LCAD-Catalog-2016-2018

GENRE SURVEY 2
(CW254)
3 Units
In Genre Survey 1, it is argued that genre is the language
of storytelling. Sub-genre, then, are the dialects of
storytelling. This course explores those dialects.
Within the lexicon of science fiction, for instance, are
steampunk, dystopian, alien invasion, and many others.
This course digs into the genre taxonomy, using the
same approach as Genre Survey 1.
Course prerequisites: Genre Survey 1 (CW204)
MYTHOLOGY AND ARCHETYPES
(CW207)
3 Units
Myths are the dreams of the people. And familiar
faces and patterns — that is to say, archetypes — run
rampant in these myths. To be familiar with myths and
archetypes is to understand the foundations of what
makes humans human, and having this understanding
is integral to the art of stirring an audience’s emotions.
Via readings, lectures, discussion, and writing exercises,
this course invites students to tap into the dreams of
the collective unconscious.
JOURNALISM
(CW208)
3 Units
The following sentence addresses the five Ws and
one H — the bread and butter of journalism: Students
consume journalistic principles in a classroom for a
single semester to enhance their writing skills via
readings, discussion, lecture, and exercises. In addition
to these fundamentals, students will also discuss the
benefits of going too far because, as Albert Camus says,
“that’s where you’ll find the truth.”
ADVANCED POETRY WRITING: POETRY WORKSHOP 1
(CW301)
3 Units
Leonard Cohen claims that “Poetry is just the evidence
of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the
ash.” This class comes with a lot of ash trays. Students
who have declared a poetry emphasis workshop their
writing in a more intense and focused fashion but still
in step with the modified Critical Response approach.
Course prerequisites: Declaration of Emphasis and
Advancement Review
ADVANCED FICTION WRITING: PROSE WORKSHOP 1
(CW302)
3 Units
According to Annie Dillard, “At its best, the sensation of
writing is that of any unmerited grace. It is handed to
you, but only if you look for it. You search, you break
your heart, your back, your brain, and then — and only
then — it is handed to you.” In this course, the greatest
attempts are made to search, to break, and to accept.
Students who have declared a fiction emphasis, and
choose to specialize in prose, workshop their writing
in a more intense and focused fashion but in step with
the modified Critical Response approach.
Course prerequisites: Declaration of Emphasis and
Advancement Review
ADVANCED FICTION WRITING: SCRIPT WORKSHOP 1
(CW305)
3 Units
Compelling drama and comedy are rooted in desperate
characters who badly want something but have
a miserable time trying to get it. So this course is
about making characters suffer and perhaps saving
them in the end. Or perhaps not. Students who have
declared a fiction emphasis, and choose to specialize in
scriptwriting, workshop their writing in a more intense
and focused fashion but in step with the modified
Critical Response approach.
Course prerequisites: Declaration of Emphasis and
Advancement Review Scriptwriters are sadists.
ADVANCED NONFICTION WRITING: NONFICTION
WORKSHOP 1
(CW303)
3 Units
Joan Didion’s reasons for writing: “I write entirely to
find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I
see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.”
These reasons might seem selfish, but selfishness need
not be negative. The writers in this class will pursue
a similar kind of selfishness and in so doing strive to
create possibilities of self-discovery for their audience.
Students who have declared a nonfiction emphasis
workshop their writing in a more intense and focused
fashion but in step with the modified Critical Response
approach.
Course prerequisites: Declaration of Emphasis and
Advancement Review
DIALOGUE WORKSHOP
(CW304)
3 Units
This class has the word dialogue in its title, but it’s really
about music, about rhythm and tempo and texture and
tone. A well-crafted exchange between characters
sounds like a song and brings with it similar emotions
and revelations. Leaning on readings, viewings,
discussions, and workshops, the goal of this class is
for students to create music from banter, repartee,
conversation, and confrontation.
PRINCIPLES OF CONFLICT AND SUSPENSE
(CW306)
3 Units
A strange man walks into a bar and produces a gun. This
introduces conflict. At the very least, it’s an imbalance of
power. If he then says, “By midnight tonight, someone
will be shot.” Now we have suspense. The scene begs
questions: Who will be shot? Why? Who decides? Can
the decision be reversed? These questions provide
momentum to a story, which is to say that conflict
and suspense add momentum to a story. This course
holds conflict and suspense hostage for the purposes of
interrogation via lecture, discussion, readings, viewings,
and writing exercises.
SPECIAL TOPICS: AUTHOR
(CW307)
3 Units
Yes, breadth is important. But so is depth. This course
honors that idea by taking an intimate look at a specific
writer. The writer changes each semester with an eye
on diversity of form, genre, tone, and identity. One
semester might offer Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The next,
then, would offer Laura Albert. And, perhaps then, Alice
Walker. And so on. The goal of the class is to unearth
the techniques of the master writer through lecture
and discussion and then apply them in student writing
exercises.
ADVANCED POETRY WRITING: POETRY WORKSHOP 2
(CW351)
3 Units
This course picks up where Advanced Poetry Writing:
Poetry Workshop 1 left off and delivers more of the
same. But, you know, with a semester of work and
wisdom and technique bolstering the course’s direction.
Course prerequisites: Advanced Poetry Writing:
Poetry Workshop 1 (CW301)
ADVANCED FICTION WRITING: PROSE WORKSHOP 2
(CW352)
3 Units
This course picks up where Advanced Fiction Writing:
Prose Workshop 1 left off and delivers more of the
same. But, you know, with a semester of work and
wisdom and technique bolstering the course’s direction.
Course prerequisites: Advanced Fiction Writing: Prose
Workshop 1 (CW302)
ADVANCED FICTION WRITING: SCRIPT WORKSHOP 2
(CW354)
3 Units
This course picks up where Advanced Fiction Writing:
Script Workshop 1 left off and delivers more of the
same. But, you know, with a semester of work and
wisdom and technique bolstering the course’s direction.
Course prerequisites: Advanced Fiction Writing: Script
Workshop 1 (CW305)
ADVANCED NONFICTION WRITING: NONFICTION
WORKSHOP 2
(CW353)
3 Units
This course picks up where Advanced Nonfiction
Writing: Nonfiction Workshop 1 left off and delivers
more of the same. But, you know, with a semester of
work and wisdom and technique bolstering the course’s
direction.
Course prerequisites: Advanced Nonfiction Writing:
Nonfiction Workshop 1 (CW303)
CATALOG
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