WRITE546-23A (HAM)

Creative Writing: Writing and Embodiment

30 Points

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Division of Arts Law Psychology & Social Sciences
School of Arts
English

Staff

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Convenor(s)

Tracey Slaughter

Tracey Slaughter
9194
I.3.28
See Moodle
tracey.slaughter@waikato.ac.nz

Lecturer(s)

Administrator(s)

: ashleigh.wallace@waikato.ac.nz

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You can contact staff by:

  • Calling +64 7 838 4466 select option 1, then enter the extension.
  • Extensions starting with 4, 5, 9 or 3 can also be direct dialled:
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What this paper is about

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Creative Writing: Writing and Embodiment is a writing-intensive course exploring the centrality of ‘the body’s imagination’ to the creative writing process. Writing creatively involves the fusion of the writer’s ‘felt sense’ of character, scene and story with the concrete language which will most powerfully embody those elements in the reader’s senses. The course will focus on the ways in which ‘embodiment’ is key in generating characters with compelling physical presence and voice, shaping narratives with dramatic impact and drive, setting scenes that evoke a textured and arresting experience for the reader, and crafting resonant sentences aware of the sensory impact of language on the body.
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How this paper will be taught

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A close-reading of selected texts will concentrate the student’s attention on how writers use techniques of embodiment to ‘breathe life’ into character and story, to engage the reader’s sensory absorption and involvement, and to leave an impression of their own embodied presence in their writing style. Writing exercises designed around the studied texts will then stimulate the student to explore and discover techniques and themes of embodiment in their own creative writing. Students will be assessed on the regular weekly submission of work in progress, on participation in workshop discussion, on a creative writing/reading journal, and on a final portfolio of creative pieces.
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Required Readings

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The Virgin Suicides, by Jeffrey Eugenides

As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner

Ocean Vuong, on earth we're briefly gorgeous

Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Dictee TBC

The Road, Cormac McCarthy

The Body Artist, by Don DeLillo

The Boy and the Sea, by Kirsty Gunn

Poetry readings and related handouts detailing workshop exercises will be made available each week. A Course Reader containing selected poetry and prose extracts will also be available from Campus Copy.

CONTENT NOTE: The readings on this paper engage with the embodied world and may touch on sensitive and confronting material, such as violence, sexuality, racial discrimination and suicide. Some of this content could be emotionally and intellectually challenging. I will do my best to signal more specific content warnings for relevant texts, and to engage with difficult content empathetically and sensitively within our class discussions, but if you think that reading and discussing these texts might present extra challenges for you please let me know so that we can identify strategies to support you.

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Learning Outcomes

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Students who successfully complete the course should be able to:

  • Be familiar with 'embodied writing' in some of the major genres, including poetry, short fiction, prose poetry and the novel
    Linked to the following assessments:
  • Have gained awareness of key structures of 'embodied' writing such as characterisation, voice, setting, dialogue, imagery, point of view, pacing, sound, form and style, and an ability to target and strengthen these facets in their own creative writing
    Linked to the following assessments:
  • Have the ability to 'read like a writer,' deconstructing selected texts to identify and analyse creative techniques central to generating dynamic imagery and powerful voice
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  • Have the ability to exercise their own 'embodied' energy through interaction with writing prompts, tasks and models based on connected texts
    Linked to the following assessments:
  • Have gained creative workshop skills for peer review, and for critiquing their own and others' work in progress
    Linked to the following assessments:
  • Have the ability to revise and proofread their creative work, responding to constructive critique from workshop feedback, and developing an awareness of substantive and structural editing
    Linked to the following assessments:
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Assessments

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How you will be assessed

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The internal assessment/exam ratio (as stated in the University Calendar) is 100:0. There is no final exam. The final exam makes up 0% of the overall mark.

The internal assessment/exam ratio (as stated in the University Calendar) is 100:0 or 0:0, whichever is more favourable for the student. The final exam makes up either 0% or 0% of the overall mark.

Component DescriptionDue Date TimePercentage of overall markSubmission MethodCompulsory
1. Draft Portfolio
21 Apr 2023
5:00 PM
25
  • Hand-in: Assignment Box
2. Creative Writing/Reading Notebook
21 Apr 2023
5:00 PM
20
  • Hand-in: Assignment Box
3. Final Portfolio
9 Jun 2023
5:00 PM
35
  • Hand-in: Assignment Box
4. Submission, attendance, participation
20
Assessment Total:     100    
Failing to complete a compulsory assessment component of a paper will result in an IC grade
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