AI 287 - Practice/ Spirit Creativ Writng

Institution:

DePaul University

Subject:

Description:

When I teach writing, I often interchange the word "writing" with the word "life." Writing is life. But many have forgotten. Author Georgia Heard writes in her book Writing Toward Home, "There are many times when I've felt that I had nothing valuable to say. That real writers were other people. It has taken me a while to believe that the way I feel each day, and the way others speak when we're least self-conscious, is where writing comes from. When we speak in a language that is ours and tell our own stories and truths - - this is where writing comes from." Yet still many have forgotten. Poet Marge Piercy's words resonate to all of us when she writes: She must learn again to speak / starting with I / starting with We . . . There is an ancient Chinese proverb: A bird doesn't sing because it has an answerit sings because it has a song." Writing is natural, like a bird's song. But many have forgotten. When it comes to writing, it was American writer Robert Frost who believed that if one was open, one might even realize "with initial delight that you are expressing thoughts that you didn't know that you already knew." This course will involve the student in the practice and spirit of creative writing Very importantly, it will involve through a re-awakening and a re-discovery of the creative potential that lies inside, waiting to speak again. Our course follow the lead from the great essayist E.B. White who defines writing " as communication, and creative writing as the self coming into the open." Indeed, writes author Christina Baldwin in her essay on the writing life: "There comes a journey And there comes the urge to write it down, to bear witness to our experience, to share our questions and the insights that come from questioning." In a supportive, sharing learning environment, each class session will be presented in an exploratory workshop format that integrates content and spontaneity. Students will be inspired to risk, to explore, to bring to consciousness, to nurture, to trust and to honor the originality of their own emerging personal voice. Students will also gain awareness of and understanding into the wonders of the creative process itself. The flexible course structure is intended to accommodate individual needs and writing exploration and to encourage individual creative writing development. Students are asked bring to class a few belongings as one writer suggests: A nugget of personal truth, still buried; a bit of history under the skin, ready to be transformed. And let me add that students bring some more belongings: an open mind with a dash of wonder; a pocketful of dreams; the courage (it may be shy) to create; and a heart filled with blind faith. Competencies: L-7, A-2-A, A-5, F-X. Faculty: Susan F. Field.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.depaul.edu

Phone Number:

(312) 362-8000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Quarter

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