Classes will be conducted in the workshop format. The following may be combined with the workshop:
- lectures and discussions
- small group workshops
- field trips
Student manuscripts will form the bulk of the course content. Published texts, such as The Last Crossing by Guy Vanderhaeghe, and Reindeer Moon by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, will also be used.
General Objectives:
Students will learn the narrative elements of the historical short story and novel. Students will be able to use these elements in constructing their own history-based stories and novels.
Specific Objectives:
Successful students should be able to:
- access and use historical source materials to create short stories and first chapters of novels.
- strike a balance between the use of historical material and their imagination in order to create effective narratives.
- use language appropriate to a time in order to create believable dialogue.
- present characters based on historical figures.
- create a scene that conveys a sense of time, place and significant action.
- recognize material that can be effectively presented in a short story.
- use time, place, character and incident to begin an historical novel.
A minimum of five written assignments, including one character sketch, one scene, one short story, and one opening chapter of a novel, all of which will include two pages of historical source material as evidence of research conducted. In addition, students will be required to submit a written report on a published piece of historical fiction. Up to 80% of the final mark will be based on written assignments, the remainder on in-class exercises and class participation.
Students are required to attend 80% of the workshops. A student missing more than 20% of the workshops without instructor permission receives a 0 in class participation.
Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students
Sample Reading list:
- The Last Crossing, by Guy Vanderhaeghe
- Reindeer Moon, by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
- Anthologies of history-based fiction
- The minimum required score on the Douglas College English Assessment, written within the last four years, OR
- a final grade of "B" or higher in English 12, Literature 12 or English 12 First Peoples, OR
- proof of enrolment in a college-level writing or literature course, defined as a course that transfers to Douglas College as an English, Communications or Creative Writing course, OR
- a grade of C- in EASL 0460, or a minimum grade of C- in both EASL 0465 and 0475, OR
- a grade of C- or better in ENGU 0450 or ENGU 0455, OR
- a Language Proficiency Index (LPI) score of 5 on both Essay Level and English Usage and a score of 10 on the Reading Comprehension section, OR
- an IELTS score of 7 with a minimum score on all parts of 6.5 within the last two years, OR
- a TOEFL (internet-based) overall score of 92 with a minimum of 22 in each of Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing within the last two years
HIST 1113 or HIST 1114 and ENGL 1106
Recommended (Required only for Summer Institute in Historical Fiction students)