21W.758 | Fall 2016 | Undergraduate

Genre Fiction Workshop: Fantasy

Course Description

Fantasy is currently one of the most popular genres across every platform in fiction. From film to gaming to literature, fantasy tops the charts. Why? Why do people who believe in democracy and live with the magic technology appear to long for wizards and dragons and the matters of kingship? In this class, we will …
Fantasy is currently one of the most popular genres across every platform in fiction. From film to gaming to literature, fantasy tops the charts. Why? Why do people who believe in democracy and live with the magic technology appear to long for wizards and dragons and the matters of kingship? In this class, we will explore this question, and from that base read articles, novels, write exercises and stories in this genre.
Learning Resource Types
Lecture Notes
Written Assignments with Examples
A photograph of a tiny house tucked into the side of a grassy hill surrounded by flowers.
A photograph of Hobbiton, the movie set in New Zealand that played a key role in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films. Students in this course had the opportunity to craft their own fantasy worlds through the writing assignments. (This image is in the public domain.)