Eng 208 project #1: from poetry to prose written inquiry: composing self fall, 2015

Instructor: Catherine Keefe Email: keefe@chapman.edu

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This project borrows heavily from Judith Ortiz Cofer's writing exercise, "But Tell It Slant: From Poetry to Prose and Back Again," which appeared in Writing Creative Nonfiction: Instruction and insights from the teachers of Associated Writing Programs. Editors Caroly Forché and Philip Gerard. Cincinnati: Story Press, 2001. (8-13)
FINAL PROJECT DUE DATE:

WED. SEPT. 30, PUBLISHED ON YOUR BLOG BY CLASS TIME

PURPOSE: -To show, rather than tell, a reader about one facet of your self through the telling of a real- life event you witnessed.

- To build a foundation for further exploration: How does form impact story?

- To explore the question, "How do you construct identity?"

- To consider form in your decision of how best to tell the story.

Your intended audience is your class peers, other students, and potentially, readers of literary journals and / or your blog outside the university.

(100-150 words)

(1000-1200 words)

(300-500 words)

The Poem (100-150 words)

The Prose (1000 - 1200 words)

The Defense / analysis of form you find most effective (300-500 words)

One image to accompany poem and one image to accompany prose. (2 images)


TERM DEFINITION:

What is Creative Nonfiction? by Lee Gutkind, excerpted from "What is Creative Nonfiction"

"Although it sounds a bit affected and presumptuous, “creative nonfiction” precisely describes what the form is all about. The word “creative” refers simply to the use of literary craft in presenting nonfiction—that is, factually accurate prose about real people and events—in a compelling, vivid manner. To put it another way, creative nonfiction writers do not make things up; they make ideas and information that already exist more interesting and, often, more accessible.

This general meaning of the term is basically acknowledged and accepted in the literary world; poets, fiction writers—the creative writing community in general—understand and accept the elements of creative nonfiction, although their individual interpretation of the genre’s boundaries may differ. The essential point to acknowledge here is that there are lines—real demarcation points between fiction, which is or can be mostly imagination; traditional nonfiction (journalism and scholarship), which is mostly information; and creative nonfiction, which presents or treats information using the tools of the fiction writer while maintaining allegiance to fact."

• 
  "The Colonel" poem by Carolyn Forché.
  
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  The entire conversation with Carolyn Forché on Fri. Sept. 11.
  
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  First paragraph of "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me" by Sherman Alexie
  
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  First half of "How Much Indian Was I? My Fellow Students Asked" by Elissa Washuta
  
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  8 (9) by Bao Phi
  
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  Excerpts from Citizen by Claudia Rankine
  
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  The poem and the story from “But Tell It Slant: From Poetry to Prose and Back Again”
  
  • 
    by Judith Ortiz Cofer
    

Value: 150 points