By the end of the course, students should have achieved the following objectives:

1. A strong comprehension of the works read in class, including themes, characters, settings and plot.
2. An understanding of the techniques, such as sensory detail, dialogue, scene, characterization, point of view, and plot that writers use to create a story
3. The ability to use narrative techniques in creative exercises and “find” a draft of their own short story.
4. The ability to critique, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a draft of a story.

By the end of the course, students should have achieved the following objectives:

1. A strong comprehension of the works read in class, including themes, characters, settings and plot.
2. An understanding of the techniques, such as sensory detail, dialogue, scene, characterization, point of view, and plot that writers use to create a story
3. The ability to use narrative techniques in creative exercises and “find” a draft of their own short story.
4. The ability to critice, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a draft of a story.

Required texts: Course packet with stories, various handouts

Class participation also means being prepared for class—coming to class with your book every time, having read the material and not writing critiques during class. (I always see!) It means contributing at least one idea to class discussions, and hopefully more. It also means contributing comments that will help the writer improve his/her work, not to make fun of them or simply make yourself sound smart. My hope is that our class becomes a writer’s community in which you can get to know each other’s work, help each other improve your work, and learn a little about writing fiction.

Required texts: Course packet with stories, various handsouts

Class participation also means being prepared for class—coming to class with your book every time, having read the material and not writing criticis during class. (I always see!) It means contributing at least one idea to class discussions, and hopefully more. It also means contributing comments that will help the writer improve his/her work, not to make fun of them or simply make yourself sound smart. My hope is that our class becomes a writer’s community in which you can get to know each other’s work, help each other improve your work, and learn a little about writing fiction.