FPFVA036 Introduction to African Writing in English

Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava
Winter 2020
Extent and Intensity
0/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Michaela Weiss, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Michaela Weiss, Ph.D.
Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course provides an introduction to creative writing that emphasizes the crucial aspects of creative reading in recognizing the structures, patterns and tools of fiction. Through a close reading of various texts of different genres, the students will become aware of the potential and challenges of each form that will be later applied in their own adaptations and original texts. Students will learn the basis of literary canons and the possibilities of innovation and reshaping of the existing forms. The course will be based on the combination of theoretical background, practice of close reading and individual creative activities that will result in acknowledgement of text structure, the relations between setting and character, the role and effective uses of intertextuality, and the importance of self-editing process. The practical exercises will improve and enlarge the students' vocabulary and ability to create coherent texts of various genres, predominantly short stories and poems.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction to the course
    2. Introduction to reader types: Why do we read?
    3. Where have I seen her before?: Time in writing: temporality, linearity, flashbacks
    4. Character, setting: Setting as Character
    5. Two-face characters
    6. Enlarging the Vocabulary
    7. Managing beginnings and endings
    8. Starting with a Name and Title
    9. Sharing a story: Cooperative story, group variations
    10. 250 words of boredom
    11. "Poetry, I too dislike it"
    12. 101 Uses of a Blackbird
    13. Creative Texts Presentation
Literature
    required literature
  • Flannery O'Connor. Everything that Rises Must Converge. info
  • Bernard Malamud. Idiots First. info
  • Marianne Moore. Poetry. info
  • T. S. Eliot. The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock. info
  • William Faulkner. The Sound and The Fury. info
  • Wallace Stevens. Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Blackbird. info
    recommended literature
  • Geraghty, Margret. The Five-Minute Writer. Oxford: HowtoBooks, 2009. info
  • Creative Writing Studies: Practice, Research and Pedagogy. Clevedon, Multilingual Matters, 2008. info
  • Morley, David. The Cambridge Introduction to Creative Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. info
  • Bishop, Wendy, David Starkey. Keywords in Creative Writing. Logan: Utah State University Press, 2006. info
  • Mills, Paul. The Routledge Creative Writing Coursebook. London: Routledge, 2006. info
  • Paul, Dennis E. The Funbook of Creative Writing. Scottsdale: Remedia Publications, 2000. info
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
Teacher's information
- 70% attendance in classes
- active participation in discussions
- critical essay of 2-3 pages debating a chosen text
The course is also listed under the following terms Summer 2019, Winter 2019, Summer 2020, Summer 2021, Winter 2021, Summer 2022, Winter 2022, Summer 2023, Winter 2023, Summer 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Winter 2020, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.slu.cz/course/fpf/winter2020/FPFVA036