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2021/22 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

ENGL1011 Foundations of Creative Writing

40 creditsClass Size: 40

School of English

Module manager: Dr Clare Fisher
Email: c.s.fisher@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2021/22

This module is mutually exclusive with

ENGL2260Love, Sex and Marriage in Renaissance England

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Module summary

The School of English has a long history of excellence in production of creative literature. Its alumni and former staff include some of the founding figures of African national literatures as well as renowned English poets and fantasy writers. This history continues today as a number of established and emerging creative writers continue to work closely with students at all levels in the School. An introduction to these traditions, this module will also provide you with the foundational elements in the production and submission of your creative writing in an academic environment. In regular small groups with published writers, you will consider the practice of creative writing, read widely together, and develop your own independent projects. Through peer review and one-on-one meetings with your module tutor you will receive constructive feedback on these plans and revise and develop them to produce your final submission. Assessment on the course will be based entirely on the creative elements you produce as well as personal reflections on them.

Objectives

Foundations of Creative Writing offers an introduction to the practice of creative writing at university level. Small group teaching and regular feedback on drafts from the module tutor allow students to reflect on their creative process and the way in which others read their work.

Learning outcomes
1.An ability to write creatively in genres that may include fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, and scriptwriting
2.An ability to read like a writer across a broad range of historical and contemporary writing and relate their own work to these global writing traditions
3. An ability to share and develop ideas within the group
4. An ability to reflect on and develop their own writing in response to the suggestions both of fellow students in the group and of the tutor
5. An ability to write reflectively on this process and on the work that it produces


Syllabus

Students will attend weekly seminar groups and peer group sessions throughout semesters one and two. Topics to be discussed in these sessions will range from their own work to salient works of published literature. Assignments will be developed in dialogue with the group and with the tutor. Initial plans and drafts will be discussed in allocated individual tutorials as well as in class. Final pieces will be submitted at the end of semester one and semester two, and marked by the tutor.

Teaching methods

Delivery typeNumberLength hoursStudent hours
Workshop102.0020.00
Peer Discussion201.0020.00
Seminar201.0020.00
Private study hours340.00
Total Contact hours60.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)400.00

Private study

QAA benchmarks confirm that the teaching of creative writing at university level is focused on weekly seminars and makes frequent use of regular peer feedback and group discussion, listed here under “Other.” All these points of contact, however, are spaces to which each student is expected to bring new work and new drafts of old work which they have developed through private study. At the beginning of the module it will be made clear that the organisation of this private study time is the responsibility of the individual student. Introductory module material will also confirm that this independent allocation of private study should include significant portions of time for (a) the reading of primary and critical literature, (b) the planning and writing of new work, and (c) the revision and reorganisation of existing drafts.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

In line with QAA Benchmarks, the seminar will here fulfil the function of the Creative Writing Workshop, a space in which “participants” will “read and critically respond to each other's work, operating in a small group in which the role of the tutor is mainly to steer, inform and moderate discussion.” In addition to this regular source of collective discussion and reflection, one-on-one tutorials through both semesters offer an opportunity for the students to gain detailed, individual formative feedback from the tutor.

Methods of assessment


Coursework
Assessment typeNotes% of formal assessment
Written WorkCreative Submission - 3,000 words40.00
Reflective logCritical Reflection - 500 words10.00
Written WorkCreative Submission - 3,000 words40.00
Reflective logCritical Reflection - 500 words10.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)100.00

Both pieces of creative writing will be 3,000 words in length, or will take the form of a sequence of works in another genre (such as poetry or drama) that the module tutor deems equivalent to that range. Accompanying both submissions will be acts of critical reflection of 500 words in which the student will offer a discussion of the process of feedback and review as determined by the module tutor.

Reading list

There is no reading list for this module

Last updated: 29/04/2022 15:24:11

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