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Description
Cinderella stories go back 7000 years, and Mah Pishani is possibly one of the oldest. This Iranian story provides a very different take on the same themes you've become familiar with. Unlike the bickering evil step-sisters, this version is about finding connection with family and community - in particular among women - and about love that stretches beyond the grave.
Description
Often a staple in mysteries, poetic justice is frequently used to help the reader feel a sense of satisfaction in the ending, especially in a genre where many mystery and suspense tales are simply uninterested in legal proceedings and aftermath. Professor Schmid defines poetic justice, discusses why there is so much of it in the genre, and outlines the many reasons why we find it satisfying.
Description
Spend some time focusing on the modern forms of true crime, which Professor Schmid notes are integrally related to mystery and suspense fiction as the genre draws upon both fiction and nonfiction techniques to achieve its effects. He also demonstrates how true crime stories were disparaged as trivial and damaging yet overcame unscrupulous reputations to become mainstream successes.
Description
From the Greek “lyre,” a lyric poem expresses a writer’s thoughts and feelings through the intimacy of the first-person narrator, evoking a strong emotional reaction in the audience. Professor Cognard-Black demonstrates the similarities between a lyric poem and a lyric essay and shares a moving example of a lyric piece written by one of her own students that uses memory fragments and figurative language to synthesize experience into a kind of...
Description
Using a proprietary system of his own invention, Mr. Bell introduces you to the foundational principles of a successful novel: LOCK (Lead, Objective, Confrontation, Knockout). He demonstrates how famous authors such as Stephen King, David Baldacci, and others utilize these fundamental elements. Plus, review the five types of endings and discover the pros and cons of each.
Description
First-person narration can be one of the most natural ways to tell a story - but there are several important guidelines to keep in mind. Professor Hynes helps you navigate the different types of first-person storytellers, including the double consciousness, the unreliable narrator, and the retrospective narrator.
Description
Perhaps the most famous of the three defining dystopias of the early 20th century, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four has created a vocabulary of ideas we continue to use in political discourse today. Trace the ways Orwell uses language to shape his dystopic vision and the way it both reflects and distorts reality.
Description
Marketing your book is a huge part of becoming a best-seller, and much of the onus of marketing will fall on you. Learn about how you’ll be expected to provide support in order to help publicize your book, such as hosting author events, creating a presence on social media, and reaching out to your connections..
Description
Examine the pros and cons to using literary agents, and learn how the responsibilities and obligations of literary agents have evolved. Learn about how to acquire one, what to expect from an agent, and what standard and non-standard practices you may encounter if you choose to go that route..
Description
Mr. Bell introduces the five functions of dialogue and breaks down the importance of vocabulary, syntax, and specifics like regionalism to help build the character. Examine examples from Margaret Mitchell, John Howard Lawson, Charles Webb, and others. Explore the importance of subtext, or what is underneath the words, and how it can suggest secrets, fears, memories, yearnings, or hopes.
Description
After discussing the importance of presenting a reasonable essay, Professor Cognard-Black explores the world of unreasonable essays, often written for the sake of humor or irony, or to be provocative, such as Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.” You’ll explore an example of an essay that showcases conflicting views yet remains reasonable, and then look at examples where unreasonable writers use pure demagoguery to play on readers’ emotions....
Description
Can utopian literature have real-world impact? This question is integral to understanding the significance of Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy. Witness the ways Bellamy's socialist vision of the future had genuine influence on the social activists of Gilded Age America. Professor Bedore also introduces the idea of "euchronia."
Description
Much like the setting and the character, the use or lack of violence, and the amount and intensity depicted, can provide more clarity into the mystery you’re trying to solve. And, much like the guidelines about using clues in suspense writing, there are so many exceptions to the rules of using violence that the rules themselves may need to be called into question.
Description
An “arena of conflict" is where your lead realizes he or she needs to overcome a challenge. Mr. Bell introduces you to the concept of a “mirror moment” and provides examples of authors who have demonstrated this technique, such as Margaret Mitchell, Suzanne Collins, Mario Puzo, Harper Lee, Thomas Harris, and Dashiell Hammett.
Description
Get helpful tips for a revision schedule, learn why you need to take a cool-off period before taking a first pass, gain tricks for helping you re-read with fresh eyes, and use shortcuts for marking places you need to come back to so you can read straight through. Mr. Bell also provides excellent advice about using outside readers, both professionals and “beta readers.
Description
Dr. Harvey presents several stories, each of which explore the power of naming. Starting with classic story "Rumpelstiltskin" from Germany, collected by the Grimm brothers in 1857, you'll also hear an Egyptian creation myth, a Judeo-Christian creation myth, the Egyptian story of Ra and Isis, and "Peerie Fool" from the Orkney Islands, which pulls elements from Norse and Scottish folklore.
Description
Does it seem like a lot of the most popular books for young adults lately have been dystopias? In this lecture, explore why teens are so drawn to dystopia, what current anxieties are being tracked in this large body of YA literature, and what the impact of this literature on young adult readers has been. You'll also discover why this subgenre is so popular with adults.
Description
Once you have perfected the components already reviewed - a detective, a criminal, clues, and potentially a sidekick - all that remains is solving the mystery. But as you’ll learn in this lecture, it’s never that simple. Learn what makes for the perfect “big reveal” and why you don’t necessarily need one. See how open-ended mysteries walk the line between frustrating and compelling.
Description
From complicated clients to lusty love interests, from sprightly sidekick to detail-oriented detectives, women have always played a role in mystery and suspense fiction. Professor Schmid introduces you to female detectives in literature through time and examines how even at the earliest stages, the figure of the female detective assumed a wide variety of types to appeal to different audiences.
20) Detecting Clues
Description
The clue is so imperative to the successful mystery story that there are few elements more subject to rules and regulations. Yet for all the requirements around how, when, and why to present clues, this narrative element is highly subjective. In this lecture, you’ll learn how clues are used to help, hinder, mislead, and solve mysteries, for both the characters and the audience.
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