Advanced Essay Writing: Style & Styles in Prose

Catalog description

The goal of this course is to expand the writer's sense of style by increasing sensitivity to tools such as metaphor, humor, irony, and voice. Through assigned readings and class discussions, individual and small group conferenceswith the professor, and revision, students will experiment with distinctive stylistic options. Using a variety of sentence types and patterns to improve how their writing flows, students will explore creative paragraphing and sectioning to achieve different effects; learn to use grammatical and mechanical devices to control rhythm and meaning; study how the sounds of words and their associations can enhance vividness; and gain appreciation for the processes of revision and its opportunities. Students will develop a sense of their unique style and a repertoire of tools to drawfrom in a variety of writing occasions.