E Lit 436 - Craft of Fiction: Dialogue

Institution:

Washington University in St Louis

Subject:

Description:

A literature/creative writing hybrid course, we concentrate on the element of dialogue in fiction. We focus on 20th-century novels and stories that use dialogue in radical ways or place conversational dynamics at the center of their projects, probably including works by Don DeLillo, Henry Green, Grace Paley, and Philip Roth. We consider the architecture of conversations-the evasions and hidden agendas; the art of the well-made monologue; how speech is shaped by varieties of linguistic capital; and secrets as a narrative device, extending into issues of conspiracy and paranoia. Since this is a craft rather than a traditional literature course, we approach the texts as creative writers (although experience as such is not required), considering what they have to say through a primary emphasis on the means they develop to say it, and we put the craft into practice: assignments include both a critical paper and a short story using radical elements of dialogue. We also make room for some consideration of the dynamics of actual conversations, outside of fiction, through a reading of some conversational analysts and speech-act theorists, and through some real-world experiments.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.wustl.edu

Phone Number:

(314) 935-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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