ENGL 271         Out of Class Assignments 

All students should complete assignment #1 & #2.

1. magazine review (due January 23)

Pick any contemporary Canadian literary magazine (available in library, at Books & Co., or Spruceland News) and write a 4 page response to the creative writing in it. Discuss the overall tone of the magazine but also focus on a few specific pieces that caught your attention. Finally, relate what you are reading to your own writing.

2. imitation (due Feb 27)

Pick a title from my individualized reading list and write an imitation of its style, structure, and/or form. You may choose a specific poem or passage to emulate or you may want to try to capture the overall style of the book. The imitation should be 4 pages.  Then, in a paragraph describe the specific aspect(s) of the text you are imitating.

Choose one of these assignments to write a four page creative piece. (This assignment is due March 14.)

3. reading review

Attend a literary reading (outside class)(here or abroad) and write a response/review/evaluation of what you see and hear. Talk about the writer’s work in terms of your writing.

4. writer interview

Find a local published author (I can help you with contacts) and arrange an interview either in person or over email. Prepare astute questions based on a knowledge of their work. If the interview goes over 4 pages, submit the best four pages.

5. autobiographical piece (prose or poetry)

Express ‘who you are’ in one of the following ways:

a)     a frozen moment described without background, story, commentary, or explanation; the image or tableau should express enough

b)     a monologue/speaking voice that is an alter-ego. The voice should be talking about something mundane so it is the voice itself that conveys your inner self OR

c)     the biography of a single body part. Not a ‘guess who I am’ exercise but more a chance to think about the physicality of your history

6. collaboration

Write a piece (poem, prose, or script) in which you collaborate with another classmate. You may wish to pass the text back and forth, allocate different parts,

or structure the collaborative process in any way you wish.

7 ‘found’ writing

Base a piece (prose or poetry) on non-literary language you encounter. This can be anything: ads, signs, graffiti, manuals, recipes, etc. The piece should, in some way, reflect on the difference/sameness of literary vs non-literary writing. Some possibilities for procedure might be: a) record all language experiences within a circumscribed time frame, b) record all language experiences on a specific walk or during a specific event, c) sample from a collection of target texts (newspaper, magazine, 7-11 . . . ), or d) sample online with a specific google search and excerpting procedure.

8. response to other media

Create a piece that is a response to a piece of music or visual art. Find a way to acknowledge the piece you are responding to. Explore the ‘translation’ from one medium to another.

9. etymology

Write a piece that has as its base the etymology (history) of a word.

10. dialogue collaboration

Construct a dramatic persona with a list of personality traits and descriptors. Write a 3/4 page monologue of this character and, as they contemplate being lost in a forest, have your character and another classmate’s lost character meet and begin to have a conversation in this forest. Make sure to stay in character throughout.

10. how it could have gone . . .

Choose a target novel or short story (recent, 1990 - ) beginning (1 or 2 paragraphs) and write onto it an alternative continuation trying to maintain the original author’s style.

11. the new erotic

Write an original erotic or romance scene by a) providing a unique circumstance for the scene, or b) construct a unique dynamic between the two people. By “unique” I mean unusual, original to the point of strangeness, not necessarily “kinky” (“kinky” is often cliché).

13. historical fiction

Write a fictionalized account of a historical moment you have researched.

14. small

Write an intensely descriptive piece (be too descriptive) of a) a stone lion, b) a person’s hand, or c) anything tiny.

15. how to

Write a humourous poetic “how to” list of something mundane or simple (eg. falling asleep or getting lost).

16. Prince George

Write a poetic portrait of Prince George. See Barry McKinnon’s  Pulp/Log or The Centre.

17. online writing

Create an online poem employing hypertext links, flash animation, scroll menus, etc. See Darren Wershler-Henry’s Nicholodeon. See me before embarking on this one.

18. word art

Compose visual or concrete poems that might include drawings, cartoons, or images but must contain a textual focus. See bp Nichol.

19. spoken word

Record a sound poem or a spoken word performance. See Carnivocal CD. See me first.

20. procedural

Write a procedural poem by a) use only one kind of vowel per stanza (See Bok’s Eunoia), b) use only words with “er” in them, c) using only prepositions and one other part of speech, or c) create your own parameters.

21. biomimicry

Create a piece which uses “biomimicry”  (i.e. the imitation of a natural/biological formation or process) as a structuring device.

22. political

Write an overtly political piece about government, injustice, or power issues. You might address issues of the environment, race, gender, sexuality, disability, ageism, etc. Name names. But don’t write an essay. How can we influence the world in fiction and po