The vast majority of fiction written and read in North America falls into the broad categories of popular or commercial fiction. This course will focus on introducing students to four major genres: fantasy; science fiction; historical fiction; and young adult (that last being more of an age category than a genre). To write successfully in any of these genres requires an understanding of the development and conventions of each of them, as well as an understanding of the implicit agreement between writer and reader that exists in genre fiction writing. Genre conventions serve, like the many forms of poetry, as both limitations to and spurs to creativity, as well as wayposts to the reader that signify (usually) what to expect. Students will read texts and related materials in each genre, and practice writing in at least two of the four.