Essay 1: Option 1z: Describe and evaluate workshops / draft exchanges.

Kristin Howard

Class Act

            The course objective I chose to discuss in this essay was most predominantly incorporated into our daily class experiences.  To develop a friendly but rigorous atmosphere where students gain practice and confidence in producing, sharing, and revising their writing.  All of the components of this objective are essential in a workshop based classroom where the students interact as peers, editors, authors, and facilitators.  As a future teacher, I have tried to absorb as mush of the workshop etiquette and professor interaction with the workshop as I am constantly trying to develop my own strategies for future reference. 

            In reference to the objective, the “friendly but rigorous atmosphere” is exactly that.  It is an atmosphere where classmates and the professor together create a positive and friendly atmosphere where sharing ideas and their work are fun and engaging, yet, not so laid back that focus is lost and the class turns into an unorganized circus.  The rigorous guidelines and expectations leave no questions about the assignments or grading criteria.  Every person participating in the workshop or class agenda knows exactly what they are supposed to do, who they are partnered with (if applicable), and when it is due.  For example, the poetry and fiction presentations were a perfect model of what a friendly but rigorous atmosphere may include.  They were open and fun; however, each personal involved had specific duties they were responsible for (such as the discussion leader’s questions and overall format of presentation). 

            Students gained practice and confidence in producing, sharing, and revising their writing by completing the two required pieces of work that included a fiction and a poetry submission.  We practiced by writing our own drafts in order to get ready for the workshop critique that we shared with the class.  Afterward, we consequently revised our drafts according to the feedback from the instructor and class.  The confidence aspect of this objective was very important because anyone can practice their writing, but sometimes it may be hard for a student to gain confidence in their writing, especially when they work independently.  Additionally, some classrooms (even if they claim to be using a workshop) don’t promote a positive environment.  In some cases, they could become “trials” where there work is criticized and dissected in ways that could ultimately do more damage than good to a writer’s development.  From a personal perspective in regards to my poetry workshop, I found that even though some of the reactions were targeting things I could have done better, essentially, they were constructive criticisms and they did not hinder my confidence at all.

This class has proved to be a well-rounded and positive experience for me because I have learned a lot about writing from the instruction, peer interaction, and the Three Genres material.  The Three Genres material was very helpful, especially when it came to producing a poetry piece.  Chapter one was insightful to me because it truly helped me discover “What makes a Poem a Poem?”  As I was creating my own poem, I referenced this chapter to help with the fundamental qualities of poetry.  Chapter seven enlightened me about the specifics of poetry and how they are put together using lines and stanzas.  What I really liked about the Three Genres handouts was that specifically targeted the areas we were learning about.  They have the class enough information to thoroughly understand a concept; yet, they didn’t give so much information that we were overwhelmed or just reading to read.

            The class discussions were very important as well because they helped clarify things that either individuals or the class as a whole were having difficulty with.  For example, we were struggling with dialogue and internal thought issues in our fiction pieces.  While the Three Genres material, chapter twenty-two specifically, gave us great information, there was still some confusion.  The class and the instructor talked it out and ultimately came to a better understanding by pulling examples from our fiction pieces and explaining how they should be used properly.  The chapter presentations were basically a review of the assigned reading that we had.  In actuality it was a three point review that included a individual reading assignment, a peer presentation, and a group discussion.  There was always a clear understanding of the material by the time the class discussions came around.

            Having access to previous work from past classes was always accommodating because it gave us a starting point or ideas that we could use in our own work.  It helped to ease confusion as we saw our own assignments in action.  For example, before I started this final assignment I previewed the 2006 finals to get an idea of what I was going to be doing.  It portrays how one assignment can differ between students and each writer develops the topic into their own style and format.  Each writer has a specific purpose for taking the class and a unique background before starting the class.  It is interesting in monitoring where they stand now and their individual struggles along the way.  For instance, Jonathan Moeller (2006) just took the class because it fit his degree plan in the time slots he had available.  He was a more logical than creative person and he considered his skill for writing creatively fairly low.  Additionally, he was unsettled about the workshop progress (as I was at first).  In the end, he overcame his initial reservations about the class and learned a lot.

            The course objective discussed above is an important and powerful component in creative writing.  Without the elements of a fun and rigorous atmosphere and gaining confidence in producing, sharing, and revising writing where would an aspiring creative writer learn and implement those necessary skills and attitudes?  The bottom line is that it works.  If something works, it is necessary to keep executing the method and continue to build upon it.