CREATIVE WRITING

Sample Graduation Schedule, Creative Writing Track

  • First Semester

    • Survey of English

    • Algebra 2

    • World Geography

    • Earth Science 1

    • Physical Education: Swimming

    • French 1

    • Writing Workshop 1

    Second Semester

    • Survey of English

    • Algebra 2

    • Earth Science 1

    • Physical Education: Swimming

    • French 1

    • Writing Workshop 2

    • Painting 1

  • First Semester

    • World Literature

    • Geometry

    • World History

    • Biology

    • French 2

    • Information and Communication Technologies

    • Writing Workshop 3

    • Sculpture 1

    Second Semester

    • World Literature

    • Geometry

    • Biology

    • French 2

    • Health

    • Music Theory

    • Writing Workshop 4

  • First Semester

    • American Literature

    • Trigonometry

    • U.S. History

    • Elements of Fiction 1

    • Dramatic Writing 1

    • Stories in Verse

    • Ballet 1 and 2

    Second Semester

    • American Literature

    • Trigonometry

    • U.S. History

    • Elements of Fiction 2

    • Dramatic Writing 2

    • Stories in Verse

    • Ballet 1 and 2

  • First Semester

    • British Literature

    • Personal Finance & American Government/Civics

    • Dramatic Writing 1

    • Creative Writing Capstone

    Second Semester

    • British Literature

    • Personal Finance & American Government/Civics

    • Dramatic Writing 1

    • Creative Writing Capstone

Course Offerings

Writing Workshop 1

Writing Workshop I is the foundation for the Creative Writing Program. It is a seminar-style course in which students focus on producing their own poems, short stories, and essays. Student as well as professional literature models will be utilized to provide training in the writing process. Students will play a leading role through the process of discussion on the readings, group critique and exchange, tutorials, feedback on drafts, and discussion of the elements by which a piece of writing may be assessed.  The student will participate in the development of writing and support the development of a vocabulary of the writing product.

Writing Workshop 2

Writing Workshop 2 will  build on the skills taught in Writing Workshop I while stressing analytical thinking and the use of evidence in the context of research and other scholarly writing. Students will work toward an investigatory paper through developing their understanding of the purposes of processes of research. The class will maintain a workshop structure and frequent writing assignments will be given. 

Writing Workshop 3

Writing Workshop 3 will build on skills already developed  on paragraph, paraphrasing, and writing analysis. The class will focus on allowing students to learn how to integrate  sources on topics  and organize their ideas into a literature review. Students will learn about the various nuances to APA style and be taught about advanced scholarly voice. The course aims at empowering students to be able to participate in advanced scholarly conversations and writing.

Writing Workshop 4

Again building on the previous writing workshops, in Writing Workshop 4 students will work on their own projects under the direction of a writing instructor. With consultation with their instructor, students will propose topics of interest and develop them to publishable form. 

Elements of Fiction 1

In Elements of Fiction 1, students will be introduced to the thematic and stylistic components of short fiction. They can expect to read text from a diverse range of authors of varying content. Short exercises and assignments will be given throughout the semester and several conferences with their instructor to revise their writing and perfect their stylistic technique will be provided.

Elements of Fiction 2

Concepts taught in Elements of Fiction 1 will be built on in this second semester class. Students will explore  English novels written between the 19th and early 20th Century. The class will explore the social, political, religious, economic and artistic features of writing from around the world.

Creative Writing Capstone

In this Capstone course students will have the opportunity and time to complete individualized projects such as poetry, short stories, essays and more. Students will work closely with a mentor on their chosen project and the course would be available to NESA students during their senior year.

Stories in Verse

In this course students will explore the wealth of stories in verse. Students will explore everything from picture books to novels. Students will plan, draft and revise their own stories during this semester long class.

Writing the Novel

In this class students will learn about the novel as a literary genre from it’s beginning to the present day novel writing works. They will have the opportunity to study published authors such as Cervantes, Eliot, Achebe, Voltaire and more and participate in group discussions surrounding these great authors.

Dramatic Writing 1

In Dramatic Writing I students will analyze and critique landmark stage works as well as their own original scripts. They will  explore a variety of techniques and styles used by professional playwrights across the ages.

Dramatic Writing 2

Dramatic Writing II will build on concepts taught in Dramatic Writing I and students will work toward their own piece of dramatic writing that will culminate in a live performance at NESA.