JOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
HONORS PROGRAM
DESCRIPTION OF HONORS CONTRACT
Creative Writing
This Honors Contract can be taken concurrently or sequentially (the semester immediately following the semester the course is taken) with the following course:
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Course Title: Creative Writing Course No: ENGL 223
Author of Contract: Matthew Schmeer Hours Credit: One
In addition to satisfying the normal objectives and competencies of the course, the student must complete, in the honors course, the following objectives to accomplish a higher level of scholastic work:
Objectives:
1 Study critical work and write a paper on the craft of writing poetry, fiction, or drama, in order to identify and define the elements related to a particular genre, and to apply those elements in the student’s own writing.
2 Write either poetry, fiction, or drama in order to improve the student’s skills in that genre, especially critical analysis of the student’s own writing and the process of revision.
3. Gain further knowledge on careers in the field of creative writing, including the marketing of a manuscript.
Assignments:
- The honors student will submit to the instructor one paper, typewritten, with a minimum of 1,000 words in length. The paper must be based on one of the following topics:
a. Review of a journal.
b. Review of a nonfiction work on writing poetry.
c. Review of a nonfiction work on writing fiction.
d. Review of a nonfiction work on writing for stage or screen.
e. Review of a critical work on a writer admired by the student.
f. Analysis of a full-length work by a writer admired by the student.
g. Report on a creative writing reading, lecture, seminar, or workshop.
h. Report on a personal interview with a published writer of poetry, fiction, drama, or screenwriting.
2. The honors student will prepare a creative project of one of the following types:
a. Collection of original poetry (approximately 100 lines).
b. Manuscript of a story or first chapter of a novel (approximately 2,000-
3,000 words).
c. Manuscript of a play, film script, or television script (approximately 15-
25 pages).
3. The honors student will meet with the mentor once every week.
Expectations:
- Punctuality.
- Excellence in all aspects.
- Growth of writing skills.
- Increased awareness of the requirements of the writing profession.
- Independence in approach to completion of work.
Grading Criteria:
To achieve an A, the student must fulfill all the requirements of the honors contract with a high degree of professionalism. This includes perfect editing and proofreading, as well as timely and correct completion of all the assignments. Assignments presented past the deadline agreed upon by the student and the mentor will be penalized five points per day; the mentor will not accept assignments one week past the due date.
Evaluated work:
One paper: 30%
One creative project: 50%
Performance (discussion, attendance): 20%
Grading scale:
Written assignments will receive point grades according to the following scale:
A+ = 100 B+ = 88 C+ = 78 D+ = 68
A = 95 B = 85 C = 75 D = 65 F = 0-59
A- = 90 B- = 80 C- = 70 D- = 60