Fall 2001* MW 900-1015* ENTerprise 174*
Office--Rob. A473*Office Hours--M 1030-1130 & by
appt.*Phone 703-993-1170*My homepage
INTRODUCTION
TO NONFICTION WRITING begins the
sequence of 300, 400, and 500 level courses in the English major for serious
students of nonfictional prose writing. In this course we will read and discuss
some excellent short works of memoir, personal essay, and feature journalism,
plus works in other nonfiction genres of personal interest to you. All the
readings will be springboards to writing; we'll do in-class and homework
exercises, plus several longer pieces. All of your writing will constitute a
portfolio that you will build through the semester. We will also take advantage
of the 3rd annual "Fall for the Book" literary festival (Sept.
19-23), which brings together published authors in a wide range of genres for
readings and panels at various venues at GMU and the City of Fairfax.
The
world of nonfiction is broad and many-featured; there is room within it for
almost any writerly ambition or desire, as long as that ambition or desire
includes the goal of telling the truth as the conscientious writer sees it. The
overarching term is "nonfiction"--that is, writing that deals in
perceptions, people, and events that are "not made up" by the writer.
(We might call it "reality writing.") The writer and reader of
nonfiction share the tacit understanding that the work strives for accuracy,
even if the product sometimes falls short of this goal and even though we
humans are always limited in what we can know. Nonfiction writers have at hand
the many tools of the fiction writer--dialogue, shifts in point of view,
sensual description, and on and on--but the nonfiction writer always strives to
earn the reader's trust that the persons and places of the work are real
(though sometimes we have to change the names) and the events indeed happened.
Hence,
I have two major goals for you in this course: first, to help you improve your
ability to tell truth through your writing, by using forms of writing itself
and by using the tools of research; second, to give you practice in diverse
styles and genres of nonfiction, as you work toward identifying your own
favorite subjects and modes of writing.
M
Aug. 27 Introductions--"Biography"exercise
W
Aug. 29 The Personal Essay--"Writing about yourself, really";
self-observation exercise. (Have read (FG) Hampl's"Parish Streets,"
Lopate's "Portrait of My Body," and Toth's "Going to the
Movies"; begin writer's notebook.)
M Sept.
3 Labor Day (Meditate on work, maybe write about it)
W
Sept. 5 Bring in revision of notebook exercise on "difficult truth"
for workshop; have read (FG) Sanders, "The Singular First Person,"
and Stanton, both "Zion" and "On Writing 'Zion.'"
M
Sept. 10 Observing with All Senses--exercise; have read (FG) Dillard,
"Living like Weasels," and Cofer, "Silent Dancing," plus
Dillard, "To Fashion a Text"; submit brief proposal online for
"personal truth" essay.
W
Sept. 12 Placeand Memory, Place and Action--exercises; have read (FG) Barber,
"Oh, Say, Can You See?"; Chavez, "Independence Day, Manley Hot
Springs, Alaska"; Iyer, "Where Worlds Collide."
M
Sept. 17 "Place" continued; have read (FG) Lamy, "Life in
Motion," and Lott, "Brothers"
W
Sept. 19 Bring in draft of "personal truth" essay for workshop (have
four copies); "Fall for the Book" preview and assignments.
W
Sept. 19-Sa Sept. 23 Fall for the Book Literary Festival, various places City
of Fairfax and GMU--attend at least two writers events and be prepared to give
brief report.
M
Sept. 24 Bring in revised draft of "personal truth" essay; give brief
report on Fall for the Book events.
W
Sept. 26 Segments and Other Odd Shapes--have read Griffin, "Oval";
Morano,"The Queimada"; Saner, "Pliny and the Mountain Mouse";
Willard, "The Friendship Tarot." Pick up dialogue/interview handout.
F
Sept. 28 Final day to drop courses without Dean's permission.
M
Oct. 1 "Writing Speech":the Interview Article--have read
dialogue/interview handout; exercise.
W
Oct. 3 Guest writer, Scott Berg. Have read Berg excerpts online from Lexis-Nexis
and Sept. 28 Washington Post Weekend cover story.
F
Oct. 5 NOTE--send by this date email proposal (1-2 paragraphs) for interview-based
biographical essay. Specify subject, rationale, your angle, and interview
setting.
M
Oct. 8 Columbus/Indigenous Peoples Day
W
Oct. 10 Guest writer, Meryle Secrest, on "writing biography"
M
Oct. 15 Interview article progress reports; online interview search
W
Oct. 17 Bring in draft of interview article (four copies) for workshop
M
Oct. 22 Class will not meet. Continue revision of interview article.
W
Oct. 24 Revised draft of interview article due in class. Begin "feature
journalism"project. Have read (FG) Tompkins, "At the Buffalo Bill
Museum, June 1988," and Hearne, "Can an Ape Tell a Joke?"
M
Oct. 29 Periodical Fair--bring to class two items: a short feature article (no
more than 2 pp.) that you particularly admire from a print or online periodical
of your choice, plus your critique (1 page) of what you and others might learn
from the writer's style and research techniques. Bring enough copies for all of
us, and we'll build an anthology.
W
Oct. 31 Bring, for workshopping, your feature journalism proposal (1 page, 4
copies). Specify subject, possible sources, your angle, and specific
publications that include articles such as that you are proposing.
M
Nov. 5 Online (database) research workshop, location TBA.
W
Nov. 7 "Feature" progress update. Have read (FG) Cliff, "History
as Fiction, Fiction as History," and Chase's "Warping Time with
Montaigne" and "Notes from a Journey toward Warping Time."
M
Nov. 12 Progress update. "Integrating Research" exercise. Have read
assigned articles (TBA) from class anthology.
W
Nov. 14 Sentence Style exercises (using class anthology)
M
Nov. 19 Progress update. More sentence style exercises.
W
Nov. 21 Draft of feature article due for workshop (four copies).
M
Nov. 26 Plan contents of final portfolio. Practice the "Reflective
essay."
W
Nov. 28 Begin "read-around" of feature articles.
M
Dec. 3 Continue read-around. Revised draft of feature article due in class.
W Dec.
5 Course evaluations. Final portfolios due in class. Continue read-around.
Robert
L. Root, Jr., and Michael Steinberg, eds. The Fourth Genre: Contemporary
Writers Of/On Creative Nonfiction. 2nd Ed. New York: Longman, 2002.
Rather
than require you to purchase additional books, I will expect you to make
photocopies (for our one-time use) of drafts of your essays for our workshop
sessions, as well as of a brief printed or online essay for our class working
anthology.
Your
portfolio should be kept in a simple two-pocket folder. (If you have a website,
you may ask me about keeping your portfolio online. If you don't have a
website, but would like to build one, here are some technical instructions
you might use. For more support and instruction, check out the services of the
STAR center in Johnson 311.)
Keep
your writer's notebook in a separate two-pocket folder (online option also
possible).
Your
full and active participation in all events of the course is key to your
success and that of the class. In-class exercises, critique workshops on
drafts, analytical discussions of assigned readings, and attendance at and your
reports on the Fall for the Book festival will all be evaluated in your
participation grade, which is worth 25% of your final grade. That means that
each day's participation is worth just under 1% of your final.
Missed
exercises may not be made up.
CAVEAT:
You will not receive credit for any longer essay (personal truth essay,
interview-based article, feature project), if you have not been present for the
workshop on draftsof that essay or if you have not handed in on-time the
proposal or the draft of that essay. "On time" means in class at the
beginning of class.
1.
Exercises (part of participation grade)
I
will regularly ask you to write in class to practice stylistic techniques or
approaches to subject matter. Many of these are listed on the syllabus, but I
may ask you at any time to try out a particular technique in writing. Often I
will follow the writing exercise with a request to present these to members of
the class. These are informal, low-pressure, and (I trust) enjoyable events,
but they are nonetheless important to the growth of writers. You should keep
all exercises, some of which I'll look at, in your working portfolios.
2.
Writer's Notebook (part of final portfolio grade)
During
the first week, I'll ask you to begin keeping a notebook in which to make at
least one entry per week and in which you'll collect items and observations of
interest to you as a writer. I will expect you to make brief analytical and/or
creative entries (1/2 page to a page) in response to all assigned readings. For
a given class, I may ask that your notebook entry be of a specific character.
You should regard your notebook as practice space and as a seedbed for ideas
for your longer essays. Bring your notebook to any conferences you set up with
me. I'll not read your notebook in its entirety, but I will ask that you
include in your final portfolio ten pages of what you regard as your better or
most interesting notebook writing.
3.
"Personal Truth" Essay (20% of final grade)
During
the first month of the course we will concentrate on that varied nonfiction
genre known as the personal essay. We will read and analyze a good number of
these by some excellent writers, and we'll do exercises and notebook entries to
get a feel for this ever-more-popular and important genre. Your essay (at least
1300 purposeful words) will be on a topic of your choice, perhaps an event,
relationship, or important place in your life, and among your goals for this
essay will be your presentation of a "personal truth or truths" that
have emerged for you in regard to this subject. We start with this essay
because the persistent, disciplined pursuit of personal honesty that marks the
best writing in this genre also marks most successful nonfiction.
4.
Interview Article (20% of final grade)
During
the second month, and building on the first month's work, we will focus on how
we understand and present other people in our nonfiction. This particular essay
uses the interview as the primary source of data, and so we will study
interviewing and look at some well-done interviews to help that process. But
the interview will not be your only source of background data; you'll need to
cultivate rich observation and you'll need to bring in data from other sources
to fill out your picture. Again, your goal will be not only to present another
person, but to reach a personal truth or truths that shows your reader the
importance to you of studying this person. At least 1300 purposeful words.
5.
Feature Article (20% of final grade)
Building
on the first two projects and the various readings and exercises of the course,
this essay requires you to integrate a variety of source material toward
elucidating a personal truth or truths, or to substantiate your point of view
on an issue of interest to others. The focus of this essay need not be you or
another person; this is your opportunity to branch out into other nonfiction
genres. To help us, we will construct an anthology of pieces from diverse
periodicals that exemplify different kinds of nonfiction work, and each student
will write a concise analysis of the piece s/he has contributed to the
anthology. Your goals for this article will be determined by the subject, the
genre, the type of audience you wish to address, and typical periodicals that
might publish workof the type you are creating. Since this will be a research-based
essay, we will devote some time to research sources and techniques. At least
1500 purposeful words.
6.
Final Portfolio (15% of final grade)
During
the semester, you should keep a "working portfolio" of exercises, proposals,
and drafts (in addition to your writer's notebook). Like the writer's notebook,
the working portfolio will be both an ongoing archive of your work and a source
of inspiration for current and new projects.
The
final portfolio, due the last day of class, will be a winnowing of your
portfolio to your best work of the semester, for my consideration. The
portfolio process gives you one more chance to revise earlier work on the three
longer projects, plus an opportunity to present your most interesting and
proficient work from your notebook. The final portfolio will include the
following items:
a.
reflective essay on the contents of your portfolio and your growth as a writer
during the semester (max. 500 words)
b.
your choice of the best two of the three longer essays you have written,
revised, including a brief statement of how you have improved each piece (max.
300 words); include the previous revised draft of each essay
c.
the best ten pages of entries from your writer's notebook
The
process of creating the final portfolio will give you practice in the
decision-making of writers as they ready their work for publication or for
graduate school applications, grant applications, job interviews, etc. The
final portfolio puts your best foot forward, so its appearance, as well as its
content, should demonstrate your professionalism and your style.
Grading
standards are as follows (grades to be determined at the discretion of the
instructor):
A
= outstanding work: among the specific virtues, full, active, cooperative, and
imaginative participation in all activities, exercises, and projects of the
course; prose that consistently demonstrates the characteristics of effective
nonfiction, as manifest in our readings and as we develop them throughout the
course;
B
= very good work: full, active, and cooperative participation in all
activities, exercises and projects; prose that almost always demonstrates the
characteristics of effective nonfiction;
C
= satisfactory work: full, cooperative participation in all activities,
exercises, and projects; prose that, with revision, almost always demonstrates
the principles of effective nonfiction;
D
= almost satisfactory work: almost full, usually cooperative participation in
all activities, exercises, and projects: prose that, with revision, usually
demonstrates the principles of effective nonfiction;
F
= unsatisfactory work: inconsistent participation in activities, exercises, and
projects; or prose that, with revision, still fails to demonstrate consistent
application of the principles of effective nonfiction.
I
will give pluses and minuses according to GMU policy.
NOTE: A written project
will receive an F if a student does not participate in every
phase of the development of the project.
This
part of the page for ENGL 309:001 is under construction. I'll be adding useful
links throughout the course, and ask that you bring to my attention good sites
that you discover in your searches. These links will be part of a
"Nonfiction Resources" site, to serve all our nonfiction writing
students, that we are constructing under a new grant from the University's
Technology across the Curriculum Fund.
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