English 430-002
Advanced Writing Workshop
Instr: Ross, Carol
Office: CRT 524; 229-2971
e-mail: cross@uwm.edu
Office hours: TBA
Course Information: TR; 12:30-1:45pm; HLT G84
Note: This section does NOT carry graduate credit. It is intended for juniors, seniors, and university special students.
Course Description
English 430 is an advanced composition class, designed for already capable writers who have done considerable writing in the past and who want to further develop their prose style. Its focus is literary nonfiction-that is, writing in which the content is based on experience and observed or researched facts (nonfiction) and the style is creative (literary/narrative). How writers say something will be as important as what they say.
Students will have the opportunity to read and write different genres of literary nonfiction: memoir, biography, nature, and culture.
Students are expected to have good control already of grammar and mechanics since these are the basics of writing.
Format: English 430 is a workshop class. Students will share drafts with small writing groups and conference with me; students will revise and submit essays to a larger group for further workshopping. Students will then revise essays again and submit to me for evaluation. Because of this format, all work must be submitted on time, and students must be willing to cooperate and learn from one another.
Texts: 1) Student writing will be the basic text. Students will provide copies for the class. 2) Required: Strunk and White. The Elements of Style. 3) Optional: Lamott. Bird by Bird. 4) Optional: Hacker. A Pocket Style Manual. 5) Optional: Kitchen and Paumier Jones. In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction. 6) Optional: Root and Steinberg. The Fourth Genre.
Course Requirements:
- 4 polished compositions (the majority of the semester grade)
- Written and oral critiques of classmates' writing
- In-class writing
- Classbook entry
- Preparation and participation in reading analyses
Attendance: English 430 is an attendance course; all students must attend regularly in order for the writing groups and workshops to function smoothly. A student's final semester grade will be lowered 1/3 of a grade point for every class missed after three. I do not give incompletes because of the workshop nature of this course.
