Creative Writing Workshop

In class, we will read this newsgroup posting about a tandem story.

Ex 1-2b: Quotation Marks (10pts)

“I often see students use single quotations marks to indicate 'jokes' or 'ironic distance,'” said the professor. “This is incorrect for two reasons. First, in American English, one only uses single quotation marks withing quoted speech. Second, in academic writing (and journalism, too), a reader who sees quotation marks around a term will expect that you are citing somebody's exact words.” Thus, you are introducing an anachronism if you claim “Shakespeare is known for his 'bad-assed' use of slang.” You are correct but obscure if you write “Shakespeare sympathetic presentation of the imperfection of 'all flesh and blood' is one of the reasons his plays are still performed after 400 years.”

Ex 1-1c: Diagnostic Revision (20pts)

Two parts -- a revision (3 pages, or about 750 words) and a submission note (about a half page).

Your submission note should quote the "before" and "after" versions of a specific passage that you feel is most improved. It should also supply a bulleted list in which you call my attention to other specific changes that demonstrate the depth of your revision.