I hadn't thought about a group project for my course; however, after reading about these students writing and publishing a short story, it got me thinking. I was originally going to have my students do a final paper comparing two stories. Then I decided I wanted to do something different and a bit more collaborative. After seeing this website, I started to think about a group project more seriously. Then I thought I'd like it to be a little more hand-on like this course, and so it has morphed into a final group project where they can decided to either write a short story or create a multi-media presentation of a short story we've read. This website got me thinking about the project from the students' perspective. Giving them the choice to write or use multi-media is a better idea and will get the creative juices flowing. It also puts them more in control of what they want to do creatively.
Again, I also included this particular story in my course. Flannery O'Connor has written many short stories, but this one is probably a "classic" within the genre.
Point of view is the first thing a writer has to think about when preparing to write. Depending on the point of view, what is written and how it is written will be very different.
This is an exaggerated account of the actual post pardom depression that the author suffered from after the birth of her daughter. Again, a classic short story that I have included in my course also under "point of view."
I love that they too included this story. As you read it, you can't help but wonder how Jack London manages to keep describing his surroundings, which really don't change. He's a master.
I like that there is a workshop component to this course, where it appears that students will go through the process of writing a short story. It also looks as if they might publish as well, or at least go through the process of publishing so that students can attempt to publish in the future.
This class will focus on the craft of the short story, which we will explore through reading great short stories, writers speaking about writing, writing exercises and conducting workshops on original stories.