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Winter Registration Opens Dec 02
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OWC 203 A — Memoir I: Themes and Scenes

Quarter: Winter
Instructor(s): Joshua Mohr
Duration: 10 weeks
Location: Online
Date(s): Jan 15—Mar 19
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Wednesdays
Grade Restriction: Letter grade only
Class Meeting Time: 12:00—1:00 pm (PT)
Tuition: $1240
   
Refund Deadline: Jan 18
 
Unit(s): 2
   
Enrollment Limit: 15
  
Status: Registration opens Dec 2, 8:30 am (PT)
 
Quarter: Winter
Day: Wednesdays
Duration: 10 weeks
Time: 12:00—1:00 pm (PT)
Date(s): Jan 15—Mar 19
Unit(s): 2
Location: Online
 
Tuition: $1240
 
Refund Deadline: Jan 18
 
Instructor(s): Joshua Mohr
 
Grade Restriction: Letter grade only
 
Enrollment Limit: 15
 
Recording Available: Yes
 
Status: Registration opens Dec 2, 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 is application process, please click here.

The focus of this course is on crafting compelling memoir openings. Through close analysis of a variety of published memoirs, we will assess the impact of various strategies for beginning personal narrative. We will examine both prologues and first chapters, studying how they engage readers while revealing underlying themes. Reading assignments, structured discussions and thought-provoking prompts will nurture the development of vivid scenes, enabling you to generate content without needing to structure your entire memoir yet. Seeking to uncover the central theme of your story will provide you with a guiding principle as you continue to select material to include. You will finish this course with an intentionally crafted beginning and a collection of thematically connected scenes.

JOSHUA MOHR
Author

Joshua Mohr is the author of several books, including Damascus, which The New York Times called “Beat-poet cool.” He’s also written Some Things that Meant the World to Me, one of O Magazine’s 10 Terrific Reads of 2009, and he’s received the Northern California Book Award twice. Termite Parade was an editors’ choice on The New York Times Best Sellers list. His latest project is a trilogy of novels all to be published in one calendar year, starting with Saint the Terrifying. In his Hollywood life, he’s sold projects to AMC, ITV, and Amblin Entertainment.