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Dramatis Personae
EGL 371
TTh 3:20-5:10
Miller Center 210
Ben Howard
e-mail: fhowardb@bigvax.alfred.edu
Dramatis Personae
"Dramatis Personae" refers to the cast of characters in a play or poem or story. In this course you will have an opportunity to explore the creation of character, the development of "voice," and the nature of self through the vehicle of the persona. You will be expected to invent and develop a persona and to write monologues, poems, scenes, and other assignments in the voice of that persona. You will also be expected to design and complete a project in which your persona plays a major role.
Your Persona
Please give careful thought to your choice of persona. Be aware that your choice will allow you many freedoms but will also impose constraints. Consider the age, gender, race, social background, and life-experience of your persona. If all are identical to your own, you will leave little room for invention. If all are different, you may find it dificult to create a credible fiction. Often the best choice is a persona who shares some of the author's traits but also embodies an independent voice and viewpoint.
Your Project
Over the course of the semester you will be expected to complete a project of 6,000 words or 300 lines. Your persona will play a major role in your project, whether as narrator, protagonist, or subject.
A proposal for your project is due on Tuesday, September 8. Please indicate the theme and form of the proposed project and discuss your intentions.
A draft of the comlete project will be due with the midterm portfolio. Drafts will be distributed to the class for critique and discussion. The final version of the project will be due with the final portfolio.
Weekly Assignments
There will be weekly assignments of 500-700 words (prose) or 20-30 lines (verse). They will be due on Tuesdays. Assignments will include monologues, verse letters, dream-narratives, scenes, and poems.
Required Texts
Points of View. Ed. James Moffett and Kenneth McElheny.
The Oxford Book of Letters. Ed. Frank Kermode.
The Norton Anthology of Poetry. Shorter Fourth Edition. Ed. Margaret Ferguson, et. al.
The Best American Short Plays 1993-1994. Ed. Howard Stein and Glenn Young.
These anthologies offer a generous selection of poems, plays stories, and familiar letters. All will nourish your imagination and provide models for your own work. In addition to doing the assigned readings, you will be well advised to read widely among works not specificaly assigned, noting subtleties of voice and analyzing the means by which characters are developed.
Preparation of Typescripts
All of your work must be typed and must meet minimal standards for grammar, usage, spelling, and typography. Unacceptable work will be returned, with loss of credit, for correction.
Minor changes (spelling, punctuation) may be pencilled into the text. Major changes (syntax, phrasing) should be retyped.
Prose must be double-spaced; verse may be single-spaced.
Keep copies of all the work you submit. It will be collected in your midterm and final portfolios.
Revision
Revision is an integral part of the writing process. Revisions will be individually assigned and will normally be due one week from the day on which the assignment is returned.
Attendance
Continuity is very important in a cours of this kind. Barring illness or extenuating circumstances, you will be expected to attend all classes. Habitual absence will be grounds for failure in the course.
Portfolios
Your midterm and final grades will be based on your portfolio. The midterm portfolio, due on Tuesday, October 13, will be informal; the final portfolio, due on Thursday, December 9, will be formal and comprehensive.
Evaluation
Your grade in this course will be based upon:
(a) the quality of your written work, with emphasis on its vivacity, depth, and control;
(b) the quality of your contribution to discussions, particularly your criticism of other students' work;
(c) the quality of your preparation and your attention to materials under discussion.
Conferences
I would like to meet with you at least twice during the semester to discuss your progress in the course. Please feel free to contact me by e-mail or to drop by during my office hours.
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