Fiction Portfolio (30%)
Your Fiction Portfolio is a culmination of your three fiction exercises from this semester. Each exercise must first appear as its original submission on one or more pages followed by a revised version. Therefore, in total, you will be submitting at least six pages of fiction.
Your revisions must reflect an engagement with my feedback as well as that of your peers. Further, your revised exercises should demonstrate an understanding of the formal techniques that we covered in class from A Swim in the Pond in the Rain by George Saunders. Students should employ at least one formal technique that we learned about over the semester per story.
Lastly, a one-page reflection should accompany the portfolio that touches upon the writing process and the decisions you made in your revisions. Please answer the following questions in your reflection: 1. Did you grow as a fiction writer over the course of the semester, if yes, how so? 2. Did you surprise yourself in any way? 3. What was most challenging for you? 4. What specific revisions did you make and how did they improve the exercises? When you refer to the specific revisions you made you must excerpt them from the original piece of writing as well as the revision to demonstrate the changes you made.
Accordingly, students who do well on their Fiction Portfolio will have met the following criteria:
Three fiction exercises generated in our class will be included.
Each fiction exercise will be followed by a revised version.
A one-page reflection on the writing process will be included that speaks to the questions in paragraph three of this prompt.
Each exercise will contain at least one formal technique from the following:
“Two part move” (from “The Pattern Story” p. 134)
“Pattern story” (from “The Pattern Story” p. 135)
“disrupt the pattern” (from “The Pattern Story” p. 137)
“escalation” (from “The Pattern Story” p. 137)
“specific trait” (from “The Pattern Story” p. 142)
“continually revising toward specificity” (from “The Pattern Story” p. 142)
“refuse to repeat beats” (from “The Pattern Story” p. 153)
“Multiple Superimposed Weirdness Syndrome” (“The Door to the Truth…” p. 280)
“skaz” (“The Door to the Truth…” p. 280)
“improper narrative emphasis” (“The Door to the Truth…” p. 280)
“the digression” (“A Swim in a Pond in the Rain…” p. 330)
“persistent self-contradiction” (“A Swim in a Pond in the Rain…” p. 336)
“double use of the speech” (“A Swim in a Pond in the Rain…” p. 339)
Each exercise demonstrates significant improvement or development from the original.
The student will have considered feedback.
The work will reflect an understanding of the formal techniques we discussed in class.
The content is original and specific, avoiding cliches and abstract language.
The student pays great attention to detail.
Remember that your Fiction Portfolio is worth 30% of your overall grade in the class and is due at 11:59 PM on Wednesday, May 15th under Fiction Portfolio.
