INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Jacob P. Rayapati; Email: JRayapati@aol.com
SPRING 1999: T & TH 1-2:20 p.m. Baily 109
CHEYNEY UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Cheyney,PA 19319-9801
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COURSE OBJECIVES: By the end of the 11th week of classes, the student will develop a 2000-word short story which would include plot, character, point of view, action, dialogue, and setting. The student will maintain a Writer's Notebook through the semester to illustrate the kinds of discoveries she/he has made of the various elements of short fiction.
TEXT: Rule, Rebecca & Susan Wheeler. Creating the Story: Guide for Writers. Portsmouth,NH: Heinemann, 1993.
REFERENCES: Hodges, John C. et al. Harbrace College Handbook. 13th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1997.
WEEK 1: Read Textbook & Understand the Elements of Fiction. Write a brief charachter sketch. Limited to 200 words.
WEEK 2: Write a 200-word dialogue consistent with the character sketch of the previous week. Make a list of personality traits of humans. Make notes on how these traits can be mixed and matched. Learn the distinction between "flat" and "well-rounded" or "complex" characters.
WEEK 3: Draft three plots not exceeding 100 words each. Share these with fellow students in class. Get their response and make notes about what you learned and how these notes can help in developing a story.
WEEK 4: 01: Sketch TWO characters (100 words each) and share them with fellow students in class. Make notes in your "Writer's Note Book." 02: Write a "query letter" to Editor J.P.Rayapati, Editor of "Tiumphant Living" with a proposal for a 2000-word shor story. Your proposal should not exceed 200 words. 03: Discover the transistional devices in shifting points of view between characters and author. Understand "free association."
WEEK 5: Develop "action" that is consistent with character. Share with fellow students and make notes.
WEEK 6: Mid-Term Exam. in class writing. One and a half hours per class schedule.
WEEK 7: Have a SAFE Spring Break!
WEEK 8: Get started on the PROJECT STORY. Use the exercises of the past weeks to develop a draft in progress. Your story should be 2000-words long. It should emphasize a victorious outlook on life. It should be proofed and fixed well enough to be published electronically on a WEB site or CD-ROM DISK. "Show, don't tell." "Dramatize! Dramatize!! Dramatize!!!" The publication will be called "TRIUMPHANT LIVING." Possiblities for digital photo illustrations (at least of the authors) should be included.
WEEK 9: Revise story for dialogue, description, point of view, action, character, and setting. Ensure synchronization of these elements. Submit for discussion.
WEEK 10: Revise your draft for adjusting to the "Editorial Policy" of "TRIUMPHANT LIVING." No dirty language. Show disgust in body language and facial expression, but not in four-lettered words. Revise for affirmation of the positive side of life -- the triumphs after the struggles, the triumph of the spirit above the mundane.
WEEK 11: Locate a literary quarterly like "The Afro-American Literary Quarterly" or any university quarterly that publishes short stories. Read a story from such a quarterly. Write a 200-word review of the story discussing the use of any of the elements of fiction that the textbook mentions and the success of the author in crating this short story.
WEEK 12: Read a short story from a magazine like "The New Yorker" and write a review of 200-words.
WEEK 13: Read a short story from a Literary Quarterly published by a university. Review it for the elements of fiction used by the author. Evaluate the degree of success attained by the author in using some or all of the elements offiction. Do not exceed 200 words for the Review.
WEEK 14: Revise your project short-story for conciseness and clarity. Submit a hard copy and a disk of this final revision for your term grade. This copy should be ready for publication in Cheyney University Quaterly.
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