In her seminal text Poetic Closure, Barbara Hernnstein Smith says integrity is… "the property of a system of which the parts are more obviously related to each other than to anything outside that system. It is evidently by virtue of its structure that a work of art has integrity in this sense." In prose, integrity depends upon internal coherence, distinct identity, and completeness. There's a clear relationship between the parts, a common thread that binds. Integrity is also determined by virtue of structure, the vessel chosen to carry the meaning of those composite parts. To have integrity, closure must honor the unique structure chosen, thereby establishing completeness.
While in early drafts it seems likely that the writer may approach this process intuitively, drafting the work by feel, gathering parts, closing, and only then seeing what she’s done and why, there comes a time to structure our material more purposefully. In this innovative approach to workshop, we'll perform various exercises in which the deeper meaning of our stories are revealed by means of structure. Sometimes the format of this class will involve reading pages of manuscripts, others will involve workshopping ideas, transitions, and arrangements. All student work will be read in class by your peers and the instructor, the work outside of class will be reserved for your own study and writing.
Required Text: Lajos Egri's The Art of Dramatic Writing
Writing applicants should submit the following to [email protected]: a brief bio, a one-sentence premise or elevator pitch of the work, and a three-page writing sample all in one word document.
NOTE: Applications for this class are open to members of the Book Project, Portfolio Year, and Post-Grad Year only through Monday, October 26. Starting on Tuesday, October 27 we'll begin to process applications from the general public.
