“The Tragic Story of the Fall of Icarus.” Myths and Legends. 2 Mar. 2022. Web. 09 May 2023.
From an excerpt of the final paper of this course, I demonstrated the connection between the metaphors of the traditionally oral poem of Icarus and his fall and a written rendition to fit modern times.
Theories of Writing
In this course the main discussion was the technical “what” behind writing, including but not limited to the advancements in technology used in writing practices and how they shaped language, the progression of written language from oral traditions to the cybersphere, specific theories and concepts within language, and transitory states within writing. The big question of “what is writing” was a central focus, going so far as to branch out into questions like “what makes a writer” and that in connection with the main topics of the course.
​
“Royalty-Free Images, Photo Stock, Video & Music.” Depositphotos. Depositphotos, n.d. Web. 15 May 2023.
Creative Writing: Poetry
Take a break and pick up poems by some of the groundbreaking artists of the century! This course discusses poetry, not only as a literary technique, but how the political and cultural movements around the artist shape the work.
Poetry has always had a soft spot in my life. I’ve found that writing prose has never come as easy for me when I’m stressed or upset as writing poems has. However, writing poetry to an inspiration such as Beowulf was something I had never thought to do before, and had such fun trying. This poem is part of a collection of 5 but is my personal favorite of the group.
Creative Writing: Fiction
What actually is creative fiction? Take a deep dive into the how of creative writing, with a course whose main topics include creative literature devices, forms of fictional writing, how to develop plot and other devices, and everything a beginner needs to generate their own version of a New York Times best seller!
Tahara, Theresa. “Deep in the Dark Woods.” Fine Art America. n.d. Web. 15 May 2023.
In this course, we were tasked with submitting a 15 page manuscript by the end of the 10-week quarter. That’s A LOT of writing, especially for a 2nd year who is also being dragged through organic chemistry in the highlight of quarantine. However, I will say I had a lot of fun writing this, and I have gone back a few times over the last 2 years to edit the story and continue it a little bit. This work showcases my want to do longer prose, but also illustrates how daunting this assignment felt.
​Writing Design and Circulation
The main discussion in this course is to create and present the current portfolio you, dear reader, are currently looking at. The resulting 10 weeks are spent learning not only about the self growth we as writers have undergone within our writing practices, but also about how we can then allow others to browse and partake in our growth as you are currently doing. One way we reflect on our growth is through a rhetorical genre analysis assignment.
“Royalty-Free Images, Photo Stock, Video & Music.” Depositphotos. Depositphotos, n.d. Web. 15 May 2023.
I felt that the best way to end the portfolio would be to circle back to the piece we started with. The feeling of self growth and reflection, of course, is the most rewarding when we can stand and look far enough back and see where our writing has been and what it has become. In this analysis, I took the poem I wrote for Theories of Writing (click here) and fleshed out the story behind the metaphor in a creative prose stylized letter.