ENGL 201-02, Introduction to Fiction Writing, Fall 2008

Abstract

In this class we will study narrative form and theory, leading to a workshop in which students present several samples of their own fiction for discussion. We will read a variety of contemporary short fiction to illustrate its breadth and to give the class concrete examples of different narrative techniques. We will also read a practical text to give us a common vocabulary with which to discuss both the samples and your own classmates’ work. More broadly, in this workshop we will read, discuss, write, and revise literary short fiction. Literary fiction discloses truths about human experience in a moving and artful way. It strives for seamless mimesis while simultaneously making resourceful and aesthetically sound use of all the various aspects storytelling, including language, point of view, plot, character, setting, metaphor, symbolism and tone. In short, you will endeavor to write literature. For the purposes of the class, you cannot write genre fiction—that is, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, children’s fiction, young adult fiction, and so on.