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In his introduction to Chicago Stories: Tales of the City, Chicago writer Stuart Dybek says, "There are several recognizable qualities that the writers of the Chicago Tradition share . . . the city is their subject, it pervades their work, broods over it, assuming almost the presence of a character in its own right. And, like everything else in Chicago, its writers divide into ethnic neighborhoods..." (page xii). This course explores Chicago's neighborhoods and the stories that emanate from them, and students write their own Chicago stories in the form of academic essays. Focus is on Chicago writers such as Stuart Dybek, Sandra Cisneros, Alex Kotlowitz, Nelson Algren, and Sudhir Venkatesh. Students write a personal essay, an informative essay, and an academic argument, in addition to writing exercises.

Everybody has a story to tell. In this course, students examine the way people tell the stories of their lives. While reading five recent and noteworthy memoirs, students learn the art and craft of storytelling, while also learning how to tell their own stories by writing a personal narrative essay and two other informative essays. Each class is comprised of a short grammar/punctuation tip, a discussion about one of the five memoirs, and a lecture about a certain writing process and/or a writing workshop.