Engl 534 - Unit Plan Syllabus and Schedule

Creative Writing Unit
February – March 2022
Fictional High School, Grade 10
Monday – Friday, 8:30-10:30
Instructor Information
Instructor: Gabriel Gaither
Email: ggaither@mail.csuchico.edu
Unit Information and Objectives
This month-long unit aims to familiarize students with the basics of creative writing and
literary analysis. This course draws from various forms of art utilizing the English language,
such as poetry, short stories, and music, to provide students with experience with the
fundamentals of writing creatively and interpreting and analyzing such writing effectively.
This class has no required texts and no anchor text, and almost all reading will be done
in-class as a group. Students will be expected to write every day for varying times and amounts
but will be given a workshop class period to work on their writing assignments and discuss this
writing with their peers for review or comments.
Throughout this unit, students will be assigned 3 major writing assignments, all which
will be assigned on the Wednesday of each week and turned in on the following Monday when
class starts again (except for the third assignment, which is due on Friday, April 1) On top of
this, students will write in their commonplace book 4 times weekly at the beginning of class.
Graded Assignments: Weighting and Criteria
Total Unit Points: 100 Points
1. Commonplace Book Entries (20 points total)
a. 4 days a week, students will be given a writing prompt at the beginning of class.
Students will spend approximately 5-10 minutes working on this assignment each
time. This is mostly a participation grade and will not be graded based on the
quality or quantity of writing done.
2. Short Story Assignment (20 points)
a. Prompt:
i. Write your own short story. Use one of the short stories or myths we have
read as a group as an example or make your own. The story must be at
least one page, but feel free to experiment, as long as it is appropriate for
the classroom. Be prepared to share and discuss your writing in
class/workshops. Here are some things to guide you:
1. Who are your characters, if any?
2. Does your story have themes or morals?
3. What is the setting of your story?
4. How does the story progress? Is there conflict?
5. Consider your language. How do you describe what is happening
in your story? Why does it matter?

3. Poetry Assignment (20 Points)
a. Prompt:
i. Using what we have covered this week, write your own poem or song.
There are no length requirements for this assignment, but effort is
expected (i.e., if your piece is one line long, be prepared to explain why it
is that length, and the meaning contained within it). You will each spend a
few minutes presenting your piece in your workshop groups. You can use
any of the poems or songs we have covered this week as inspiration or
make your own. Experimentation and creativity are key for this
assignment, so do your best to think outside the box! Consider the
following when writing:
1. What is the format of your poem? How are the lines/stanzas
structured? How is it organized on the page, and for what reason?
2. Does your poem have verse or rhyme? If so, how do you use it?
What is the rhyme scheme?
3. Does your poem contain a story?
4. Consider your language. What diction are you using, and why? Are
you being direct, or indirect in your wording? Is there figurative
language?
5. Does your poem have a message?
6. If your poem is a song, how is it meant to be recited? What kind of
music is it (what genre)?

4. Unit Writing Assignment (40 Points)
a. Prompt:
i. For the last assignment in the unit, you have two choices:
1. In two pages or more, analyze a piece of creative writing from this
class or outside of it, and write an essay identifying the following
(you will present your findings to the class):
a. Genre of piece (i.e., prose, poetry, music, etc.)
b. Format of piece (i.e., novel, song, poem, etc.)
c. What are the themes and meanings of the piece? How do
you know? Why do they matter to the piece as a whole?
Use examples to support your argument.
d. (Optional) Why is this piece important to you?
ii. Create a third piece of writing related to what we have covered in class so
far (i.e., poem, short story, song, or anything else). Consider the previous
prompts and expectations when doing so.
Common Core Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2
Unit Calendar
Date Agenda Assignments/Classwork
Monday, 2/28 • Commonplace book • Commonplace book
• Mythology introduction prompt: Who is your
o Origins of favorite super hero, and
storytelling, why?
writing, and
recitation
o Heroes and
characters
• Class discussion
Tuesday, 3/1 • Commonplace book • Commonplace book
• Myths as moral lessons prompt: What would it be
o King Midas like nobody used writing,
• The role of themes and and still recited?
morals in storytelling
Wednesday. 3/2 • Commonplace book • Commonplace book
• Hercules myth prompt: Write about
o 12 labors and the something you had to
importance of struggle through. How
struggle did it change you?
o What makes a
good hero? What
makes a good
story?
o Class discussion
Thursday, 3/3 • Form workshop groups • Commonplace book
o What is a prompt (whole class
workshop? period after icebreakers:
• Icebreaker activities Create your own
• Commonplace book mythological hero. What
is their backstory? What
do they look like? Write
about your hero and
myth. Pictures are
welcome too.
Friday, 3/4 • Commonplace book • Commonplace book
• Heroes and storytelling prompt: Think about the
o Perseus hero you made
o Theseus yesterday. What are his
o Others? or her weaknesses?
• The role of heroes in • Commonplace books
moral stories collected
o Why should
heroes struggle?
• Collect commonplace
books
Monday, 3/7 • Commonplace books • Commonplace book
returned prompt: What was the
• Commonplace books last book you read? How
• Introduction to short long was it?
stories
o Class discussion
about short
stories
o Are myths short
stories?
• Reading tomorrow
Tuesday, 3/8 • Commonplace book • Commonplace book
• “To Build a Fire” by Jack prompt: Your hero is in
London the middle of the desert!
o Read as a class How would they react?
o Story elements?
o Morals? Themes?
o Struggle?
Wednesday, 3/9 • Commonplace book • Commonplace book
• “The Yellow Wallpaper” prompt: What does it
by Charlotte Perkins mean to say one thing
Stetson and mean another?
o Read as a class
o Themes and
hidden meanings?
o What is this story
about?
Thursday, 3/10 • Writing assignment (due • Writing Assignment 1
Monday) (due Monday, 3/11 at the
• Workshopping beginning of class)
o See websites,
slides, or syllabus
for prompt
o On paper or in
Google Drive
(not physical
commonplace
book)
• “Home Burial” by Robert prompt: Why do people
Frost like sad stories?
o Read as a class • Commonplace books
• Class discussion collected
o What is
happening
o Is this a short
story, or a poem?
How can you tell?
books
Monday, 3/14 • Collect Writing • Commonplace book
Assignment 1 prompt: What is poetry?
• Commonplace books No wrong answers.
returned
• Commonplace books
• Poetry in the English
language
o “Beowulf”
o “Caedmon’s
Hymn”
o Music as a poetic
tradition
o Poetic forms of
Old English
Tuesday, 3/15 • Commonplace books • Commonplace book
• Reading poetry together prompt: Write a poem
and taking notes about an inanimate
o “The Tyger” by object in the room.
William Blake Describe it.
o “Sonnet 65” by
William
Shakespeare
o “Ozymandias” by
Percy Shelley
o Similarities?
o Rhyme and
rhythm? (Music?)
o Meaning and
imagery
Wednesday, 3/16 • Commonplace books • Commonplace book
• Reading poetry together prompt: Write a poem
and taking notes about what you ate for
o “There Are Birds breakfast. Anything goes.
Here” by Jamaal
May
o “Eagle Poem” by
Joy Harjo
o How do newer
poems compare
to older ones?
What has
changed?
o Rhyme and/or
rhythm?
o Meaning and
imagery
Thursday, 3/17 • Writing assignment (due • Writing Assignment 2
Monday) (due Monday, 3/21 at the
• Workshopping beginning of class)
o See websites,
slides, or syllabus
for prompt
o On paper or in
Google Drive
(not physical
commonplace
book)
• Poetry and music prompt: Is music poetry?
o Rap music as Why or why not? Vice
poetry versa?
o Examples in • Collect commonplace
“Survival of the books
Fittest” and
“DNA.”
o Analyze the lyrics
o Do they work as
poetry on their
own?
o Other examples?
books
Monday, 3/21 • Hand back commonplace • Unit Writing Assignment
books (due Friday, 3/25 at the
• Unit Writing Assignment beginning of class)
(due Friday) o See websites,
• Class discussion about slides, or syllabus
creative writing for prompt
• Workshopping o On paper or in
Google Drive
o Or commonplace
book
Tuesday, 3/22 • Class discussion
• Workshopping
Wednesday, 3/23 • Class Discussion
• Workshopping
Thursday, 3/24 • Class discussion
• Workshopping
Friday, 3/25 • Unit Writing Assignment • Unit Writing Assignment
Due Due
• Watch Clash of the Titans
Works Cited
“Beowulf (modern English translation).” Translated by Frances B. Gummere, Poetry Foundation.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50114/beowulf-modern-english-translation
“Beowulf (Old English version).” Poetry Foundation.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43521/beowulf-old-english-version
Blake, William. “The Tyger.” Poetry Foundation. www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43687/the-
tyger
Caedmon. “Caedmon’s Hymn.” Poetry Foundation.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47296/caedmons-hymn-56d227a3b602f
Frost, Robert. “Home Burial.” Poetry Foundation.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53086/home-burial
Harjo, Joy. “Eagle Poem.” Poetry Foundation, 1990.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46545/eagle-poem
Kendrick Lamar. “DNA..” DAMN., Top Dawg Entertainment, 2017.
open.spotify.com/track/6HZILIRieu8S0iqY8kIKhj?si=8171b69721f442a7
London, Jack. “To Build a Fire.” 1902. americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/to-
build-a-fire.pdf
May, Jamaal. “There are Birds Here.” Poetry Foundation, 2016.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/56764/there-are-birds-here
Mobb Deep. “Survival of the Fittest.” The Infamous, RCA Records, 1995.
open.spotify.com/track/7N1Vjtzr1lmmCW9iasQ8YO?si=5111052571fa49ff
Schwab, Gustav. Gods and Heroes of Ancient Greece. Pantheon, 2001.

Shakespeare, William. “Sonnet 65.” Poetry Foundation.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50646/sonnet-65-since-brass-nor-stone-nor-earth-nor-
boundless-sea
Shelley, Percy Bysshe. “Ozymandias.” Poetry Foundation.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias
Stetson, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” 1892.
www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/theliteratureofprescription/exhibitionAssets/digitalDocs/The-
Yellow-Wall-Paper.pdf

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Creative Writing Unit

February – March 2022

Fictional High School, Grade 10

Monday – Friday, 8:30-10:30

Instructor: Gabriel Gaither

Unit Information and Objectives

writing with their peers for review or comments.

Total Unit Points: 100 Points

1. Commonplace Book Entries (20 points total)

quality or quantity of writing done.

2. Short Story Assignment (20 points)

read as a group as an example or make your own. The story must be at

the classroom. Be prepared to share and discuss your writing in

class/workshops. Here are some things to guide you:

1. Who are your characters, if any?

2. Does your story have themes or morals?

3. What is the setting of your story?

4. How does the story progress? Is there conflict?

5. Consider your language. How do you describe what is happening

in your story? Why does it matter?

There are no length requirements for this assignment, but effort is

any of the poems or songs we have covered this week as inspiration or

assignment, so do your best to think outside the box! Consider the

following when writing:

1. What is the format of your poem? How are the lines/stanzas

structured? How is it organized on the page, and for what reason?

What is the rhyme scheme?

3. Does your poem contain a story?

you being direct, or indirect in your wording? Is there figurative

5. Does your poem have a message?

6. If your poem is a song, how is it meant to be recited? What kind of

music is it (what genre)?

1. In two pages or more, analyze a piece of creative writing from this

class or outside of it, and write an essay identifying the following

(you will present your findings to the class):

a. Genre of piece (i.e., prose, poetry, music, etc.)

b. Format of piece (i.e., novel, song, poem, etc.)

c. What are the themes and meanings of the piece? How do

you know? Why do they matter to the piece as a whole?

Use examples to support your argument.

d. (Optional) Why is this piece important to you?

prompts and expectations when doing so.

Common Core Standards

Date Agenda Assignments/Classwork

Monday, 2/28 • Commonplace book • Commonplace book

• Mythology introduction prompt: Who is your

o Origins of favorite super hero, and

Tuesday, 3/1 • Commonplace book • Commonplace book

• Myths as moral lessons prompt: What would it be

o King Midas like nobody used writing,

• The role of themes and and still recited?

Wednesday. 3/2 • Commonplace book • Commonplace book

• Hercules myth prompt: Write about

o 12 labors and the something you had to

importance of struggle through. How

struggle did it change you?

good hero? What

o What is a prompt (whole class

workshop? period after icebreakers:

• Icebreaker activities Create your own

• Commonplace book mythological hero. What

is their backstory? What

do they look like? Write