MA in Writing Graduate Course Schedule, Northwestern University School of Professional Studies - Northwestern School of Professional Studies

Program Courses

Please note that course schedules may be amended due to low enrollment, faculty availability, and/or other factors.

Online Sync Sessions are an integral part of the online learning experience. Additional information about learning concepts and assignments may be discussed and sync sessions offer valuable opportunities for students to interact with their faculty and peers during the term. We encourage all students to attend live, but if they are unable to, sync sessions will be recorded and posted within Canvas to allow for an asynchronous model of success as well.

MCW 461-DL : Nonfiction Writing Workshop

Description

In this workshop we’ll read and write reviews and descriptive and critical essays. Writing essays in response to creative works sharpens our perceptions, deepens our concentration, improves our descriptive and analytical skills, and inspires ideas. The strongest, most lucid and engaging writing stems from close observation, a spirit of inquiry, and the act of translating impressions into narratives that involve readers in your quest to understand what you’re scrutinizing, why it compels you, and the feelings the work engenders. The reader should feel that she, too, is making discoveries.

We will read and discuss essays and reviews. To stimulate our powers of observation, the instructor will provide images of works of art for writing prompts. We will do in-class writing exercises and talk about the results. Each student will also select a work of literature or art, in consultation with the instructor, to write about in a long-form essay, drafts of which will be submitted at different stages. These will be fresh, exploratory, and personal responses, not academic papers. This course is designed to enrich our reading experience, transform looking into seeing, and amplify nonfiction's vitality and illumination.

Note: This class meets weekly online.