BETH TAYLOR: Hello, my
name is Beth Taylor,
and I'm the instructor for
English 930 Introduction
to Creative Nonfiction.
This fully online four credit
course runs for the entire four
weeks of winter session.
Why take a writing course
online during winter session?
Maybe you love writing
but haven't had a chance
to take a writing course
during the semester.
Maybe you'll be traveling
or studying abroad,
but you want to keep up
with reading and writing
about subjects you care about.
Or maybe you need to
make up some credits
from last semester.
Whatever your reason for being
interested in this particular
course, I'd like to give
you an overview of what
you can expect.
This writing workshop
is for students
with a serious interest in
writing narrative essays
based on fact, research,
interviews, and memories.
You will be inspired I
hope by close readings
of 20th-century
nonfiction writers,
including writers like Jamaica
Kincaid and David Foster
Wallace.
Through your assignments
and revisions,
you will blend
scholarly research
with interviews and
personal reflection
to create three narrative
essays intertwining
the forms of memoir, academic
essay, and literary journalism.
You will also collaborate
as peer reviewers learning
to effectively edit
your own writing as you
gain insight through
critiquing others drafts.
Keep in mind that this
course is asynchronous,
meaning you can work
on the assignments
when it is most convenient
for you each day.
However, you must keep
up with daily discussions
and coursework.
Additionally, you
and I will schedule
two synchronous
conferences, meaning
we will speak to
each other twice at a
specific day and time to
discuss your writing using
Google Hangouts or FaceTime.
It's also worth noting that this
is a full credit undergraduate
course, so you will spend
the same amount of time
you spend during a
semester on a course,
but in a much shorter
period of time.
Every day you will be
working on an essay,
analyzing readings, doing
research, perhaps interviewing
someone or revising.
And for every reading
and peer review,
you will spend time preparing
your responses and feedback
offline before
posting your comments
to a discussion or a draft.
You will write two drafts of
each of the three narrative
essays.
And to keep up with reading and
writing assignments, discussion
forums, and peer
reviews, you're expected
to participate in this
course on a daily basis,
including weekends.
So be prepared to log onto
the course and work every day.
Additionally, you must have
excellent and reliable internet
connection even if
you are traveling.
And in order to keep
up with the coursework,
you should get
started right when
the course opens
and plan ahead to be
able to meet each deadline.
Essentially together you and
I will read, write, post,
and review from morning
till night for the four
weeks of winter session.
We will be a community
of writers, editors
for each other and collaborators
in the creative process
of writing narrative essays.
By the end of this
course, I hope
you'll have a portfolio
of three narrative essays
that you are proud of and that
you will have gained skills
to carry with you into
an advanced reading
course or any assignment
or job you will take on.
If you have other
questions about the course,
you can reach out to
me anytime by email
at elizabeth_taylor@brown.edu.
I'm excited to be offering this
course during winter session,
and if you've decided
this course is for you,
I look forward to reading your
writing and working with you.
