabus

ENGL 2260 Fiction Writing

Course Description

This course is an introduction to the writing of fiction. Students read and discuss exemplary models and compose a variety of projects of their own. Emphasis is placed on plot, character, dialogue, and description, and other techniques associated with fiction writing. It is recommended that students take ENGL 2250, Introduction to Creative Writing, before taking ENGL 2260.

Justification

Creative writing is a popular course for both majors and non-majors. ENGL 2250 will offer students an introduction to the craft of creative writing in multiple genres and will offer GE credit. ENGL 2260 complements that class by offering students a chance to delve deeper into the fiction writing process. This course is most like SUU's ENGL 2320 (Creative Writing in the Genres) and Weber's ENGL 2260 (Introduction to Writing Short Fiction). Students who succeed in ENGL 2260 commonly submit work to Weeds and/or join the editorial staff of Weeds. This experience can lead to similar work at senior institutions and be a gateway to graduate work, internships, and employment.

General Education Outcomes

1. A student who completes the GE curriculum has a fundamental knowledge of human cultures and the natural world. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to read a wide variety of fiction and use writing and discussion to explore how literature, particularly fiction, creates and reflects human cultures and engages with ideas about the natural world.
2. A student who completes the GE curriculum can read and research effectively within disciplines. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to use effective methods for reading, understanding, and evaluating works of fiction, as well as effective methods for researching information needed to create believable and rich stories.
3. A student who completes the GE curriculum can draw from multiple disciplines to address complex problems. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to use concepts from multiple disciplines—such as history, sociology, anthropology, science, etc—in order to effectively engage with and explore complex problems through story.
4. A student who completes the GE curriculum can reason analytically, critically, and creatively. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate creative thinking through the creation of their own works of fiction. They will also be able to analyze, evaluate, and critically discuss their own fiction and the fiction of others.
5. A student who completes the GE curriculum can communicate effectively through writing and speaking. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to communicate effectively through the writing of fiction. They will also write about and/or discuss fiction writing.

General Education Knowledge Area Outcomes

1. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to understand fiction writing as an iterative and recursive process by learning how to write and revise their own works of fiction. Students will be able to refine their own expressive work and articulate their ideas about the relative effectiveness of others’ fiction as expression of human experience and emotion.  Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to understand fiction writing as an iterative and recursive process by learning how to write and revise their own works of fiction. Students will be able to refine their own expressive work and articulate their ideas about the relative effectiveness of others’ fiction as expression of human experience and emotion.
2. APPRECIATE: Apply artistic concepts and ideas drawn from traditions of artistic creation and theory to better engage with, analyze and understand a creative work. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to apply concepts such as dramaturgy, plot, character, dialogue, description, and setting in their own fiction writing and as a way to analyze and evaluate the fiction writing of others.
3. CONNECT: Examine connections between art and society and articulate how the arts are a historical and cultural phenomenon.  Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to articulate through critical writing and/or discussion how different stories, told in different ways, reflect historical, cultural, and social phenomena. Students will read exemplary texts chosen from a variety of time-periods and cultural backgrounds to help in understanding a variety of topics, genres, and perspectives on fiction writing that exist in the writing world.

Course Content

The typical section of ENGL 2260 focuses on fiction and addresses plot, genre, character, dialogue, description, point of view, theme, style, and various mechanical issues. Students read a variety of published fiction (long or short) and compose a substantial amount of original material. Exemplary texts should provide a broad set of perspectives by including fiction by authors of different genders, cultures, ideologies, and time periods. The expression of varied perspectives should also be encouraged by allowing for creative freedom in students' choice of topics and subgenres.