Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Seminar | 10 x 2 Hour Seminars |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Creative Writing Porfolio 1 A short story of 1500 words (60%) and critical commentary of 1000 words (40%) with a bibliography. | 50% |
| Semester Assessment | Creative Writing Portfolio 2 A short story of 1500 words (60%) and critical commentary of 1000 words (40%) with a bibliography. | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Resubmit Creative Writing Portfolio 1 Resubmit missing or failed element: A short story of 1500 words (60%) and critical commentary of 1000 words (40%) with a bibliography. | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Resubmit Creative Writing Porfolio 2 Resubmit missing or failed element: A short story of 1500 words (60%) and critical commentary of 1000 words (40%) with a bibliography. | 50% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate knowledge of and apply narrative techniques used in different kinds of short prose.
2. Demonstrate an ability to write in a range of short forms across a variety of genres.
3. Articulate a developed critical and self-reflexive awareness of writing practices.
4. Give, receive and respond to constructive feedback from peers.
5. Demonstrate an ability to work as a group member, giving and receiving constructive feedback.
Aims
This module will provide novice writers with the basic knowledge and skills to structure and write the shorter form with confidence and insight. Moreover, it will address issues which the teaching team regularly encounter and also deliver transferable skills pertinent to the student’s broader academic and professional development.
Brief description
This module introduces the students to the basic structures of a range of short prose narratives and the techniques necessary for their construction. It will be taught by 2 hour seminar/workshops. After the second week, workshops will be a principal feature of each seminar. Students will submit work in advance on set narrative techniques and themes, which will be discussed by the rest of the group. These workshops will be supplemented by independent reading of set texts, seminar discussion of these texts and practical exercises (group and individual). Themes and texts will be chosen to illustrate the topic of that week’s seminar. The module is designed to provide regular opportunities for formative feedback as well as summative assignment tasks.
Content
Week 1. What is a story?
Introduction to the short story form.
Week 2. Brevity. Flash fiction and the very short story.
Plotting and character development for the shortest of stories.
Week 3. Beginnings, middles and endings.
Structuring the short story. Focus on different approaches to openings and endings.
Week 4. Making every word count. The Art of showing and telling.
Different approaches to exposition and descriptive writing.
Week 5. Let them speak!
How to use dialogue and reported speech.
Week 6. Who will tell the story?
Narrators and points of view. Looking at different approaches to using third person narratives.
Week 7. Who will tell the story? Part 2
First person narratives. Modernist to postmodernist approaches.
Week 8. Popular short fictions.
Genre short fiction. Themes, stereotypes and tropes.
Week 9. Real and imagined worlds.
Different approaches to setting and theme and world building.
Week 10. Keep it interesting.
Reworking and experimenting. Handling time shifts, including flashbacks, and using multiple narrators.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | N/A |
| Communication | Written communication for assessed work. Oral communication in seminar discussions and giving and receiving feedback in workshops, which is reflected upon in assessed Creative Portfolio and Critical Commentary. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Through participating in exercises, through developing assessment pieces and responding to peer feedback and assessment feedback. Improving reading and research skills through weekly preparation, which is reflected upon in assessed Critical Commentary and Creative Portfolio. |
| Information Technology | Word-processing skills for preparation, draft work and submissions, accessing material on Blackboard and digital resources for seminar preparation and own research. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Through practice and critical self-reflection; and through transferable communications and research skills. |
| Problem solving | Dealing with the technical problems of structuring, writing, analysing and evaluating short fiction |
| Research skills | Undertaking research for creative work and commentaries for assignments and preparing for weekly seminar topics |
| Subject Specific Skills | Planning, structuring and narrative techniques for writing a range of short prose. |
| Team work | Participation and collaboration through group discussion and exercises and workshopping, reflected upon in assessed written assignments. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 4