The Marriage of Composition and Creative Writing

Abstract

In this thesis, modeled after the Composition Studies Published Course Design Example, the author redefines creative writing in order to design a curriculum that will help students become more interested in and more engaged with their writing, and will, in turn, get students to resist writing less, to write more, and eventually, to write better. Like the Course Design Example, this curriculum includes a statement of locale that specifically ties the course to the State University of New York College at Brockport; a critical statement that provides a theoretical foundation for the course; a syllabus that provides detailed information on reading and writing assignments and class activities and explains how the theory informs the pedagogy announced in the syllabus; and a critical reflection section that assesses how the curriculum worked in the classroom: what worked and did not work when the author combined theory and practice. What distinguishes this thesis from the Composition Studies Course Design and from other theses is the amount of attention paid to praxis. In addition to an expanded syllabus, this curriculum also includes two appendices containing examples of lesson plans, activities, and assignments, as well as examples of students' writing and the author's own writing.