Magazine Writing

Semester and Year	SP 2011
Course Number	WRTNG-UG1024
Section	001
Instructor	Taylor Antrim
Days	Mon
Time	6:20 PM - 9:00 PM
Units	4.0
Level	U
Foundation Requirement

Description

For more than a century the American print magazine has provided a distinct literary experience—timely subjects, a juxtaposition of text and image (still unmatched in digital media), a rich grab bag of styles and forms. In this seminar we’ll look at examples of reporting, profile writing, criticism and memoir from the pages of magazines past and present (from The Saturday Evening Post to Vogue to Vice ). How have magazines, and their distinctive design vocabulary, driven the national conversation? How do we understand "facts" in these publications? What roles do voice, point-of-view, character, dialogue, and plot—the traditional elements of fiction—play? Can criticism be the equal of art? Over the course of the semester students will be expected to generate long- and short-form magazine story ideas, to shape a magazine pitch and write and revise stories on deadline. Readings may include selections from the works of Mark Twain, H. L. Mencken, James Thurber, Martha Gellhorn, James Baldwin, Gay Talese, Pauline Kael, Joan Didion, Henry Louis Gates, Susan Orlean, David Foster Wallace, and George Saunders.

Course Type

Advanced Writing Courses (WRTNG-UG)