This course is the first part of the two-semester Honors sequence in the English Department, and is intended to lead into the second part, the writing of the Honors senior thesis (English 4995, taken in the Spring term). This seminar is designed to prepare you to write your Honors Thesis, and we will focus on techniques needed to complete that task. 

This seminar is also designed to be the culmination of your experiences as an English major. Here, we will practice what you’ve learned in your various courses—and  reflect on that learning and where it might take you. 

Our readings in this course will focus on the subject of “The Writer’s Life.” We will look at a range of books in which writers describe their writing process and experiences; we will also study several novels that features writers and the writing life. The goal is, simply, to have us think more deeply about what it means to be a writer: the kind of life you can expect, the way you can fashion it, the challenges, the rewards.