As a student of creative writing, you will create original works of literature, culminating in a significant, extended body of poetry, fiction, and/or creative nonfiction that manifests your artistic potential. 

These literary works will demonstrate the following aspects of your craft:

• your own voice and style as a writer, which you have discovered and developed

• your use of the central subject matter that comes out of your own individual life experience and from your imagination

• your understanding of the creative process as a forum for critical as well as intuitive thinking, as well as problem-solving

• your awareness of the literary, cultural, and historical contexts within which you write, including the influence of past and present literary forms, structures, styles, and traditions on your artistic choices

• (for poets): your ability to shape a poem in terms of lineation, stanza structure, rhythm, and sound; and to effectively work within the parameters of various poetic forms

• (for fiction writers): your ability to invent and organize plot; develop character; modulate tone; make use of evocative imagery; and shape and control the formal in both modular and linear narratives

• (for creative nonfiction writers): your ability to establish a distinctive voice and a clear sense of purpose; provide insightful reflection on the chosen subject matter; render vivid scenes complete with dialogue; distinguish between various types of nonfiction including memoir, personal essay, and literary journalism; and determine when and where to use research, as well as appropriate sources and research methods

Updated: February 2018

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