Essay & Opinion Writing Level 1 (Online)

Essay and Opinion Writing I is a comprehensive ten-week workshop incorporating instructional lectures, practical writing exercises, and structured peer feedback on student work. The course serves beginning writers and those seeking to deepen their foundational understanding and craft.

Do you find genuine satisfaction in articulating your perspective? Consider your thoughts regarding climate change, contemporary television entertainment, or the overlooked importance of fabric handkerchiefs. No subject, whether profound or humble, lies beyond thoughtful investigation. Multiple venues exist for sharing your insights: periodicals and newspapers, digital publications, blogs, published collections, periodical newsletters, plus many forms suited to expressing personal viewpoints.

Your audience will engage with your ideas if you communicate more effectively than the typical individual expressing opinions casually. This course explores primary viewpoint writing approaches, including personal reflection essays, lyric essays, op-ed commentary, and critical reviews, plus additional strategies. You will develop both craft knowledge and marketing approaches for positioning your work.

Whatever perspective you wish to express, we will show you how to articulate your thoughts compellingly and persuasively.

Important Course Information:

The personal essay and memoir writing share common elements derived from the author's lived experience. However, the personal essay emphasizes the author's viewpoint and analytical position, whereas a memoir emphasizes narrative storytelling and personal history. Gotham also offers specialized Memoir Writing courses and an intensive seminar focusing specifically on Personal Essay composition.

This course provides a thorough grounding in essay and opinion composition fundamentals and supports the development of your own essays or opinion pieces. Course components include:

• Instructional lectures and core concepts
• Practical writing assignments and exercises
• Peer critique of student essays (each student presents work twice)

Online Course Modules:

• Week 1: Foundations of Essay and Opinion Writing
• Forms and categories of essay and opinion writing, including personal reflection, reviews, editorial commentary, persuasive arguments, exploratory inquiry, and experimental essays. Creative nonfiction structure, including opening strategies, contextualizing information, comprehensive development, and conclusion techniques. Fundamental framing approaches.
• Week 2: Identifying Purpose and Significance
• Identifying and articulating your central argument or purpose. Locating the guiding principle of your essay. Understanding how theme functions within creative nonfiction.
• Week 3: Descriptive Language and Creative Expression
• Integrating imaginative language into nonfiction. Locating precise, expressive vocabulary. The importance of selective detail and careful choices.
• Week 4: Voice and Authorial Presence
• Understanding voice components. Recognizing voice's role in essay composition. Developing and discovering your distinctive authorial voice.
• Week 5: Personal Reflection and Essay
• Connecting personal experiences with universal human concerns. Using individual perspective to illuminate broader cultural or philosophical questions.
• Week 6: Critical Review Writing
• Understanding review structure and organization. Integrating honesty with respect and fairness.
• Week 7: Editorial and Persuasive Writing
• Employing logical reasoning within creative composition. Techniques of persuasion and argumentation.
• Week 8: Reported, Exploratory, and Experimental Essays
• Reported essays using narrative nonfiction techniques with dialogue and vivid description. Exploratory essays beginning with questions and working toward understanding. Experimental essays employing varied rhythm, sonic effects, and grammatical possibilities.
• Week 9: Revision and Refinement
• Understanding and practicing the art of revision.
• Week 10: Publishing and Marketing
• Identifying appropriate publications and markets. Creating effective pitches and proposals.

Note: Specific content may vary among individual course sections.

About Online Instruction

• Gotham's online workshops bring students from worldwide locations to participate in New York City's most respected writing education.
• An asynchronous course structure allows flexibility rather than real-time requirements. You can engage with materials whenever suits your schedule, though content progresses weekly with certain accomplishments expected within each week.
• Online learning is available from any location with internet access. The student community is primarily United States-based, with additional participation from countries across the globe.
• Professional technical support is provided throughout the course.
• A significant benefit of online education is permanent retention of all course materials for future reference and professional development. You can preserve and consult all written and visual materials indefinitely. (Course content is delivered as text and images rather than video.)