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To write well, you must read well. By learning to read with the eyes of a writer, you can develop an understanding of what makes great literature work. Class readings include novel excerpts, short stories and memoirs, from classics to contemporary treasures. Weekly writing assignments emphasize analytical responses to the works, while providing the chance to practice writing strategies revealed through close reading. Appropriate for all levels of writers, this course teaches you to read widely, respond deeply and turn any piece of writing into your own best teacher.
Course Outline
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Course Objectives
- Gain the tools to read any text with an eye towards how it was constructed
- Explore a variety of writing techniques
- Acquire analytic skills to read and write with fuller comprehension
- Be better prepared to carry on with your own creative projects
What You Learn
- What it means to read as a writer
- Voice, including the difference between voice and narration
- How a narrator moves through time using language
- Varieties of tension
- Themes
- The art of the memoir
- The difference between a memoir and an autobiography
- Audience’s effect on your writing
- Choosing a point of view
- Magical realism
- The line between fiction and memoir
- Components of style and structure
- Finding the climax
- Anchoring your story in a time and place
- Writing with authority about the larger world
- What is nonfiction
- Setting as a character
- Comedic writing: rhythm, juxtaposition, repetition and other elements
- The difference between comedy and satire
- Writer as a social critic
- Special demands of creating unknown worlds
How You Learn
- Lecture notes
- Reading assignments
- Writing assignments (including two short papers for online sections)
- Discussion participation and assignments
- Student feedback
- Final paper