Class Description
Literary Alchemy is a symbolic story structure that uses the mythical and scientific process of alchemy to outline a story by putting the main character through the alchemical stages to undergo a deep change, just like lead turns into gold. We’ll learn about how characters act as reagents such as Mercury, Sulfur, and Salt, and how their symbolic role in the story ties into the main character’s growth. We’ll learn about the three stages of alchemy and how to set up an alchemical wedding and philosopher’s stone by the end of the story. This story structure was used by Tolkien, Rowling, Lewis, and Stoker, so we’ll use examples from popular fantasy literature to study the stages.
During this seminar we’ll practice applying alchemy to our favorite movies, tv shows, and books, and there will also be time to fill out an alchemy worksheet for your own story and share the ways that your work fulfills the stages or changes you might make based on this new type of symbolism.
Class Format
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. About 15 minutes before your class is scheduled to begin, you'll receive an email from your instructor with a link to join the class meeting!
Scholarship Information
Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.
For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.
Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.
For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.