ENGH 506: Research for Narrative Writing

ENGH 506-001: Research for Narrative Writing
(Spring 2019)

07:20 PM to 10:00 PM W

Section Information for Spring 2019

This course is designed to teach creative writers how to find information and how to feed it seamlessly into a compelling nonfiction story or essay.  The first part of the semester will focus on research and story-definition: how to find an appropriate topic, how to find information on that topic, how to keep track of the information you found, how to reshape the story now that you’ve found the information you thought you were looking for (and learned many things you hadn’t thought about), and how NOT to use everything you found in your research so that your piece is written in your own voice rather than in the many voices of your various sources and its overall structure rises out of the story you decided to tell rather than from the information you found.  The second half of the semester will focus on your work in progress, in workshop discussions.  The course is required for all MFA nonfiction students.  MFA fiction and poetry students may take it for their out-of-genre credits.  The course is also open to students in other Master’s Programs and to special students; however, anyone who takes the course should be familiar with literary (not academic or technical) nonfiction writing and have some idea of what a “nonfiction story” or an “essay” is.

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Course Information from the University Catalog

Credits: 3

Combines study of basic research tools with field work and writing workshop experience. Helps students develop techniques and skills necessary for writing a research-dependent project of sufficient complexity to be of book or long essay length. Emphasis on finding story behind facts, using material from numerous sources. May not be repeated for credit.
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 Graduate, Non-Degree or Undergraduate level students.

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

Schedule Type: Seminar
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.