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Assignment 3 — Exploring Types of Literature Creatively
Write a story, poem, one-act play or essay that interprets your experience of the types of literature encountered in this course.
Objectives

to deepen an appreciation of the types of literature
to practice using creative approaches to the study of literary texts
to explore creative writing as a mode of interpretation

Suggested Procedure:

Journal Writing Warm-up: Pi ck one your favoriete texts from this semester's reading, review it briefly, then write spontaneously (in a “free association” mode) in your journal for at least 5 minutes. Ideally you should set a timer , and you should not allow yourself to stop writing while the timer is going.
Review what you just wrote, then type it into your word processor, making any additions or changes that occur to you while doing so. Again, try to keep yourself in a spontaneous state of mind. The less self-criticism the better.
Experiment with poetry by using your word processor to break the text into lines and reading it aloud. Do not self-criticize, but do give consideration to making any changes that would make it “sound” better. After doing this for 10 minutes or so, review the reading you selected in step one above. Ask yourself whether or not the material you have written “connects” in any way to the text you are reading. Don't try too hard to answer this question; its value is in the asking, and in the way the question can serve to redirect your thinking.
Next experiment with a more narrative approach to the assignment (leading perhaps to a short fictional piece or to a short dramatic “sketch” or one-act play) by imagining yourself in a conversation with the speaker of the text you are basing this project on. Describe what happens, or describe where it happens, or record what is said. As in the earlier experiments, be spontaneous and avoid self-criticism. Write for at least 5 minutes. The goal at this point is not to finish the project, but to experiment, to find out what it feels like to start a creative project. You can determine later whether or not there is something you feel like developing.
Type this new material into your word processor. While typing, feel free to add material, but do not delete anything.
This next step in the process is easy: sleep on it. Put your writing aside for a day or two.
When you return to the project, re-read your material, then ask yourself what type of writing you want to develop: poetry, fiction, drama, essay . . . Or something else? Perhaps it's some purely experimental hybrid of literary types. If you are uncertain about how to proceed, consider writing an essay that describes and includes what you did in the steps above. In any event, it is at this point that you need to make the decision about how to proceed.