Fiction

Catalog description

"There is no doubt," says Doris Lessing, "that fiction makes a better job of the truth." What is the connection between fiction and truth? Why are stories (narrative fictions) so compelling? Fiction takes a variety of forms, including the novel, the short story, the story cycle, the novella, the graphic novel, etc. New media has added to these in the forms of collaborative tales, fan fiction and hypertextual works, for examples. Students focus on one specific fictional form (topics vary by term) and study it in depth. Upon completing the course, students have a firm grasp of the form’s literary conventions, relation to the cultural/historical contexts of its production and ongoing reception, and relation to other literary genres.