Creative Writing Class

7 posts / 0 new

Tue, 2012-08-28 19:40

Hello all,

I'm going to be heading up a Creative Writing class in September. The class is a group of roughly 5 people (perhaps more depending on demand) with ages between 24-55. This class is for those who do not have full mastery of the English language. These are native English speakers who, for whatever reason, do not have the full grasp of the English language. They are trying to increase their literacy.

This is a volunteer project that I will be doing at my public library every Monday from September through December.

Do you have any ideas of topics that would be easy to communicate with students with an intermediate level of English literacy? Perhaps good poets and authors that would be able to clearly show a method of creative writing (sonnets, haikus, short story, etc) without overwhelming these students?

I thought I'd start with some simple rhyming poems and then move on to other tools (metaphors, similes, etc)

Thanks for any help you can provide!

-Anna

Tue, 2012-08-28 20:25

blackjack-davey

I work in a library and have been running a short story workshop since May. I've had some poor English speakers and some really good writers and pitch my classes at an imaginary A level student. The stories they have really responded to (both sexes) are Raymond Carver. A Serious Talk, Too Much Water Close To Home, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love use such lovely simple language with great dialogue-- and they can be read out during the class. We spend an hour discussing how the story works: reader hooks, conflict, resolution or open-ended ambiguity and then we look at their writing. Hope that helps. Carver also is good for getting discussions going!

Tue, 2012-08-28 21:15

Terrence Oblong

Try contrasting the lyrics of a really popular pop song with a poem tackling a similar theme. Lunging straight in with poetry can scare people off, though two lessons in and they'll all be writing them passionately. The Penguin Book of Modern Short stories is a good source of a range of writing. Or just use it as a chance to plug your own book (throw away dig at the worst writing teacher I've ever come across)

Tue, 2012-08-28 21:33

h jenkins

It's my experience that as soon as you mention the word poetry, many of those who struggle with literacy immediately turn off. Although it isn't fair, poetry is seen by some as being elitist. A good way to get over that initial reluctance might be to use words from songs rather than, say, a Shakespearean sonnet. Paul Simon, Lennon and MacCartney or perhaps some Bob Dylan might work well. I'm less familiar with more modern stuff but I'm sure you could come up with good examples. Once you've introduced your students to creative use of language in this way, you should be able to move on to more traditional poetic forms, perhaps by comparing the old with the new, as it were. Also, people turn their nose up at Limericks but as a starting point, they are hard to beat. They seem deceptively simple to create and just about everyone knows the form well. Helvigo Jenkins

Helvigo Jenkins

Tue, 2012-08-28 22:01

mikepyro

I second Raymond Carver, his style inspired a few works of mine throughout my CRWT class

Give me the beat boys and free my soul! I wanna getta lost in ya rock n' roll and drift away. Drift away...

Wed, 2012-08-29 09:14

Geoffrey

100 word stories concentrate the mind wonderfully. Or any other specified numbers of words! Best of luck!

Wed, 2012-08-29 14:16

Anna Marie

Thanks everyone for the great ideas!! I will certainly look into Raymond Carver for sure and I love the song lyrics idea. You can't go wrong with a few John Lennon songs. Short stories do concentrate the mind so I will definitely look into that. Thanks again everyone!