Pennsylvania State University 3 credits ENGL
Reading Nonfiction will provide students with a historical context and the reading skills necessary for this "fourth genre" of creative writing, with an emphasis on memoirs and the essays that have defined the genre across different eras. Biographies, autobiographies, travel narratives, science writing, and political writing could be included along with hybrid nonfiction such as graphic memoir and the video essay. As a reading (not writing) class, content will focus on the implicit contract of truth between the writer and the reader, with discussions to focus on the impact of a "true story" told creatively. What must the writer accomplish on the page in order for a reader to become engaged with this genre? The course will bring to the table questions of ethics and morals when applied to our latest understanding of the fallibility or reliability of memory and how authors use their memories to write nonfiction. Later weeks in the course will examine publishing trends in nonfiction and identify career paths for students wishing to further explore the scholarship of nonfiction.
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