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Active as of Spring Semester 2013
I. General Information
1. Course Title:
Creative Nonfiction
2. Course Prefix & Number:
ENGL 2470
3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:
Credits: 3
Lecture Hours: 3
Lab Hours: 0
Internship Hours: 0
4. Course Description:
In this course students will work to define and explore the literary genre of creative nonfiction, developing the techniques used to gather information and the literary skills needed to turn bare facts into compelling, artful, purpose-driven prose. Through examination of example texts and immersion in the process of imaginative writing, participants will come to better understand and express themselves and their world.
5. Placement Tests Required:
6. Prerequisite Courses:
ENGL 2470 - Creative Nonfiction
There are no prerequisites for this course.
9. Co-requisite Courses:
ENGL 2470 - Creative Nonfiction
There are no corequisites for this course.
II. Transfer and Articulation
1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:
St. Cloud State University, ENGL 341 Creative Writing Nonfiction, 4 credits
Metropolitan State University, WRIT 352 Writing Memoir and Creative Nonfiction, 4 credits
Bemidji State University, ENGL 3145 Writing Creative Nonfiction I, 3 credits
III. Course Purpose
MN Transfer Curriculum (General Education) Courses - This course fulfills the following goal area(s) of the MN Transfer Curriculum:
Goal 6 – Humanities and Fine Arts
IV. Learning Outcomes
1. College-Wide Outcomes
College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies |
Students will be able to: |
Demonstrate written communication skills |
write, revise, and polish creative nonfiction works that demonstrate a strong purpose and distinct voice |
Demonstrate reading and listening skills |
analyze the effects of particular elements of craft in students’ own and others’ creative nonfiction prose |
Demonstrate interpersonal communication skills |
participate in substantive and respectful workshops whose main goals are analysis of creative nonfiction and the creation of a community of writers |
Apply abstract ideas to concrete situations |
apply feedback from workshops toward revision of students’ own work |
2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of
the course:
- engage in the creative process or interpretive performance; MnTC Goal 6
- respond critically to works in the arts and humanities; MnTC Goal 6
- articulate an informed personal reaction to works in the arts and humanities; MnTC Goal 6
- write creative nonfiction works that demonstrate a strong purpose and distinct voice;
- engage in significant revision of creative nonfiction works;
- participate in substantive and respectful workshops whose main goals are analysis of creative nonfiction and the creation of a community of writers and apply feedback from workshops toward revision of students’ own work;
- analyze the effects of particular elements of craft in students’ own and others’ creative nonfiction prose;
- contribute significantly to discussion forum in ways that push peers' understanding of creative nonfiction forward;
- apply learned rhetorical techniques to informal and formal writing.
V. Topical Outline
Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.
1. Lecture Sessions
- What is Creative Nonfiction?
- Evolution of the genre
- Poetry and prose
- Traditional and experimental narrative structures
- A Matter of Ethics
- Whose story to tell
- Writers’ responsibility to subjects
- Truth
- Fact-checking
- Defamation and libel
- Voice and Style
- Language
- Imagery
- Allusion
- Dialogue
- Tone
- Rhythm
- The subjective “I”
- Character
- Using senses
- Psychoanalyzing character
- Composite characters
- Getting inside the characters’ heads
- Family members as characters
- The Art of Storytelling
- Framing
- Montage
- Timing
- Structure
- Narrative arc
- The five W’s
- Point of view
- Research Techniques
- Immersion
- Interview
- Empirical data collection
Suggested assignments: weekly journals and discussion, memoir, personal narrative, and peer workshops
I. General Information
1. Course Title:
Creative Nonfiction
2. Course Prefix & Number:
ENGL 2470
3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:
Credits: 3
Lecture Hours: 3
Lab Hours: 0
Internship Hours: 0
4. Course Description:
In this course students will work to define and explore the literary genre of creative nonfiction, developing the techniques used to gather information and the literary skills needed to turn bare facts into compelling, artful, purpose-driven prose. Through examination of example texts and immersion in the process of imaginative writing, participants will come to better understand and express themselves and their world.
5. Placement Tests Required:
6. Prerequisite Courses:
ENGL 2470 - Creative Nonfiction
There are no prerequisites for this course.
9. Co-requisite Courses:
ENGL 2470 - Creative Nonfiction
There are no corequisites for this course.
II. Transfer and Articulation
1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:
St. Cloud State University, ENGL 341 Creative Writing Nonfiction, 4 credits
Metropolitan State University, WRIT 352 Writing Memoir and Creative Nonfiction, 4 credits
Bemidji State University, ENGL 3145 Writing Creative Nonfiction I, 3 credits
III. Course Purpose
2. MN Transfer Curriculum (General Education) Courses - This course fulfills the following goal area(s) of the MN Transfer Curriculum:
Goal 6 – Humanities and Fine Arts
IV. Learning Outcomes
1. College-Wide Outcomes
College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies |
Students will be able to: |
Demonstrate written communication skills |
write, revise, and polish creative nonfiction works that demonstrate a strong purpose and distinct voice |
Demonstrate reading and listening skills |
analyze the effects of particular elements of craft in students’ own and others’ creative nonfiction prose |
Demonstrate interpersonal communication skills |
participate in substantive and respectful workshops whose main goals are analysis of creative nonfiction and the creation of a community of writers |
Apply abstract ideas to concrete situations |
apply feedback from workshops toward revision of students’ own work |
2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of
the course:
- engage in the creative process or interpretive performance; MnTC Goal 6
- respond critically to works in the arts and humanities; MnTC Goal 6
- articulate an informed personal reaction to works in the arts and humanities; MnTC Goal 6
- write creative nonfiction works that demonstrate a strong purpose and distinct voice;
- engage in significant revision of creative nonfiction works;
- participate in substantive and respectful workshops whose main goals are analysis of creative nonfiction and the creation of a community of writers and apply feedback from workshops toward revision of students’ own work;
- analyze the effects of particular elements of craft in students’ own and others’ creative nonfiction prose;
- contribute significantly to discussion forum in ways that push peers' understanding of creative nonfiction forward;
- apply learned rhetorical techniques to informal and formal writing.
V. Topical Outline
Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.
1. Lecture Sessions
- What is Creative Nonfiction?
- Evolution of the genre
- Poetry and prose
- Traditional and experimental narrative structures
- A Matter of Ethics
- Whose story to tell
- Writers’ responsibility to subjects
- Truth
- Fact-checking
- Defamation and libel
- Voice and Style
- Language
- Imagery
- Allusion
- Dialogue
- Tone
- Rhythm
- The subjective “I”
- Character
- Using senses
- Psychoanalyzing character
- Composite characters
- Getting inside the characters’ heads
- Family members as characters
- The Art of Storytelling
- Framing
- Montage
- Timing
- Structure
- Narrative arc
- The five W’s
- Point of view
- Research Techniques
- Immersion
- Interview
- Empirical data collection
Suggested assignments: weekly journals and discussion, memoir, personal narrative, and peer workshops