...scheduled to present to the class two pages of writing by an author (poet, essayist, or fiction writer) you admire. The class presentation will focus on a specific aspect of the writing, such as characterization, tone, point of view, scene-setting/description, dialogue, etc. This will also be handed in as an essay (two pages, double-spaced) focusing on what students can learn, borrow and personalize from the example by the published writer. CREATIVE WRITING PORTFOLIO SYSTEM Assignments given out in class tend to focus on traditional poetic form or respond to the poetic innovations of non-traditional writers – responses to these assignments should appear in the portfolio. The original versions of anything you have translated don’t count toward the page total, of course; work for other courses does not count either, unless you’ve done workshops in class on the writing. Your final portfolio will contain the text of your presentation to the class of some work by a published writer you admire. MIDTERM PORTFOLIO This must be fifteen pages long, minimum. A page of poetry has twenty lines of poetry on it, on average. It is best to limit each page to one poem – though if you’re writing haikus, then that’s an exception. Single-space poems. Make sure your document has page numbers. Prose covers the whole page, but it’s double-spaced. If you’re writing short prose pieces (i.e. ‘flash fiction,’ ‘prose poems,’ ‘short shorts,’ etc.) then you may have lots of white space on the page....
Words: 476 - Pages: 2
...1. Original Story: Tristan and Isolde Tristan, prince of Launois lost his father before he was born, and his mother also died shortly after giving birth. Nevertheless, he grew into a great general knight who was able to save the nation in a great crisis from the Irish giant, Morholt. Then, he left to slay a dragon and guard the princess Isolde. During the voyage to Cornwall, Isolde and Tristan drank potion by accident, not knowing what it was, and fell deeply in love. Although Isolde went through with the marriage to Mark, she could not stop loving Tristan, and he was fated to love her in return. They tried to keep this a secret, but eventually it became known. In the end, Tristan escaped from the king. Later, Tristan was wounded in battle, and he sent for Isolde of Cornwall, hoping that she could once again heal him. Tristan lay on his sickbed and waited, but she didn’t come soon enough. When Isolde arrived and learned of his death, she too died of grief. The two were buried in Cornwall. From Isolde's grave a rose tree grew, and from Tristan's came a vine that wrapped itself around the tree. It became a sign that the two lovers could not be parted in death. 2. New Setting Story The story starts from meeting the Island gypsy Isolde and the English King Mark. Two years later, Mark introduced his fiancée Isolde to Tristan who is not only the closest person to the King but also King’s the only family in the world. So the King asked Tristan to guard Isolde. After that, Tristan...
Words: 567 - Pages: 3
...like the rest of his fellow writers, such as his innovation of connecting art and environment. Recent critics have focused on his literary method; Poe has tackled the problem of a pieces of work relying so heavily on risque elements. Poe is known as “The Father of the Macabre,” as he is a “skilled craftsman of grotesque tales and romantic fantasies,” (shaping many into one). However, Poe was more than a horror story and poem writer, in fact his oeuvre includes editor, literary critic, satirist, hoaxer, mystery writer, pioneer in the Sci-Fi (science-fiction) genre, poet, and playwright. Poe created an “aesthetic theory, setting the basis to American scepticism through the first person narrative, “ (shaping many into one). Poes’ had a connection to the American culture and improved upon American literature through his philosophy of composition, celebrating a liaison between artistic autonomy and productivity, mainly prose fiction. he also believes that “the power of words expresses the concept of endless productivity,” (poe...
Words: 866 - Pages: 4
...The eeriness that surrounds Edgar Allen Poe’s life created a lot of controversy to his name. Many myths have been formed after his death at the age of 40. The wild myths includes Poe died drunk in a gutter, Poe was an opium addict, and Poe was expelled from the University of Virginia. As I said in the beginning of my sentence, all of the following statements are false. Many people still believe that these myths are actually true, even until this day! I’m here to provide the evidence to prove that these myths are just myths. Let’s begin with our first myth of Poe dying drunk in a gutter. Poe didn’t actually die drunk in a gutter. The article “Poe died in a gutter”, said he died in a Washington College Hospital. Although Poe’s medical records...
Words: 299 - Pages: 2
...“Was the death of Edgar Allan Poe really an accident?” Edgar Allan Poe death on October 7, 1949 was a strange and surprising event to everyone who knew and loved him. The cause of Poe’s death remains a mystery even now. While there are many reasonable facts and theories surrounding Poe’s unusual death, such as, heavy metal poisoning, further investigation regarding Poe’s enemies needs to happen in order for the mystery to be solved. There are many things that are known about the events surrounding Poe’s shocking decline in health and eventually his demise. For example, Poe was told by his fiance Elmira Shelton that he looked ill about a day before his departure for Philadelphia. So, Poe visited his doctor and friend, John Carter who recommended that he stay home and rest (D). During many times before his decline in health Poe suffered from recurrent depression, drug and alcohol abuse (A). A few days after his departure he was found “semi-conscious and was taken to a nearby hospital known as Washington College Hospital for he had chosen to ignore Carters orders (C). On the fourth day he “awoke and yelled for Reynolds”. The doctors did not know what to do so Poe continued yelling throughout the night (C) . On October 7, 1849 he calmly breath this quick prayer,” Lord, help my poor soul.” and he died. No autopsy was performed and he was buried two days later. After his unexpected passing many theories swelled about his death. One such theory was cooping. “Poe was spotted at Ryan’s...
Words: 632 - Pages: 3
... Edgar Allan poe is a renowned poet best known for his short stories. He is a dark writer due to his tragic childhood. This childhood ,however,is one of the main reasons he wrote his dark tells. Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 9th, 1809 in Boston. His parents were travelling actors that did not make much money. When he was just 2 years of age, his father abandoned them leaving Elizabeth to take care of their kids Edgar, his older brother Henry and his infant sister Rosalie. Soon after this things got worse. His mother, Elizabeth Poe, died from the disease tuberculosis. Within days of this Edgar’s father, David Poe, also died of the same disease. The three Poe children were split up.Henry went to live with his paternal grandparents. Rosalie was adopted by the McKenzie family. Edgar was taken in by a couple who could not have children, John and Frances Allan. John Allan was a tobacco farmer. John sent Edgar to the best boarding schools and later sent him to the University of Virginia. Poe excelled academically but unfortunately Edgar had a bad gambling problem. He went $2,000.00 in debt during his first semester of college and John refused to pay the debts so he stopped attending the school. Because of this Edgar ditched Virginia and the Allansand went to Baltimore to live with his relatives. After this Edgar enlisted in the U.S. army at West Point. He enlisted under the name “Edgar A. Perry”. Shmoop.com states that “ He did well as a soldier, rising to the rank of...
Words: 537 - Pages: 3
...Edgar A. Poe was an American Writer, born in Chelsea, Massachusetts in1809. In his career, Edgar wrote famous stories that will be always remembered, like The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart, and Annabel Lee and one of the most famous phrase that he said was “I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity”. On October 7, 1848 he died and the reason why is still is a mystery. Some of the theories are Alcoholism, Rabies, Poisson and Gas Lighting. Because of the symptoms, proves, and Studies a valid theory of his death could be Gas lighting. To begin with some hints that prove that Gas lighting was the reason of his death is that Gas lighting produces Carbon Monoxide. Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas that could have poisoned him, causing him to die. Poe’s and his wife, Virginia levels of Mercury, Lead, Arsenic, Nickel, Uranium, and Vanadium were out of the normal compared to the healthy modern normal symptom threshold according to the results of the testing of their hairs. As well Baltimore installed gas lighting in 1817. In the same way Philadelphia & Boston soon had gas lighting licking of their own and so Baltimore could have had carbon monoxide of the the gas licking. Also gas lighting symptoms affected people every week and use to kill a great amount of people in the 1800s. In result Edgar could have been affected by the licking or this could have been the reason of his of his death. Considering carbon monoxide is released when using gas laters are used. When someone...
Words: 496 - Pages: 2
...Edgar Allan Poe: A Life In Poverty “The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?” said Edgar Allan Poe, an American author of the 1800s. Poe is best known for two common themes-death and loss. This may have resulted from the many years of his life he spent in poverty. After taking a closer look at the life and work of Edgar Allan Poe, it is apparent that he deserves recognition as a profound American author. Poe had a very difficult early life. He entered the world on Jan 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts (Bio.com.). At the age of three, his mother had passed away and his father had abandoned his family (“Edgar Allan Poe.”). He never really knew his parents, because he was orphaned at such a young age. Later in life, Poe went into debt because his foster father, John Allan, didn’t pay his college fees (Bio.com.). Poe’s life was a constant struggle before his writing career started. Although Poe is considered one of the greatest American authors, he lived in poverty for a great period of his life. This is probably one of the factors that influenced his writing style. Another factor that influenced him to start writing could have been tension between himself and John Allan. (Bio.com.). This was also his motive to leave the Allans’ house. Another reason Poe wrote the way he did was because his mother died from tuberculosis before he could come home from West Point Academy to see her alive...
Words: 556 - Pages: 3
...Edgar Allen Poe died centuries ago; we still do not know the cause of his death. There are many theories behind his death; alcoholism, cooping, rabies, and tumors. At first, I believed that Poe died of alcoholism. There were many some facts that proved he died of alcohol. Then, I talked with my peers in a seminar and they read that they found led in his hair. With him having led in his hair, it cannot be alcohol, but I was then revealed to the idea of cooping. I was told that Poe was unconscious when he was found outside of a polling place. He was wearing someone else's dirty clothes as well. When I was in my seminar, I realized that cooping was the main cause of Edgar Allen Poe, because my peers led me to that conclusion. ¨Poe was incoherent, unable to move, and wearing someone else's dirty clothes¨ (¨Even in death, Edgar Allen Poe Remains a Mystery¨ Tracy Mumford.), this was brought up in my discussion with my fellow classmates, Poe was different when he was found. I realized that because of the led samples that were found in his hair, that I must be wrong and so I went on and listened to other people and heard this quote and realized this was the right decision. I did my research on Edgar Allen Poe. I found out that he was an alcoholic. He drank when he was depressed, he drank when he had nothing else to do. He was constantly drinking. He was always drinking some type of wine. I inferred that he drank his depression away. I put what I had learned from my previous years of...
Words: 632 - Pages: 3
...Definition: What is literature? Why do we read it? Why is literature important? Literature is a term used to describe written or spoken material. Broadly speaking, "literature" is used to describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works, but the term is most commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination, including works of poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction. Generally, most people have their own ideas of what literature is. When enrolling in a literary course at university, you expect that everything on the reading list will be “literature”. Similarly, you might expect everything by a known author to be literature, even though the quality of that author's work may vary from publication to publication. Perhaps you get an idea just from looking at the cover design on a book whether it is “literary” or “pulp”. Literature then, is a form of demarcation, however fuzzy, based on the premise that all texts are not created equal. Some have or are given more value than others. Most forays into the question of “what is literature” go into how literature works with the reader, rather than how the author set about writing it. It is the reception, rather than the writing, which is the object of enquiry. Largely, what we call “literature” is often a subjective value judgment, and naturally, value judgments, like literary tastes, will change. Etymologically, literature has to do with letters, the written as opposed to the spoken word...
Words: 1731 - Pages: 7
...A novel is a long prose narrative that describes fictional characters and events, usually in the form of a sequential story. The genre has historical roots in antiquity and the fields ofmedieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter, an Italian word used to describe short stories, supplied the present generic English term in the 18th century. Further definition of the genre is historically difficult. The construction of the narrative, theplot, the relation to reality, the characterization, and the use of language are usually discussed to show a novel's artistic merits. Most of these requirements were introduced to literary prose in the 16th and 17th centuries, in order to give fiction a justification outside the field of factual history. ------------------------------------------------- Definition[edit] Gerard ter Borch, young man reading a book c.1680, the format is that of a French period novel. | Madame de Pompadourspending her afternoon with a book, 1756 – religious and scientific reading has a differenticonography. | The fictional narrative, the novel's distinct "literary" prose, specific media requirements (the use of paper and print), a characteristic subject matter that creates intimacy, and length can be seen as features that developed with the Western (and modern) market of fiction. The separation of the field of literary fiction from the field of historical narrative fueled the evolution of these features in the last 400 years...
Words: 1331 - Pages: 6
...division of literature is that between poetry and prose. Poetry, from the Greek word for "a making," is notable for its unusual structure and meter in language. Poetry uses a number of literary techniques which serve to make it stand apart from prose with obvious differences in rhythm, imagery and meaning. Prose is a term from the Latin word for "straightforward" and is the type of writing that mimics everyday speech. Prose consists of both fiction and non-fiction, imaginative and factual writing.Poetry, which came first in history, employs regular stressed and unstressed syllables to create a sound pattern that improves the literary experience. These patterns of stressed and unstressed sounds create qualities such as melody and rapidity, and evoke emotions such as joy, solemnity, grandiosity, whimsicality, and majesty. Words may seem sonorous or airy, sharp or timid. These sound effects helped people to remember poetry long before writing had ever occurred. Poetry also uses extreme imagery and techniques such as personification, metaphor and simile to create visualization effects that are less often seen in prose. Some poetry uses rhyme and verse schemes to make an effect, but these can sometimes be seen in prose, as well.Prose reverts to the average speech that one might encounter in school, at work, in media or on the street. Prose can be the article in the newspaper or magazine, the journal or online blog, a fiction novel, a non-fiction biography, an essay, an official government...
Words: 316 - Pages: 2
...or the greatnesses of the story. Yet, there are some people who only read novel without a deep understanding. Usually the readers will be facing some questions which have something to do with the author’s intention making story. Common question coming out automatically after reading novel or short story is such what is the author trying to tell us in the story or what the moral lessons of the story is. According to Nurgiyantoro (1995:66) to know of what the author feels like to convey in the story is the main task of reading fiction work, it is either Novel or Short story. As a matter of fact, there are a lot of advantages gained by reading fiction. According to Nurgiyantoro (1995:3) Fiction talks about various problems of life in terms of interaction with environment, ourselves, and our interaction with god. Fiction is the result of dialogue, contemplation, and author reactions of environment and life. Although it is fictitious, it is not true if fiction considered as the...
Words: 4043 - Pages: 17
...Literary Standards Universality Literature - appeals to everyone, regardless of culture, race, sex, and time which are all considered significant. Artistry Literature has an aesthetic appeal and thus possesses a sense of beauty. Intellectual Value It stimulate critical thinking that enriches mental processes of abstract and reasoning, making man realize the fundamental of truths of life and its nature. Suggestiveness It unravels man’s emotional power to define symbolism, nuances, implied meanings, images and messages, giving and evoking visions above and beyond the plane of ordinary life and experience. Spiritual Value Literature elevates the spirit and the soul and thus has the power to motivate and to inspire. Permanence Literature endures across time and draws out the time factor: Timeliness – occurring at a particular time. Timelessness – remaining invariable throughout time Importance of Literature • •Studying literature is like looking at the mirror of life where man’s experiences, his innermost feelings and thoughts are reflected. • Through literature, we learn the culture of people across time and space•We understand not only the past life of a nation but also its present. • Moreover, we become familiar not only with the culture of neighboring countries but also with that of others living very far from us Literary Approaches Literary Approaches Moral or Humanistic Approach • Literature is viewed to discuss man and its nature. • It presents...
Words: 917 - Pages: 4
...------------------------------------------------- Literature Literature (from Latin litterae (plural); letter) is the art of written work and can, in some circumstances, refer exclusively to published sources. The word literature literally means "things made from letters" and the pars pro toto term "letters" is sometimes used to signify "literature," as in the figures of speech "arts and letters" and "man of letters." Literature is commonly classified as having two major forms—fiction and non-fiction—and two major techniques—poetry and prose. Literature may consist of texts based on factual information (journalistic or non-fiction), as well as on original imagination, such as polemical works as well as autobiography, and reflective essays as well as belles-lettres. Literature can be classified according to historical periods, genres, and political influences. The concept of genre, which earlier was limited, has broadened over the centuries. A genre consists of artistic works which fall within a certain central theme, and examples of genre include romance, mystery, crime, fantasy, erotica, and adventure, among others. Important historical periods in English literature include Old English, Middle English, theRenaissance, the 17th Century Shakespearean and Elizabethan times, the 18th CenturyRestoration, 19th Century Victorian, and 20th Century Modernism. Important political movements that have influenced literature include feminism, post-colonialism, psychoanalysis, post-structuralism...
Words: 458 - Pages: 2
