English 273/701 – Intro to Literature: Creative Writing and Literature
(‘Āina and Craft: Short stories from the Mountain to the Sea)*
Course Description:
In light of the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress Hawai‘i, Outreach College has chosen to offer courses which focus on issues of conservation and sustainability. What better way to contemplate the role of such values and practices than to map the narratives of mālama ‘āina, which canvass places and spaces from Hawaii’s highest of elevations to its ocean shores and beyond? While we read these texts, we will carefully consider the socio-political and historical context of each work, but also focus on craft – not only the what, but also the how. By evaluating the basic elements and foundations of a story, and analyzing how each are used by various authors, we will come to understand the self-reflective nature of writing – how are we, as authors, forced to interrogate our perceptions of setting, social class, gender, education, etcetera in order to develop characters and situations worth reading? How do we inform our writing and how might this process of producing story inform us about ourselves?
Ideally, by the end of the course, each student should be able to formulate an answer to perhaps some of the most basic of creative writing inquiries: why do we write? And, perhaps by extension, read? Furthermore, what is it about written stories which we, as human beings living in an ever changing and evolving world, find so compelling? To develop a possible response to such inquiries, it is necessary that we investigate what sort of work stories do. Stories are much more than static entertainment. More often than not, they become the catalysts of critical thought, conversation, and change. In this course, we will consider how stories are dynamic – constantly responding to, and acting upon, prevalent individual, communal, and global issues. In particular, we will carefully consider how stories are in conversation with the environment – with land, sea, and air. What patters in craft can we identify in a narrative and what do these patters reveal about the author, the audience (intended or unintended), and/or the socio-political and historical context from which the narrative originates? What can a story tell us about culture, perspective, collaboration, and contention?
Note: This course IS NOT a creative writing workshop. There will be some lecturing, but much of the course will be devoted to a discussion of the reading materials and an overview of the processes and craft of creative writing.
Course Requirements:
- One (1) introductory, personal narrative – 500 to 1000 words.
- Twenty (20) “blog” postings to our course website concerning assigned readings – 300 words
- Attend one (1) community event involving land stewardship, conservation, and/or sustainability, and compose a reflection essay grounding your experiences in the readings for the particular week – Two (2) pages
- How do your experiences (re)inform your reading of particular stories of place and ‘āina?
- Two (2) close-reading papers where you’ll engage, and put into conversation, both creative works and critical scholarship– Five (5) pages
- One (1) final project proposal/draft – Two (2) pages
- One (1) final project – Five (5) pages
Readings:
- To be announced. Every effort will be made to provide these readings via PDF documents, but it’s possible larger texts may also be assigned.
*The entirety of this course description is tentative and subject to change. Please contact me, Kapena Landgraf, at KAPENAML@HAWAII.EDU should you have any questions.