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Winter Registration Opens Nov 30
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OWC 203 A — Memoir I: The Powerful Launch

Quarter: Winter
Instructor(s): Jayson Greene
Duration: 10 weeks
Location: Online
Date(s): Jan 7—Mar 11
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Thursdays
Grade Restriction: Letter grade only
Class Meeting Time: 12:00—1:30 pm (PT)
Tuition: $1290
   
Refund Deadline: Jan 9
 
Unit(s): 2
   
Enrollment Limit: 15
  
Status: Registration opens Nov 30, 8:30 am (PT)
 
Quarter: Winter
Day: Thursdays
Duration: 10 weeks
Time: 12:00—1:30 pm (PT)
Date(s): Jan 7—Mar 11
Unit(s): 2
Location: Online
 
Tuition: $1290
 
Refund Deadline: Jan 9
 
Instructor(s): Jayson Greene
 
Grade Restriction: Letter grade only
 
Enrollment Limit: 15
 
Recording Available: Yes
 
Status: Registration opens Nov 30, 8:30 am (PT)
 
 
This course is not open to the public, but rather by admission only. For more information on the Writing Certificate Program and its application process, please click here.

Through close analysis of a variety of published memoirs, we will assess the impact of various strategies for beginning personal narrative. We will examine prologues and first chapters, studying how they engage readers while revealing the stakes, promises, questions, and themes of a memoir. Reading assignments, structured discussions, and thought-provoking prompts will nurture the development of vivid scenes, enabling you to generate pages without the pressure of needing to structure your entire memoir yet. Seeking to uncover the psychic battle or arc of your story will provide you with a guiding principle as you continue to generate content. You will finish this course with an intentionally crafted beginning composed of thematically connected scenes.

JAYSON GREENE
Author

Jayson Greene is the author of the memoir Once More We Saw Stars and the novel UnWorld. He is a contributing writer and former senior editor at Pitchfork. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, GQ, Vulture, and elsewhere, and his music criticism has been nominated for a National Magazine Award.