Topics in Journalism: Literary Journalism
WRCT 250J
Fall 2017 not offered
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| Crosslisting:
CSPL 250J |
| Certificates: Writing |
In this course, we will explore the art and craft of magazine-length journalism that strives to do something different than reporting the news--it aspires to achieve the goals of literature. While this kind of writing tends to be timely, as almost all journalism must be when it's first published, at its best, it ought to be worth reading for decades to come. Truman Capote, for example, conceived of IN COLD BLOOD, which he first published as a series of articles in THE NEW YORKER in 1965, as a "non-fiction novel": a work of journalism that employed the techniques and artistry of fiction. We will study the writing of new journalists such as Joan Didion, Tom Wolfe, Nora Ephron, and Gay Talese, who pioneered the idea that there is no such thing as unbiased reporting: The writer can't help but bring a point of view to his or her storytelling, so why not admit it? These writers broke with journalistic convention and admitted that there was an "I" behind the typewriter, a mediator between the "true" story and the reader. We will focus on reading and writing two forms in particular, the profile and the essay. While an excellent profile can be a straightforward examination of another person and his or her place in the world, in the hands of a master like Janet Malcolm or George Trow, it can become an eruption of invention. Essays ask a question or argue a point--but how? There are as many ways as there are writers who explore the form, and in this course we will seek to join them. The course will be taught by Steve Almond, the 2016--17 Koeppel Journalism Fellow. He has been an investigative journalist in Miami and El Paso and is an award-winning writer of nonfiction and fiction. He is the author of eight books, including several New York Times bestsellers, and is currently teaching narrative journalism at the Nieman Foundation at Harvard. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA WRCT |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
Major Readings:
This course will be taught by the Fall 2016 Koeppel Journalism Fellow.
Readings will include a range of articles, reviews, profiles and other pieces of award-winning journalism drawn from The New Yorker and other journals and anthologies
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Examinations and Assignments:
Short pieces and a longer project. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
To apply for a place in the course, write a brief statement of about 250 words explaining why you are interested in the course. Submit a writing sample of 2-3 pages. Send this application to Prof Anne Greene , who is handling arrangements for the course before the instructor is announced.
Use the subject line WRCT 250J. Application due by (date to be announced). Also submit a POI request. Please check your portfolio before planning period ends to see if you have been granted admission.
If you are admitted, please add the course to your schedule immediately. |
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