Types of Creative Writing (Satire to Lyric)

You will read some great works of literature (old and new),
study the genre trademarks, and then venture to write in these genres
yourselves.  For instance, when we read
Voltaire’s satire CANDIDE, we’ll pick out his satiric targets for social
criticism, such as wars and colonialism. 
We’ll also pick out his long list of specific satiric techniques: irony,
incongruous juxtaposition or “clunkers,” and so on.  Then, each student will bring the characters
Candide and Pangloss to Hawai’i to satirize anything that is a mess in your
present world.

For poetry, we will read Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself,”
Dante’s INFERNO (short excerpts from this dream-vision), Diane Fisher’s KETTLE
BOTTOM, and a packet of individual poems, from free verse to villanelle.  Books will be available from Revolution
Books.

Students will create two satires, a dream-vision (also in
prose), and poems in many styles, including dramatic monologues in voices other
than your own.  Students will also be
responsible for a couple of 2-page analytic papers on the literature, plus midterm,
final, quizzes, and class participation.