Madge-World: Welcome to it.

tsflynn:

It’s hard to believe classes will be starting again next week. I’ll be teaching English 340: Form & Technique in Prose this semester, a course intended to teach undergraduate creative writing majors how to read as writers. Close reading is always an important component of my creative writing classes, but usually the readings are limited to short stories and poetry. For 340, I’m teaching two novels and a few book-length works of nonfiction in addition to various short stories and assorted essays.

I spent today finalizing my syllabus and preparing lecture notes for the first class meeting. Here’s the course description and reading list:

ENG 340: Form & Technique in Prose

In this course we’ll examine the nexus of form and technique in creative prose. Lecture, discussion, and close reading of literary long-form journalism, essays, short stories, memoir, and novels will be supplemented by short written responses to readings and creative imitation exercises. Students are expected to formulate considered responses to the readings and participate fully in all class discussions. All claims, arguments, and questions should be supported with specific textual evidence.

Required Texts:

Novels: 

• Egan, Jennifer. A Visit from the Goon Squad 
• Kennedy, William. Ironweed 

Nonfiction Books:

• Didion, Joan. Slouching Towards Bethlehem 
• Kumar, Amitava. A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm a Tiny Bomb 

Short Stories:

• “Bobby Kennedy & His Sea Lion Sandy” (Luebbert)
• “The School” (Barthelme)
• “All the Way in Flagstaff, Arizona” (Bausch)
• “Chopin in Winter” (Dybek)
• “Testimony of Pilot” (Hannah)
• “Wickedness” (Hansen)
• “Girl” (Kincaid)
• “Home” (Phillips)
• “Moonwalk” (Power)*
• “Lawns” (Simpson)*

Essays:

• “Meltdown” (Tower) 
• “Fourth State of Matter (Beard) 
• “The Music of Failure” (Holm) 
• “Apocalypse: What Disasters Reveal” (Diaz)
• “Consider the Lobster” (Wallace) 
• “The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism” (Lethem)
• “Zadie Smith on the Essay” (Smith)
• “Reality Hunger” (Shields)
• “Novel Ideas? Problems with Reality Hunger” (Brown)

My fall reading list. Good stuff.  If I can’t take the class, I can read along.