ENGL 2029 - Creative Writing: Screenwriting

1. History of screenwriting
   1. select readings and film clips
   2. discussion of historical, social, political, and cultural influences
   3. unequal power relations between groups (i.e. race, gender, class)
   4. written reflections on select screenplays
2. Contemporary screenwriting
   1. select readings and film clips
   2. discussion of historical, social, political, and cultural influences
   3. unequal power relations between groups (i.e. race, gender, class)
   4. written reflections on select screenplays
3. Contemporary aesthetics in screenwriting
4. Screenplays as models for student writing
   1. reading screenplays and viewing films
   2. observing and discussing screenwriters’ choices
   3. writing reflections about using learned techniques in student work
5. Forms and techniques in screenwriting
   1. evolving screenplay structure: traditional and innovative
   2. scenes and sequences
   3. narrative elements
6. Overview of and practice with the creative process in screenwriting
   1. discovering and generating material
   2. writing drafts of screenplays
   3. providing written and/or oral feedback in writing groups and a workshop environment
   4. revising screenplays
7. Screenplay format
   1. using screenwriting software
   2. screenwriting terminology
   3. other resources
8. Qualities of effective writing communities
   1. guidelines for writing groups and/or writing workshops
   2. criteria for evaluating screenplays in progress
   3. how to accept and offer thoughtful oral and written feedback within established writing groups and/or writing workshops

1. Articulate informed personal judgments about screenplays.
2. Critique screenplays based on various models and contemporary aesthetics.
3. Analyze their own attitudes, behaviors, concepts, and beliefs regarding diversity, racism, and bigotry through the lens of screenwriting.
4. Explain how the individual and institutional dynamics of unequal power relations between groups influence the field of screenwriting.
5. Engage in the creative process through writing and revising screenplays
6. Use standard screenplay format and terminology.
7. Describe the experience and contributions to culture, through screenwriting, by groups that have suffered discrimination and exclusion.
8. Exchange constructive feedback about original screenplays within a writing community.
9. Describe how individual and human values are expressed in a variety of forms of screenwriting within a historical, social, political, and cultural context.

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