LITR 3731 Creative Writing UHCL

Final Exam (Monday, 9 May 2005, 1-3:50pm)

Write a 2-hour essay describing your learning experience in Creative Writing. Some overlap between this writing exercise and your summaries for your Journal / Portfolio are unavoidable—use this extra opportunity to refine and develop your comprehension and expression. The main difference will be that, whereas the Journal / Portfolio emphasizes your personal experience and your manuscripts, the final exam emphasizes the content of your learning from the Three Genres book, from lecture and discussion, and beyond.

The assignment in brief:

Question / topic: As a result of taking this course, what have you learned about Creative Writing and about literature generally? Your essay may concern several highlights or dimensions of learning, but unify the material as much as possible. As an overall unifying theme, how has the course changed your ideas and skills in writing, reading, or teaching literature?

Required references: Make several references (i. e., at least 3) to the assigned readings in Three Genres and several references to points raised otherwise in the course, either in lecture, class discussion, visiting writers’ comments, or instructor’s and readers’ reactions to your writing submissions or drafts.

Those of you interested in teaching careers are welcome to include reflections and references regarding the teaching of Creative Writing. What aspects of the class seemed pedagogically effective, and what new ideas or elements would you introduce to creative writing instruction?

Open-book, open-notebook.

Format: either in-class or email.

·        If you take the exam in class, just show up with paper, pen, books, and notebooks. Exam questions will be handed out at 1pm. You will be expected to finish writing by 3:50pm.

·        If you take the exam by email, simply sit down at your terminal with your assignment, books, and notes and write the exam during or around the final exam period. Like the in-class students, you are expected to spend no more than three hours on the exam, so please keep a log indicating when you stop and start. You are expected to email your answers to the instructor by 5pm. (Flexible time takes into account the possible interruptions when working off-campus.)

·        Since you have the exam question ahead of time, you may research, draft, outline, and otherwise practice your answer ahead of time as much as you find helpful. But limit your writing time to the exam period.