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The program in Creative Writing is a rigorous,
accelerated discipline for highly motivated students who
want to study the art and craft of writing. CW, in its
seventh year at San Francisco School of the Arts, maintains
a total enrollment of about 28 - 30
students. As with all arts disciplines at SOTA (see
Main Site),
admission is by audition, and activities take place in the
afternoon, following the morning's academic classes and
lunch.
In all grades, CW students have the opportunity to study with
artists-in-residence --
working writers representing a variety of genres.
However, freshman and sophomore students, generally placed
in Creative Writing I, will spend about half their time with Program
Director Heather Woodward.
After demonstrating the requisite development in both
writing and individual maturity, students normally move in
the junior year to Creative Writing II, where the majority
of instruction is with visiting artists. The two
sections do combine at various times in the year. In
2008-2009, for example, Creative Writing I and II will once
again join for a six-week year-opening unit on Writing
Through the Arts, and for later units in Playwriting, the
Novel, and Writing and Community.
The 2008-09 school year is the third in which a Senior
Thesis is required. Working under the individual mentorship of
an established writer in the community, each senior C-dub
will produce a manuscript of substantial length that demonstrates the
writing skills developed while in SOTA Creative Writing.
The manuscript can be a collection of poems or short
stories, a play, a novella, or a novel. The thesis will
also be used as the basis for the Department's Excellence in
Creative Writing award.
A typical week in CW begins with
Community Service/Internship day on Monday (excepting
seniors, who work on their theses, and the staff of
umläut,
which is considered to be involved in a form of internship.)
This is followed by work in
individual CW I and CW II classrooms on Tuesday through
Thursday. Friday is Full Department day, which might
feature a guest speaker, collaborative work, special
projects, field trips, a relevant film, or joint readings.
In addition to the daily schedule, students are presented
with many options -- some required, some optional -- to
attend readings and other literary or artistic events in the
city at large. Creative Writing also has major
performances scheduled on three weekends each year, and
in each case the week prior is devoted to preparation and rehearsal.
Performance nights provide an important opportunity for
parent involvement in CW. Parents usher, sell food,
sell the department's literary review, coordinate students
backstage, and do both videography and photography for the
events. But CW also relies on parents for other needs.
Past parent involvement has included grant research and writing,
liaison work between the department and full school, and the
production of this website. Donations to the
department, from parents and others, are essential in
funding artists-in-residence, umläut,
and other special programs; you can download a donation form
as either a Word document or
Adobe pdf. On the
fun side, four or five parent potlucks each year give a chance to kick back,
get acquainted, and get personal updates from department
head Heather Woodward.
See below for a brief syllabus of
the 2008-09 school year. The syllabus can also be
downloaded to print, in either of two formats:
Word
doc or
Adobe PDF.
For reference and information purposes,
you may also download:
**Sample senior thesis information and
instructions (note: current seniors should consult their
department packet for complete instructions and forms):
Word
doc or
Adobe
PDF
**A sample rubric (in this case, the 2005-2006 year) for
assessing student development in the program:
Word doc or
Adobe pdf
**A sample of CW I portfolio instructions and expectations (Fall '05):
Word doc or
Adobe pdf
**A sample of CW II portfolio instructions and expectations (Fall '05):
Word doc or
Adobe pdf
PAGE TOP
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2008-2009 CREATIVE WRITING
DEPARTMENT SYLLABUS |
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| FIRST SEMESTER |
| |
| Getting Started |
8/25 - 8/29 |
Heather Woodward, Dept. Head |
| |
| Unit 1: "Writing Through the
Arts" (Department) |
| a.) Writing Through Nature |
9/2 - 12 |
Woodward (2 wks) |
| b.) Writing Through Art |
9/15 - 25 |
Amy Trachtenberg (2 wks) |
| c.) Writing Through Music and Sound |
10/1-3, 7-9 |
Jeffrey Alphonsus Mooney (2 wks) |
| d.) Writing for Performance |
10/14 - 16 |
TBA (1 wk) |
| Internships, umlaut & thesis work
begin |
10/20 - ongoing |
|
| e.) Rehearsal and Performance |
10/20 - 24 |
Tony Bravo/H. Woodward (1 wk plus) |
| |
| 10/24/08 Reading Event
1: Halloween |
| |
| Unit 2: CW I
Fiction Intensive |
10/28 - 11/21 |
Woodward (4 wks) |
|
CW II Creative Non-Fiction |
10/28 - 11/14 |
Beth Lisick (3 wks) |
| Unit 3: CW II
Poetry |
11/18/08 - 1/16/09 |
Robyn Lewis (6 wks) |
|
--Advanced Seminar: |
11/11, 14, 21 |
Jeff Gardiner (3 Fridays) |
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The Poetry of Charles Colson |
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--Advanced Seminar: |
12/5, 12, 19 |
Ben Hollander (3 Fridays) |
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Investigative Poetics: |
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What is the Subject? |
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CW I Poetry |
11/20/08 - 1/16/09 |
H. Woodward (5 weeks) |
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1/16 and 1/17/09 Reading Event 2:
Poetry Café |
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SECOND SEMESTER |
| |
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| Unit 4: CW I Fiction Redux |
1/21 - 2/5 |
Woodward (2 wks) |
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CW II Screenwriting Intensive |
1/21, 22, 23 |
Sam Hamm (1 wk) |
| Unit 5: CW I Reading
Dramatic Literature |
2/10, 11, 12 |
Woodward (1 wk) |
|
Iranian Poetry |
2/17, 18, 19 |
Niloufar Talebi (1 wk) |
|
CW II Film Project with Media Dept |
1/27 - 2/19 |
Various/TBA |
| Unit 6: CW
Playwriting |
2/24 - 4/17 |
Woodward, Isaiah Dufort, guests |
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4/17 and 4/18/09 Playwriting
Event 3 : Title TBA |
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| Unit 7: CW I The Novel |
4/21 - 30 |
Woodward (2 wks) |
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CWII Iranian Poetry: |
4/21 - 30 |
Niloufar Talebi (2 wks) |
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Writing through Translation |
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| Unit 8: CW The Novel,
Part II |
5/5 - 14 |
Woodward (2 wks) |
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Senior theses submitted Monday,
5/11; last Community Service and umlaut
Monday is 5/18 |
| Unit 9: CW Writing and
Community: |
5/19 - 21 |
Dana Teen Lomax (2 wks) |
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Making it Happen |
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Writing Your World: Literary |
5/26 - 28 |
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Documentation & Activism |
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| Wrapping Up |
6/1 - 6/9 |
Heather Woodward, Dept. Head |
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