Creative Writing Review

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Out of five, Creative Writing sits strong at a five out of five stars. When taking into account the refreshing change from a typical English course in terms of class work, the exploration of (perhaps) new and unfamiliar styles of literature, as well as the almost limitless number of ways to express one's creative capabilities, one cannot deny the overall benefits acquired from taking this course.

• First Star: A Fresh New Take-

• In almost every other course offered in this school, teachers and students must follow a set guideline of learning in order to prepare for either a Regents, AP, or final exam. This can result in students either losing their creative spark within the class or dreadfully following the same old course style they've been following since they entered 1st grade. Creative Writing, however, does not follow this same path. Unlike other courses like AP Human Geography, Regents Physics, or SAT Prep., Creative Writing does not focus on preparing its students for a crucial exam that will either make or break their future. Instead, the course opens up a new world of literature to its students that are generally unexplored in the students' regular English classes. Subjects such as short story writing, graphic novel creation, poetry analysis, and even screenplay writing open up the students' minds to new ways of expressing their creativity in a productive and beneficial manner.

• Second Star: Lack of Pressure-

• Similar to an art class, Creative Writing grades its students based on their effort and completion of their work as opposed to a strict point-based system. The pressure of hitting as many points as possible completely vanishes in this course as the most important factor to passing this class is your creativity, imagination, and your diligence to compete what's assigned.

• Third Star: Easier Grade-

• As stated previously, this course does not follow a strict point-based system. This means that unless you neglect to complete what's asked of you, you should receive a good grade for the semester you take Creative Writing. The teacher will look that you generally followed the daily lesson; however, other than that, your grade depends on your desire to express your creativity. In my opinion, that's a pretty easy good grade.

• Fourth Star: Utility Outside Class-

• Although Creative Writing might not directly influence your grades in other classes, the skills and content acquired within said course can potentially enhance your capabilities within other courses. For example, Creative Writing topics such as poetry creation and analysis provide students with the ability to interpret and create poetry in various forms such as haikus or concrete poems. During such process, students learned to notice figurative language in use, hidden meanings, and the purposes different poetical structures serve. While this allows for students taking Creative Writing to prepare better works of poetry for their class-specific assignment, it also allows for comprehending and completing work in other classes in an easier manner. In classes like AP English Language or Literature, students complete class work and test questions related to poetry analysis. Student who do not/have not taken Creative Writing only have access to their English teacher's lessons that may or may not have the greatest detail or advice because of the teacher's limit on what they can teach due to the need to follow course guidelines. However, if a student has/is taking Creative Writing, they will have a greater knowledge of poetical and literature devices than other students who are limited to their teacher's restricted curriculum capabilities.

• Fifth Star: Creative Cooperation-

• One of the greatest aspects of the Creative Writing class is the general freedom to choose how you go about completing the assigned work. Most of the time, if a student puts in the necessary amount of time and effort, they will have little trouble completing their work. While this holds true most of the time, there always exists the possibility where you'll hit a roadblock and cannot produce a creative idea. In most other classes, this problem translates to you either asking the teacher for help, attending extra help, or looking up extra material online. While you can do this in Creative Writing as well, it should be noted that students have an extra liberty in this class that students in other classes do not: the free and near unrestricted assistance from other students. If you're struggling in class like geometry, asking a student for assistance may be perceived by others as cheating. This issue does not transfer over to creative blocks in Creative Writing. In this class, both teachers and student start their classes by discussing ideas in the collaboration space in OneNote. This time allows for the best ideas to come about and for students to pick and choose what best suits their styles of writing.