378954: Speculative Fiction and Magical Realism WRITING-X 413.9E Spring 2021 Section 1 3 Credits 04/07/2021 to 06/15/2021 Modified 04/04/2021  Meeting Times

New course material will be published on Wednesdays.

Creative Responses are due by Tuesday, 11:59pm. Feedback and reading responses are due by Wednesday, 11:59pm.  Description

Reality is frequently inaccurate. Why not accurately depict that? This workshop is dedicated to kick-starting your imagination with the help of visualization and acting exercises, Oulipo writing prompts, and other creative techniques. We take a leap beyond the ordinary with examples on how to craft an engaging alternate reality, flesh out an enthralling non-human character, or dream up an unforgettable story line in space. At the end of 10 weeks, you have a better grip on how to apply creative writing techniques designed to help you think outside the box for your own speculative fiction story.  Objectives

1. You will read and analyze seminal works in 21st Century American Speculative fiction by a variety of authors from different ethnicities, class, and gender, with the eye of a creator and not a reviewer.

2. You will develop the muscle of writing, build a writing practice, and participate in a literary community based on writing exercises, discussion threads, and engaging in feedback.

3. You will construct your own novums based on studying the ones in this course in order to write your own.

4. You will identify and practice craft techniques used in literary fiction such as Voice, Character, and Structure, to implement in your own work.

5. You will build a language of craft that is specific to Speculative Fiction after observing the genre conventions in published works and in your own pieces to explain your creative process and authorial intentions.  Outcomes

1. When given a speculative story, you will be able to identify what craft techniques are being used to highlight the novum in a story, and what genre category the story falls under or uses e.g. Science Fiction, Fantasy, Magical Realism, or Speculative.

2. Develop skills in literary analysis, including comprehension of narrative fundamentals of point of view, character, voice, and structure (plot).

3. Develop the ability to critique your own writing by giving developmental edits and feedback on pieces using the craft characteristics on which these identification was based.

4. You will complete a short story not exceeding 4,000 words that will be read by your peers in a workshop and leave the course with

1 of 11 a more polished, second draft of your story.

5. Gain a skillset for completing creative/open-ended assignments. You will complete four 500-word assignments weekly for classmates to give feedback on (thus also giving feedback to your classmates.)

6. Produce writing that is original and imaginative with your own individual style and tone, and develop the commitment to writing in a short time span.  Deliverables

1. Complete four 500-word assignments weekly for classmates to give feedback on as well as turn in four responses to your classmates' short weekly pieces.

2. Hand in a 4,000 word max prose piece for the final workshop. This is to be built on what you've worked on from the longer assignments. You will also have to turn in a letter of feedback to one of your peers.  Evaluation

Criteria

Type Weight Topic Notes

Minimum 5 exercises + final 700 Depending on the prompt. 100 points for turning in a creative piece and response, 50 points for a piece points reading response.

Discussion & Workshop 300 Workshop Feedback & 60 points per reading discussion + comment. There are 5 stories total: Participation points Comments 300 points.

60 points per workshop feedback/per week.

Breakdown A - 900-1000 points B – 800-899 points C – 650-799 points F – 0-649 points  Course Policies

Online Participation Active participation in the virtual classroom is one of the most important and valuable aspects of this course. This means that you’ll respond to your classmates’ posts on a regular basis. Please bear in mind when responding to your classmates that we aren’t able to communicate online the same way we do in person (through voice intonation, facial expression, and gestures).

While a friendly sense of humor is always a nice touch, things like sarcasm don’t usually translate well to comments in the online classroom and can lead to misunderstandings and hurt feelings. Also, because writing courses involve exposing personal information, and it takes a great deal of trust to share one’s writing with a group, it is absolutely vital that all class members respect one another and that this remains a safe space for you to share.

Disrespectful comments about a classmate’s race, religion, sexual orientation, etc., will not be tolerated. I expect that even when you disagree with one another, you will be polite in your discourse and use tact when discussing each other’s sensitive work.

2 of 11 Participation This is an exercise-based class. As such, your work and the work of your peers is very much in discovery mode. We are exploring and expanding our notions of what our work can be, rather than submitting polished drafts. Please keep that in mind while striving to offer meaningful feedback.

Each week, there will be readings, discussion, and a choice of three short writing exercises. You are required to submit four exercise responses and one longer piece in total. You are required to respond to readings each week, as part of the overall class discussion to strengthen your prose.

In order to accommodate everyone's work with feedback, please comment on the piece submitted above yours. I will check-in with comments and short responses/feedback to others' comments throughout the week but will hold off in providing longer and more in-depth feedback until after the deadline. This is because I do not want to color anyone's opinions with my authority and you are welcome to comment on my feedback as well.

I have provided a rubric by which you would adhere to in order to give feedback. I've found it most useful to grade this way to help you practice critiquing as a writer, as well as giving specific, craft related feedback to your peers:

Example of rubric:

To be addressed Points

Whose story is it? How is the character and narrative voice pushed and played with? What is going on plot-wise aka what is happening? 15

Drawing from the text, how did you form your opinions to how the speaker came across to you? Taking a look at language, content, 10 structure, and how information was revealed. This leads to what stuck with you after reading the piece? What resonated?

What kept you reading/interested/intrigued in the work? What were some of the promises the text made at the beginning that were fulfilled 10 or left unanswered? This leads to one to three questions you have about the piece—perhaps somewhere you were confused, taken out of the story?

Respond to one other classmates' response. Do you agree, disagree, feel as though they gave an insight to something you didn't expect, 15 change or deepen your understanding of the text?

Late Assignments If you will be turning in late work, you will receive credit for completion but do not expect feedback from me or our class. I've designed the course so that we all have ample time to read and give responses on all of the pieces, and it would be unfair to ask everyone to wait for your entry as we move along with the course.

If for whatever reason, life gets in the way (e.g. travel, work) please let me know no later than 48 hours before the deadline so that I can grant you an extension and alert the class. Again, I do not expect everyone else to comment on your work should you turn it in late, but at least I can plan to give comments. Incomplete Assignments: Since part of your grade is dependent on discussions, dialogue, and critique you will be giving others, in order to receive feedback on your pieces, you must also give feedback. Again, if you are turning in your writing exercises and long draft, but not participating in giving feedback, do not expect your peers to provide responses to your work. The Writers’ Workshop Instruction in the Writers’ Program follows the guidelines established by the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) guidelines for the teaching of creative writing, which include a “challenging writers’ workshop” as a hallmark. They define this as

…a seminar in which students critique one another’s work under the mentorship of an accomplished writer-teacher. The workshop is writing intensive, offering each student multiple opportunities for submission and revision of creative work. (AWP)

This method of instruction is considered the gold standard for developing writers at all levels of expertise, and workshopping is a 3 of 11 key learning tool in nearly every course offered by the Writers’ Program. Workshopping teaches you to read and respond to written work from a variety of perspectives, and hearing critique of your own writing will help you understand how successfully your work achieves your goals. Every student is expected to participate fully in workshopping activities as defined by and guided by Writers’ Program instructors. Scope of Work for Instructors Each Writers’ Program instructor has signed an agreement to teach the curriculum in their course, following a syllabus of their own design with approval by the Writers’ Program director. Instructors are never obligated to read, review, critique, respond to, or otherwise address student work that has not been developed for their course or in response to specific assignments in their course. Individualized instruction like this falls into the categories of Consultation and Mentorship, which are separate services your instructor can provide through special arrangement with the Writers’ Program. Underage Students As UCLA's principal provider of continuing education, the majority of UCLA Extension courses are designed for the post- baccalaureate professional-level student. Enrollment is therefore normally reserved for adult students 18 years of age and older. The Writers’ Program may consent to enroll younger students based on special academic competence and approval of the instructor. Minors who enroll in a Writers’ Program course without first receiving permission from both the department and the instructor are subject to withdrawal. To request approval, please contact the Writers’ Program at 310-825-9415.  Institutional Policies

Student Conduct Students are subject to disciplinary action for several types of misconduct or attempted misconduct, including but not limited to dishonesty, such as cheating, multiple submission, plagiarism, or knowingly furnishing false information to the University; or theft or misuse of the intellectual property of others or violation of others' copyrights. Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with policy provisions which proscribe these and other forms of misconduct at: https://www.uclaextension.edu/pages/str/studentConduct.jsp (https://www.uclaextension.edu/pages/str/studentConduct.jsp) Services for Students with Disabilities In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, UCLA Extension provides appropriate accommodations and support services to qualified applicants and students with disabilities. These include, but are not limited to, auxiliary aids/services such as sign language interpreters, assistive listening devices for hearing-impaired individuals, extended time for and proctoring of exams, and registration assistance. Accommodations and types of support services vary and are specifically designed to meet the disability-related needs of each student based on current, verifiable medical documentation. Arrangements for auxiliary aids/services are available only through UCLA Extension’s Office for Students with Disabilities at (310) 825-0183 or by email at [email protected]. For complete information see: https://www.uclaextension.edu/pages/str/studentswithDisabilities.jsp (https://www.uclaextension.edu/pages/str/studentswithDisabilities.jsp) Incompletes Your instructor may post the interim grade Incomplete/I if at the end of the class your overall work is of passing quality but a portion could not be submitted for understandable reasons (e.g. illness). It is your responsibility to petition your instructor for permission to submit work late and to provide an explanation, and it is his or her sole decision whether to accept the explanation. If permitted, the Incomplete/I grade will be posted and a time frame defined for you to submit the missing work, ranging from one to twelve weeks. Incomplete/I grades that remain unchanged after twelve weeks will lapse to F, NP or U. Receiving an I grade entitles you to submit only the missing work your instructor has agreed to accept late, and does not allow other work to be retaken or oblige UCLA Extension to provide continuing access to course materials via Canvas. The Incomplete/I grade is not an option for courses that do not bear credit, such as 700, 800, or 900-level courses. For complete information, see: https://www.uclaextension.edu/pages/str/grading.jsp (https://www.uclaextension.edu/pages/str/grading.jsp) All Grades are Final

4 of 11 No change of grade may be made by anyone other than the instructor, and then, only to correct clerical errors. No term grade except Incomplete may be revised by re-examination. The correction of a clerical error may be authorized only by the instructor of record communicating directly with personnel of Student and Alumni Services. Sexual Harassment The University of California is committed to creating and maintaining a community where all individuals who participate in University programs and activities can work and learn together in an atmosphere free of harassment, exploitation, or intimidation. Every member of the community should be aware that the University prohibits sexual harassment and sexual violence, and that such behavior violates both law and University policy. The University will respond promptly and effectively to reports of sexual harassment and sexual violence, and will take appropriate action to prevent, to correct, and when necessary, to discipline behavior that violates our policy.

All Extension students and instructors who believe they have been sexually harassed are encouraged to contact the Department of Student and Alumni Services for complaint resolution: UCLA Extension, Suite 113, 10995 Le Conte Ave., Westwood; Voice/TTY: (310) 825-7031. View the University’s full Policy on Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence at http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000385/SHSV (http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000385/SHSV).  Additional Items Course and Instructor Evaluation

UCLA Extension values your feedback on course and instructor evaluations. We ask all students to take a few minutes to complete an end-of-course evaluation survey. Updates to the course and instruction are influenced by your feedback. Understanding your student experience is essential to ensure continuing excellence in the online classroom and is appreciated by your instructor and the UCLA Extension academic leadership.

Your participation in a survey is voluntary, and your responses are confidential. After instructors submit grades, they will be given an evaluation report, but this report will not contain your name. About Your Online Course Materials Please note the following about online course components at UCLA Extension:

Students must have basic computer skills, including the use of word processing software, email, and the ability to use internet browsers, such as Safari, Firefox, or Chrome. Students are responsible for meeting the technical requirements of Canvas and familiarizing themselves with the Canvas Learning Management System. What are the basic computer specifications for Canvas? https://guides.instructure.com/m/4214/l/82542-what-are-the- basic-computer-specifications-for-canvas (https://guides.instructure.com/m/4214/l/82542-what-are-the-basic- computer-specifications-for-canvas) Which browsers does Canvas support? https://guides.instructure.com/m/67952/l/720329-which-browsers-does-canvas- support (https://guides.instructure.com/m/67952/l/720329-which-browsers-does-canvas-support) Students are responsible for keeping a copy of all assignments and work submitted, and to be aware of all assignments, due dates, and course guidelines. Students are encouraged to keep and/or download a local copy of their assignment files, as access to the online environment of a specific course is limited to 30 days after the final course date, as listed in the course catalog.

If you need assistance downloading student materials from your course, please contact Canvas Support or the UCLA Extension Learning Support Team. UCLA Extension Canvas and Learning Support For immediate 24/7 Canvas technical support, including holidays, click on Help (located on the menu to the left) where you can call or chat live with a Canvas Support representative.

5 of 11 UCLA Extension Instructional Design and Learning Support The UCLA Extension Learning Support staff assists both students and instructors with Canvas-related technical support, as well as general and administrative questions.

Learning Support staff is available Monday through Friday, from 8 AM to 5 PM (Pacific Time), except holidays:

Email: [email protected] Website: http://support.uclaextension.edu (http://support.uclaextension.edu/)  Schedule

Readings are subject to change from what is posted here as I want to include more contemporary works of speculative fiction so you can get a better idea on what to expect in the market***

Module When Title Notes

6 of 11 Module When Title Notes

Week 1 Ice Excerpt: Humans have five main sensory perceptions: Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste, and Touch. We will explore how to use all of our Breaker & senses to provide concrete details that will immerse the readers into the imagery and experiences we create. Senses Ice Breaker:

Tell me about yourself in the Discussion section!

Pick ONE 500-word in-class writing exercise:

1. OULIPO Prompt

Divide your document into 2 columns. Write 10 "If"s in the left column. Don't think. Write anything that comes to your head. e.g. "If monkeys fly..." or "If I clap my hands..." Write 10 "Then"s in the right column. Don't try to match anything. Write whatever comes to your mind e.g. "The ocean will swallow the earth." Combine one "If" with one "Then." This will be the first sentence of your paragraph e.g. "If I clap my hands, then the ocean will swallow the earth." Write a story of how this situation came to be, and the consequences of it on your life. Yes, you are the character in this story.

2. Your Golden Record

You are a CIA agent and you have to make a CD to take with you to meet the Martians. This is the first time they will have human contact, and they want to hear 10 sounds from Earth. Write a list of 10 sounds you would bring. Pick one sound and describe the actual sound, orally. How does the sound make you feel? If you were to give your sound an image or a color, what would it be? Tell us the story of the sound using the color or image as a metaphor. Where did you hear it? Write this with the information you just used.

3. Photomontage

Taking two or more of these uploaded images, make a composite photo of it in your head into a new image. This new image should be one of a landscape or setting someplace. Write using all five of your senses, on a special detail or object from your new image.

Please also respond to 2 of your classmate's works-in-progress and let them know what was effective about their approach. What were they focusing on? What do you think they omitted on purpose to fulfill the exercise guidelines?

Homework:

Read:

1. Adam-Troy Castro, “The Thing About Shapes to Come.” http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-thing-about-shapes-to-come/

(http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-thing-about-shapes-to-come/) 2. Theodora Goss, “Cimmeria.” http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/cimmeria-journal-imaginary-anthropology/

(http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/cimmeria-journal-imaginary-anthropology/) 3. Karen Russell, "Haunting Olivia" https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/06/13/haunting-olivia (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/06/13/haunting-olivia)

Writing Assignment:

Our stories comprise a platform through which a new understanding of the world can be gained. Can you tell me what the novums are in each of the three stories you read and how they affected the world in which they are written in?

7 of 11 Module When Title Notes

Week 2 World In-class video on past readings and scenes. Building Excerpt: Every story takes place in a location that may be physical or metaphysical. Through the use of concrete details and emotional association, we will explore how setting creates a vicarious experience for the reader. It can be utilitarian, where very part of space has a function in the action or symbolic of a conflict to come. We will also look at how setting in itself could be a character, just as lively and engaging as the protagonist or narrator in a story.

Pick ONE 500-word in-class writing exercise:

1. Religion

Come up with a new religion. Using second-person, imagine yourself as the leader inducting a new member to your religion. Please include how it came to existence, how it is practiced, any rules/laws to abide by, and what is fulfilling about being part of this religion.

2. Magic Systems

Here is a magic system questionnaire that you could use to brainstorm or as a template for magic in your stories.P lease fill this out and then ask 3 questions to one of your classmates about their system to help them brainstorm. Perhaps something they didn't think about. Something to think about. This is more of a brainstorming exercise than a writing exercise, which is still part of the writing process.

3. Setting revealed through character:

Choose one of the following prompts on characterization:

a) You are a native of a culture where you are being visited. If you are a native, you wouldn’t comment on your dominant culture but value something.

b) You are visiting a culture for the first time. Ordinary things for a native will be unusual to the visitor. Miss nuances and misinterpret things.

c) You are the conqueror or colonizer of a culture. Worldview provides the greatest potential for conflict.

Can you let your classmates know what was effective about their approach. What were they focusing on? What do you think they omitted on purpose to fulfill the exercise guidelines?

Homework:

Read:

1. Debbie Urbanski’s “They Came to Us” https://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/488/when-they-came-to-us

2. Lesley Nneka Arimah, “Who Will Greet You At Home.” https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/10/26/who-will-greet-you-at-home

3. Carmen Maria Machado's "More Real Than Him" https://granta.com/the-husband-stitch/ (https://granta.com/the-husband-stitch/)

Please upload your comments about these stories on the discussion thread talking about use of descriptions, and use of setting to complicate and elaborate on the novum.

8 of 11 Module When Title Notes

Week 3 Character In-class video on past reading and characterization:

Excerpt: Now that we have a basic understanding of creating an experience using concrete details, as well as associating our senses and imagery to memory, we will look at how to build a character’s identity through an examination of behavior, physical appearance, speech, and attitude. We will also explore why realistic characters, ones that are not ‘fixed or finished’ are the ones we as receivers and readers most empathize with, and why realism is a popular convention.

Pick ONE 500-word in-class writing exercise:

1. Practicing characterization and voice in-scene: Inhabit a monster of your choice, and write out a dating profile for said monster. You are a lonely and wanting to connect with other lonely monsters on MonsterCupid. Write a story telling someone about your first date.

2. Flat vs Full Characters:

Stories featuring flat characterization tend to be more plot driven. Stories featuring full characterization exist in a space where the writer clearly feels that deeper exploration of character yields story too. Neither one is good nor bad, just what you choose to summarize or show.

Choosing whether you want to write a full or flat character, write a story on the death of King Woollamoolla.

3. TBD

Can you let your classmates know what was effective about their approach. What were they focusing on? What do you think they omitted on purpose to fulfill the exercise guidelines?

Homework:

Read:

1. Charles Yu, “Standard Loneliness Package” http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/standard-loneliness-package/

2. Ramona Ausubel's "You Can Find Love Now" https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/06/09/you-can-find-love-now (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/06/09/you-can-find-love-now)

3. E. Lily Yu, “The Witch of Orion Waste and the Boy Knight.” https://uncannymagazine.com/article/witch-orion-waste-boy-knight/

Writing Assignment:

I would like you to add to the discussion: If the fabulist, magical, and science fiction elements of these stories did not exist, would these pieces still function to prove their message? What could be gained and what would be lost?

9 of 11 Module When Title Notes

Week 4 Point of In-class video on past readings + how to parse apart voice and style. View & Voice Excerpt: Find your voice! Being the ever elusive and most vague advice given to writers all the time. We will distinguish the difference between points of view and voice, find examples of the different kinds of points of views and narrative/psychic distances one could have when generating a story, and then by trying to find the better truth, having the freedom to choose the point of view and voice for the story. How do you construct a voice for your imagined being, human or extraterrestrial?

In-class writing exercises to choose from:

1. Voice Handout Sheet:

Pick one of the examples provided and continue in the voice of the narrator in the next paragraph.

2. Modes of narration:

Write 500 words or less inhabiting a character whose magical power is not at all what they seem or believe to be as they are stepping into something. Their background is of little to no importance and they are forced to go on.

Pick one of the modes of narration to highlight your voice: - First person: Dictatorship of the mind. You don’t have to tell us thought report. - Second Person: Choose your own adventure effect. Epistolary. Distanced. - Third person close (Focalized): Character based, mixed with first person. - Third person omniscient: World building but also can zoom in.

Please also respond to 2 of your classmate's works-in-progress and let them know what was effective about their approach. What were they focusing on? What do you think they omitted on purpose to fulfill the exercise guidelines?

Homework:

Read:

1. Ken Liu, "Paper Menagerie" https://io9.gizmodo.com/5958919/read-ken-lius-amazing-story-that-swept-the-hugo-nebula-and-world-fantasy- awards

2. A. Merc Rustad, “How to become a robot in 12 easy steps” http://www.glittership.com/2015/04/02/episode-1-how-to-become-a-robot-in-12-easy-steps-by-a-merc-rustad/

3. Ted Chiang, "The Great Silence" https://electricliterature.com/the-great-silence-by-ted-chiang/ (https://electricliterature.com/the-great-silence-by-ted- chiang/)

In 300 words or less, what tones of voice each narrator had for each of this week's stories, and how you experienced the story because of it. What was effective and what was not? Were they hard to follow?

Please respond to 2 or more of your classmates' posts.

Week 5 Structure In-class video on past readings + how can structure help your story:

Excerpt: Through an examination of character and of story, we will see what shape a story should take, and how to maintain the “life” of the piece for the story’s best interest. We will look at how structure gives narrative form to your images, senses, and characters, and how a shape of a story determines what is really being conveyed, and how insight is being communicated from the writer to the reader/receiver. We will observe the shapes from Jerome Stern’s “Making Shapely Fiction,” past readings, and the shapes your pieces have taken, as well as what shape your story should take.

Homework:

4,000 story draft due.

10 of 11 Module When Title Notes

Week 6 The Workshop Novum

Read each the stories posted by your classmates to the workshop discussion area, and write a critique letter to author of work based on examples of letters uploaded after the handout.

Workshop Plot Workshop Week 7

Read each the stories posted by your classmates to the workshop discussion area, and write a critique letter to author of work based on examples of letters uploaded after the handout.

Workshop Situation In-class video recapping common trends seen in work. Week 8 & The Story Workshop

Read each the stories posted by your classmates to the workshop discussion area, and write a critique letter to author of work based on examples of letters uploaded after the handout.

Workshop Dramatic In-class video recapping common trends seen in work. Week 9 Structure Workshop

Read each the story posted by your classmates to the workshop discussion area, and write a critique letter to author of work based on examples of letters uploaded after the handout.

Homework:

Read: Rick Moody's "A Revision Guide"

Workshop Revision Last workshop of the course! There is no need to submit a revision of your story, but a revision guidelines sheet will be provided. Week 10

11 of 11