12:20P-1:10P  MWF  (25) 3 cr

COAS INTENSIVE WRITING SECTION

The central topic of this course is the connection between the ways stories are told and
how they affect us.  We will focus on this topic to enhance our ability to understand and
appreciate fiction, to become better readers of it, and to develop skills in writing--not just
about literature but about anything.  My premise about story-telling is that the special names
given to its various elements in the formal study of literature obscure the fact that these
elements represent the way all human beings--not just writers--organize their world and make
sense of it.  My premise about writing is that the essence of effective communication is the
same, no matter what the topic.

The course will build from small to large.  We'll begin by examining the elements of
fiction (plot, point of view, setting, symbol, and so on) individually, and reading selected
short stories demonstrating a variety of uses of these elements that we can compare to each
other.  From these individual elements we'll look at several longer fictions (novellas, short
novels) more intensively, to analyze these elements of story-telling working together.  And
finally we'll look at two novels addressing the same general theme (the preservation of family
legacy) but taking different positions toward that theme and representing the extremes of the
traditional and modern experimental modes of fiction in conveying it--Jane Austen's PRIDE
AND PREJUDICE and William Faulkner's THE SOUND AND THE FURY.

Class meetings will consist of a mix of lecture and discussion, with discussion
gradually dominating.  Participants will be asked to write a number of short responses (1-2
pages) to study questions about individual reading assignments, to start their thinking about the
topic and to have something to contribute to class discussion.  And they will write five critical
essays (4-6 pages).  We will use examples from the short responses and essays to assist us in
our ongoing discussion of both critical analysis and good writing.  No examinations.