Experimenting with language: A Writer’s Perspective

Pulitzer Prize winning author Junot Diaz once said, “A writer is a writer because, even when there is no hope, even when nothing you do shows any signs of promise, you keep writing anyway.” Students in this course explore the ways in which writers use language to inspire, and make meaning in the world. With the help and support of the instructors, students practice reading with the sharp eye of a writer. As readers, they navigate various pieces of short fiction and poetry while questioning, investigating and employing techniques published writers use to make language come alive. As writers, they work toward developing their literary voices while experimenting with different writing methods and strategies. Students take risks and play with language as they create and share their work, collaborate with one another in writer’s workshops and develop finalized versions of their own, original, writing.

Learning Objectives

• Employ literary elements, narrative techniques, and figurative language in both formal and informal writing assignments.

• Participate in multiple writing workshops that offer constructive criticism on your work in a safe, growth-oriented space.

• Draft, revise, and undertake other important elements of the writing process in order to produce a minimum of two polished pieces of writing (short fiction and poetry).