Thursday, September 29, 2022

Genre Fiction vs. Literary Fiction: What's the Deal?

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Why can't genre fiction and literary fiction just get along? Why does it have to be a debate or a battle?  I found this great YouTube vi...
Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Assignments for Oct. 3 (conference) and Oct 5 (final paper submission and upload)

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  Next week you'll be working on the essay for our second unit: Genre Fiction and Science Fiction. On Monday, Oct 3, I'll meet with ...
Monday, September 26, 2022

The Future is Scary: Science Fiction and Public Policy

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  I've decided to restrict our reading for the "Genre Fiction" unit to what is commonly called science fiction. I made the dec...
Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Open Call for Readings!

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  We're starting our second unit "Genre Fiction" with the speculative fiction of Octavia E. Butler. I'm openly looking for...
Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Unit Two: Genre Fiction

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Our second unit this semester is titled Genre Fiction. We'll be reading short stories that aren't typically taught in traditional co...
Wednesday, September 14, 2022

First Short Essay: Minimalism, Repetition, and Fragmentation (MRF)

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  For this essay choose one of the seven primary writers we've looked at in this unit: Aram Saroyan, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Rupi Kaur, Joh...

Three Other Famous Poems That Fit the Minimalism, Fragmentation, Repetition Theme

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  Ezra Pound's: "In a Station of the Metro" Wallace Steven's: "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a    Blackbird" Georg...

Short Student Essay on Beckett's "Not I"

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It's always helpful to take a look at an example, isn't it? This is true with almost every human endeavor. In that spirit, here is a...
Wednesday, September 7, 2022

Readings for Next Week, September 12 and September 14

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  Readings for Unit One Single-spaced 1-2 page essay due September 19. Details to follow.  -- Casey PS: I will be adding more links below. C...

Unit One: Minimalism, Fragmentation, and Repetition

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We started the class last week by considering the work of Aram Saroyan, especially his one-word poems such as his famous, "Lighght....
Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Welcome to "Writing about Modern Literature": First Day, First In-Class Assignment

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  Write one word that doesn't exist in any English-language dictionary. It should resemble English, but look like a mistake. Write it la...
Monday, November 22, 2021

Yet More Advice About Writing Flash Fiction

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  This article gives more advice about writing and publishing flash fiction. Why not think about submitting your work to other contests? Be...

Reminder: Essay due no later than Nov. 29; Flash Fiction due no later than Dec. 1

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I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving break. We only have two weeks once we get back. Let's commit to a strong finish.  -- Casey PS: ...
Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Casey's Foolproof Method for a Perfect (or close to perfect) MLA Works Cited Page

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  Check out my brand-new guide for a no-tears MLA "Works Cited" page .  This document can also be found on the "Files" t...

New Policy for our Final Six Class Meetings

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   No cell phones, no laptops. For our remaining seven (!) classes, we're going to try something different.  Patrick Winston is right.  ...
Monday, November 15, 2021

Neil Gaiman: Reading and Obligation

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Neil Gaiman's lecture is a beautiful reflection on the values that we get only through reading fiction. He is a reliable guide through t...

Spotlight: Lydia Davis

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  It's not unusual to hear someone claim that Lydia Davis is the contemporary "master" of flash fiction. Here is a long-form p...

Brevity! A Great Source

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  David Galef's Brevity (2016) surveys the scene of contemporary flash fiction writing and its various communities. The introduction and...

Three Flash Fiction Stories by Dan Gutstein

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Today in class we're going to break into three groups (3-4 students per group). Each group will be assigned one of the Gutstein stories ...
Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Perhaps the Most Famous Flash Fiction in the English Language Tradition

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  Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" (1894)

Examples of Flash Fiction

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  Please don't limit yourself to the flash fiction stories on this list.  This selection represents a puddle in the sea of flash fiction...

Introducing Our Flash Fiction Juror: Dan Gutstein

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  On the left is a picture of the juror of our flash fiction competition: Dan Gutstein. Dan is a writer, teacher, documentary filmmaker, mus...
Monday, November 8, 2021

Flash Fiction a/k/a Micro-Fiction

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  I'm really excited about our new (and nearly last) assignment this semester. It has two parts, with two different due dates. This post...
Monday, November 1, 2021

Sample Essay: Writing About Literature

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  This is not a great essay , but it does get most things right. Notice the shape, how the quotations are integrated with the writer's l...

Diagramming Literature! (?)

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A college essay about a work of literature has a certain shape. This shape shifts, morphs and changes a bit due to context and circumstance,...