Writing from Your Own Experience

Mopsy Strange Kennedy

This course will concentrate on two genres using the first person. The first is the nonfiction article, which makes use of the writer's own self and subjective impressions, though the topic may be an external one. Numerous magazines and newspapers use this form, most notably the "Lives" column in The New York Times and "My Turn" in Newsweek. The other genre, found in books such as Intoxicated by My Illness by Anatole Broyard; The Blue Jay's Dance by Louise Erdrich; and Home Before Dark by Susan Cheever, makes use of some of the techniques of fiction to tell a story that is nevertheless the writer's own. The shaping of scenes, the writing of dialogue, and the use of pungent, telling detail will be emphasized so that the story is cinematically vivid, and the writer is interestingly revealed. There will be relevant readings, too. Limited to 15.
Sec. 01: 10 Wednesdays, 10:00-11:30 am. Begins Mar. 31, 42 Brattle St. | $176
WREP–01
$176.00