The Fall 2020 semester is fully online. 

授業の実施形態/Delivery
完全オンライン/Fully Online

“A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us.” –Franz Kafka

Though Kafka was referring to the act of reading with this comment, I believe that this idea can be extended to the process of writing. I would like to help each student to use his/her own “axe” to strike against the “frozen sea” of his/her inner self. I am especially interested in guiding students to create works of experimental literature (writing that uses innovative techniques to produce highly unique and expressive material). The course will be conducted as a workshop, with students generating new artistic output in each class. Students will receive extensive feedback on their work, which they will incorporate into the practice of rewriting the piece for homework. We will read poetry and short stories, watch short videos, and view images that induce a literary response. Students will submit an anthology of the best writing they’ve done throughout the course as a final project.

Students will

1. strike the frozen sea with an axe,

2. develop the ability to express themselves artistically in English,

3. twist and stretch their vocabulary,

4. learn to take ownership of the work they produce and present it confidently,

5. give/receive feedback to/from classmates.

Attendance/ Participation: 30%
Homework: 40%
Final project: 30%

In this creative writing course, I do not use the word “creative” lightly.  Students are expected to produce highly imaginative works.