JAN 325 - Reading and Writing Young Adult Literature

Instructor(s): Davis, Deborah
Email: dld7@stmarys-ca.edu
Fee: $30

Course Description:

Welcome to Reading and Writing Young Adult Literature. Over the four weeks of Jan Term, we will read a small sample of a large, ever-expanding body of work. With the exception of M.T. Anderson’s Feed, all of the books on our syllabus were published within the last 10 years. They include science fiction, fantasy, realistic fiction, and nonfiction. Together they provide a glimpse into a vibrant, diverse genre.

This is a class about writing as well as reading. Our discussions will focus as much as possible on the writing-techniques, style, devices-in these books rather than on typical English-class questions. You will not have to write a paper on the theme of violence in Ibi Zoboi’s American Street, or compare and contrast that book with M.T. Anderson’s science fiction novel, Feed. But you will be asked to pay attention to Zoboi’s and Anderson’s writing choices, how they put words together to create characters, how they structure events to create engaging plots; how, in short, they make their writing compelling and believable.

Each class will consist of a mix of brief (10 to 20-minute) lectures or lessons, in-class writing time, small-group discussion and constructive peer writing critique, quizzes, student presentations, and class discussion. If taught as a hybrid course, it will be 75% in-person and 25% online (and synchronous).

Prerequisites & Notes
None

Credits: 3