This introductory, freshman-level course teaches students how to read perceptively and write coherently in college courses. Students learn to comprehend, critique, and respond to college readings by writing analytical essays ranging from single-source papers to evaluations of the claims and evidence in a number of readings. Typical assignments include single-source critiques and multiple-source syntheses. The course emphasizes thoughtful and responsible use of sources. May satisfy departmental and school requirements for a level-1 writing course. 3 credits. (F-S,Y) Prerequisites: Open only to freshmen and sophomores.
WRTG 17500 Introduction to Creative Writing
Elements and techniques of writing fiction and poetry introduced through instruction, analysis of models, experimentation, and practice. Fiction-writing techniques include developing character and plot, using dialogue, creating scenes, learning narrative structure, and acquiring narrative voice. Poetry-writing techniques include traditional poetic forms, poetic imagery, and descriptive and figurative language. Not open to students who have previously received credit for WRTG 23600 or WRTG 23800. 3 credits. (F-S,Y) Prerequisites: Any level-1 composition course from WRTG 10600 through WRTG 16500.
Prepares students to write convincing arguments by learning logical strategies for presenting and defending ideas. Introduces a variety of forms that arguments can take, emphasizing the traditional essay. Particularly recommended for students who wish to strengthen their ability to present their point of view persuasively, intelligently, and ethically. 3 credits. (F-S,Y) Prerequisites: Any level-1 composition course from WRTG 10600 through WRTG 16500; sophomore standing or above.
Writing essays based on analysis of students' experiences, ideas, and feelings. Emphasis is placed on narrative, descriptive, and organizational techniques, as well as development of style. Readings are intended to deepen students' understanding of their own lives and provide models for creative interpretations of their own experience. 3 credits. (F-S,Y) Prerequisites: Any level-1 composition course from WRTG 10600 through WRTG 16500.
WRTG 20700 Slow Read: Topics in Power & Resistance
Intensive study of a single text that focuses on how writers engage with issues of power and resistance. Explores such topics as privilege and power, social construction of race, and gender identity. Through dialogue with a complex text, students develop skills in writing critically and thoughtfully about challenging ideas, with a particular emphasis on connecting those ideas to their own concerns as writers. May be repeated for a total of three credits when texts vary. Prerequisites: One three credit liberal arts course. (B,IRR)
WRTG 21100 Writing for the Workplace
Basic on-the-job writing necessary to join, manage, and promote any organization, whether profit or nonprofit. Focus is primarily on short forms: resumes, memos, business letters, summaries, brochures, newsletters, press releases, informal proposals, and reports. Course also explores how various social, economic, and ethical issues affect workplace writing. 3 credits. (F-S,Y) Prerequisites: Sophomore standing; any level-1 composition course from WRTG 10600 through WRTG 16500.
WRTG 21700 Inquiry, Research, and Writing Across the Disciplines
Prepares students across the disciplines to engage in inquiry-based research, examining questions relevant to their fields and interests and producing substantial formal writing in a range of research genres. Emphasizes writing and research as recursive processes. Focuses on development of effective research practices, including identifying, locating, evaluating, and integrating sources ethically and effectively. 3 credits. (F-S,Y) Prerequisites: ICSM 10800, ICSM 11800, or WRTG 106000 .
Intensive study of the patterns of English grammar and their influence on sentence structure, punctuation, and usage. Daily exercises in contemporary usage and writing assignments prepare students for refining their own academic prose and for editing the work of others. 3 credits. (F-S,Y) Prerequisites: Sophomore standing; any level-1 composition course from WRTG 10600 through WRTG 16500.
WRTG 23200 Creative Nonfiction
Introduction to writing research-based creative nonfiction. Readings are intended to expose students to the breadth of the nonfiction genre. Emphasis is placed on literary technique, ethics, and research. 3 credits. (F-S,Y) Prerequisites: Sophomore standing and WRTG 10600.
WRTG 23600 Fiction Writing I: Short Story
Workshop in writing fiction, emphasizing plot, characterization, dialogue, description, narration, mood, tone, and viewpoint. Analysis of both professional and student writing. A final portfolio of revised work is required. 3 credits. (F-S,Y) Prerequisites: Sophomore standing; WRTG 17500.
Workshop in writing poetry, in which students develop poetic strategies and practice a range of poetic forms and modes. Analysis of published models (both historical and contemporary) and student writing. A final portfolio of revised work is required. 3 credits. (F-S,Y) Prerequisites: Sophomore standing; WRTG 17500.
WRTG 25200 Sophomore Internship
Work and study project designed by the student early in undergraduate career, in consultation with a faculty sponsor and a practicing professional. The H&S internship proposal includes learning objectives, a detailed work plan, and a description of the student's plans for reports to the faculty sponsor. May be repeated up to 3 cr total. Offered on demand only. Prerequisites: Two WRTG courses. (F,S,U,Y)
Advanced course surveying and writing in the memoir genre. Encourages students to recognize developmental patterns in their own lives and understand the social and political context of their experience. Emphasis is placed on the thematic, structural, and stylistic problems of writing a book-length autobiographical narrative. Readings are used to model the genre and address relevant issues, such as the selectivity of memory, the public presentation of the private self, and the literary value of daily life. Prerequisites: WRTG 20500 or WRTG 23600. (F,S,Y)
WRTG 30500 Writing SciFi and Fantasy
Advanced creative writing course in science fiction and fantasy that emphasizes the importance of character and thematic development. Assignments also focus on the selection of subject, setting, and narrative techniques. Readings in contemporary science fiction and fantasy serve as models for approaches to these two genres. 3 credits (S,Y) Prerequisites: Junior standing; WRTG 23600.
Introduction to and exploration of gender and women's experience, both historical and contemporary, through different literary forms. Students will become familiar with and apply feminist theory to a variety of creative forms. Writing assignments may include nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and/or dramatic writing. Readings by women writers past and present. 3 credits. (F-S,Y) Prerequisites: WRTG 20500, WRTG 23600, or WRTG 23800.
WRTG 31200 Image-Text Practicum
Explores the interaction and integration of writing and photography. Focus on the history and contemporary practice of image and text-based work. Completion of an independent text-image project required. Prerequisites: CNPH 24200 or any 200-level WRTG course; permission of instructor.
Advanced expository course on journalistic and literary scientific writing. Students learn to communicate scientific facts and theories to professional and sophisticated lay readers through description, analogy, narrative, and argument. Some discussion of the technical and scholarly conventions of formal scientific writing. Class readings include major humanistic essays from the history of science and articles and features from contemporary popular and scientific publications. Prerequisites: Junior standing; WRTG 20100 or WRTG 21300; or three courses in COMP, BIOC, BIOL, CHEM, ENVS, EXSS, HLTH, MATH, or PHYS. (S)
Advanced expository course in developing the skills necessary to write informative, accurate, and interesting feature articles suitable for print or online publications. Students learn interviewing and reporting skills, as well as feature genres, style, and structure. Prerequisites: WRTG 20100, WRTG 20500, or WRTG 23200. (F)
An advanced workshop for students with a serious commitment to writing fiction. Builds on the work begun in WRTG 23600. Students may write short stories or longer fictional pieces. 3 credits. (F-S,Y) Prerequisites: Junior standing; WRTG 23600.
An advanced workshop for students with a serious commitment to the art of writing poetry. Students build on the study begun in WRTG 23800, striving for a greater understanding of issues and techniques in poetry. 3 credits. (F or S,Y) Prerequisites: Junior standing; WRTG 23800.
Combines analysis of issues related to travel writing and writing within the genre. Explores goals, audiences, and forms of travel writing. Taught online and available only to students away from the Ithaca campus. Students are requested to discuss travel locations with professor prior to registration. 3 credits. (F-S,Y) Prerequisites: WRTG 20100, 20500, or 23200; permission of instructor.
WRTG 36000 Language, Literacy, and Writing Studies
Explores theoretical and practical connections among language, literacy, and writing, focusing on research and theory that inform the field of composition and rhetoric. Explores questions such as: How are texts composed? What do accomplished readers and writers understand, and how do they develop that knowledge? How do people engage new discourses? How are authority and identity achieved in writing? How are language and literacy part of systems of power and privilege? How is technology affecting how we think, read, write, learn and share cultural resources? Prerequisites: Junior standing; WRTG 20100; WRTG 20500. (F or S, Y)
Introduction to Western theories of creative writing as a means of investigating the relationships between writer, text, and world. Addresses cultural/political, psychological, philosophical, and aesthetic concerns. Students analyze their own creative work and process in the context of these theories. 3 credits. (F-S,Y) Prerequisites: Junior standing; WRTG 23600 or WRTG 23800; any other writing course above level 1.
WRTG 38000 Visiting Writers' Workshop
An advanced writing workshop offered each semester to coincide with the Department of Writing Distinguished Visiting Writers series. Requires 15 contact hours in meetings, conferences, and classes with both the visiting writer and the writing faculty coordinator. Students produce a 15-page revised manuscript of new work in the relevant genre over the course of the semester. May be repeated up to three times for credit. 1 credit. (F-S,Y) Prerequisites: Junior standing; permission of instructor.
Advanced independent project designed by writing majors no later than their second junior semester and relating to their particular concentration or area of interest. The project, is usually undertaken in the second semester of the student's senior year. Work in the final portfolio is evaluated by the faculty mentor. Students are encouraged but not required to give a public presentation or reading of their work during their senior year. 3 credits. (F-S,Y) Prerequisites: Senior standing; WRTG 32000, WRTG 33600, or WRTG 33800; WRTG 36000 or WRTG 36500; permission of writing faculty. Open to majors only.
Small group setting for intensive study of selected advanced topics not provided elsewhere in the curriculum. Seminar topics vary each semester. May be repeated for credit when topics vary. 3 credits. (F-S,Y) Prerequisites: Senior standing; two writing courses beyond level 1, at least one of which must be at level 3; permission of instructor; additional specific prerequisites to be determined by the subject of the seminar.
WRTG 43600 Writing the Novella
This advanced fiction-writing seminar offers students the opportunity to develop a novella. The course extends previously learned narrative elements, such as characterization, plot, setting, point of view, tone, and voice, and applies them to a broader, more complex literary canvas. Students will create narratives that allow for multiple characters who interact within an expanded social context or that permit the extended exploration of a single character in considered detail. Prerequisites: WRTG 33600. (F,Y)
WRTG 45000 Internship: Writing
Work and study project designed by the student, in consultation with a faculty sponsor and a practicing professional. The proposal includes learning objectives, a detailed work plan, and a description of the student's plans for reports to the faculty sponsor. Prerequisites: Junior standing; three writing courses above level 1. Offered on demand only. Variable credit 1-6 credits; may be repeated up to 12 credits. (F-S,Y)
Provides writing majors with a capstone experience for their work in their major and in the Integrative Core Curriculum. Students reflect on their learning in the various aspects of the ICC, the connection of the discipline of writing to the ICC, and the relationship of their undergraduate learning to their future paths. Restricted to senior standing. 1 credit. (F-S,Y)