MAGAZINE WRITING DISCUSSION GROUP
Paul Chassy, Course Leader
TEXT for Winter Semester 2016:
BEST AMERICAN MAGAZINE WRITING 2015
ASSIGNMENTS (authors)
Week 1 (Jan. 13) – Coates, p3
Week 2 (Jan. 20) – Hess, p51
Week 3 (Jan. 27) – Yoffe, p75
Week 4 (Feb. 3) – Traister, p113
Week 5 (Feb. 10) – Lewinsky, p133
Week 6 (Feb. 17) – Sharlet, p151
Week 7 (Feb. 24) – Verini, p171
Week 8 (Mar. 2) – Sullivan, p227
WELCOME
Welcome to the Magazine Writing Discussion Group. Please take a moment to
introduce yourselves to each other.
SOME GUIDING THOUGHTS
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Participation in the group discussion depends upon your having read the
assigned readings.
The objective is to explore through “shared inquiry” the subjective reality of noted
authors concerning issues of common interest and to share with each other our
perspectives on the topic being discussed … how our “reality” relates to that of
the author’s (and other participants), and why.
The Course Leader poses questions that stimulate open exchanges amongst
participants in the group.
What works best is where:
o No one lectures the group;
o No one dominates the discussion;
o No one judges the contributions of others and everyone keeps an open
mind;
o Assertions about an author’s thoughts are grounded in textual passages;
o Personal assertions are articulated in the first-person “I;”
o Participants listen carefully to what others are saying before formulating
thoughts about what they themselves want to say.