ENGL 215Introduction to General Nonfiction Writing

3 credits · English · Penn State

Students will be directed in a variety of commercial and professional nonfiction forms, including but not limited to blog posts, feature articles, reported narratives, investigative reporting, literary journalism, criticism, and commentary. Specifically, students will discuss the basic elements or building blocks of commercial and professional nonfiction, such as structure, setting, quotation, point of view, and narrative distance. Students will practice those techniques by producing writing exercises and longer pieces, and by reading a variety of published works that showcase these techniques and skills. Students will also participate in full-class workshops, in which each student's original writing is read and collectively discussed by the class. All students will participate in in-depth discussions of their peers' work. To hone their skills, students will practice, experiment, improvise, and revise, and in doing so, develop an appreciation for writing as a form of creative and social expression.