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BA Major Thesis Overview

The thesis—typically in the form of a collection of short stories, poems, essays, or a novel excerpt—is a significant, polished, original creative work; the culmination of your study at the University of Chicago; and an opportunity to deepen your understanding of writing craft. Over the course of four quarters, in consultation with a faculty advisor and a writing and research advisor (WARA), students produce work informed by aesthetic, literary, and critical influences, as well as engage in coursework, sustained readings, and research.

Students work on their BA theses/projects throughout their fourth year. In Spring Quarter of the third year, students will be assigned a WARA who will mentor student reading and research throughout the thesis process. Students, in conversation with their WARAs, will complete a preliminary project proposal during the Spring Quarter of their third year. The preliminary proposal will then be submitted to the Student Affairs Administrator.

During the following Summer Quarter, students will craft a reading journal centered on a field list of readings. Chosen texts will be based upon work, conversations, etc., that students have begun with their WARAs. In Autumn Quarter of their fourth year, students and WARAs will work together to adapt the reading journal into an annotated bibliography, a focus reading list, and a reading and research summary (a summary of student writing plan and goals for the BA thesis/project).

In Winter Quarter, students will continue meeting with their WARA and must also enroll in the appropriate Thesis/Major Projects Workshop in their primary genre ( CRWR 29200  Thesis/Major Projects: Fiction,  CRWR 29300  Thesis/Major Projects: Poetry,  CRWR 29400  Thesis/Major Projects: Nonfiction, or CRWR 29500 Thesis/Major Projects: Fiction/Nonfiction). The Thesis/Major Projects Workshop is mandatory and only offered during Winter Quarter.

The instructor for the Thesis/Major Projects Workshop will also serve as the faculty advisor for the BA thesis. Students should be aware that because of very high demand, students will not necessarily get their first choice of faculty advisor. 

Students will work closely with their faculty advisor and peers in their Thesis/Major Projects Workshop and will receive course credit, as well as a final grade for the course. In consultation with their faculty advisor and WARA, students will revise and submit a near-final draft of the BA thesis by the end of the second week of Spring Quarter. Students will submit the final version of their BA thesis to their WARA, faculty advisor, Student Affairs Administrator, and the Director of Undergraduate Studies by the beginning of the fifth week of Spring Quarter. 

All creative writing majors are encouraged to take the thesis workshop and write a BA thesis. Students following the original Major in Creative Writing are required to complete both the thesis workshop and the BA thesis to graduate with the major. For students following the 2023-24 updated requirements the thesis and thesis workshop are encouraged but optional, although the thesis workshop and thesis are required for consideration for the designation of honors. To opt out of the thesis process please email the Director of Undergraduate studies.

Creative Writing BA Thesis Timeline 2023-24

THE YEAR AT A GLANCE

**If you plan to graduate early, please contact the Student Affairs Administrator or DUS as soon as possible**

Spring (Rising Majors): Setting Up Summer Reading

• Week 5: WARA group meeting to discuss the preliminary BA proposal and general strategies for drawing up a summer reading list. This required information session will take place the same day as the group discussion with UChicago Library's  bibliographer for Literatures of Europe & the Americas  
• Friday, Week 7: Preliminary BA proposals are due to the Student Affairs Administrator
• Friday, Week 8: WARA groups will be finalized and confirmed. Your WARA will reach out to set up an individual meeting to discuss summer reading and research plans.
• Weeks 8 and 9: Individual meetings with WARAs to finalize summer reading and research plans (specifically field and focus reading lists)

Autumn: Reading, Research, Planning

• Week 0: Individual WARA and student check-ins regarding summer reading and research
• Week 1 or 2: WARA group meetings
• Week 4: Required Info Session for BA thesis writers
• Deadline to apply to the Thesis/Major Projects Workshop
• Submit annotated bibliography (composed of your field and focus reading lists ) to WARA
• Friday, Week 9: Submit completed BA reading & research summary form to WARA

Winter: Writing & Editorial Process (continue reading and research)

• Weeks 1-10: Work on projects in Thesis/Major Projects Workshops and continue supported reading; research with WARA groups
• Weeks 1-10: Submit Research Background Electives Petition
• Week 9/10: Submit Winter Thesis/Major Projects Workshop final to both your thesis advisor and WARA

Spring: Revising

• Friday, Week 2: Submit a second full (semi-final) draft of thesis to WARA and faculty advisor
• Monday, Week 5: Submit final draft of thesis to faculty advisors, WARA, and the Student Affairs Administrator
• Family & friends welcome
• Week 9: Students notified about Honors decisions

Program Honors and Eligibility

College Catalog on Program Honors: The faculty in the program will award program honors based on their assessment of BA theses and the assessment of WARAs. Students must complete all assignments set by WARAs to be considered for honors. To be eligible, students must have a major GPA of at least 3.6 and an overall GPA of at least 3.25. Honors will be awarded only to exceptional projects from a given cohort. 

Program Honors Criteria

1. GPA:  writer must have at least 3.6 major GPA & 3.25 cumulative GPA

2. Conception:  the BA project has emotional and intellectual resonance, and fulfills many of its artistic goals 

3.   Execution:  the BA project demonstrates strong technical knowledge, from its formal decisions to its execution of the fundamental mechanics of the genre:

            -BA project is developed through active writerly commitment

4. Revision:  writer is diligent throughout the revision process

5. Program Citizenship/Engagement:  the writer put in strong effort throughout the entirety of the BA writing and research process and worked well with both their faculty advisor and WARA:

-Submitted all BA assignments by their deadlines to WARAs

-Checked in with WARAs per pre-determined schedule

-Conscientious colleague in and out of the Thesis Workshop

6. Risk and ambition:  the BA project shows an impressive level of risk and ambition, whether through formal innovation or content

Assignment Checklist

• Preliminary BA Project Proposal  
• Summer Reading Journal (based on field reading list)  
• Annotated Bibliography  
• Focus Reading List  
• Reading and Research Summary

Forms and Guidelines

Creative Writing Thesis

Creative writing courses.

English Majors on the Creative Writing Track are required to take a Beginning, Advanced, and Senior Seminar course. The scaffolded creative writing courses provide clear levels of progress centered upon eventually completing the senior project and for deepening student engagement with the craft of developing voice and narrative. Students take an introductory and advanced course in one chosen genre before moving into the senior sequence as described above. Students also take one elective in creative writing or another art discipline as a way of broadening, deepening and diversifying their engagement with creative productivity more generally.

Students interested in more than one genre are encouraged to begin their progress through the track by taking the multi-genre “Introduction to Creative Writing” class before choosing a genre path. Further, senior sequence courses are designed to support hybrid projects that cross and complicate genres, as well as incorporate other mediums and areas of studies.

The Senior Thesis in Creative Writing

The Senior Thesis can take the form of a collection of poetry, essays, short stories, a novella, or even a novel. Hybrid works are also possible and encouraged. Length of the project is determined by the genre, style, and intention of the project. In general, prose works are 40+ pages with some novels as long as 250. Poetry collections vary from 20-40 pages. 

The Senior Thesis is due on the last day of Block 7 and required for graduation. No exceptions. 

EN481 CW Senior Seminar

Scheduling: This is a two-block course held in Fall (b3&4) and Spring (b6&7) only. Please see the Course Path page for more information.  Senior Seminar Sequence: Workshop/Project EN481 Senior Seminar: Two-block advanced study of creative writing culminating in a creative capstone project such as a collection of short stories, a novella or novel, a collection of poems, a long essay or a collection of essays, or hybrid writing project. Required of all senior Creative Writing Track English majors. What is the Creative Writing Senior Sequence? The goal of the Senior Seminar sequence is the submission of a finalized senior project at the end of Block 7 as part of the English Major requirement. The first block of the Senior Seminar operates as a workshop offering students an opportunity to have their work read and critiqued by others. Being a member of the workshop entails:

• Submitting writing under strict deadlines
• Turning in writing ready for critique
• Discussing the scope of the project and goals for the block
• Reading the work of peers thoughtfully and within the context of their project and the craft of writing
• Providing both written and oral feedback that is well-supported and constructive.

EN499 Senior Project

Creative writing faculty.

MFA – Thesis

Thesis information.

The M.F.A. Creative Thesis is the capstone to your work in the M.F.A. program and it should represent your strongest creative work. As the program does not require students to declare a genre concentration, the thesis may be a work of any genre, including but not limited to essays, memoir, a novel, short stories, a novella, poetry, or a hybrid or mixed-form work.

The M.F.A. Creative Thesis should both thematically and stylistically extend and deepen the creative work written in previous M.A. and M.F.A.-level courses, and in the M.A. Creative Manuscript, through intensive revision of that work and through the writing of new work, such that it can form the basis of a book. The Creative Thesis should be a minimum of 80 pages or the equivalent of a complete book-length work. Upon graduation, you will have a significant body of polished creative work with which to seek literary representation, publication, or further study in a Ph.D. program.

In your final two semesters of M.F.A. study, you will complete the 6-credit Creative Thesis Seminar, an intensive independent study for which you will write and revise rigorously, and work closely with a faculty mentor, incorporating their feedback along with that of your second reader.

The M.F.A. Creative Thesis must be accompanied by a critical paper of 7 to 10 pages, analyzing comparable texts that exemplify the literary tradition from which your thesis springs. This paper may discuss the influence of analyzed works on the thesis, but will focus on a discussion of the craft evident in the creative works discussed.

To read the specific requirements for the M.F.A. Creative Thesis and to access the appropriate forms, please select the appropriate PDF link.

The MFA program is a life changing experience both inside and outside the classroom. My professors and peers have expanded my perspective on creative writing and provided opportunities for networking and professional development through sponsored trips, such as to the AWP Conference and the Chautauqua Writers’ Festival. It was a joy to build community with writers from all across the globe.

Tony Clark , MFA student in creative nonfiction

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Three Ways to be Creative in Academic Writing

June 26, 2018

by Chelsea Tuyttens

Academic writing is all about rules — structure, thesis statements, supporting arguments, topic sentences, grammar, and don’t even get me started on citations!

So where does creative writing fit into all of this?

The short answer is – from beginning to end. There are endless ways to present your ideas and thoughts within the rigid structure of an academic paper.

Once you have developed a thesis with strong supporting arguments, you have the framework for your paper, much like the frame of a house. Sure, the house needs a kitchen, bathroom, living room — the various rooms akin to the paragraphs of your paper. But what about the colors, materials and accessories? Those are all up to you.

Personal experience:

Recounting a personal experience often improves your paper by making it interesting for the reader, and it also allows you to illustrate your understanding of the material by connecting it to your own life.

For example, use an advertisement you have been influenced by when discussing marketing strategies, or if writing on literature, relate a memory of your life to something a character in a story experienced. This will help you think critically about the material, and will show your instructor you can practically apply what you have learned.

Using similes and metaphors can be a great way to create a visual image of your argument or point, and helps it stick in the reader’s mind.

For instance, I compared the framework of a paper to the frame of a house. That image hopefully made it easier to understand my point by helping you to visualize the structure of an academic paper.  

Thesaurus :

If you’re worried about repetition, or just want to find that perfect word, keep a thesaurus tab open on your browser. This will help you build/develop/grow/cultivate/expand/augment your vocabulary! (I used a thesaurus for that.)

Creativity is no substitute for the overall argument of your paper. Building a strong foundation and structure is integral to good academic writing. However, as long as you have a logical and well-stated argument, your instructor will appreciate a dash of creativity to capture the reader’s attention.

Image Credit:  http://www.innovationmanagement.se/2016/04/04/the-creativity-delta-how-to-come-up-with-new-ideas/

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Think of yourself as a member of a jury, listening to a lawyer who is presenting an opening argument. You'll want to know very soon whether the lawyer believes the accused to be guilty or not guilty, and how the lawyer plans to convince you. Readers of academic essays are like jury members: before they have read too far, they want to know what the essay argues as well as how the writer plans to make the argument. After reading your thesis statement, the reader should think, "This essay is going to try to convince me of something. I'm not convinced yet, but I'm interested to see how I might be."

An effective thesis cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." A thesis is not a topic; nor is it a fact; nor is it an opinion. "Reasons for the fall of communism" is a topic. "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe" is a fact known by educated people. "The fall of communism is the best thing that ever happened in Europe" is an opinion. (Superlatives like "the best" almost always lead to trouble. It's impossible to weigh every "thing" that ever happened in Europe. And what about the fall of Hitler? Couldn't that be "the best thing"?)

A good thesis has two parts. It should tell what you plan to argue, and it should "telegraph" how you plan to argue—that is, what particular support for your claim is going where in your essay.

Steps in Constructing a Thesis

First, analyze your primary sources.  Look for tension, interest, ambiguity, controversy, and/or complication. Does the author contradict himself or herself? Is a point made and later reversed? What are the deeper implications of the author's argument? Figuring out the why to one or more of these questions, or to related questions, will put you on the path to developing a working thesis. (Without the why, you probably have only come up with an observation—that there are, for instance, many different metaphors in such-and-such a poem—which is not a thesis.)

Once you have a working thesis, write it down.  There is nothing as frustrating as hitting on a great idea for a thesis, then forgetting it when you lose concentration. And by writing down your thesis you will be forced to think of it clearly, logically, and concisely. You probably will not be able to write out a final-draft version of your thesis the first time you try, but you'll get yourself on the right track by writing down what you have.

Keep your thesis prominent in your introduction.  A good, standard place for your thesis statement is at the end of an introductory paragraph, especially in shorter (5-15 page) essays. Readers are used to finding theses there, so they automatically pay more attention when they read the last sentence of your introduction. Although this is not required in all academic essays, it is a good rule of thumb.

Anticipate the counterarguments.  Once you have a working thesis, you should think about what might be said against it. This will help you to refine your thesis, and it will also make you think of the arguments that you'll need to refute later on in your essay. (Every argument has a counterargument. If yours doesn't, then it's not an argument—it may be a fact, or an opinion, but it is not an argument.)

This statement is on its way to being a thesis. However, it is too easy to imagine possible counterarguments. For example, a political observer might believe that Dukakis lost because he suffered from a "soft-on-crime" image. If you complicate your thesis by anticipating the counterargument, you'll strengthen your argument, as shown in the sentence below.

Some Caveats and Some Examples

A thesis is never a question.  Readers of academic essays expect to have questions discussed, explored, or even answered. A question ("Why did communism collapse in Eastern Europe?") is not an argument, and without an argument, a thesis is dead in the water.

A thesis is never a list.  "For political, economic, social and cultural reasons, communism collapsed in Eastern Europe" does a good job of "telegraphing" the reader what to expect in the essay—a section about political reasons, a section about economic reasons, a section about social reasons, and a section about cultural reasons. However, political, economic, social and cultural reasons are pretty much the only possible reasons why communism could collapse. This sentence lacks tension and doesn't advance an argument. Everyone knows that politics, economics, and culture are important.

A thesis should never be vague, combative or confrontational.  An ineffective thesis would be, "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because communism is evil." This is hard to argue (evil from whose perspective? what does evil mean?) and it is likely to mark you as moralistic and judgmental rather than rational and thorough. It also may spark a defensive reaction from readers sympathetic to communism. If readers strongly disagree with you right off the bat, they may stop reading.

An effective thesis has a definable, arguable claim.  "While cultural forces contributed to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the disintegration of economies played the key role in driving its decline" is an effective thesis sentence that "telegraphs," so that the reader expects the essay to have a section about cultural forces and another about the disintegration of economies. This thesis makes a definite, arguable claim: that the disintegration of economies played a more important role than cultural forces in defeating communism in Eastern Europe. The reader would react to this statement by thinking, "Perhaps what the author says is true, but I am not convinced. I want to read further to see how the author argues this claim."

A thesis should be as clear and specific as possible.  Avoid overused, general terms and abstractions. For example, "Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe because of the ruling elite's inability to address the economic concerns of the people" is more powerful than "Communism collapsed due to societal discontent."

Copyright 1999, Maxine Rodburg and The Tutors of the Writing Center at Harvard University

Princeton Correspondents on Undergraduate Research

Writing a Creative Thesis: An Interview with Edric Huang ’18

A couple of weeks ago, I interviewed Kristin Hauge about her independent work in the Music Department to highlight creative independent work in the arts. This week, I got in touch with Edric Huang, a senior in the Anthropology Department with certificates in Urban Studies and Creative Writing. Unlike most students on campus, he will be writing two theses this year. One is the classic research-based thesis that seniors in the sciences and humanities are familiar with, but the second will be a collection of poems for his Creative Writing Certificate. If you are unfamiliar with the kind of work that goes into creative theses, here’s what Edric had to share about his personal experience:

What topics do you write about in your work?

I’ve been thinking a lot about superstitions and hauntings lately, especially the ones that come up in conversations with my mom. Sometimes, she’ll tell me about Chinese folk superstitions that she or our relatives believe in, and it amazes me how these superstitions create worlds around us all — how they protect us, create conflict, stimulate us to action. I also write poems based on my anthropological fieldwork this past summer when I visited a migrant reception center in Paris and studied the survival strategies of Sudanese refugees who had made it there. Patterns of migration inevitably weave together a lot of my poems, both from a personal lens and through my observations.

How do you go about doing research for your poetry?

In some ways, attentively living is research for my poems. By paying attention to minute details, or lingering a little longer and taking a photo of a particularly arresting image, I naturally make connections to other life experiences or other topics. I recently walked along an industrial street in Brooklyn, and the scene, which reminded me of the 1992 LA Riots, created a starting point. An image creates the language from which I can begin to write.

But research for poetry can take many forms. I look to answer several questions: How do other poets write about certain topics, and how does the form of poetry create a chance to speak about something and speak to someone? How do these other writers use the page? I’ve read a lot of Asian-American writers lately, trying to figure out how I can write my “Asian-Americanness” into my poems. When I draw inspiration from specific poets, songs, etc., I will mention at the beginning of the poem that I am writing “after” something. For example, I wrote a poem after listening to Jhene Aiko’s new album, and included some lyrics from her song into mine.

I also do research on the topics I want to write about, especially if I don’t already know much. I believe that as someone who wants to use poems to grapple with myself and the larger processes that affect or surround me, proper representation of certain themes, histories, etc. cannot be done without a genuine investment in this research process.

Are there any work habits you find to be helpful?

I tend to set limits on how much time I allow myself to spend on this research because I often get so engrossed with some topics that I forget that I still have a poem (and a second thesis…) to write. I also have been trying to free-write by just spewing out lines onto a Word document — with my computer screen dimmed out completely. I edit and judge a little too much, and I’ve come to recognize that there’s a time and place for critique, but it can’t come too early or I won’t get past the first five lines of a poem. When I do edit  my work, I try to keep my writing minimal; I want each word to have gravity and to say as much as possible about the poem. Writing is such an individual process, though, and I’m still trying to find the best practices for me.

What are your plans for your creative thesis?

The standard poetry thesis consists of 30-40 pages of poems, and I hope to use this not only as a way to grow personally and sort through a lot of my complicated emotions around these topics,  but also as a starting point. I’m not sure what I’m doing post-grad yet, but no matter what, I hope to continue writing, editing through this manuscript, and revisiting a lot of these topics that I’ve been thinking about for the past three years.

Whether you’re a poet or not, Edric’s experience shows how there are several ways of going about research. When it comes to inspiration, you could draw from your personal experiences, from previous works that have intrigued you, or even from pausing to take a closer look at your surroundings. The writing process too is not set in stone and can involve a little experimentation to figure out what works best for you. If you’re looking for more tips on research and writing, you can visit the McGraw Center or the Writing Center . Moreover, if you’re interested in finding out more about creative writing, you can speak with a Peer Arts Advisor or apply for a class through the Lewis Center !

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Creative Writing Program

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To earn the MFA degree, we ask that students produce and shape a significant body of work, accompanied by an artist's statement.   While University of Wyoming graduate student forms employ the more conventional term "thesis," we encourage a language more suited to the ways in which writers actually discuss their own projects. By framing your work in these terms, we hope to encourage a more flexible, rangy, and expansive understanding of the writing goals you should set for your time in the program. To avoid confusion when it comes to university forms, we'll use the university's terminology for describing your committee ("thesis chair," etc), and we'll call the sum of your body of work and artist's statement "the thesis."

The Body of Work

In close consultation with the thesis chair (and typically with input from some or all other committee members), the student will assemble a body of work for presentation to the full committee. The body of work can include writing in various stages of progress and revision, although each piece should be far enough along that it has a genuine sense of necessity, shape, and promise. At least some portion of the body of work should be polished, finished writing. The body of work may include writing in more than one genre. A student might assemble a wide variety of pieces for the body of work, or might present a more singular manuscript (a novel, a nonfiction book project, etc). It is the responsibility of the thesis chair to approve the final body of work before it is sent to the full thesis committee prior to the student's defense.

The Artist's Statement

In the artist's statement, the student should both explain what decisions lay behind the assembling of the body of work, and bring the body of work into a coherent experience for the thesis committee. While the body of work need not be made up of thematically-linked pieces, the artist's statement should find a persuasive way to explain why these particular pieces were assembled together, and what they demonstrate about the writer's growth and/or goals for the work. The artist's statement should demonstrate the student's deep understanding of the genre(s) in which the student writes and the particular genre elements the student employs. It can include discussion of the writer's influences, process, aesthetic, and future goals for the material; it can express the questions the student wishes to ask through her/his creative work. The style, language, and form of the artist's statement is up to the student, but it should present a rich and articulate understanding of the body of work and act as a basis for the discussion at the student's defense. The artist's statement should be a minimum of 10 pages long.  It should be placed at the end of the defense draft, after the body of work, not before.

Here are some successful examples of artist's statements by previous MFA students.

Minimum Page Expectations (inclusive of artist's statement):

Prose thesis: 100 pages minimum, 150 pages maximum

Prose/poetry hybrids: 60 pages minimum, 150 pages maximum

In general, students should expect that they will produce a substantial amount of writing during their time in the program, and that not all of those creative efforts will be included in the final form of the body of work.

The Thesis Committee

The thesis committee is made up of a chair drawn from the Creative Writing faculty; a second reader typically drawn from the Creative Writing faculty (including adjuncts), and an “external member” (third reader) drawn from outside the Creative Writing Program. Sometimes a fourth, optional member is added to the committee when a special expertise is desired (in such cases, the fourth committee member may be a UW faculty member or someone from outside campus). Part-time writers in residence may also serve as fourth committee members.  Students are discouraged from using Creative Writing faculty members as fourth committee members, and should only expand the committee to four members if special expertise, or work with a part-time writer in residence, is particularly advantageous to the thesis project.  Thesis committee formation guidelines are set by Academic Affairs.

Eminent Writers in Residence may at times be available for thesis committee membership. Through a consortial agreement with Utah State University, members of their creative writing faculty may be able to join MFA thesis committees here.

Students may work with faculty both in their primary genre and outside of it. If a student wishes to present a thesis that includes writing in more than one genre, the committee should be composed so that expertise in each genre in represented.

Students should wait until April of their first year to approach faculty regarding thesis committee membership. Faculty members who are unfamiliar with a student's work may ask the student for a recent writing sample before making the decision to serve on that student's committee.  Chairs and second readers ideally are selected before the end of the second semester; external committee members are typically selected during the third semester.

The student will work most closely with the thesis chair to establish a thoughtful schedule for production and discussion of drafts and revisions, and for assembly of the body of work and artist's statement.  Second readers are often deeply involved in most stages of the student's work. The external member (and optional fourth reader) most typically join in discussion of the student's work very close to the end of the thesis process. The student can and should explicitly negotiate with each committee member the scope of their involvement in the thesis process. It is the student's responsibility to keep the committee apprised of their progress and to give reasonable notice of any change to the thesis schedule.

In the fourth, final semester, students should not ask MFA faculty members outside of their thesis committee to read their manuscript (in order to allow faculty members to give their undivided attention to their thesis students).

If a student wishes to change the membership of the thesis committee, they should consult with the MFA director regarding appropriate process.

Planning the Thesis Schedule

**Please note: This is the typical thesis schedule for full-time students. Part-time students will of necessity follow a different time-line.

Second Semester: During the second semester of study, plan to meet with the MFA director to discuss your preliminary plans for the body of work and to identify a possible thesis chair.  Faculty members can be approached beginning at the start of April, and not before, regarding thesis service. By the end of the second semester, you should have chosen a chair (and typically your second reader as well), worked out a brief description of your goals for the body of work, and designed a plan for writing and revision during the summer and into the second year.

Third Semester: Early in the third semester, you need to finalize the full membership of your thesis committee. The thesis chair should consult closely with the student in identifying potential thesis committee members. When the membership of the thesis committee is finalized, the information will be recorded in the MFA program's Record of Thesis Committee form and the Thesis Committee Assignment form for the University of Wyoming.  You should also meet with your thesis chair early in the third semester to discuss the summer's writing accomplishments and to plan for the second year. Students must also submit the university's Program of Study form by the end of the third semester.

Fourth Semester: During the fourth semester, the student is focused on revisions of materials assembled in the body of work and of the artist's statement. The student will consult with the thesis committee, particularly with the thesis chair, regarding preparations of materials for the defense (see "The Defense and Public Reading"). The student will follow university graduation processes regarding filing of forms, payment of graduation fees, and uploading of the thesis (see the Graduate Education page for details).

On rare occasions (see Good Standing ), a student may with permission of the MFA director and thesis chair extend the writing of the thesis beyond the fourth semester. If a student exceeds the original time-line given for the thesis, committee members have the right to step down from the committee.

The Defense and Public Reading

MFA degree candidates are required by UW to schedule and hold a defense and a public reading before graduation. The thesis chair, typically in consultation with other committee members, will determine when a student's body of work and artist's statement are ready to defend and will inform the student when to go forward with the scheduling of the defense. The defense will consist of an intensive discussion with the full thesis committee of the body of work and artist's statement; if the student is passed by the committee, the student will then give a public reading at a later time.

The program strongly encourages students to defend during the regular school year. Summer defenses are not necessarily possible, as faculty members are typically unavailable for thesis work during the summer months and cannot participate. If a student is not prepared to graduate by the end of the fourth semester, a return for a fall semester defense may be required. Students pursuing the ENR double major may sometimes extend into a fifth semester in order to satisfy requirements in both programs. MFA students in this situation are welcome to defend their thesis in the fourth semester and complete ENR coursework in the fifth semester, if at all possible.

The final version of the thesis is due to thesis committee members no later than three weeks before the defense. The defense takes between 1 and 2 hours; only the student and the thesis committee may be in attendance. The typical defense looks like this:

The student may give a brief introduction to the thesis.

Following the introduction, the committee intensively questions the candidate. While the questioning focuses on the artist's statement and body of work, the committee may also ask about material from the student's coursework, about genre and influences, and about the student's future plans for the work. This part of the exam is conducted as a rigorous conversation about matters of importance to the student, about strengths and weaknesses in the writing, and about future possibilities for the material.

Once the discussion is over, the student steps out, and the committee evaluates the student's performance, the body of work, and the artist's statement. The committee then tells the candidate of its decision. At this point, the committee may, and often does, ask for modifications of the written work before forms are officially filed.

If the committee deems the student's performance and/or materials to have failed the minimum expectations of the program, the committee can require the student to produce new or revised materials and to resubmit them for a new defense. The date of the new defense will be set only after approval by the thesis chair of the resubmitted materials.

After a successful defense, the candidate will work with the MFA/English graduate program coordinator to schedule a public reading before the end of the semester. The public reading will typically include several MFA degree candidates; MFA program members and the public will be invited, as required by UW. The program coordinator will handle the formal announcements of the readings. The program coordinator schedules these readings so as not to conflict with classes and other events, and has to balance many students’ needs; please be aware that special requests to change the reading schedule or pre-select the slate of readers may be very difficult for the coordinator to accommodate. We ask for your patience and understanding.

Uploading the MFA Thesis and Completing University Graduation Requirements

After successfully completing your defense, you must upload either your artist’s statement or your full thesis. UW uploading (“electronic publication” via Proquest) procedures are available on the Registrar’s Graduate Student Graduation page . If you wish, you can use the MFA-specific uploading format approved by the Registrar's Office and available on the MFA website's forms page (see the “thesis upload template”). This specially-designed format allows you to upload just your artist's statement (rather than uploading the full thesis manuscript). Many students prefer this option, since it allows them to keep the body of work from the public eye until ready for submission to magazines and presses.

As noted above, all UW graduate students must complete the required university forms and pay the required university fees in order to formally graduate. These forms and fees are required and processed by the Registrar's office, not the MFA program. We'll help you navigate the process as best we can, but students should keep track of all forms and fees themselves by communicating directly with the Registrar's office and by visiting the Registrar’s Graduate Student Graduation page for the most up-to-date graduation information. Students who do not intend to walk at graduation must still pay any required diploma and uploading fees and must meet all university deadlines.

Outstanding Thesis Awards

During thesis committee discussion following an MFA candidate's thesis defense, committee members should consider whether the thesis being defended merits nomination for a university thesis award.

Graduate Research Hub

• Preparing my thesis
• Thesis with creative works

With approval from your advisory committee your thesis may include a creative work or non-traditional research output (NTRO) component alongside a dissertation to fulfil the requirements of the degree. This is more common in some degrees and disciplines than others.

Durable record of all components of thesis

A durable record refers to a permanent file or archive that ensures the preservation and accessibility of all components of the thesis. This record typically includes any multimedia material (streaming or downloading), content on weblinks, or data sets that are integral to the thesis.

Both the dissertation and creative work must be passed, and a final version including a durable record of all components of your thesis must be submitted to the University’s digital repository, in order for you to be awarded the degree.

All theses must be presented as a unified whole and address a significant research question.

The creative work may take a variety of forms including:

• a performance,
• an exhibition,
• writing (poetry, fiction, script or other written literary forms),
• musical composition,
• e-portfolio or website,
• multimedia, or
• other new media technologies and modes of presentation.

If the creative work is not in writing it must be comprehensively documented. The work itself, or the documentation must be submitted with the dissertation through the Thesis Examination System (TES).

The dissertation and documentation of the work  (where needed) must adhere to the Preparation of Graduate Research Theses Rules .  You must include a description of the form and presentation of the creative work in the Abstract and in your Preface, note the relative weighting of the creative work and dissertation.

The combined volume of work of the creative works and dissertation for a doctoral thesis would be equivalent to approximately 80,000 -100,000 words.  For a masters degree, the combined volume of work would be equivalent to approximately 40,000-50,000 words.

Any thesis that exceeds the maximum limit requires permission to proceed to examination, which must be sought via the  Examinations Office prior to submission.

Relationship between the Dissertation and Creative Work

The dissertation and the creative work should be considered as complementary, mutually reinforcing parts of a single project.  You may argue, however, that the relationship between the two parts contributes to the originality and creativity of the whole.

The dissertation is required to do more than simply describe the creative work and how it was undertaken.

The dissertation must:

• present the research questions address, and
• contextualise the research as new knowledge within the field of its production.

The dissertation may:

• include information on the materials and methodology used,
• elucidate the creative work, and
• place the creative work in an artistic, intellectual, or cultural context.

The weighting given to the components of the thesis describes the proportion of the research which is demonstrated through the creative component/s and the proportion which is demonstrated in the written dissertation. The relative weighting will inform the examiners’ assessment of the work so must be clearly explained in your Preface.  When registering your intention to submit via the Thesis Examination System (TES), include the weighting in your 80-word summary.

The weighting of the dissertation and creative work, and the expected word length of the dissertation should be agreed at Confirmation. Check the Handbook description for your course to see if the weighting is specified for the course. If not, the minimum weighting for the dissertation that can be agreed at Confirmation is 25%.

Examination

When submitting your thesis through TES, you are required to include any creative components, such as multimedia files.  If your thesis file consists of multiple files, upload the main file as part of the thesis submission process and contact the Examinations Office to arrange a secure University SharePoint link to upload the additional files. Then add the shared link to TES as part of your submission.

Where the creative work includes a performance or exhibition of visual art works, the examiners may be required to travel to the site of the performance or exhibition. Your Chair of Examiners will make the necessary arrangements for your examiners to attend the viewing of the performance/exhibition. In this situation, if the dissertation is not submitted at or around the same time, you must provide an extended abstract of 1000-3000 words to your Chair of Examiners two weeks prior to the viewing. You must then submit your dissertation by logging into the Thesis Examination System (TES) no more than six calendar months after the performance/exhibition. The role of Chair of Examiners is normally undertaken by the head of department/school or nominee. To find out your Chair of Examiners, contact your supervisor or the Examinations Office .

If one or more components of your thesis is a live website or content hosted online, there should be no alterations made to the website or online content while the examination is in progress.

As graduate researchers submitting creative works in the form of a performance, an exhibition, an e-portfolio, or a website have an obligation to avoid identifying their examiners, the following  Creative Works: Examiner Confidentiality Declaration form should be completed and submitted along with your thesis. Once you have submitted your thesis via TES, return the signed confidentiality declaration to the Examinations Office .

Additional criteria are specified for examiners who are examining creative works.

Final archival version of your thesis

To meet the University's digital repository (Minerva Access) requirements, once examiner comments and amendments have been incorporated, you will need to deposit a durable record of all components of your thesis. Methods of capturing and providing this durable representation of your creative work component vary widely depending on the nature and presentation of your creative component.  It is important for you, in discussion with your supervisor, to decide and capture your desired best quality representation.

When submitting multiple files, you should upload them individually. You will be able to indicate the access for each file in Minerva access.  For large files, contact the Examinations Office to arrange a secure University SharePoint link or, alternatively, upload them to a cloud storage platform and email the shared link to the Examinations Office.

If your thesis included a website, you must provide a durable copy of the website as it was during the examination with any amendments requested by the examiners.  You may also provide a link to the live website and have readers directed to that while it remains available,  in addition to the archived copy.

You can find further information about requirements for deposit, as well as options and implications of choosing some options at My thesis in the library and  Depositing multiple files for your final thesis record . You can request technical assistance for submitting the thesis to  Minerva Access .

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Creative writing theses and dissertations.

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• The Arris  Akdeniz, Aziza Lucia ( University of Oregon , 2010-09 ) A collection of poems.
• The Saint and the Crows  Whitenack, Claire Lenore, 1985- ( University of Oregon , 2010-06 ) A collection of poems.
• If I Am a Stranger  Biebelle, Patricia Z., 1979- ( University of Oregon , 2010-06 ) I. If I Am a Stranger -- II. Mystery -- III. Census -- IV. The New You -- V. Feet -- VI. Pillar -- VII. Obligation -- VIII. Hide Your Fires -- IX. Something to Believe
• Equal And Opposite  Fleming, William, 1972- ( University of Oregon , 2009-09 ) Fiction
• Magic Circle: A Novel  Kepka, Jennifer A., 1979- ( University of Oregon , 2009-06 ) Chapter I. Prologue -- Chapter II. The Gerhardts -- Chapter III. Frank and Evelyn
• Sanctuary  Brown, Andrea, 1979- ( University of Oregon , 2008-09 ) sermon for a believer -- the gospel -- sanctuary -- me an punkin an alla'dem -- ninth ward -- before the war of the righteous everybody go get saved -- meditation on a little black dress -- from the purple letters -- how ...
• What Adults Do: Stories  Bushnell, John Thompson, 1980- ( University of Oregon , 2007-12 ) The Evacuation -- What adults do -- Bricks -- Townie -- Listening -- The Uncertainty principle

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Home > English > Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research > 202

English, Department of

Department of english: dissertations, theses, and student research, creative writing pedagogy: building curriculum for high school students.

Elizabeth Lengel , University of Nebraska-Lincoln Follow

First Advisor

Stacey Waite

Second Advisor

Rachael Shah

Third Advisor

Lauren Gatti

Date of this Version

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts

Major: English

Under the supervision of Professor Stacey Waite

Lincoln, Nebraska, May 2024

Copyright 2024, Elizabeth Lengel. Used by permission

This thesis serves as a rationale for the creative writing pedagogy I use and how it serves my high school creative writing class. As my school district made the decision to overhaul our English curriculum, the English department decided to add Creative Writing as an English class elective.

The work for planning these new classes was spread around the English Department, and I was assigned to design the curriculum for the new Creative Writing class. Designing an entire class from scratch leaves a lot of room for creativity and innovation. However, as excited for this new course as I was, I also felt intimidated. I wanted to get this right and attempt to create a course that would nurture an environment for students to explore their creativity without trepidation but would also challenge them and allow them to build their writing skills. I needed to be prepared for the variety of students who would enter the class, so I started to research creative writing pedagogy. I set out to learn how I could create the most productive writing classroom while also understanding that many of my students would still have a lot to learn or review about writing before they could feel confident in their skills and willing to actually see where their ideas could take them.

In the first section, I will lay out what I discovered in my research and the reasons for the decisions I made when planning and structuring my units for the class. In the next section, what I might do differently next time I teach the course. And in the final section, I will lay out my unit plans for this semester-long course.

Advisor: Stacey Waite

Since May 29, 2024

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Online Dissertation Resources

Dissertations, useful links to online dissertations and theses, university of roehampton theses & masters dissertations, using a thesis held in the roehampton repository in your own work, academic writing style guides.

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We have a range of online resources to help plan, write and finish your dissertation. Although this is aimed primarily at 3rd Year Undergraduates and Postgraduate Taught students, it contains information that can be useful to Postgraduate Research Students.

• Sage Research Methods (Library Database) Provides a range of useful tools including a Project Planner, which breaks down each stage of your research from defining your topic, reviewing the literature to summarising and writing up.
• Literature Reviews Checklist - Handout
• Components of a Dissertation (document) A useful guide to the central components of a dissertation. By the end you should be able to: --Understand the core elements that should be in your dissertation --Understand the structure and progression of a strong dissertation
• Dissertation Workshop - Handouts Includes a planning template and outline
• Dissertation Workshop Slides
• Writing Your Dissertation Guide - Handout

Other Resources

• Reading Strategies (PDF document) An interactive document on reading at university.
• How To Write A Literature Review Video - Queen's University Belfast 10 minute video
• Start to Finish Dissertations Online Webinar from Manchester
• A to Z of Literature Reviews - University of Manchester 20 minute tutorial
• Appendices A short example of how to use and cite appendices in your dissertations, essays or projects

Check out these recordings to help you through your Dissertation writing process, from start to finish. 

• Starting Your Dissertation (Video) 46 minutes This webinar recording will help you with the early stages of planning, researching and writing your dissertation. By the end you should be able to: --Understand the challenges and opportunities of writing a dissertation --Move towards refining your subject and title --Know what steps to take to progress with your dissertation
• Writing Your Dissertation (Video) 52 minutes This webinar recording will help guide you through the middle stages of writing your dissertation. By the end you should be able to: --Identify the key parts of a high quality dissertation --Understand how to structure your dissertation effectively --Know how to increase the fluency and strength of your argument across an extended piece of writing 
• Finishing Your Dissertation (Video) 59 minutes This webinar recording aims to guide you through the final stages of writing your dissertation. By the end you should be able to: --Identify key features that should be included in your dissertation --Know how to ensure your dissertation has a strong and cohesive structure --Proofread your work.
• Using Word to Format Long Documents (Video) 1 hour and 22 minutes A video tutorial on how to format long documents such as Essays and Dissertations using Word. By the end you should be able to: --Create a Table of Contents --Know how to insert page numbers --Be familiar with how to use the various auto-formatting and styles functions to manage longer documents

A selection of external sources that would be of particular use to 3rd Year Undergraduate students and Postgraduate students. 

Please note that the Library does not hold Undergraduate or Masters Dissertations. For information on print and online doctoral theses please see below information on University of Roehampton Thesis Collection

National thesis service provided by the British Library which aims to maximise the visibility and availability of the UK's doctoral theses. NOTE: EthOS is currently unavailable due to ongoing issues following a serious cyber security incident at the BL (January 2024). 

EBSCO Open Dissertations is an online thesis and dissertation database with access to over 800,000 electronic theses and dissertations worldwide.

• DART-Europe E-theses Portal Free access to nearly 800,000 open access research theses from 615 universities in 28 European countries.
• Open Access Theses and Dissertations OATD.org aims to be the best possible resource for finding open access graduate theses and dissertations published around the world. Metadata (information about the theses) comes from over 1100 colleges, universities, and research institutions. OATD currently indexes 5,153,410 theses and dissertations.

The university holds a selection of theses and master dissertations awarded by the University of Roehampton.

2013 onwards, Digital Theses

Roehampton Research Explorer - Student Theses

Theses subject to an embargo are not accessible digitally or in hard copy until the embargo period elapses. Embargoes may be applied to protect the rights of the author whilst they explore opportunities for publication, or where sensitive information is held within the thesis.

Please note  that there is a short delay in recently submitted theses appearing on our repository. If you cannot find the thesis you are looking for, please  contact the Research Office .

2004-2013, Print Theses & Masters Dissertations

The University holds a print Theses Collection (including some Masters dissertations) on the 2 nd Floor of the Library. The holdings are not complete as the criteria for inclusion was set by academic departments, and threshold varied between department. Not all student work would be made available to view. The selected works were intended to provide examples of work for students. Some examples were kept in-house, used for teaching purposes, and not available within the library.  Library print holdings were usually kept for up to 10 years and reviewed for relevance.

To search for print theses and masters dissertations use UR Library Search to search for a title or topic and filter by Format > Book > Theses, Dissertation.

1985-2004, Roehampton Institute of Higher Education (RIHE)

Dissertations and theses published between 1985-2004 were awarded by the University of Surrey. The holdings are not complete as the criteria for inclusion was set by academic departments, and threshold varied between department. Not all student work would be made available to view. The selected works were intended to provide examples of work for students.

To search for digitised copies of RHIE theses go to the University of Surrey’s Open Research repository .

You may re-use material from a thesis in the same way you would any other source, i.e. by providing a full citation to the thesis in question, and by not re-using material in a way that may breach the rights of the author.

If you feel your own copyright has been affected by content held in the University of Roehampton repository, please refer to our take down policy and contact us immediately.

• Government Guidance on exceptions to copyright Details of the exceptions to copyright that allow limited use of copyright works without the permission of the copyright owner.
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Chapman University Digital Commons

Home > Dissertations and Theses > Creative Writing (MFA) Theses

Creative Writing (MFA) Theses

Below is a selection of dissertations from the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program in Wilkinson College that have been included in Chapman University Digital Commons. Additional dissertations from years prior to 2019 are available through the Leatherby Libraries' print collection.

Access to these theses is restricted to the student authors and select Chapman University faculty and staff.

Theses from 2024 2024

Body as Kintsugi , Anthony Alegrete

Shivers , Casie Gambrel

The House of Half-Light , Diego Garcia

The Detectives Club , Yuya Hattori

I Have to Believe This Story to Live , Sarah Johnson

Fissure , Henneh Kwaku Kyereh

The Doldrums , Bailey Powell

A Siren of Terror , Tlotlo Tsamaase

Theses from 2023 2023

Little Girls , Nour Abuelreich

The Second Life of the Nodosaur , Sinclair Adams

Hiraeth , Belana Beeck

Bitterroot Tea , Kimberly Madsen Bowcutt

You Can't Make Me: Stories , Kayla Chang

The Dragon in the Lake , Elizabeth Chen

The Night We Saw Together , Su Chen

Nightfall , Nicole Cook

If God Carried Water , Ximena Delgado Paredes

The Curse of the Rios Family , Samantha Diaz

The collection bag and other stories , Audrey Fong

Alpha Romeo , Todd Gilbert

Beaumont Court , Elena Goodenberger

You Can Find Me Here , Piper Gourley

Spring All Year Long and Other Stories , Kate Hampton

Short Stories From the Other World , Nina Handjeva-Weller

Reaching for Fairies , Rebekah Izard

Do Black Girls Go to Heaven? , Montez Jennings

DIY , Louis Labat

Amarie, Before and After , Matthew Lemas

The Apartments That Raised Me , Mikayla McLean

Clockwork Monstrum , Vesper North

On Becoming a Runner , Deborah Paquin

Shatter / Proof , Lydia Pejovic

Accordance , Isabelle Stillman

The Reaper , Elizabeth N. Tran

After the Body , Emily Velasquez

deep in the green lilac park , Constance von Igel de Mello

Theses from 2022 2022

Autogynéphale , Jay Dye

Running Catalina , Megan Friess

Voice of a Matriarch Contemporary Diasporic West Asian Life Writing: Out of Armenia, Syria, and Lebanon , Maya Theresa Garabedian

It Could Happen to Anyone , Joshua D. Granite

End of the Road , Michael Khuraibet

Dangle Charm from Unblessed String , Ian Koh

Cold Comfort , Alec Meden

Notes of Venom and Vengeance , Makena Metz

The Cantankerous: A Ponderosa Pines Tale , Hannah Montante

The Barrier , Ansalee Morrison

Future Unlimited , Alexander Quintanilla

These Stars We Pray To , Janalee Tabayoyong

Becoming Brotherless , Aria Valle

Theses from 2021 2021

Save Me A Song , Aysel Atamdede

The Aleph , Ariel Banayan

Circle Gets the Square , Cristian Bourgeois

Her Inner , Marrissa Childs

The Hidden Grave , Melissa Gaiti

A Collection of Short Stories： Too Real To Be Fake , Shengjie Ge

Seasons of Fate , Christopher Hines

Voodoo Dolls, Automatons, Avatars and Other Literary Doubles , Destiny Irons

I Took His Words , Rachel Jeffries

All You Knead Is Love , Ryan Alyson Johnson

Deficit , Phoebe Merten

Son of a Preacher Man & Other Poems , Daniel Miess

Carácter , Santa-Victoria Pérez

The Ghosts We Leave Behind: A Novel , Sam Risak

We Sink Beneath the Sand , Natalie Salagean

Circles of Dawn , Jason M. Thornberry

The Madness We Carry , Geneva Trelease-Gordon

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Party on a Roof , Samer Alrayes

School of Artistas Inmigrantes , Manuel Calvillo de la Garza

The Sixth Try , Winnie Chak

Don't Ruin the Experience , Jocelyn Foster

Limerence: A Kaleidoscopic Coming Out Story , Matthew Goldman

A Pocketful of Secrets , Larissa Lacy

Thoughts From Your Bartender , Nikolas Loyatho

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When It Was Us , Victoria O'Leary

From Sicily to America: An Immigrant's Story , Marco Randazzo

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Letters to a Dead Someone: Stories , Danielle Shorr

Wrestletopia: A Collection of Shorts , Daniel Strasberger

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The Memory of the Universe , Karina Trejo Melendez

Lady Parts , Allie Vernon

Right There , Morgan Wilson

The Blizzard , Phil Wood

Little Monsters , Kati Zamani

Theses from 2019 2019

The Tall-Men Are Real , Alex Athanail

Indiana and Other Indianas: Stories , Andrew Beckner

GROUPIE , Meg Boyles

Letty , Kevin Brown

The Searching Husband , Rahul Chak

The Watched , Sierra Ellison

Searching for Sacajawea and The Square Dance , Melinda Guilford

Interpretation Machine: A Memoir , Liz Harmer

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Hostage , Maryam Khamesi

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School for the Creative and Cultural Industries

Creative Journeys with… Josh Weeks

28 May 2024

We sit down with Josh Weeks, writer, critic and SCCI postdoctoral research fellow. Josh shares his creative journey so far - juggling an academic career with part-time jobs and writing for major publications - as well as advice and hopes for the future.

What is your role and what does it involve?

I’m a postdoctoral research fellow with the School for the Creative and Cultural Industries, working under the mentorship of the School’s director, Haidy Geismar. My project, part of the AHRC-funded StoryArcs programme, is about narrativising the work of the National Centre for Academic and Cultural Exchange ( NCACE ), an organisation that supports and showcases knowledge exchange between higher education and the arts and culture sectors. I spend most of my time writing and researching, attending NCACE events, and interviewing academics and creative practitioners who have worked with the organisation.

I’m also working as an assistant on a project called ‘UCL in 2076’, which aims to imagine and reimagine the future of the arts and humanities and how we might better support a positive landscape for the creative industries. We recently held an event, bringing together thought leaders from across the academic and cultural sectors to help us envisage these futures and come up with potential scenarios and solutions.  

Tell us about the journey that led you to where you are now?

After completing my BA in English at King’s College London, I stayed on to do an MA in Contemporary Literature, Culture and Theory. The MA was a big turning point for me – it made me realise how exciting and inventive literary criticism can be! 

After that, I spent a year living back in South Wales and working at Waterstones in Cardiff, which is where I discovered the novel 2666 by the Chilean author Roberto Bolaño. After using my employee discount to buy everything else he’d written, I moved to Spain to work as an English language assistant, before beginning a PhD on Bolaño at the University of Amsterdam.

Bolaño’s labyrinthine brand of storytelling has had a massive influence on the way I conceptualise and write about knowledge exchange.

What career achievement are you most proud of?

I did my PhD remotely from Spain without funding (up until my final year, when I was awarded a Finishing Fellowship). I’m proud of the four years I spent juggling my language assistant job with writing and research, which took a lot of self-motivation.

I’m also proud that I’ve written for some big publications over the last couple of years, including The Observer , Financial Times , Times Literary Supplement, Los Angeles Review of Books and Wellcome Collection Stories .

What are you most looking forward to in the next few months?

My work with NCACE is really starting to shape up, so I’m looking forward to incorporating my findings into an experimental narrative. I’ll also be sending off my Bolaño monograph for peer review in July, which I’m really excited about!

What are you reading, watching and listening to?

Reading :  I was lucky enough to be sent an advanced proof for a brilliant novel called Bonding by Mariel Franklin. It comes out next month, and I think it’s going to be a hit!

Watching :  Bodkin on Netflix.

Listening : I’ve recently fallen back in love with The War on Drugs – particularly their 2017 album, A Deeper Understanding .

What is your favourite museum, gallery or exhibition at the moment? 

I absolutely loved the Undocumented? exhibition at the UCL East Urban Room earlier this year, which was co-curated by Nishat Awan and Kara Blackmore. I’m also looking forward to seeing Jason Wilsher-Mills’s ‘Jason and the Adventure of 254’ at Wellcome Collection.

If you had one piece of advice for people who want to pursue a similar career path, what would it be?

Don’t let one disappointment convince you that you’ve failed. Academia is full of ups and down – keep reminding yourself of why you’re doing what you’re doing.  

Find out more

• The  StoryArcs programme  is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and led by the Story Society at Bath Spa University. Meet the  Story Associates .
• The ‘UCL in 2076’ project is led by Tim Beasley-Murray, UCL Associate Professor of European Thought and Culture, and Dr Peter Zusi, Associate Professor at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies. ‘UCL in 2076’ was developed in collaboration with Matt Finch of the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School and is supported by Kristina Glushkova and Rebecca Robinson from the UCL Innovation in Enterprise team. 

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Narrative Writing Assessment Templates | Creative Writing Rubric & Observations

Subject: English

Age range: 7-11

Resource type: Assessment and revision

Last updated

30 May 2024

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Do you need help assessing your students narrative writing pieces? Then check out these Narrative Writing Assessment Templates! If you need to have writing conferences with just one student or you want a quick snapshot of brief notes on the progress of your entire class, then these templates are just right for you! With various template designs to choose from to suit your teaching and assessing style!

FEATURES Narrative Writing Rubric Assessment (with border) Narrative Writing Rubric Assessment (without border) Narrative Writing Conference Notes - 1 student (With border) Narrative Writing Conference Notes - 1 student (Without border) Narrative Writing Conference Notes - Group of 3 (With border) Narrative Writing Conference Notes - Group of 3 (Without border) Narrative Writing Conference Notes - Group of 6 (With border) Narrative Writing Conference Notes - Group of 6 (Without border) Narrative Writing Conference Notes - Group of 30 (With border) Narrative Writing Conference Notes - Group of 30 (Without border) Narrative Writing Observations - Group of 12 (With border) Narrative Writing Observations - Group of 12 (Without border) Narrative Writing Observations - Blue Sticky Notes (With border) Narrative Writing Observations - Blue Sticky Notes (Without border) Narrative Writing Observations - Colorful Sticky Notes (With border)

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Traveling arts organization sparks creative writing skills in students across Santa Barbara County

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – They are called story pirates.

“Part of a group of folks who take stories from students and live action play them out before they’re very eyes," director of education Jenna Hamilton-Rolle of the UCSB Arts & Lectures.

The actors create a fast-paced fully-improvised show.

The results are hilarious.

“The main character is a purple slug named tom and he's making paintings," student Mason Sancez of Brandon Elementary School.

Hosted by the UCSB Arts & Lectures Art Adventures Program, the focus is bringing kids into the story creation zone to create a story on the spot.

"They're in there telling their stories will the pirates reenact their imagination. so they’re having their story come to life," said parent Sara Sanchez of Brandon Elementary School.

UCSB Arts & Lectures believes Story Pirates will help kids open their minds and use their imaginations

"So excited the students are having a great time. they’ve been looking forward to the story pirates and we’ve been so blessed to have them come to our school," said Sara Sanchez.

The Story Pirates are best known for their podcast which has more than 70 million downloads.

And their hope is to remind students that they are all creative geniuses.

“Have value in the words that they use and so encouraging them to bring those that creativity in those arts to life," said Hamilton-Rolle.

“It’s super fun. it’s like … the best assembly i’ve seen," said Mason Sanchez.

The Story Pirates team hopes the students can now set sail on their own journeys to become the story-tellers of tomorrow.

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Patricia Martellotti

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