Note: This course satisfies the entire College Writing
Requirement.
This course, on writing short non-fiction, will be conducted
largely as a workshop: we'll write brief essays nearly every
week, and discuss several of them in detail in each class. We'll
also read essays in a wide variety of styles, from the beginnings
of the form in the seventeenth century through the avant-garde
experimental styles of the twentieth, to prepare ourselves to
take the essay into the twenty-first.
The specific topics we cover will be determined by the interests
of the seminar participants, but we'll certainly discuss at least
the following:
- Improving your prose style and writing clearly.
- Understanding your audience.
- The business of writing: finding a market, submitting
your writing for publication, the role of the editor, and
so on.
- Twenty-first-century technology and the writing process.
Although we'll be writing and discussing non-fictional essays,
many of the topics we cover are essential to anyone interested in
writing -- non-fiction, short stories, novels, poems, or plays.
Even those without a professional interest in writing who think
their writing could use improvement will benefit from the
opportunity to fine-tune their prose style and to discuss writing
techniques with others. Everyone is welcome, from beginners to
advanced writers.
Requirements: Active participation in the essay-writing workshop
(both writing your own essays and critiquing others') and
discussions. No exams.