ENGH 619: Special Topics in Writing

ENGH 619-005: Home & Away: Cultural Heritage
(Fall 2017)

04:30 PM to 07:10 PM R

Section Information for Fall 2017

This course will examine the art, craft, and ethics of portraying one's own or others' cultural heritage.  How can we make our personal narrative understandable to the "general reader" who does not share the time, place, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, class, profession, etc. that form our sense of "cultural heritage" or "home"?  How can we write about people who do not share these cultural or identity markers without mispresenting them?  Are the limits of what we can reveal, portray, speculate, and conclude differently when we are writing about our own culture as opposed to someone else's?  We will consider these questions (and more) by reading books by writers who portrayed their own cultural background and by writers who portrayed someone else's.  The books may include: Maxine Hong Kingston's Woman Warrior, Anthony Bordain's Kitchen Confidential, Esmeralda Santiago's When I was a Puerto Rican, Leanne Sharpton's Swimming Studies, Anne Fadiman's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Peter Hessler's River Town, and David Shields' Black Planet.  The second half of the semester will focus on the student's own writing about "home" or "away" in workshop discussions.

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Course Information from the University Catalog

Credits: 3

Workshop course. Intensive practice in creative writing and study of creative process. Concentrates on specialized literary type other than short story, such as essay, playwriting, film writing, children's literature, travel literature, autobiography, gothic novel, and translation. Notes: Intended for students already writing original creative work. Other interested graduate students should contact the English department at (703) 993-1180. May be repeated for credit with permission of department. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 30 credits.
Specialized Designation: Topic Varies
Recommended Prerequisite: Intended for students already writing original creative work.
Registration Restrictions:

Enrollment limited to students with a class of Advanced to Candidacy, Graduate, Junior Plus, Non-Degree or Senior Plus.

Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Creative Writing.

Enrollment is limited to Graduate, Non-Degree or Undergraduate level students.

Students in a Non-Degree Undergraduate degree may not enroll.

Schedule Type: Lec/Sem #1, Lec/Sem #2, Lec/Sem #3, Lec/Sem #4, Lec/Sem #5, Lec/Sem #6, Lec/Sem #7, Lec/Sem #8, Lec/Sem #9, Lecture, Sem/Lec #10, Sem/Lec #11, Sem/Lec #12, Sem/Lec #13, Sem/Lec #14, Sem/Lec #15, Sem/Lec #16, Sem/Lec #17, Sem/Lec #18
Grading:
This course is graded on the Graduate Regular scale.

The University Catalog is the authoritative source for information on courses. The Schedule of Classes is the authoritative source for information on classes scheduled for this semester. See the Schedule for the most up-to-date information and see Patriot web to register for classes.