ENC 4311 Spring 2020 Roberts

In this course, we explore forms of nonfiction: journalism, essays, and investigative writing, focusing on the environment. Florida is Ground Zero for climate change, and while nonfiction can be about anything, and take a multitude of forms, it seems incumbent on us to confront our challenges, from algae-choked water to sea-level rise to disappearing wetlands and oil spills in our oceans. You will read different examples of nonfiction which look at the environment (in very different ways), perform some writing exercises and learn (we hope) how to research, to observe, and to use prose to create both a picture and an argument. The goal is to produce a draft of an essay, 10-15 pages long, and a revision of this essay, both of which will be workshopped by the class.

NB: If you want to write memoir, i.e. mostly about yourself, this is not the workshop for you.