2010-2011 - Sweet Briar College

EnglishSweet Briar Collegeand op-eds — the types of journalism commonlyfound in newspapers and magazinesunder the headings “Feature” and “Opinion.”Special emphasis will be placed on writing forWeb publications and blogs and on using socialmedia (Facebook and Twitter) to develop storyideas. Offered alternate years. III.W, V.6b.ENGL 318 (3)–Poetry Workshop: Poetryof Transgression - Envy, Ecstasy, Gluttony,LustPrerequisite: ENGL 106. If the ability of a poet isa balance of her powers of perception and powers ofexpression, how can consideration of subject matteramplify the former? How can broadening one’semotional and intellectual range refine the latter?This course will encourage students to approachthe broadest possible range of subject matter, andto engage it in a way that’s ethical, elegant, andeffective. Students will read, write, and peer-critiquepoems in a variety of traditions. Offered alternateyears. III.W, V.6b.ENGL 334 (3)–Fiction Workshop:Research and the Fiction WriterPrerequisite: ENGL 106. This course focuses onhow fiction writers use the material of the realworld - real places, real people, real events - inthe fictional universe, considering such questionsas how a fiction writer’s research methodsand purpose might differ from an historian’s.Students will read and write short stories thatarise out of historical or contemporary factor account and examine how the imaginationtransforms fact into fiction. Offered alternateyears. III.O, III.W, V.6b.ENGL 348 (3)–Fiction Workshop: TheLong StoryPrerequisite: ENGL 106. The long story ornovella seems to fall into a middle distancebetween the novel and the short story. In theirunique suspension of a narrative over time,novellas and long stories have neither the luxuryof a novel’s length nor the constraint of a shortstory. What are the possibilities and characteristicsand challenges of the form? Students willboth read examples of long stories and novellasand, over the course of the semester, write oneof their own. Offered alternate years. III.O,III.W, V.6b.ENGL 365 (3)–Fiction Workshop: LinkedNarrativesPrerequisite: ENGL 106. Stories in collections ofnarratives linked by theme, setting, and/or characterfunction both individually and as a unifiedwhole. What are the pleasures and achievementsof such collections? Is there a particular narrativethat lends itself to this treatment? How aresuch stories different from chapters in novels?Collections of linked narratives will serve asmodels for students as they write their own seriesof linked stories and examine the pleasures, challenges,and opportunities of the form. Offeredalternate years. III.O, III.W, V.6b.ENGL 371 (3)–Nonfiction Workshop:Writing about Film and MusicPrerequisite: ENGL 106. This course introducesstudents to the strategies for writing with depth,intelligence, and style about film and music.Students will learn to write brief capsule reviewsfor general audiences and longer researchedreview essays for more sophisticated and nicheaudiences. All students will be required to createand maintain a blog as well as attend film screeningsand live musical performances. Offeredalternate years. III.W, V.6b.ENGL 383 (3)–Fiction Workshop: TheFantastic in FictionPrerequisite: ENGL 106. Ghosts, talking animals,and aliens - among other strange phenomena- belong to the fictional universe referred toas magical realism or fabulism or fantastic fiction.What is the difference between this broadgenre and so-called fantasy fiction (and why isone a higher order of art than the other), andhow and why does a writer employ the impossibleto describe the possibilities of human experience?Students will read and write stories thatpush at the boundaries of the real world. Offeredalternate years. III.O, III.W, V.6b.ENGL 389 (3)–Nonfiction Workshop:Bearing Witness - Writing about HumanRights and Social Justice IssuesPrerequisite: ENGL 106. Students in this coursewill examine and attempt journalistic and essayisticaccounts of human rights disasters andsocial justice issues, discussing the ways in whichwriters balance personal agenda and ideology106­