Overview
A practical course developing the skills of rhetoric and persuasive writing, in a variety of popular essay genres, through regular workshopping and the reading and analysis of important non-fictional works.
ENGL277/377 Public Prose offers an approach to writing between the “effective” and “creative” approaches, one that emphasizes a public voice, conversational style, and pleasurable readability. It takes as its stylistic models accomplished and compelling non-fiction writers such as George Orwell, Joan Didion, Bill Bryson, Steve Braunias, and Talia Marshall – writers who speak directly and personally to readers’ topical interests and worldly circumstances.
About this paper
| Paper title | Public Prose: Feature Writing, Creative Nonfiction |
|---|---|
| Subject | English |
| EFTS | 0.1500 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Semester 1 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) | $1,103.10 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- One 100-level ENGL paper or 36 points
- Restriction
- ENGL 377, ENGL 227, ENGL 327
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music
- Eligibility
Students should enjoy reading and writing, and have a good grasp of English vocabulary, grammar and sentence structures.
- Contact
- Teaching staff
- Teaching Arrangements
The paper will be taught via a weekly lecture and 2-hour workshop /seminars in 8 or 9 weeks of the semester.
- Textbooks
There is no textbook per se, but students will be required to acquire, read, and write about a book-length nonfiction text of their own choice.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
Communication, Critical thinking, Ethics, Information literacy, Lifelong learning, Research
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes.- Learning Outcomes
- Articulating one’s own knowledge and perspective in an attractive and coherent fashion, and following the argument of an extended discourse.
- Developing editing skills
- Increasing students’ experience of and readiness to engage with the variety of opinions and perspectives in the public sphere
- Appreciating the responsibilities inherent in public writing
- Understanding the complex dynamic between medium and message
- Developing a commitment to seeking new knowledge from leading writers across a range of historical periods and cultures
- Produce a folio of original, polished, varied public writing, expressive of their own knowledge and insights