Southern Utah University

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Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2025

Introduction to Creative Writing (Face-to-Face)

ENGL 2020-02

Course: ENGL 2020-02
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2025
Department: ENGL
CRN: 32254

Course Description

A process-based approach to understand the craft, tools, and techniques that inform successful creative writing. Students will read traditional and contemporary models of successful writing, compose works of their own, and participate in peer workshops that allow comment and feedback. (Fall, Spring) [Graded (Standard Letter)] Registration Restriction(s): Intensive English Program majors may not enroll General Education Category: Fine Arts

Required Texts

  1. Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland, ISBN 978-0961454739
  2. Elements of Creative Writing, 2nd ed., by Grant Tracey, Rachel Morgan,and Jerermy Schraffenberger (OER)

Learning Outcomes

Creative Thinking

  1. Combine or synthesize existing ideas, images, or expertise in original ways
  2. Thinking, reacting, and work in an imaginative way characterized by a high degree of
    • innovation,
    • divergent thinking and
    • risk taking.

Written Communication

  1. Construct rhetorical argument that demonstrates awareness of purpose, audience, and context.
  2. Organize and use relevant and compelling content for specific rhetorical situations and audiences.
  3. Use straightforward and relatively error-free language that conveys meaning to readers.

Inquiry and Analysis

  1. Systematically explore issues through the collection of analysis of evidence that result in informed conclusions and judgments.
  2. Break complex topics or issues into parts to gain a better understanding of them
  3. Arrange and synthesize evidence to reveal insightful patterns, differences, or similarities related to focus.

Course Requirements

Reading Annotations and Lecture Notes (25% of overall grade)

Most weeks students will have readings on craft (how creative writing works) and actual creative readings of poems, short stories, and essays. Students are responsible for printing and annotating by hand all of the readings as well as keeping careful, thorough, handwritten notes in class. Both the reading annotations the lecture notes will be due once a week.

These reading annotations and lecture notes will be graded on quality. If you aren't familiar with what the expectations for college level note taking are, this is a fair video to give you at least a basic idea. If you aren't getting the scores you hope to see, be sure to look at the comments on your assignment and come see me during office hours so we can talk about how to improve.

If you have to miss class for any reason, you are welcome to get lecture notes from a few classmates and do your own work to get caught up on lecture.

Exercises (40% of overall grade)

The largest division of a student's grade this semester will be based on how much art they create. Sometimes the exercises will yield starts to something larger, and sometimes they will yield full poems, stories, and essays. Many of these exercises will be begun and completed in class. A selection of these exercises you do complete will be collected and included as part of the final.

Exercises will be turned in upon their completion, usually at the end of the class period in which they were assigned. If it is an out-of-class exercise, the due date will be specified on Canvas.

NOTE: Because the point of in-class and other exercises is practicing writing under less than ideal circumstances and learning to accept whatever one creates in the moment, these exercises will not be accepted if a student was not present in class that day, nor will they be accepted more than ten minutes late.

Workshop (10% of overall grade)

At the end of the semester workshop will take place. Workshops are a chance for students to get some feedback on their work. It's not meant to be a showcase or a place to try to impress anyone. Your grade in this category will be derived from your own workshop submissions, your quality feedback to your classmates, and your reflection on the workshop process.

Final (25% of overall grade)

The final in this class will have in class and an out of class components.

For the out of class portion, each student will collect the finished poems, short stories, and essays they completed this semester. Students are required to have at least three finished poems, at least one finished short story, and at least one finished creative nonfiction essay. Students will then annotate one of their pieces in each genre for craft (specifically as we have discussed it in our class) and write a substantial, reflective letter on their concept of and approach to creativity and the submitted pieces in particular. This must be completed by the end of the semester, before finals week begins.

For the in-class portion, students will attend class during the University-assigned final time and write one last creative work in response to a prompt. They will then also write an addendum to their out-of-class reflective letters on creativity, process, and your already-submitted pieces by discussing how this new piece fits in to the rest of the writing they did this semester. They will need to make reference to specific parts of their other works and their out-of-class reflective letter.

If a student cannot (or does not) attend the in-person final, they will receive a zero on the final as a whole. Both portions of the final must be completed for it to be graded.

Course Outline

  • Weeks 1-2 are spent giving students an overview of the creative process in general. Student will take time to deliberately develop a sustainable and productive writing process.
  • Weeks 3 and 4 focus on finding out what craft poetry, fiction, and CNF share, and how and where they differ.
  • Weeks 5-12 will cover the different craft elements that make up creative writing, including concretes; tension; language, sound, and rhythm; setting and scene; POV and voice; and character and dialogue. Students will read about craft, then read and annotate creative pieces for a given craft element. They will also complete various exercises to practice different craft elements. 
  • Week 13-15 will be spent preparing for workshop by discussing giving and receiving feedback in a creative environment before actually holding workshop.

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

If the instructor hasn't finished grading the assignment yet, students can still submit late assignments. Once the instructor has entered a zero for a student's grade, that means the instructor is done grading that assignment and the grace period has ended. That this late policy does not apply to the time-dependent assignments like exercises, workshop, and the final.

Accepted late work will be given no feedback, only a grade, and may take longer to be returned.

Computer or user error is not a legitimate excuse for late work, so students are encouraged to submit early and double-check that their submissions were the correct submissions and that they were uploaded correctly.

Extra credit is not offered in this course.

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance is required. In order to pass the class, a student's final attendance percentage will need to be at or above 70%.

Occasional absences will happen. If a student is ill or suspect they might be, they should stay home and contact a classmate for notes on what they missed.

If a student has an issue that keeps them from regular attendance (hospitalization or prolonged, serious illness, etc.) they must notify the instructor as soon as possible.

For University-Excused Absences, students must follow policy 6.30.

Course Fees

$12 fee

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.