Teaching and Learning

Genres in Writing & Literature is an intensive course of study in the practical craft and aesthetic forms of expressive writing. Members of the class are responsible for building and maintaining a writer’s community in which time is spent writing independently, discussing professional models of writing, and participating in “workshop,” where students seek feedback from their peers about their own writings.  Through writing, reading, and discussing, students study various techniques of important literary genres, including poetry, story, dramatic script, and several forms of nonfiction. Emphasis in class goes to the study of style and structure, with at least one writing exercise due each week; emphasis outside of class is on the students’ opportunity, ability, and responsibility to create, polish, and revise their own individual works on a regular basis. Because the writing assignments average more than one a week, the course is only recommended for students who actively enjoy writing or who are interested in improving their own expressive writing.  This senior elective course culminates with a capstone, a writing portfolio.  Through this portfolio, students broaden their voices as writers by writing, revising and publishing twenty or more pages.