We are pleased that you selected this course to fulfill your unique educational needs. You are now a member of the Mizzou Academy's global student body.
Although the freedom to choose when and where to study is a privilege, it is also a responsibility that requires motivation and self-discipline. To succeed at learning, you will need to develop a study plan by setting realistic goals and working toward them.
Course Description
Storytelling is a strong human urge. We seem to feel compelled to create, with words, worlds and situations and characters. This ability, this compulsion to create—language—is what separates us from the other creatures of the earth. Imaginative writing is a rewarding, valuable activity—one that you can enjoy for a lifetime, not just during your school years. The joy of creation enhances our daily lives, helping us to grow and define ourselves.
Recent studies indicate that the more you write, the better you write. This course in short story writing, therefore, should help you not only in this class, but in all your classes that require writing. Clear communication skills are in great demand in our world; our world runs on words. And certainly, imaginative, creative people are always in demand. The ability to create and to imagine new solutions or unique ways of seeing and solving problems is a valuable asset.
This course is designed to improve your creative writing skills by giving you lots of writing practice. There are three short stories due in this course as well as several practice writing assignments.
Pacing
This course can be completed in as few as six weeks or take up to 6 months (180 calendar days). The six weeks are counted from the date of the first lesson submission and not the date of enrollment.
Required Materials
Points of View: An Anthology of Short Stories (Revised edition), edited by James Moffett and Kenneth R. McElheny (New York: Penguin Books, 1995).
Personal Fiction Writing, by Meredith Sue Willis (New York: Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 2000).
Technical Requirements
The most up-to-date requirements can be found here:
audio and video recording capabilities (e.g. smartphone, camera)
Quizzes & Assignments
You should submit all assigned work in sequence (Lesson 1, then Lesson 2, etc.) There are four assignments that will be completed throughout this course. You will find these in the modules.
There are seven submitted assignments in Creative Writing, which appear after Lessons 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, and 12. They are worth between 15 and 150 points. The points you earn count toward your final course grade. A quiz appears after Lesson 2 consists of multiple-choice and matching questions. All other assignments are instructor-evaluated and consist of three prewriting and development exercises and three polished short stories.
Reading and Using Feedback
After your work has been graded, you will receive a report that provides individualized feedback and comments on your work. Look carefully at what you missed and read any corresponding feedback. Then study the lesson materials to make certain that you can accomplish the associated learning objectives.
Each lesson provides step-by-step instructions on how to submit your work. Be sure to check submitted work carefully for errors (e.g. spelling, grammar, and punctuation) as they may result in points being deducted.
Exams
The course culminates in a final writing assignment that counts as the exam grade. You may use the writing process to develop the assignment and submit it to Canvas for the final grade.
Grades
Your final grade will be based on the number of points you earn on quizzes, assignments and exams.
The following grading scale applies:
Grading Scale
Grade
Percentage
A
90–100
B
80–89
C
70–79
D
60–69
F
0–59
After completing the course, you will receive a grade report that gives your percentage and your letter grade for the course.
Getting Started Resources (Canvas and Other Resources)
View the content below to learn more about each of these elements and how they work in your Mizzou Academy Canvas course.
If you are on a mobile device, download the Canvas mobile apps. With the apps, you can access all your courses using the Canvas mobile app, "Canvas By Instructure." Go to Google Play to download the Android version and iTunes to download the iOS version.
The Citing Sources Interactive Tutorial to help you with learning how to cite your sources as well as inform you about what plagiarism is, what it isn't, and how to avoid it.
Netiquette—short for "network etiquette" or "Internet etiquette"—is a set of guidelines for how to communicate appropriately on the web. As a Mizzou Academy student, you will be expected to follow these guidelines in your interactions with your instructor and fellow students.
Be respectful. Online, as in life, the Golden Rule applies: Treat others as you would like to be treated. There are effective ways to disagree with someone without being insulting. Keep in mind that sarcasm can sometimes be misinterpreted.
Use appropriate language. Avoid foul language and rude or vulgar comments.
Use proper grammar and spelling. Typos and spelling mistakes are bound to happen, but excessive errors are distracting. Use a browser with a built-in spell checker if you need help!
Respect others' privacy. Do not quote or forward personal messages or information without the original author's permission.
Avoid plagiarism. It is never acceptable to copy and paste the work of others and call it your own. Be sure to cite your sources correctly.
You may submit assignments using our Mizzou Academy Google Suite. Once you submit an assignment through Google docs, you can no longer make any changes to the document. Therefore, submit work after you have read the assignment directions and scoring information carefully, used the writing process to develop your work, and completed the final version.
For all written assignments, if your instructor has allowed Google doc submissions, please submit the entire document. Do not submit a link. For media files (such as audio and video), links are acceptable. Google Drive Assignments does not allow for more than one file to be attached. Therefore, if the assignment requires more than one file attachment, consider downloading the files and uploading each individually.
1. From within your Canvas course, navigate to the assignment you'd like to submit. Click on Start Assignments
2. Select the Google Drive tab
3. Before the first use, you will be prompted to sign into your Mizzou Academy Google account to authorize the integration. Click Authorize
4. Enter your Google username. Click Next
5. Enter your Google password. This will be the password that you set up when confirming your Mizzou Academy Google account. Click Next
6. Click Allow when prompted to allow Google Drive LTI by Canvas to access your Mizzou Academy Google Account
7. You are now ready to submit your assignment from Mizzou Academy Google Drive.
Select the file you wish to upload by clicking on the title > click Submit. This creates a Word document (.docx) version of your Google Doc.
8. Before you submit, make sure you have selected the correct file. To select a different file, click the change button [1]. To leave an assignment comment to ask questions or provide additional feedback for your teacher, enter text in the Additional comments field [2]. Otherwise, check to agree to End-User License Agreement [3] > click Submit Assignment [4]
Some assignments will provide templates for you to complete, and the templates may be available as a Word file (.docx, .doc). Even though these .docx or .doc files are native to Word, it is possible to open them without owning the program. You can still work with Microsoft Office files even if you don't have Office installed by using Google Docs.
Open with Google Docs
Navigate to docs.google.com in your Web browser. Log in with your Mizzou Academy Google account.
Click +New > File Upload
Navigate to the location of the Word document on your computer and select the file. Alternatively, you can drag and drop a file from your computer directly into the web browser for an easy upload.
Once your file uploads, double-click to open the file in Google docs. Alternatively, you can right-click on the file, point to Open With on the context menu, and then select Google Docs.
Select File > Save As Google Docs
Google then converts the Word file into a Google doc and you can begin editing.
After you've finished editing your file, download and export your document back into a Microsoft Word or PDF Document format by selecting File > Download > select the Microsoft Word I.docx) or PDF Document (.pdf) option.
Turnitin is a plagiarism detection service that is integrated with Canvas. It allows instructors and students to view an Originality Report of written work or other homework assignments. The system is designed to facilitate feedback between instructors and students on written work.
The University of Missouri has a license agreement with Turnitin.com, a service that helps detect plagiarism by comparing student papers with Turnitin's database and Internet sources. Students who take this course agree that all required papers may be submitted to Turnitin.com.
Students who submit papers to Turnitin retain the copyright to the work they created. A copy of submitted papers is retained in a Turnitin database archive to be compared with future submissions—a practice that helps protect and strengthen copyright ownership. Use of the Turnitin service is subject to the Terms and Conditions of Use posted on Turnitin's website at https://help.turnitin.com/Privacy_and_Security/Privacy_and_Security.htmLinks to an external site..
Mizzou Academy uses Turnitin, which provides tools for assignments. One of these tools is the "originality check." Note that it is not called a "plagiarism detector." That is because ONLY an instructor can determine plagiarism.
For example, it could be that you get a 100% match (in red) on your submission. However, perhaps you are working in a group or your instructor had you submit something multiple times to different assignments within the same course. Or perhaps your class is filling out a worksheet, so all of the worksheet components would be "not original" but your content would be.
If you are concerned about any results that you are confused about, feel free to discuss this with your teacher.
Turnitin Guide - Accepted File Types and Size
Turnitin has restrictions on file types and size. The Turnitin GuideLinks to an external site. will outline things to consider before submitting a file, such as its size, word count, and format.
How to Submit a Turnitin Assignment in Canvas
There is no difference in how to submit an assignment with or without Turnitin enabled. You may choose to submit your assignment as a file upload or a file from the Mizzou Academy Google Workspace.
There are many ways you can submit audio and video recordings for a Mizzou Academy course in Canvas. Your course content may refer to Audacity.Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)However, you don't need to use Audacity to make an mp3 recording for your course. After all, there are many programs and apps on computers and mobile devices that will do just that!
The only way for you to present quality speeches (and other multimedia) to your Mizzou teacher is by uploading a video of yourself. Therefore, it's incredibly important that the audio and video quality is good enough that your instructor can see and hear everything clearly. You might all be in different environments using various types of cameras, so rather than attempting to teach you about specific cameras, we're going to concentrate on things like lighting, background, setup and stabilization, and audio.
Lighting and Background
Use a distraction-free background
Face windows with natural light
Avoid overhead lights when indoors
Use a lamp or two for additional lighting
Watch back your video to see how it looks
Keep trying, keep learning, and keep having fun
Setup and Stabilization
Don't shoot handheld
Use anything that can safely hold the camera steady
Shoot video in the quietest room at the quietest time of day
Turn everything off (cell phone, TV, radio, fans, etc.)
Get closer to the camera
Avoid noisy habits (hand rubbing, clapping, etc.)
Use an external microphone
Setting Up Your YouTube (Or Other Video) Account
If you already have a Gmail account, then you have a YouTube account, but in case you don't, getting your account set up is the first step. Just go to gmail.com and create an account to get started. Work with a trusted adult or parent.
Creator Studio
On thing to note is that you can access all of your channel's videos and privacy settings through the Creator Studio. To locate this area in your account, click the icon in the upper right corner (where you logged in) and you should see the option for Creator Studio under your login name. Once you click this, you will be taken to the dashboard area for your account. There are a few different areas available you should be aware of:
Video Manager
This section houses all of the videos on your account. You can also create playlists (lists or groups of videos with a similar topic or theme).
Channel
Your content settings are located with the majority of your video and content settings. It is also where you can determine the privacy of your videos. If you click on Upload Defaults in this section, it will give you the options that you can set for all future uploads. Changing the privacy to Unlisted means that anyone with the link will be able to view your video but it won't be searchable to the public.
Create
This section isn't required, but it's good to be aware that this area provides a basic video editor where you can make minor adjustments to your videos as well as add copyright free background music.
Uploading a Video
Now that your account is setup, you are ready to upload your video. Here are the steps you will need to follow:
Click Upload in the upper right-hand corner of the screen
Either drag & drop the video file into the box or click on the gray arrow to select it from your files. You will notice that the privacy box will already be set to unlisted based on your privacy settings
This will automatically begin the upload once the file is selected, taking you to a new window:
Make sure the title box is correctly filled out
Descriptions and tags are usually left blank unless the video is public
Thumbnails This is what viewers will see when they first pull up your video. You can choose from a few automatic image selections, or you can upload your image
Once the video finishes uploading, processing, and you selected the titles/thumbnails, click "Done
The link to share your video will appear. Copy and paste this link to turn in your video.
Getting Your Videos Into the Course: Uploading
If you are comfortable with recording video, transferring the file to your computer, and then uploading, this is the preferred method because some assignments (such as video journals) will have you recording multiple videos for one assignment. One problem you may run into is a camera that creates an incredibly large file. In such cases, you may need to convert the file to make it smaller.
File Conversion
Some cameras record videos that create very large file sizes. Depending on your internet connection, these larger files might have problems uploading. In these cases, you might need to convert the video to a smaller version. Look for a free video converter like Any Video Converter or Format Factory to help you.
Getting Your Videos Into the Course: Direct Recording
Canvas does allow you to record via webcam directly into Canvas. However, this will not be available when multiple videos are required. Another reason to shy away from this method is that if you have a hiccup in your internet connection or your computer freezes, your video will be lost, and you will have to rerecord everything. Just to save the hassle, it's better to either upload a file or provide a link to an unpublished YouTube video.
Images may not appear if you open an .RTF file on a Mac using Pages or other text-editing software. The following image shows you how to configure your Mac so that it will automatically open .RTF files in Microsoft Word.
NOTE: Read your Syllabus and the Quiz and Exam instructions for your course so that you are aware of the policies and how a quiz and exam is setup. The Quizzes link may not be in the course navigation menu in your course and only accessible by clicking on Modules and clicking on the pertinent lesson.
What is an "objective examination?" Objective means that there IS a right answer (or answers), and you either get things right or wrong. An example is a multiple-choice quiz or exam. This section is here to provide you with tips on how to take objective examinations, or "exams."
Many people worry about how to do well when taking objective examinations. What does What follows are some simple suggestions that should help you to do your best.
What do you do when you know the answer? Silly question, right? You mark it!
What do you do when you don’t know the answer? This is what you want to hear!
First, you need to remember that our quizzes and exams are based on the number of right answers out of the total possible. So you should answer every question, even if it’s a guess. There are four answer choices, so your odds when you guess are 1 in 4. That is, on average, you should get 1 out of every 4 guesses correct.
How do you narrow the odds, to make them more in your favor? If you are able to eliminate one or more of the answers as definitely wrong, you have done just that. When you are guessing which answer is correct out of 3, then you could get one-third of your guesses correct. When you are guessing between two, you could get half of them right.
What if you see an answer choice that you absolutely have never seen before? There is a very good chance it is a wrong answer, and you can eliminate it. Remember, you’ve read over and studied the material. Most of the time you will know if something doesn’t belong.
Does the answer make sense? A correct answer always makes sense. Incorrect choices may, or may not. So if a choice does not make sense in relation to the question, it is probably a wrong answer.
Do not spend a lot of time on a question that is giving you trouble. Move on, and come back to it later. Many times, you will find something in a later question or answer choice that helps you to select the answer to a question you skipped over. This is known as making the test work FOR YOU.
Above all, relax! You have been over the material. It is all in your head. Just take a deep breath and go at it. YOU CAN DO IT!
Many students develop their own tricks to help themselves on objective tests. What you see above can assist you. But you may also rely on whatever works for you.
It is not unusual for people to be nervous about taking an essay exam. You will have to decide what the question means, search through the memory banks of your brain, recall information that relates to the question, and then write something that is well organized and clear. What follows are some tips that just might make this process a little less scary.
Let’s start with an essay question.
An essay question may be fairly short, perhaps only one paragraph. They may also be longer, requiring several paragraphs to answer. No matter how short, or long, the essay needs to be, the process is the same. As an example, we’ll use a topic that is “medium.”
The framers of the Constitution of the United States established the Electoral College system, which provides an indirect method of electing the President. This system should be changed to permit the direct election of the President, so the candidate who receives the greatest number of the popular vote to win election. Agree or disagree.
Great! Now what?
This may seem pretty long. But you need to remember that you do not have to deal with everything in the statement. The first thing you need to do is identify what you have to answer, and what you can ignore. The question statement is reproduced below, with the parts you have to consider highlighted.
The framers of the Constitution of the United States established the Electoral College system, which provides an indirect method of electing the President. This system should be changed to permit the direct election of the President, so the candidate who receives the greatest number of the popular vote to win the election. Agree or disagree.
While everything else in the question is relevant to the topic, you are being asked to support the Electoral College system (indirect election) or the popular vote (direct election).
Next?
Write down a brief outline of what you need to do. It would be best if you did this in order.
Introduction: State your position. Do you agree or disagree. Give a preview of why you have chosen your position.
Body Paragraph: Explain your first reason for your position. You might also want to state why the method you did NOT choose falls short.
Body Paragraph: Explain your second reason for your position. Again, you could state why the method you did NOT choose falls short.
Body Paragraph:Explain your third reason, if you have one, along with why the method you did NOT choose falls short.
Conclusion: Restate your reasons for your position. This is when you drive your arguments home.
What are we saying here?
There is a very simple way to look at essay writing. No matter if the essay is one paragraph, or five, or ten. You do the same three things.
Tell the readers what you are going to tell them (introduction).
Tell them (body).
Tell the readers what you told them (conclusion).
And in conclusion….
This process can be very helpful. You need to remember: you are probably not going to be expected to respond to every word in the essay topic. That’s why it’s important to identify what you need to consider. While essays from different classes will look different, the approach to them is pretty much the same. You can even practice this skill on your own, creating topics on things with which you are familiar. The more you practice, the easier it becomes.
Our academic integrity policy at Mizzou Academy is based on our values of ethical behavior, learning, and giving all stakeholders the benefit of the doubt. Collaboration, research, and technical literacy are vital 21st-century skills when combined with academic integrity.
Definitions
Mizzou Academy's academic integrity policy is aligned with the University of Missouri’s academic integrity policy. The definitions of what constitutes "cheating" and "plagiarism"are posted on the Provost’s Advising Council’s webpage which can be found here: https://advising.missouri.edu/policies/academic-integrity.
Issues Involving Violations of Academic Integrity
If, when completing any of your assignments or exams for this course, you are found to have demonstrated cheating or plagiarism as defined above, this is a violation of academic integrity. At your teacher's discretion, violations of academic integrity may be subject to either or both of the following actions:
receiving a zero for the assignment or exam
receiving an F for the course
Accessibility
If you anticipate barriers related to the format or requirements of this course, please let Mizzou Academy know as soon as possible. If disability-related accommodations are necessary (for example, a scribe, reader, extended time on exams, captioning), please contact Mizzou Academy.
Course author Janet Hiller has taught advanced and intermediate composition, American literature, and creative writing/short story at Parkway North High School in Creve Coeur. Her interest in writing began in elementary school, and she still enrolls regularly in creative writing classes to sharpen and test her own skills. She has taught at both the high school and college levels. In her spare time, Ms. Hiller sews, quilts, reads, jogs, plays tennis, and writes. She has served on the executive board of the Greater St. Louis English Teachers Association and the Missouri Association of Teachers of English. She is also a member of the National Council of Teachers of English.
Course developerKaren Scalesjoined the staff of the University of Missouri's Center for Distance and Independent Study (now Mizzou Academy) in 1994, where she currently works as Division Chair for Global High School English Language Arts. She graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1993, and currently teaches 10th Grade English, Information Literacy, and Advanced Placement English Literature and Language Composition, in addition to serving as Lead Teacher for this Creative Writing course. As a distance learning instructor, Mrs. Scales enjoys connecting with students around both the benefits and unique challenges of distance education.
In addition, we'd like to give credits to the editor:Kathy Galloway(WWW adaptation by James Barnes).
The syllabus page shows a table-oriented view of the course schedule, and the basics of
course grading. You can add any other comments, notes, or thoughts you have about the course
structure, course policies or anything else.
To add some comments, click the "Edit" link at the top.
