While openings are easy to discuss, endings are a bit more challenging, as they require that we be familiar with an entire story. That said, a great ending is where a story can either fizzle or indelibly emblazon itself in our consciousness for the rest of our lives. In this two-part class, we’ll examine the endings of stories by writers such as Tobias Wolff, Edward P. Jones, Rebecca Makkai, Erin Somers, Chad M. Anderson, and Ye Chun, as well as some flash fiction pieces and even poems, and we will discuss what makes a powerful ending whose impact lingers beyond the final punctuation mark. In Week 1, participants will focus on the concept of endings with particular attention to some shorter published stories and flash pieces. In Week 2, we’ll discuss some further examples from longer published stories and try out some possible endings for our own work.