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Writing and Experience: Exploring Self in Society >> Content Detail



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Many of the listed readings in the table below refer to the following course texts:

Comley, Nancy R., et. al., eds. Fields of Reading: Motives for Writing. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 2004. ISBN: 0312404719.

Bailey, Tom, ed. On Writing Short Stories. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN: 0195122720.

Lunsford, Andrea A. Easy Writer: A Pocket Guide. Second Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 2002. ISBN: 0312243480.



SES #TOPICSREADINGS / VIEWINGSASSIGNMENTS DUEIN CLASS ACTIVITY
1Introduction to the Course: Why Write from Experience?

Distribute syllabus, course information forms, and the following assignments: Exercise 1.1, Essay #1, Writer's Letter, Reader/Writer Notebook assignment

Sample student writing

2Crafting the Self: Experience and the Shaping of IdentityIn Fields of Reading:

Walker, Alice. "Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self." pp. 42-49.

Cofer, Julia Ortiz. "The Story of My Body." pp. 93-102.
Writer's Letter, Exercise 1.1 (bring 6 copies), Notebook assignment on Alice Walker

Small Groups: Exercise 1.1

Sample student writing

Discuss Assigned Readings

3Crafting the Self: Experience and the Shaping Of Identity

Writing as Process: Prewriting, Drafting, and Revising
In Fields of Reading:

"Reflecting." pp. 25-30.

Orwell, George. "Shooting an Elephant." (p. 114-120)

———. 1984. (Excerpt)
Notebook assignment: Comment on the connections between "Shooting an Elephant" and the 1984 excerptDiscuss Assigned Readings
4Crafting the Self: Experience and the Shaping of Identity Diary/Journal as a Narrative formIn Fields of Reading:

Douglass, Frederick. "Learning to Read And Write." pp. 62-67.

Frank, Anne. "At Home, In School, In Hiding." pp. 171-180.

Hampl, Patricia. "The Whole Anne Frank." pp. 22-24.
Notebook assignment on Frank reading

First Version, Essay #1 - Two copies with cover letter, Workshop Students: email essays as Word documents to class

Discuss Assigned Readings

Distribute/Review Workshop
Instructions

5

The Craft Of Revision

Workshop: First Version, Essay #1

Response Letters to ClassmatesWorkshop: First Version, Essay #1

Discussion of Student Essays
6-7Self in Society: Language, Legitimacy and the Writer's CraftIn Fields of Reading:

Baldwin, James. "If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?" pp. 532-535.

Tan, Amy. "Mother Tongue." pp. 68-73.

Notebook assignment on Baldwin and Tan

Service Learning Proposals

Revision, Essay #1 - Two copies with cover letter and marked-up first version (and Exercise 1.1, if applicable)


Distribute Essay #2 Assignment Sheet

Discuss Assigned Readings

8Self in Society: Learning, Schooling and IdentityIn Fields of Reading:

Angelou, Maya. "Graduation." pp. 31-41.

Sizer, Theodore R. "What High School Is." pp. 345-355.

Boufis, Christine. "Teaching Literature at the County Jail." pp. 198-205.
Notebook assignment comparing styles of Angelou and SizerDiscuss Assigned Readings
9Self in Society: Educational Experience and Privilege

Ethics of the Writer

Working With Secondary Sources
Mead, Rebecca. "Sophie's World." New Yorker 75, no. 31 (October 18/25, 1999): 184-93.

Witherspoon, Abigail. "This Pen for Hire: On Grinding Out Papers for College Students" Harpers 290 (June 1995): 49-57. (Handout)
Notebook assignment on WitherspoonDiscuss Assigned Readings
10The Self and the World of Work: Writing About Work and Work-Related IssuesIn Fields of Reading:

Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. pp. 760-774.

Gornick, Vivian. "Working in the Catskills." pp. 753-759.
Notebook assignment on EhrenreichDiscuss Assigned Readings
11The Self and the World of Work

Working with Primary Sources

Interviewing
In Fields of Reading:

Kamber, Michael. "Toil and Temptation." pp. 205-216.

Mills, C. Wright. "White Collar Work." pp. 731-752.

Schlosser, Eric, and Jon Lowenstein. "Making it Work." pp. 775-783.

Notebook assignment comparing Schlosser and Lowenstein and Kamber

First Version, Essay #2 - Two copies with cover letter, email essays to workshop group members

Discuss Assigned Readings

Distribute/Review Workshop
Instructions

Review Writer's Methods: Interviewing

12Workshop, First Version, Essay #2Response Letters to ClassmatesWorkshop, First Version, Essay #2
13Writing about the Meaning of Work

Writing as Work

The Role of the Writer

"Writers on Writing" series, New York Times . (Distributed in class)

Quindlen, Anna. "The Eye of the Reporter, the Heart of The Novelist." New York Times, Sept. 2, 2002.

Orwell, George. "Politics and the English Language." pp. 536-547.

Sample Selections from WRITERS ON WRITING series

Oral Presentations
14Writing About the Ethics of Work

Mead, Rebecca. "Eggs for sale." New Yorker 75, no. 22 (August 9, 1999): 56-65.

In Fields of Reading:

Schlosser, Eric. "Why McDonald's Fries Taste So Good." pp. 308-318.

Notebook assignment on MeadDiscuss Assigned Readings
15The Self and the Community: Experience and "Catalyst Writing"Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. 40th anniversary ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. (Originally published in 1962.) (Excerpt)

Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. New York: W.W. Norton, 2001. (Excerpt - originally published in 1963)

Klein, Naomi. No Logo. New York: Picador: Distributed by Holtzbrinck Publishers, 2002. (Excerpt)

Documentary Film Clip: No Logo.
Notebook Exercise on Carson, Friedan and Klein

Revision, Essay #2 - Include cover letter + marked-up first version
Discuss Assigned Readings
16Catalyst Writing #2: Drawing upon Experience to Write about Social ChangeIn Fields of Reading:

King, Martin Luther Jr. "Letter From A Birmingham Jail." pp. 617-631.

Documentary Film Clip: Eyes On the Prize.
Notebook assignment on KingDiscuss Assigned Readings
17Drawing Upon Experience to Create FictionIn On Writing Short Stories:

Baldwin, James. "Sonny's Blues."

Notebook assignment on Baldwin

First Version, Essay #3, email essays for workshop

Discuss Assigned Readings
18Drawing Upon Experience to Create Fiction (cont.)In On Writing Short Stories:

Dubus, Andre. "A Father's Story." pp. 288-303.

———. "The Habit of Writing."  pp. 90-96.
Notebook assignment on Dubus

Discuss Assigned Readings

Distribute/Review Workshop
Instructions

19Workshop, First Version, Essay #3Response Letters to ClassmatesWorkshop, First Version, Essay #3
20Drawing Upon Experience to Create Fiction (cont.)In On Writing Short Stories:

Olsen, Tillie. "I Stand Here Ironing." pp. 149-154.
Notebook assignment: One-page character sketch (for potential short story): Include a demographic profile of your character (age, race, gender, occupation, etc.) and a short sketch of your character in action

Revision, Essay #3
Discuss Assigned Readings
21Drawing Upon Experience to Create Fiction (cont.)In On Writing Short Stories:

O'Connor, Flannery. "Everything That Rises Must Converge." pp. 171-182.

Steinbeck, John. "The Chrysanthemums." pp.  163-170.
Notebook assignment on either story

Draw a "character web" of a fictional character in relationship to other characters. Write a short scene involving your character and at least two other characters in the web
Discuss Assigned Readings
22Drawing Upon Experience to Create Fiction (cont.)In On Writing Short Stories:

Wolff, Tobias. "Bullet in the Brain." pp. 311-314.

Short Film. "Bullet in the Brain."
Notebook assignment on Wolff

First Version Essay #4
Discuss Assigned Readings
23Drawing Upon Experience to Create Fiction (cont.)In On Writing Short Stories:

O'Brien, Tim. "The Things They Carried."
Notebook assignment on O'BrienDistribute/Review Workshop
Instructions
24Workshop, First Version, Essay #4Response Letters to ClassmatesWorkshop, First Version, Essay #4
25Publication Workshop

Course Evaluations

Student Readings
26Last Class - Student Readings, CelebrationFinal Portfolios with Revision Essay #4

 








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