ENC 4311 Horack Fall 2019

Advanced Article and Essay Workshop (ENC 4311) is a course on the craft and art of creative nonfiction writing, only available for those students who have already satisfactorily completed Article & Essay Technique (ENC 3310) with a grade of B or higher. This course assumes you have a serious interest in creative nonfiction writing, as well as in discussing creative nonfiction writing with others likewise engaged. Our concerns are mainly practical and craft-based: where you as author wish to go with a particular draft, and how we, as readers and writers engaged in a common cause, might help you get there. This semester, we will mostly limit our writing and study to: (1) portraits and profiles; (2) literary journalism/reportage; and (3) the personal essay. Accordingly, we will examine how various craft points are at work in a number of published nonfiction pieces. These works will serve as templates for imitation and inspiration, and we will look at each one with the aim of learning how to develop our own unique voices, as well as a stronger sense of narrative rhythm and pacing necessary for effective storytelling. That said, this class will primarily follow the workshop model, and therefore student work, and the discussion of same, will be our main focus. To that end, over the course of the semester students will be required to produce and share a short essay of between 500-750 words, as well as two longer essays (8-15 pages each). Also, please note that students will be required to purchase a course reader from Target Copy at the beginning of the semester.