Professor David Winn The course will have two objectives. First it will focus on the methods and origins of effective charcterization through reading a variety of contemporary authors who are acknowledged masters of the short form and whose stories effectively suggest and explore the influence of social issues. Robert Olen Butler, Alice Munro, Tobias Wolff, Andre Dubus, Thom Jones, Bobbie Ann Mason, Alice Walker, Ray Carver, Charles Johnson, John Edgar Wideman, Sandra Cisneros, Rudolfo Anaya, Amy Tan, Bharati Mukherjee among others will be assigned. Second, students will work on a single, original short story which will be discussed and criticized in the workshop and redrafted and revised a number of times (at least three) over the length of the semester. Also, each student will analyze one of the anthologized authors assigned and be responsible for presenting that analysis to the workshop, leading and direct- ing discussion for that class period. The link between compelling and persuasive characterization and the larger events of history and culture that so often may determine character will be the focus of our attention. This course is designed as an advanced creative writing workshop in fiction. | Cool Stop | Turnstile | Distant Destinations | Conductors | Rail Yard | Email to Webmaster | |
