During their final Residency, graduating students will participate in a Capstone Craft Intensive in which they will examine a craft element through intensive study of a particular author’s (or authors’) work. The topic will vary from year to year depending upon the availability of instructors and the interests of that particular graduating group. Examples of topics would be: image in Plath, Sexton and Boland; the unreliable narrator from “The Yellow Wallpaper” to Fight Club; experimental chronology from “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” to Memento; dialogue in Raymond Carver and Denis Johnson; drafts and revisions of The Great Gatsby and The Wasteland; Southern Gothic in O’Connor and Faulkner; the one-act play. Students will complete a set of readings prior to the Residency and will complete three 5-page reflections on the readings prior to the Residency. Each student will also give a presentation on a designated reading. Additionally, students will respond to writing prompts related to the capstone topic and develop a portfolio of drafts to share with the class and submit to the instructor.