Reading of selected texts to explore the ways in which literary journalism and related nonfiction modes formulate experience. Students write several short papers and one final project. The required prerequisite for either section of LJ 20 is satisfactory completion of the lower-division writing requirement.

To write convincingly and tell powerful stories that resonate, writers need to be meticulous, thorough reporters. LJ21 teaches students how to report their literary journalism articles accurately and thoroughly, focusing on the three basic means of gathering information for a story: interviewing, observing and reading. Early in the quarter, students will select a topic, or “beat,” as it is known in news parlance, from which they will develop contacts and story leads. Students will cover an event, conduct an interview and generate articles related to their beats, also learning ways to use Internet resources and databases to find facts and information and examining investigative and legal documents. The required prerequisite for either section of LJ 21 is satisfactory completion of the lower-division writing requirement.

In some quarters, the practice of “reconstructing” a story is seen as suspect if not impossible. How can you write about events if you weren’t present when they happened? How can you know what other people think or feel? Doesn’t reconstruction border on fiction? In this workshop, students will explore such questions­ and learn just how literary journalists manage to practice the art of reconstruction in entirely ethical, accurate ways. Students will read exemplary models of reconstructed narrative by writers such as Jon Krakauer, Laura Hillenbrand and Michael Paterniti. They will see why reconstruction plays such a crucial, honorable role in the field of literary journalism. They will also do a good deal of their own reconstruction (learning, along the way, what Tom Wolfe meant when he said that “entering people’s minds” was just “one more doorbell a reporter had to push.”) This course is an advanced writing workshop: students will regularly share their work with classmates in a constructive process of peer-review, then revise based on that feedback. By the end of the quarter, students will have produced a major example of reconstructed narrative writing.

The essence of feature writing is storytelling. In this class we will study the art of storytelling. We will focus on narrative flow, character development and story structure in both newspaper and magazine features. Each week, we will study a different aspect of narrative writing, and guest speakers will describe their techniques. Because the key to fine literary journalism is great reporting, we will emphasize the practical elements of feature writing and will study interviewing and reporting techniques. Students will hone their craft by writing. Aspiring feature writers, however, cannot improve their writing simply by writing. Extensive reading is a must. As a result, reading features stories and analyzing feature writing will be an important part of this class. Students will be expected to bring feature writing samples from newspapers and magazines to class and be prepared to discuss leads, transitions and why stories failed or succeeded, why stories were an excellent example or a flawed demonstration of narrative writing. By the end of the quarter, students will have written at least two stories: a profile and an in-depth feature.

How does literary journalism fit into the digital revolution? Can great nonfiction storytelling transform itself for the Web? In this workshop students will answer such questions by creating their own vibrant digital narratives using multimedia tools to augment the written word. At the quarter¹s beginning, you will be asked to choose a story from the rich and complex realm of criminal justice. During the weeks that follow, you will research, write, photograph and video various aspects of your story and then fashion these elements into a multipart digital narrative, all within the context of constructive group discussion and critique. You will master the basic skills necessary to incorporate effective audiovisual elements into your narrative. You will also learn a variety of traditional craft elements such as the use of the classical three-act structure in nonfiction storytelling and the art of reporting for great scenes. Since this is an advanced workshop, your goal will be to produce a polished web-based multimedia narrative series by quarter¹s end. The course will require you to purchase a good-quality digital camera with video capabilities (approximately $200). Please contact Professor Fremon or Literary Journalism Assistant Director Patricia Pierson before making any equipment purchase.

A man jumps from a Manhattan skyscraper and nosedives to his death, a fire ravages a college dorm in the middle of the night, a little girl is murdered by an Internet predator, a band of terrorists takes an elementary school full of children hostage. For each event, the breaking news was captured in headlines around the world. But the stories were not over. Weeks after they made headlines the most compelling details had yet to be reported. Some of the best literary journalists find gripping stories by going back to the scene and interviewing sources weeks, months, or even years after the news broke. In this class we will learn to search newspapers and blogs for story ideas that the daily media may have missed, and we will learn to go back after a story has become “old news,” after the daily reporters have left. We will study how literary journalists reconstruct events after they have occurred, and we will read writers like Ned Zeman, Tom Junod, Julia Keller, and Robin Gaby Fisher, who found unparalleled angles on widely reported events. How do you take a fresh approach to a story about a plane crash, school shooting, natural disaster, or high-profile crime? We will also learn to pay attention to news nuggets that are often ignored or quickly dismissed. Students will learn to find story ideas in news briefs, blurbs, or items that received only a passing mention on the evening news, keeping in mind these can often lead to the most riveting profiles and narratives. In this class, students will be expected to work on their narrative writing skills and interviewing techniques, and they will be required to find, pitch, report, and write their own stories off the news.

This class will give you an overview of the political, social, and cultural developments in Germany since 1945 while putting a special emphasis on the time since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Working with an open definition of “culture,” we will read texts in various media (newspapers, academic writing, literature, film) and discuss diverse manifestations of both high and popular culture. We will deal with issues such as the German perception of America, problems between East and West Germany and national identity, coming to terms with the Nazi past, the legacy of communism, ethnic and religious minorities in Germany, and the roles of women in contemporary German society.

In this course, you can expect to gain an understanding of the complexities of Germany’s post-war history and the intricate relationship between culture, history, and politics through weekly introductory lectures, class discussions, and group work. Weekly written homework assignments and response papers will allow for a deepening of your understanding of issues discussed in class.

No knowledge of German is necessary; all materials and discussions will be in English.

Partition along sectarian lines was a feature of British withdrawal from several colonies during the twentieth century, including the partition of Ireland into North and South (1922) and of the Indian sub-continent into India and Pakistan (1947). The partition of countries ramifies into other “partitions”--of the psyche, of ethnic groups and families, of communities and once undivided locales. Because the cherished independence of the new nation-states was predicated upon the violence of partition, their dominant cultural narratives tend to variously demonize, misrepresent, disavow or shun the “others” on the far side of the divide. Paradoxically, therefore, partition is often surrounded by silence and discursive invisibility even as it is widely acknowledged as a watershed event. Our writers call attention to the difficulties of writing partition, difficulties that arise from the complex relationship between memory (collective and personal), trauma, and narrative. The contrastive potential of different genres, a central concern in E102 and Lit.J. courses, is of abiding interest to these writers, and accordingly we’ll read across a wide range of genres. We’ll read murals and contemporary Irish poetry; literary journalism, memoir and oral testimony (Urvashi Butalia); short stories (Saadat Hasan Manto); and novels (Seamus Deane and Bapsi Sidhwa). Requirements include an essay, midterm and final along with full participation, which will be monitored by unannounced quizzes.

This course will focus on recurring patterns in Western (and particularly American) writings about and visual representations of Chinese culture, society and politics from the mid-1800s to the present. Readings will include selections from memoirs, travel writings and reportage and a survey of Chinese history. Some attention will also be paid to what Chinese travelers have thought about the United States in various eras. Lectures will be supplemented by occasional showings of scenes from feature films and documentaries, and by in-class discussions in which students analyze the readings, looking in part at how contemporary American ideas about China and press coverage of current events such as the lead-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games continue to be shaped by the often romanticized or demonizing presentations of the country that proliferated during earlier periods of U.S. history.