Workshop 1 is designed to help participants explore their story and poetry through character and structure reflection. Participants must submit the first 2-3 pages of a story and 2-3 pages of poetry and respond to their peers' work without offering suggestions for improvement. The focus is to generate creative ideas that will lead to a final story or poetry collection developed from the workshop drafts.

1. Workshop 1
About Workshop 1
Workshop 1 is designed to help you explore the possibilities in
your story/poetry by reflecting on its characters, plot/structure,
imagery, and subject matter. You need to have all of your
options laid out in front of you before you can decide which one
is best.
The purpose of Workshop 1 is NOT to fix your work. It is
absolutely crucial to keep this in mind!
Workshop 1 Requirements
There are two basic requirements for Workshop 1:
1. Submit the first 2-3 pages of a story, AND 2-3 pages of
poetry (that’s 2-3 pages of poetry, not 1-2 poems), properly
formatted, by the assigned due date. To submit your work,
create a message, title it with your name, and post your work.
You can either copy/paste your work into the message body, or
provide a link to a Google Doc. If you provide a link to a
Google Doc, you must be certain to set sharing permissions so
your group members and I can read your work.
2. Read your group members’ work, and compose a thoughtful
response to each work using the “Workshop Response”
guidelines below. To respond to group member’s work, simply
respond to each person’s message and type your work.
Below you’ll find detailed info on these requirements and step-
by-step instructions on what to do.
Workshop Groups
Workshop groups have been randomly selected, and will be
posted on the Workshop 1 page on our Canvas site. Each
workshop group has its own discussion forum thread on Canvas,
which you can find on the Workshop 1 page.
NOTE ON DEVELOPING YOUR FIRST DRAFT: If you’re

2. struggling to find ideas for your Workshop 1 creative work, you
can use the “Finding Your Work” exercise at the end of this
document.This exercise will lead you through a series of steps
to help you develop an idea for your story/poetry. This exercise
is not required. You don’t need to submit the results. It isn’t
graded. It’s purely an exercise to help you develop your first
draft, it’s entirely optional, and it’s purely for own personal
use.
NOTE ON POETRY FORMATTING: Poetry may be single-
spaced. Underline and/or boldface poem titles, and leave a little
white space between poems—just enough to show readers where
one poem ends and the next one begins. DO NOT try to get
away with placing one extremely short poem on each page, just
to reach the page limit.
NOTE ON WHERE ALL OF THIS IS HEADING: Workshop 1 is
about exploring your creative ideas in multiple genres (fiction
AND poetry). For Workshop 2, you’ll choose ONE genre
(fiction OR poetry) to develop from your Workshop 1 draft. At
the end of our class, you’ll submit copies of your Workshop
drafts along with other materials in a final portfolio, which
including another draft of your story/poetry.
· After Workshop 1, you have the freedom to choose to write
either a story or a collection of poems. Not both. The final draft
of your story will be 8-10 pages long. The final draft of your
poetry collection will be 7-9 pages long (any number of poems).
· If you choose to write poetry, all of your poems must revolve
a single, specific thing:a person, a place, an event, a very
specific theme or idea, a color, a sound, a texture, a word, an
object…you get the idea. It should be clear from the work what
your thing is, and your thing should be very specific (i.e., not
broad, general things like “relationships,” “family,” “hobbies,”
“church,” “death,” etc.). You’ll get plenty of help in developing
a specific focus.

3. Workshop Response
After submitting your work, your second step is to read your
group members’ work and respond to it. You do not need to post
your response as an attachment. Simply type it into the message
body of your response. You are only required to write one
response to each of your group members, though I strongly
encourage lots of back-and-forth discussion—that’s the next
best thing to live discussion.
Your response is simply an informal “letter to the author” that
offers thoughtful observations and questions about the work.
This workshop is NOT about “fixing” the work or making
recommendations, so avoid offering suggestions for
improvement, etc. Just stick to the guidelines below. There is no
length requirement for the response. As a guideline, write the
kind of detailed, thoughtful response that you hope to receive
yourself from your group members.
When you’re responding to fiction, write a response that
addresses the following:
· What aspect of this story really interests you: Is it the main
character? Another character? The conflict of the story? The
plot?
· What do you believe the main character wants or needs from
life, and why?
· What conflicts or obstacles stand in the main character’s way
to getting what he/she wants/needs?
· Do you think the main character will ever get what he/she
wants/needs? If so, how? If not, why?
· How do you think the story will end?
When you’re responding to poetry, write a response that
addresses the following:

4. · What seems to be the central “thing”—the main subject—that
all of the poems revolve around? Be specific. For example,
don’t say all of the poems are about love, say they’re about
romantic love, or fraternal love, or about the dangers of falling
in love, or the rewards of loving a specific something or
someone.
· Do the poems spend most of their time expressing emotions or
thoughts about abstract concepts (love, hate, friendship, loss,
etc.), or do they use a lot of concrete and specific imagery (a
cut, a rusty hammer, a vine curled around a rock, an empty
room, etc.)? What images stand out to you?
· Does the poet seem to be writing about his/her own experience
in order to express something about the poet himself/herself
(“self-referential” poetry), or is the poet consciously using
his/her own experience to participate in a larger subject that
impacts a larger discourse community? Explain.
· What other angles or perspectives do you think the poet might
use to explore his/her main subject? For example, if the current
poems explore the joys of romantic love, which is only one
perspective on romantic love, do you think the poet’s future
poems might explore the dangers of romantic love, or the
challenges, the rewards, the humor, the chaos, etc., of romantic
love?
Finding Your Work
The blank page can be a scary thing if you have no idea what to
write, and you have a deadline looming. Fortunately for you,
you have plenty of material to draw on to begin crafting your
own fiction or poetry.
First, here’s a reminder about where your creative work will be
headed after Workshop 1:
· You have the freedom to choose to write either a story or a
collection of poems. Not both. The final draft of your story will
be 6-8 pages long. The final draft of your poetry collection will

5. be 5-7 pages long (any number of poems).
· If you choose to write poetry, all of your poems must revolve
a single, specific thing:a person, a place, an event, a very
specific theme or idea, a color, a sound, a texture, a word, an
object…you get the idea. It should be clear from the work what
your thing is, and your thing should be very specific (i.e., not
broad, general things like “relationships,” “family,” “hobbies,”
“church,” “death,” etc.). You’ll get plenty of help in developing
a specific focus.
With that in mind, you might be wondering where and how to
begin writing your creative work. That’s easy: Use the material
that you and your classmates have already generated to find the
seed of an idea for a story or poetry collection, and then begin
writing. Specifically, you can:
Remember who you are
Reread the “Creator’s Subject” assignment you completed,
focusing on 1) your description of the kind of writer you said
you are and want to be, and 2) the specific subjects you said
you are interested in. Keep these things in mind as you move
through the steps below.
Find the seed
Look through ALL of the writing you’ve done so far in this
course, including assignments and forum posts like the Alien
Anthropology forum. Using all of these materials, create a list
of all the things that really grab your attention for any reason—
a list of people, characters, places, problems, desires, passions,
obstacles, objects, events, words, names, images, etc.
Next, skim through the stories/poems we’ve read, focusing on
the ones that really interested you, and see if there’s a
connection between any of these readings and any of the writing
you’ve done. Jot down those connections on your list.

6. You should now have a list of things that interest you. Which
one(s) interest you the most? Use those things to start writing a
story or a poem. Start anywhere, and write at least one page of a
story (not necessarily the first page, just one page), or two
poems. The more you write, the better, and feel free to start on
more than one story/two poems.
Now, take a look at what you’ve written. If all has gone well,
you should be able to see some of the subject matter you located
in Step One in your writing. Keep that subject matter in mind,
and keep writing: Add more to the one-page story, or go back to
Step Three and start a new story. Add 1-2 more poems to your
original two poems, or go back to Step Three and start two new
poems.
As you write:
· Try to employ the knowledge you’ve gained of the creator’s
tools so far to continue crafting your work.
· Be true to yourself: speak with your own voice, remembering
all that “voice” means.
· Write fast and loose: even though you have a subject matter in
mind, don’t try to force your work to fit a certain theme, idea,
etc. Just write. Let the story/poetry evolve on its own terms.
First drafts are always crappy. That’s OK.
Finally, make some decisions. For this final step, do some
freewriting for yourself that addresses the following:
1. Summarize what happened as you worked through steps 1-4
above. What previous writing to you draw from, mostly? What
were some of the items on your lists? What are your thoughts on
the writing you did in Step Four? In general, what frustrated
and/or excited you about the writing you did in Steps 1-4? What

7. new discoveries or insights did you make? Most importantly,
what genre have you chosen to write in (fiction or poetry), and
why?
2. Describe the story or the poetry idea that you’d like to focus
on developing over the rest of this course. If you’ve chosen to
write a story, describe the plot situation you’re considering for
now (it may change later), and any other major story elements
(ideas for characters, major events, etc.) If you’ve chosen to
write a collection of poems, describe the main “thing” that your
poems will revolve around, and any thoughts you have right
now about how your poems might explore that “thing” (that may
change later).
ENGL 160
Writing Project 3
Proposal Form
Armed self-defense is the most suitable way of stopping gun
violence
Briefly describe the topic of your argumentative research essay:
Armed self defense has been a longstanding issue for many
decades which becomes more noticeable every time an incident
occurs involving firearms. It is not strange to watch the news a
couple of days without noticing anything about gun violence but
when such incidences happen, they cause a lot of damage and
pose danger to many. Gun violence is caused by different
reasons. Sometimes it is guns that have ended up in the hands of
criminals while other time it is a situation where someone
decides to use his handgun to punish another by spraying
bullets. In other cases, members of the public are caught up in
situation of shooting involving criminals and citizens who are
firearm owners. Many have people have suggested strict laws on
gun license and use as the only way of minimizing gun violence.
However, this is not the way to go. Ensuring that citizens who
meet the required conditions are able to won guns is the best
way of ensuring that citizens stay protected since police can not

8. be everywhere.
What is the argument or agenda of this essay? Do you hope to
change the reader’s mind about something? Do you want them
to change a habit or take some kind of action?
In this essay I want to change the reader’s mind. Many people
believe that gun control is a solution to gun violence but that is
not the case. Making it hard for people to get guns for self-
defense will simply increase the supply of illegal firearms.
Many people will find illegal ways of getting firearms and gun
violence will simply increase. New York has some of the
strictest laws on guns but violence is still high compared to
some of the cities with even lose control on guns. It is therefore
not true that strict laws would lead to reduced gun laws. In my
view ensuring that citizens can obtain hand guns will reduce
gun violence.
What supporting points do you anticipate using?
i. People who use handguns wrongly or who are illegal owners
should be prosecuted instead of making it hard for innocent
citizens to acquire guns legally.
ii. According to Goodman & Perry, 2018, Americans have
owned guns throughout history as stipulated in the second
Amendment and therefore ending this right will not be a
solution to gun violence.
iii. According to Goodman & Perry, 2018, New York city still
has high number of cases of gun violence regardless of the fact
that the rules on gun use and license are very strict. Therefore,
imposing more control will not end gun violence.
iv. Making it hard for people to acquire guns legally will not
prevent criminals from acquiring guns and therefore the issue of
strict regulation will not be a solution.
What sources have you identified?

9. Cudworth, J. (2019). Government Challenges with
Implementing Effective Gun Control Policies (Doctoral
dissertation, California State University, Northridge).
Goodman, S., & Perry, B. (2018). The American Gun Control
Debate: A Discursive Analysis. In Discourse, Peace, and
Conflict (pp. 67-82). Springer, Cham.
Reyes, J. G. (2018). A Survey of California School Resource
Officers: School Shootings, Training, Policing Experience,
Military Service, Communication and Planning (Doctoral
dissertation, Northcentral University).
Classmate’s work 1:
Poems:
Everyday is different
That growing seed
Bigger and bigger
Changing every part of her
She is strong
She waters the seed
Everyday is different
She is hurting
Days--Weeks--Months
It’s dragging on
She loves her seed
So hard
Everyday is different
One step closer to another
The love for the seed grows
The seed grows

10. Growing as one
Changing bodies
Forming a bond
Everyday is different
10 weeks left
Everyday will forever be different
He stands in front of me
The way he looks
Hands black hair a mess
Tired and ready for slumber
Yet he doesn’t stop
He doesn’t stop working
He doesn’t stop loving
He gives, gives, and gives
For our unit
He is unstoppable
Hands black hair a mess
He leaves me breathless
Feeling lucky
Nothing else matters
Forever is on its way
Hands black hair a mess
Caring about everyone
Putting himself last
Wanting to be the best I can
For him who leaves me breathless
So I take care of his black hands
I take care of his mess of hair
All he does for me for us

11. Forever is on its way
Short story:
Hello, I am small. I am so clingy. I think I am a baby, but I’m
just a dog. Well, maybe not just a dog. I have taught my “mom”
that she has to give me attention for me to be a good girl. I need
attention or I will poop on the floor. I don’t really care what she
thinks because she knows I need her attention.
Mom put peanut butter in my toy and as I got distracted I
looked up and she was gone. My mom wasn’t in the house. I
don’t know what I did wrong? I was just licking up my butter.
Was I not supposed to? Now I am sad, and crying and I know
the neighbors can hear me. I guess all I can do is play with my
toys and take a nap. I hope she comes home. I love my momma.
I wake up to the sound of keys at the door. In walks my mom
with a ton of bags with food in there, I’m not sure why she got
all of that. I can’t eat any of it. I only eat my stupid dog food.
I’m probably going to go pout because this isn’t fair. She yells
my name and I slowly approach her. SHE HANDS ME A NEW
TOY. My momma is the best momma. She always comes home
with a new toy, but my tiny brain gets overwhelmed and I
forget.
My dad always is at work and I miss him very much all day. My
momma is great and she takes care of me well, but my dad gives
me the best cuddles. I miss my daddy. It’s only one o’clock in
the afternoon, and I know I won’t see him until around seven
o’clock. Which in my time, it seems like days. Dad makes my
momma happy and we always the best time, just the three of us.
My momma has a big round belly and keeps telling me about my
brother. I don’t think I need a brother. I don’t think my parents
need anyone else to take care of. I take up all of their attention
and it sort of hurts my feelings that they want someone else
around. I hope he’s not going to pull on my big ears, I might
have to nibble his toes.
My momma and dad always tell me that they love me. Today I

12. realized how happy my parents make me, even when I don’t
think things are going well. My days are long, but I get taken
care of so very well. I could still be locked up at the pet store in
the mall. I could still be alone wanting someone to adopt me. I
love being here. I currently live in an apartment. Dad and
momma have been working on a big farmhouse for all of us to
move into. I have so much more room to run. I have a lake I can
jump into, but I gotta make sure my life jacket is on or I will
drown. Momma wouldn’t like it if that happened. I am
momma’s best friend.
I am such a happy pup. I love my life. I love my people. I love
my toys. I have such a good life. I am a pup but I am a real life
baby too. I am so thankful to be where I am.
Classmate’s work 2:
Story:
The scenery was nothing like they had seen before. It was so
enchanting that it appeared to be a mirage, a painting they had
mistakenly walked into. All the tree’s leaves were at the perfect
point of orange and red, as if they were candy. The air had the
distinct pleasurable smell of dying leaves and wet dirt. It filled
their souls with determination for the days that followed. The
trail in front of them was long and winding, and was a pale
wheat color. It looked freshly walked over, as to remove the
guilt of the travelers for being in a place that appeared so
remote and untouched.
They arrived at the entrance, and the leading actress began to
make a fuss about how they were not to destroy any of the
nature there, as she lit her cigarette. She gestured drunkenly to
the glory of the outdoors, exclaiming how they would never
have another opportunity to see anything so beautiful again! So,
the multiple cars pulled over at the entrance, in front of them a

13. long winding road and a large wooden sign, engraved with the
word, “ASURA.” One of the men on the camera crew looked up
at the pale sign through his sunglasses and said, “Asura, huh. If
this goes well, maybe I’ll name my daughter that.”
They began to tread along, realizing the path in front of them
was much longer than they had expected. All the time the
director had mostly stayed quiet, attempting to find some kind
of perfect place to stop and just start filming. She found that it
was entirely too perfect where they were, and the trees were too
close to the edge of the road. So, they all kept walking. The
director lit a cigarette and felt some form of guilt and a cold air
kiss her neck. She had the chills but ignored it and kept
walking.
Finally, they arrived at the center. It was a large circle of land
where nothing grew and the dirt was compacted down so that it
was almost like a concrete. Trees surrounded them, but besides
that, there was nothing. Some of the crew complained, saying
they assumed there would be some form of tent or cabin for
them here. The director’s assistant calmed the rustle amongst
the small crowd and told them that they had brought some tables
and tents. It was now getting gray in the sky. Everyone took off
their sunglasses and became quiet. No one wanted to walk the
long trail again just to come back the next day, so with a sigh,
the director made orders to begin shooting. And so they did. It
was an independent film, so the quality was already not so fair.
They figured the beautiful scenery and good script would make
up for it. However, once they began shooting, the actors kept
getting interrupted.
There was strangely hardly any bushes or grounded foliage in
the woods behind them, so they went into a close area of the
woods to shoot a scene. As soon as the camera began rolling,
the leading actress began bouncing her head from side to side
and asking if anyone heard what she heard. No one did. They all
put her nerves off as amateur's remarks, and told her it was the
wind and to stay on topic. She became irked, but listened. The
scene was finished. It was the main character’s introduction,

14. where she layed in the dark grass and rotting leaves and self
reflected. It was not the smartest scene, nor the most original,
but that suited this actress.
As the day turned to nights, the tents were set up and the
workers retreated to attempt to sleep. All seemed well. Some of
them felt as if it was the best sleep they have had in a long
while, as there was no tossing and turning, and hardly any
dreams. But, in the middle of the night, at about 4:25 A.M.,
there was a low, groaning. Almost a howl. It filled the air and
woke everyone. A chill went up spines, hairs stood on ends. For
a moment, everyone almost believed it wasn't the wind.
Poetry:
“Hell Town”
There’s an old tree on the far side of that place called “hell
town”
It was called hell town because there was a
Bridge rumored to have a constant crying of a woman under it,
And because the town cemetery’s grass
Looked like eyelashes in the night,
And because most of the locals would
Eventually go missing after developing
A stange
Black ring
Around their right ankle.
And the tree’s roots looked like old man’s fingers
Digging into the ground,
Gripping onto the last bit of life the man’s hands
Seem to have
The trunk leans over, twisting into branches that reach up into
the sky,
And though the tree has seen better days
(much better days)
Its limbs are like your hair when you lay on my bedroom floor,
The individual strands tangling and refusing to
Stop growing.

15. You wanted to take a visit to hell town
And tie a bottle around one of the old tree’s branches,
But i told you to write down everything about the bottle first,
And i was never satisfied with what the bottle was.
You got tired,
So tired that your hand had to stop writing
And your feet had to go to hell town.
You left the bottle and your shoes for me.
And i did not follow you into that black ring.
"Night Time, My Time"
She peeled back her skin gently
Behind it was nothing so special
Just the worms and feathers and dirt,
The new skin was much better, at least for the night.
Crawling, creeping, sinking
Into the dog skin,
Filling out all of the edges and holes.
She was too tall for the dog skin though, so
She stretched, and let it rip a little showing the smooth white
flesh
Under the fur.
Outside the hut she made no hesitation,
There was one special place,
One special boy,
One special skin,
One special soul,
She wanted this night.
She slinked out into the tall grass,
Which turned into sand,
Her paw-hands gripping and holding as she walked.
Her walk was somewhat of a fake,
An imitation of a walk,
It was an insult, and she knew and thought it was funny.
She found the boy’s grandmother,
Her brown and wrinkled skin looked prideful,

16. The dog did not like wrinkled skin,
But she had to do what she must,
And what she must, she did.
She growled and gawked, and slunk up to the old woman.
The woman fell, gasping and trying to fight.
She failed, though. And the dog
Bit her ankle.
She slipped inside the old, dry, weathered skin,
She stretched and howled.
The boy awoke, finding his grandmother,
Standing unlike how his grandmother would stand,
Unlike anyone would stand,
Or maybe could stand.
She looked like her bones were broken,
Or maybe as if her muscles and organs,
had traded places.
He asked if she was okay,
But there was nothing else he could say,
Because his organs and muscles
Traded places,
And his bones seemed to all break,
When she stretched.