Creative
NonfictionEnglish
399:001
Spring
2005*MW 10:30-11:45 AM*107 Thompson
Professor
Chris
Thaiss
Office--Rob.
A423*Office Hours--MW 9-10 AM & by appt.*Phone 703-993-1273*My
homepage
Schedule
CREATIVE NONFICTION is a second-level course in the sequence of
300, 400, and 500 level courses in the English major for serious
students
of nonfictional prose writing. (Students should have taken either ENGL
309 or 396 prior to this course.) In ENGL 399 we will read and discuss
some excellent short works of memoir, personal essay, and feature
journalism.
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 our writing program's spring semester schedule of readings by
visiting
writers.
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--thus, the adjective "creative" is
added;
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.
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 varied
techniques
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. If you took ENGL 309 as the
first
course in this sequence, and particularly if you took my section of 309
in Fall 2003, you'll notice some similarities in the goals, structure,
and
readings
of this course. But because of your prior experience I will expect of
you
in this course greater maturity in your prose and your greater
self-awareness
as a writer.
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES
M
Jan. 24 Introductions--"Biography"exercise
W
Jan. 26 The Personal Essay--"Writing about yourself, really";
self-observation
exercise. (Have read (FG) Hampl's"Parish Streets," and Lopate's
"Portrait
of My Body"; from 3M, "Beginnings" vignettes by Stone, Conroy,
Calisher,
Welty, Dillard, Goodwin, Naylor; begin writer's notebook.)
M
Jan. 31 Bring in revision of notebook exercise on "difficult truth"
for
workshop; have read (FG) Sanders, "The Singular First Person": Blew,
"The Art of Memoir"; and
Stanton,
both "Zion" and "On Writing 'Zion.'"
W
Feb. 2 Observing with All Senses--exercise; have read (FG) Dillard,
"Living like Weasels" and "To Fashion a Text"; Balcita, "Dumpling";
from 3M, "Beginnings"
vignettes
by Settle and Shreve: "First Love" vignettes by Brown and Castedo;
submit brief proposal online for "personal truth" essay.
M
Feb. 7 Placeand Memory, Place and Action--exercises; have read
(FG)
Chavez, "Independence Day, Manley Hot Springs, Alaska"; Iyer, "Where
Worlds
Collide"; from 3M, "First Love" vignettes by Dove, Kittredge, Smith.
T Feb. 8 Last day to drop
classes with no tuition liability.
W
Feb. 9 "Place" continued; have read (FG) Lamy, "Life in Motion," and
McClanahan, "Goodbye to All This."
M
Feb. 14 Bring in draft of "personal truth" essay for workshop (have
four
copies)
W
Feb. 16 No class. Continue to work on revisions of the "personal truth"
essay.
M
Feb. 21 Segments and Other Odd Shapes--have read, from FG, Root,
"Collage, Montage, Mosaic, Vignette, Episode, Segment";
Morano,"The Queimada"; Willard, "The Friendship Tarot"; from 3M,
"Illusions"
vignettes by Paley, Moon, Wideman. Turn
in revised draft of "personal truth" essay (plus first draft and
"change" reflection).
W
Feb. 23 "Writing Biography":the Interview-based Profile Article--Guest
writer Beverly Lowry: author of many books, including Crossed Over: A Murder, A Memoir.
Have read author excerpts.
F
Feb. 25 NOTE--send by this date email proposal (1-2 paragraphs) for
interview-based
biographical essay. Specify subject, rationale, your angle, and
interview
setting.
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.
M
Feb. 28 More biography: have read, from FG, Blew, "The
Unwanted Child"; Gilb, "Northeast Direct"; Offutt, "The Best Cake Made
Both of Us Sad."
W
Mar. 2 Biographical article progress reports; have read
from FG Rawlings, "Virtually Romance: A Discourse on Love in the
Information Age."
M
Mar. 7 Guest writer: Scott Berg, Washington
Post feature writer and GMU faculty member. Have read excerpts
of his writing.
W
Mar. 9 No Class: Continue to work on drafts of biographical article.
Week of Mar. 14 Spring Break!
M Mar. 21 Workshop: Bring four (4)
copies of your complete draft of biographical article to class.
W
Mar. 23 Begin "feature journalism"project. Have read
(FG) Tompkins, "At the Buffalo Bill Museum, June 1988"; Root, "Knowing
Where You've Been"; and Saltzman, "How to Play."
M Mar. 28 Revised draft of biographical article (plus first draft
and
change
reflection) due in class. We'll work on your feature journalism
proposal. Have identified popular or specialized publication venues,
print or online, to
which you'd like to direct your essay. Bring to class a copy of such a
publication or a print-out of the splash page of an online publication.
W
Mar. 30 Bring, for workshopping, your feature journalism proposal
(300-600
words, 4 copies). Specify subject, possible sources, your angle, and
specific
publications that include articles such as that you are proposing.
M
Apr. 4 Online (database) research workshop, Innovation Hall 318.
W
Apr. 6 "Feature" progress update. Have read (FG) McPhee, "The Search
for Marvin Gardens" and 3M vignettes by Lord, Bradley (123), Phillips,
Elizabeth Spencer, Scott Spencer.
M
Apr. 11 Progress update. "Integrating Research" exercise. Review
Tompkins, Saltzman, McPhee, and other writings
with attention to their methods of integrating the varied
source
material.
W
Apr. 13 Sentence Style exercises. Have read (3M) vignettes by O'Brien,
Garrett (166), Griffith.
M
Apr. 18 Progress update. Plan contents of final portfolio. Practice
the
"reflective essay."
W
Apr. 20 Draft of feature article due for workshop (four copies).
M
Apr. 25 "Three Minutes or Less" Exercise.
W
Apr. 27 Begin "read-around" of feature articles. Revised draft of
feature article (plus "change" memo and first draft) due in
class.
M
May 2 Continue read-around.
W May 4 Course
evaluations. Complete read-around. Final portfolios plus "Three Minutes
or Less" exercises due
in
class.
BOOKS AND MATERIALS
Robert L. Root, Jr., and Michael Steinberg, eds. The Fourth Genre:
Contemporary
Writers Of/On Creative Nonfiction. 3rd Ed. New York: Longman, 2005.
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.
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).
PARTICIPATION
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, and analytical discussions of assigned readings 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 biographical article, feature project), if you
have not been
present for the workshop on drafts of 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.
ASSIGNMENTS
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 creative nonfiction.
4. Interview-based Biographical 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 an important source of
data,
and so we will study interviewing and we'll study some skillfully-done
biographical essays that include interview material. 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. 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 "personal truth" and biographical essays, 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)--this reflective piece
should analyze what you feel you have accomplished, what you feel you
still need to work on, and how you estimate your strengths as a writer
at this point;
b. your choice of the better of the two longer essays you wrote before
the feature article; this chosen essay must be revised and you should
include a brief statement of how you have improved the
piece
(max. 300 words); include the previous revised draft of the essay;
c. the best ten pages of entries from your writer's notebook;
d. your feature article (which you
will have submitted the previous week)
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.
GRADES