This course focuses on the craft of writing fiction and poetry. Within a workshop setting, students use the formal and technical aspects of both genres as a basis for improving their own work. Students read extensively in contemporary fiction and poetry, both as models and as a focus for developing the critical skills required to respond to the work of their peers and to revise their own work effectively. By the end of the semester, students will have completed and revised a portfolio of poetry and short fiction. This course focuses on writing and analyzing poetry.
Students read broadly in the genre and keep ongoing reading logs.
They participate weekly in an in-class poetry workshop where they read and critique each other s poems. The class takes advantage of local poetry readings, and students are encouraged to participate in Landmark s reading series. Each student will have produced a small collection of poems by the semester's end. Based on an analytical approach to themes in contemporary American society, this course focuses on helping students to develop advanced composition skills in the areas of organization, process strategies and analytical writing. Themes for this course have included nature writing, popular and political culture and new media.