Master's Degree Research Paper
“Literary Citizenship: The Case for Building Literary Citizens in Our Creative Writing Programs.” This study describes the importance of creative writing programs incorporating training in literary citizenship into their curricula. It is my contention that creative writing students need more than just the ability to write well—which is still of paramount
importance—they also need an adequate understanding of how to be responsible “literary citizens” in an increasingly technological and social media–focused world. In this paper, I lay out the practical reasoning for training in literary citizenship by examining the history of the creative writing discipline, the changes in the publishing world, and the influence of social media. I suggest several key components in this training, why each is important, and practical ways to incorporate that training into the curriculum.
My research advisor was Cathy Day. See her class blog on Literary Citizenship.
Research Abstract: Student Proofreading: What Will Make It Better?
This research focuses on the importance of training students to create polished writing. Composition instructors discuss papers with their students, going over what in publishing we call the “editing” and “copyediting” processes (layout, pace, sentence structure, etc.), but as an afterthought add, “And don’t forget to proofread.”
That’s simply not enough, as my research shows. Instructors should add proofreading training into their curriculum because all of their students will enter jobs where the ability to communicate without distracting errors will be a matter of survival.
Photo credits:
Manuscript: iStockphoto/thinkstockphotos.com
Hand editing: iStockphoto/thinkstockphotos.com
Manuscript: iStockphoto/thinkstockphotos.com
Hand editing: iStockphoto/thinkstockphotos.com