Graduate Courses

26:200:550,551,552,553 M.F.A. Fiction Workshop I-IV (3,3,3,3) Regular submission, discussion, and analysis of student work in one or more fictional modes (short story, novella, novel), with examination of relevant readings illustrating plot, setting, dialogue, narrative, point of view, language, style, and characterization. Teachers and students work together to create an atmosphere in which all are encouraged to overcome the limitations and build upon the achievements of their previous work. Participants may bring in a new piece of fiction each week or may submit on a stated rotational basis. Writing faculty mentors go over the work in greater detail in regular conferences as requested by the students.

26:200:554,555,556,557 M.F.A. Poetry Workshop I-IV (3,3,3,3) Weekly meetings held in which M.F.A. poets gather to discuss each other's new poems. Each poet is encouraged, inspired, and challenged by the example of peer poets and the instruction writing faculty to write poems which are increasingly deeper, truer, and stronger. Teachers and students work together to create an atmosphere in which all are encouraged to overcome the limitations and build upon the achievements of their previous work. Participants may bring in a new poem or poems each week or may submit on a stated rotational basis. Writing faculty mentors go over the work in greater detail in regular conferences as requested by the students.

26:200:558,559,560,561 M.F.A. Nonfiction Workshop I-IV (3,3,3,3) Regular submission, discussion, and analysis of student work in one or more nonfiction modes (historical nonfiction, creative nonfiction, memoir, personal essay), with examination of relevant readings illustrating research and investigation of topics, setting, narrative, point of view, language, style, and characterization. Teachers and students work together to create an atmosphere in which all are encouraged to overcome the limitations and build upon the achievements of their previous work. Participants may bring in a new piece of nonfiction each week or may submit on a stated rotational basis. Writing faculty mentors go over the work in greater detail in regular conferences as requested by the students.

26:200:562 M.F.A. Craft of Poetry (3) Discussion and analysis of poems and poetics in a range of modes and styles. Relevant readings in poetry will be discussed and examined in order to disclose the technical choices confronted by their authors. Students will study a range of voices and themes and will discuss poetry as poets concerned with the developing canon of contemporary works.

26:200:563,569 M.F.A. Craft of Fiction (3,3) Discussion and analysis of fiction in a range of modes and styles. Relevant readings in fiction will be discussed and examined in order to disclose the technical choices confronted by their authors. Students will study theme, voice, characterization, the relation of author to text, the structure of narrative forms, point of view, and contextual relationships in fiction.

26:200:564 M.F.A. Craft of Nonfiction (3) Discussion and analysis of nonfiction in a range of modes (historical nonfiction, creative nonfiction, memoir, personal essay). Relevant readings in nonfiction will be discussed and examined in order to disclose the technical choices confronted by nonfiction authors. Students will study theme, formulation, choice of subject and research methods, the relation of author to text, the structure of narrative forms, point of view, and the relation of fact and truth within nonfiction works.

26:200:565 M.F.A. Thesis Independent Study (3) Gives students 3 credits for successful independent work on their M.F.A. book-length theses in their genre of specialization. Students will set and meet their own goals outside of the workshop setting. They will meet with instructors/advisers as agreed to discuss their progress and will turn in completed pages at the midterm and at the end of the thesis independent study semester.

26:200:566 M.F.A. Thesis in Conference (3) Gives students 3 credits for intensive one-on-one editorial meetings and discussions with writing faculty advisers/mentors as they complete their thesis in fiction, poetry, or nonfiction in the last semester of their matriculation.

26:200:567,568 Writers at Newark I and II: Contemporary American Literature (3,3) Thematically focused on the works of writers featured each semester during the Writers at Newark Reading Series. M.F.A. students read/discuss the texts of invited authors and then attend the readings (once a month) in which two writers of national reputation read their works and converse with the audience. Poetry, fiction, and nonfiction genres are represented. Race, gender, and the search for meaning and connection through language in a multicultural society are represented in a range of contemporary American voices. This course offers M.F.A. students the opportunity to study work of literary and cultural merit before hearing the authors read from their work; students will then be free to converse with authors at the Q&A following the readings.

26:200:570,571 Writers at Newark I and II: Contemporary American Literature Colloquium (1,1)

The Writers at Newark Reading Series Graduate Colloquium will grant 1 credit, pass/fail, to graduate students who commit to reading at least eight books from the Writers At Newark readings list (two books per event), attend four scheduled events in the reading series, and write four short responses to the readings/books each semester. Students will check in with the M.F.A. program coordinator before each reading at Paul Robeson Gallery, attend the reading, and email a short response to one of the teaching assistants or teaching fellows in the M.F.A. program. Students will read two books per event before the reading, hear the writer read from the work, and have a chance to ask questions. Writers At Newark readings include fiction, nonfiction, and poetry readings by a diverse group of nationally known writers.

Pass/Fail.

26:200:800 Matriculation Continued (1) Prerequisite: Permission of the department.