This section of English 1510 will focus on character-driven fiction and the short story form. Many of our readings will be within the vein of realism: plausible events that might have happened in real life. We’ll look at Edgar Poe, Imbolo Mbue, Zadie Smith, George Saunders, Franz Kafka, Porochista Khakpour, Raymond Carver, and several other talented authors doing neat stuff with their words.

For the first part of the semester, you will learn the fundamental elements of the craft, including point of view, scene, dialogue, and setting, and examine how these work in published narratives. Then, you’ll put these lessons into practice by writing two original manuscripts and submitting them to our online workshop, where you will receive feedback from your peers and articulate your own thoughts on their work. At the end of the semester, you will produce a revision portfolio. This is a reconstruction of one of your two manuscripts, accompanied by a cover letter that contemplates your writerly decisions, inspirations, and progress through the semester.

This course is asynchronous, meaning that the bulk of our instruction will take place on our own course Canvas page. You will be expected to meet a series of scaffolded deadlines throughout the semester, and we will check in from time to time on Zoom to review assignment expectations and key course information.

Questions about this section of 1510 should be directed to Mikey.Borgard@mail.missouri.edu.