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Introduction to Playwriting and Poetry

Overview

Module description

In this module we introduce you to fundamental elements of the poet’s and playwright’s craft through a range of teaching methods, giving you a foundation of core skills which you can build on in subsequent years.

Lectures and seminars will develop your awareness of practical approaches to poetry and drama, and promote the close reading and discussion of the work of established authors. Workshops will inspire your creativity through drama and poetry exercises and homework assignments. You will be expected to maintain a writer’s notebook and to complete a short (10-minute) stageplay and a small collection of poems by the end of term.

Indicative syllabus

  • Introducing character
  • Plot: how to structure a story
  • Making a scene
  • Theatricality, time and place
  • Dramatic language and dialogue in action
  • Finding, losing and remaking voice(s)
  • Lyric poetry, the line break, free verse and rhyme
  • Rhythm, emotion and transfiguration
  • Anti-lyrical approaches to writing poems
  • The sonnet

Learning objectives

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

  • demonstrate control of basic elements of drama and poetry
  • use language more confidently, precisely and imaginatively
  • develop a regular writing habit and produce more effective creative work independently
  • discuss and evaluate the work of fellow students and established poets and playwrights in relation to basic elements of craft
  • implement the practice of redrafting and editing
  • demonstrate some awareness of how to solve basic craft-related problems in drama and poetry
  • reflect on your own writing process and the processes of other writers
  • interpret and evaluate constructive feedback
  • show a broadened knowledge and understanding of classic and contemporary drama and poetry
  • demonstrate an awareness of the industry-standard expectations for the presentation of creative work.