creative writing

you will demonstrate your familiarity with the conventions of particular English literary genres by writing a modern-day rendition of a premodern genre we’ve encountered in this class. Examples of genres you have the choice of adapting include the fabliau (The Miller’s Tale, The Reeve’s Tale, St. Martin’s Four Wishes), riddle (Exeter Book Riddles), elegy (Wanderer, Wife’s Lament), marital lament (A Talk of 10 Wives on Their Husbands’ Ware; Al that I may swynk or swet; Yong men I warne yow everychon, The Wife of Bath’s Prologue), lai (Lanval, Bisclavret, Milun, Chevrefoil), or sonnet sequence (Shakespeare’s Sonnets, Astrophil and Stella, Pamphilia to Amphilanthus). Remember, you’re going to be adapting your genre to a modern context (for example, a ‘relationship lament’ overheard at Maxi’s, or a fabliau involving a relentless PPA officer). You may write in either verse or prose; regardless, the page length is the same (3-4 pages   

The main point of this assignment is for you to demonstrate your familiarity with the conventions for your chosen genre(s) and to exercise your creativity. **Please begin the assignment with a paragraph articulating which genre you’re using and how you approached the assignment (What was your reasoning in choosing your particular genre? What choices did you make in adapting your genre to a modern context, and why or how did you make them? Why did you choose the particular language you used, and what were the inspirations for your characters?).