Personal Essay Workshop

In this yearlong course, we will study the form of the personal essay with the goal of creating literary works that emphasize the universal meaning inherent in each personal story. This is a course in which to experiment with narrative techniques—developing ideas through character, voice, structure, and story. The first semester will be devoted to reading and analyzing literature (nonfiction, fiction, and what falls between) and to writing short informal essays; the second semester will be conducted as a workshop, and students will write longer and more layered essays with a focus on metaphor and meaning. Students will be asked to meet once a month in small groups to discuss books the first semester and films the second semester.