Master of Fine Arts in Writing Course Descriptions

MFA - 600. The First Person: Autobiographical Writing (3)

A six-week intensive in reading and writing autobiographical fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. How to transform personal experience into a work of literary art. Required first course for all students. Offered in the summer preceding the first

school year.

MFA - 612. Writing Workshop I (3)

The first of four workshops in long fiction, short fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Students share their writing and critique the writing of other students working in their genre. Offered in the Fall.

MFA - 622. Writing Workshop II (3)

The second of four workshops in long fiction, short fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Students share their writing and critique the writing of other students working in their genre. Offered in the Spring.

MFA - 632. Writing Workshop III (3)

The third of four workshops in long fiction, short fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Students share their writing and critique the writing of other students working in their genre. Offered in the Fall.

MFA - 642. Writing Workshop IV (3)

The fourth of four workshops in long fiction, short fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Students share their writing and critique the writing of other students working in their genre. Offered in the Spring.

MFA - 650. Word for Word (3)

Examines the creative use of diction, syntax, punctuation, and cadence by writers in all genres. Students study the impact of language and grammar as functions of literary style and agents of literary meaning, and apply new linguistic strategies to their own writing.

MFA - 651. Developments in the Novel (3)

Beginning with novels in the mid-nineteenth century and advancing to the mid-twentieth century, this course addresses major literary movements, such as psychological realism, modernism, and postmodernism, and considers literature in English and in translation. Novels are analyzed in relation to historical context and aesthetic tradition.

MFA - 653. Research for Writing (3)

This course is a practical introduction to research techniques and strategies for writers of literary prose. Designed for nonfiction and fiction writers, its fundamental objective is to teach students how to conduct print and first-person research and to understand exactly how such research will benefit their writing. Writers of historical fiction, novels, memoirs, nonfiction narratives, and essays will find the strategies covered in this course germane to their work.

MFA - 654. American Poetry and Poetics (3)

The American tradition in poetry is explored, from Whitman to the present, with a focus on the historical development of poetic thought. The course follows shifting ideologies and social contexts, and examines the way literary schools and counter-

influences create a new American poetry for the modern era. Students read both the

poetry and poetics of selected authors, and develop their own poetics. Offered in the

Fall.

MFA - 655. The Architecture of Prose (3)

A study of narrative structure, examining authors' strategies for building arcs of conflict, sustaining tension, pacing sequences of action, and achieving a sense of closure. By examining a range of literary models, students learn to plot the architecture of their own full-length manuscripts. Readings include works that adhere to a traditional narrative arc as well as those that use the arc as a point of departure. Offered in the Spring.

MFA - 661. Evolution of the Short Story (3)

This course concentrates on the masters of the short story from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. Addressing major literary movements, such as psychological realism, modernism, and postmodernism, the course considers literature in English and in translation. Stories are analyzed in relation to historical context and aesthetic tradition.

MFA - 662. Contemporary Experiments in Fiction (3)

This course on experimental and radical approaches to fictional prose emphasizes writers who work against the conventions of realism and how they make meaning out of their departures. Readings drawn from around the world make use of such strategies as discontinuous narratives, metafictional techniques, and non-narrative forms and serve as models to encourage students to take risks in their own writing.

MFA - 663. Ethical Issues in Writing (3)

What kinds of moral responsibilities-and consequences-attend the act of authorship? Using some combination of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, this course examines ethical dilemmas that writers come up against in pursuit of their art, and asks students to investigate their own aesthetic and moral issues.

MFA - 664. Poetry International (3)

This course examines major developments in modern world poetry by looking at a range of literary traditions and historical contexts of non-English-speaking poets. Though most work is read in translation, reference to original languages is encouraged. Students work on translating from chosen languages, and the class examines both the problems and the excitement of reading beyond one's borders. Offered in the Spring.

MFA - 670. Intention and Design in Prose (3)

This course examines how a writerfrom idea to sketch to final draft. Close examinations of finished literary works in fiction and nonfiction are augmented by the writerletters, essays,

notebooks, preliminary drafts, and other aesthetic statements. Students investigate how sensibility is expressed by craft, with an emphasis on the process of composition and revision.

MFA - 671. The Techniques of Long Fiction (3)

With an emphasis on contemporary novels, this course engages students in close readings of long fiction, examining ways in which different authors use formal elements, including characterization, structure, point of view, chapter structure, and figurative language. Craft analysis integrates craft theory and emphasizes how students may apply these techniques in their own novels-in-progress.

MFA - 672. The Craft of Short Fiction (3)

With an emphasis on contemporary short stories, this course engages students in close readings of short fiction, examining ways in which different authors can serve as models for crafting the formal elements of fiction, including structure, characterization, point of view, imagery, and style. Craft analysis integrates craft theory and emphasizes how students may apply these techniques in their own stories.

MFA - 673. The Prose of Fact (3)

What are the elements that make nonfiction writing creative? This course rehearses a variety of modes that contribute to making fact-based writing dynamic. Examples of memoir, travel writing, nature writing, history, criticism, and letters are used, augmented by creative techniques associated with fiction and poetry. Offered in the Fall.

MFA - 674. Prosody: The Meaning of Poetic Form (3)

An in-depth study of poetic elements, with an eye to the history and evolution of poetic forms. Students look at the organizing principles of syllable, stanza, and line; of stress, meter, rhyme, and a variety of countings, as well as contemporary explorations of fragmentation, interruption, chance, and silence. Readings are drawn from the ancients as well as from postmodern contemporaries, and demonstrate a range of structural elements, radical and classic. Offered in the Fall.

MFA - 675. Teaching Creative Writing (3)

A study of the methods, theory, and practice of teaching creative writing. Students read extensively about pedagogy, develop model lessons, and put them into practice. Topics range from the philosophy of teaching to designing a course, choosing class materials, and responding to student writing. Teaching demonstrations offer the students the opportunity to practice teaching in front of their peers.

MFA - 679. Major Project (3)

Students work with individual Major Project instructors to formulate, plan, and begin to execute the Major Project. Offered in the Summer

MFA - 680. Style in Fiction (3)

To deepen a student's understanding of style and its relation to content, this course examines fiction at the level of language, emphasizing short stories as a convenient means to analyze a broader range of styles. Elements of style studied include sentence structure, tone, rhythm, diction, voice, and imagery. There may also be a focus on different schools of style, such as stream of consciousness, minimalist, magical realism, or surrealism.

MFA - 681. Blurred Boundaries: Writing Beyond Genre (3)

This course focuses on modern literary works that cross or combine genres and therefore stand outside the conventions of any single genre. By studying such works, students learn to draw from a variety of models and modes, to increase their

stylistic and structural range. Readings are drawn from genre theory and works such as "short short," the "lyric essay," the "illustrated novel," the "prose poem," and the "novel in verse." Offered intermittently

MFA - 682. Foundations of Nonfiction (3)

This course looks at fundamental texts of literary nonfiction in an historical context, affording students an opportunity to learn about the heritage of the genre. A range of reading demonstrates the suppleness of the form and helps

students to discover possibilities of theme and structure in nonfiction prose. Readings may include diaries, speeches, meditations, journals, and monologues. Offered in the Fall.

MFA - 683. The Art of the Essay (3)

Students read from a range of nonfiction, looking at thematic impetus, investigative purpose, or

meditative stance, and explore a variety of approaches, techniques, and subjects available to them. Course readings include personal essays, informative pieces, and investigations of place and character. Offered in the Spring.

MFA - 684. Narrating Nonfiction (3)

Through the close reading of full-length books and nonfiction "stories," this course examines how writers of nonfiction bring narrative momentum to their work through fictional

structures and techniques. Particular attention is paid to the work of exemplary authors who rely upon scene crafting, characterization, dialogue, point of view and chronological frames. Offered in the Spring.

MFA - 686. Visionary Poetics (3)

The study of Visionary Poetries, focusing on Romantic, Mystical, and Ecstatic traditions from the Biblical era to the contemporary period. Students will examine texts and literary philosophy that encourage transcendental loss-of-self as a foundation of poetic practice, and adapt strategies for their own writing. Offered in the Spring.

MFA - 687. Deepening Prose (3)

An investigation of how literary fiction attains depth, and how complex layers of meaning converge in a single novel or novella. This course encompasses works noted for their psychological, social, intellectual, and spiritual import. Students undertake the study of this fiction to help them develop and advance thematic strains in their own writing. Readings include works in translation as well as those written in English. Offered in the Spring.

MFA - 688. Finding Form: Novellas and Story Cycles (4)

This course is a study of two "in-between" forms in fiction: the story cycle (or "collection of linked stories" or "novel in stories") and the novella (or "long story" or "short novel"). It offers models and strategies for writers interested in how plans for a novel might be compressed, conceptually and actually, into the novella, and for writers ready to multiply their short stories into a larger cycle. Means for finding the appropriate form for given material are developed, with attention paid to the evolving needs of character, setting, imagery, and theme.

MFA - 689. Major Project I (3)

Students work with individual Major Project instructors to formulate, plan, and begin to execute the Major Project. Offered in the Summer.

MFA - 690. Special Topics (3)

These courses emphasize particular aspects of literary craft. Topics vary from year to year.

MFA - 699. Major Project II (3)

Students work with individual Major Project instructors to formulate, plan, and begin to execute the Major Project. Offered in the Summer.