Author Archives: sdgibson
Characters and dialogue
From Brian Kiteley’s always excellent The 3 A.M. Epiphany, try this exercise.
Quick characterization
Answer these questions about your character. Consider interesting contrasts between at least two of your answers. What does your character look like? What’s the last thing your character said to someone she or he loves? Dislikes? Describe your character’s default … Continue reading
3420 Workshop
Let’s consider these stories and fragments for our workshopping on 3Oct16.
2250 Poetic forms
Here are a sestina; three prose poems; thoughts on composing prose poems; haiku by Basho, Buson, and Issa; a pantoum, and two contemporary ghazals. They can all be found in Wendy Bishop’s outstanding Thirteen Ways of Looking for a Poem.
3420 First person
Here are two excellent first-person stories: Lydia Davis’ “Story” and Donald Barthelme’s “Chablis.” In a small group, locate their narrators in each aspect of the chart on page 55 of our text. Which words of these stories lead you to … Continue reading
2250 Sensory language
Which of the lines in these three poems appeal to which of our senses? Imitate one of these poems as an individual. Include images.
2010 Examples of rhetorical analysis
Here are two example rhetorical analysis essays. In a group of three, peer review one. Be prepared to offer specific evidence in support of your evaluation. The first example is titled “Developmental Disabilities,” the second addresses marriage. Looking at these examples … Continue reading
2250 and beginning with formal poetry
Let’s start with Justin Quinn’s poem in the 22Aug16 issue of The New Yorker. Then, let’s look at haiku.
2250 and starting something
Here is a PDF of a few pages from David Starkey’s Creative Writing. We will talk about them in class. Consider these general suggestions for writing poems from Wendy Bishop’s Thirteen Ways of Looking for a Poem. Look at this painting and, … Continue reading
3420 Final exam
English 3420 Final Exam The final exam is worth twenty-five points. For the final, read Dennis Johnson’s “Car Crash While Hitchhiking” as a fiction writing textbook. The story is found on page 292 of Deepening Fiction. When you write, be … Continue reading
Metaphor by Metaphor 