2024 - Spring

The Long-Form Essay

Course Number: JOUR-GA 2056.001

Day & Time: Wed | 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Location: 20 Cooper Square, Room 700

Instructor: Katie Roiphe

This is an advanced course in the reading and practice of essay writing, with a rigorous focus on the mechanics of the essay. How does a great essay work? We will examine the elusive elements of precision, originality, and style. Over the course of the semester students will focus on developing and refining their own voice in a long-form essay. Writers under discussion will include: Virginia Woolf, Joan Didion, Mary McCarthy, William Styron, David Foster Wallace, Zadie Smith, Claudia Rankine, Rachel Cusk, Alison Bechdel, Maggie Nelson, Ariel Levy, and Janet Malcolm.