our class runneth over:

wut up.

So--in the future, I'll keep a stricter eye on the clock.  In the present, I will post this, the writing exercise:

Part one:

List all the details you can think of about the room in which you spend most/much of your time.

Part two:

Think of a random event, something from the past day or two, that occurred in the room in which you spend your time--an exchange between friends, something you observed, something you were involved in--and write that scene in *present tense*.  Weave in detail from your list above.  What makes it in?  What doesn't?  How are you revealing detail through scene?

Back to other stuff:

Ok--remember your alternate assignment on Thursday; also remember: no class on Thursday.  And remember to please *type* your responses to Sam's, Mady's, and Chelsea's essays and have them ready to hand in to me on Tuesday.

OH: a note on the responses--remember to begin your responses positively.  If you're following the model I posted here (wherein it asks you to explain what you think the essay is about), mention the positives right after that first question.  If you're following your own model--which is fine--PLEASE remember to begin the comments with what you think is *working* with the piece.  Extend this courtesy, and I promise you'll be happy you did so when you get your classmates' responses to your own work.

Rock on with the Didion, folks--y'all had some very smart things to say about her.

Joan Didion tomorrow, Tuesday, 2/9:

A reminder here, if you don't check your email--

Because of a scheduling mishap, we'll be reading Didion's "The White Album" for class tomorrow--not, obviously, the John D'Agata handout.

See you in class!

questions for essay response:

What up, folks.

In yesterday's class, we looked at yet another example of personal essay. John McPhee is a much-celebrated literary journalist with a booklist as long as your arm. In the year this essay was published--1975--as the preface to the piece says, McPhee was publishing his 12th AND 13th books. And he's still going. He's published twenty-seven books--which doesn't include occasionals he writes for a little magazine called "The New Yorker." Man's a machine. I just listened (yes, listened--while working last summer) to one of his more recent, called Uncommon Carriers--and it was amazing.

So--we'll have our first workshop on Thursday. For those of you who missed Thursday, it is your job to contact me in order to get the essay we are workshopping.

As promised, here are some questions/guidelines to think about while responding to Heather's essay:

1. What comes through for you as a reader? What is this piece about?

2. What is the thesis or insight of the essay? What question is the essay considering?

3. What was your first reaction upon finishing it? How did that change

after reading it again? What did you learn, experience, or feel reading this piece?

4. What did you notice or learn about writing from working on this piece?

5. What was successful for you in this piece? What is the most effective aspect of what you read?

6. Look at the structure of the piece. Comment specifically on how the writer has used relevant elements from the list below. Give examples and describe how the use of these elements affects the content or deep subject:

ESSAY

Idea

Image

Anecdote

Research/Evidence

Form


MEMOIR

Time

Tense

Point of View

Scene/Summary/Flashback

Image

Form

7. How would you describe the voice of the essay or memoir?

8. How would you describe the language in terms of rhythm, original detail, formality, presence, power?

9. What's missing--gaps, leaps you can't make, logical inconsistencies, openings you wish the writer would develop further, loose ends.

10. What questions do you have for the writer?

11. What ideas, beliefs, or experiences do you bring to this piece that might contribute to your reading of it?

workshop sign ups; group sign ups:

So, on Thursday, we took a look some form-y essays.  Our discussion of them was very productive--I'm impressed with the way you handled them.  So this post is going to be nuts and bolts.  I've retyped, and posted below, your workshop dates and the group sign-ups.  Also,  a question came to me via email, and I think it was a good one (I hope you don't mind, questioner, that I'm broadcasting your question for all to see).  Thus, I'm paraphrasing the conversation here.

The question was--how do I know if a subject is "outside of myself" enough to write about it for the personal essay?  Basically, a subject is far enough outside of yourself if it is researchable--if you can Google it or find information about it in a book.  

Ok, on to the workshop dates and group sign-ups:

WORKSHOPS:

Week 3: Heather Mueller

Week 4: Sam Bogwardt; Mady Vukson; Chelsea Burris;

Week 5:  Phil Gross; Caitlin Duff

Week 6:  Heidi Burtson; Sofiya Hupalo

Week 7:  Alex Czoschke; David Peterka

Week 8:  Nicole Anderson; Bee Vang; Amelia Strommen

Week 9:  Spring Break

Week 10:  Michael Otis; Sophia Anastazievsky; Ben Kozer;

Week 11:  Maggie Whelan; Ian Lilligren; Greg Seaberg

Week 12:  Jayne Theuer; Rahgav Mehta

Week 13:  Katie Kelly; Iriz Zadaka; Shoree Pierce

Week 14:  Carrie Bender

GROUP SIGN-UPS:

Group A:  Caitlin Duff; Nicole Anderson; Sophia Anastazievsky; Jayne Theuer; Chelsea Burris; Alex Czoschke; Heather Mueller; Carrie Bender; Mady Vukson; Sam Borgwardt; Shoree Pierce

Group B:  Katie Kelly; Sofiya  Hupalo; Maggie Whelan; Amelia Strommen; Iris Zadaka; Heidi Burtson; Phil Gross; Ben Koser; Michael Otis; Bee Vang; Raghav Mehta; David Peterka

Apologies to any whose last names I've misspelled--handwriting!

Questions?  Email and/or comment.

the personal essay, part two:

So, today in class, we discussed at length Annie Dillard's "Total Eclipse" (which is completely different from this total eclipse [though I recommend watching the video; it will be nearly the best five minutes of your life]; and even different from this total eclipse [the best two minutes of your life]). No, Dillard's eclipse was much more serious than either of these. The conclusions to which we arrived? A little bit of this and a little bit of that: human understanding of fears; human contemplation of events much larger than us; the inability of language to describe such events. We beat dead horses. Dillard's dead horses.

But clearly we read the essay for a reason. It's an example of a personal essay--something you'll be writing very shortly. Dillard had her outside subject (solar eclipse); she had her research (history of solar eclipse; other astronomic events); she had her deeper subject (see above).

So go ahead and do what she did. Except tailor your essay, clearly, to your likes and dislikes, your interests and nerdiness--of which, I dearly hope, there is much.

To help you, I've outlined below what your first essay should look like:

Essay the First: The Personal Essay:

What it is:

This essay should explore a subject that is interesting to you, in a way that is compelling to both you and your readers. I’m not placing limitations on you—I only ask that you pick a subject that is quite separate from your existence. For example, your boy/girlfriend is not a subject quite separate enough from your existence. However, if your boy/girlfriend has something going on that is interesting and defines your relationship in unexpected ways, talk to me.

I would like to see you thinking about a long-held obsession—you love Nerf and all its products; you’re an amateur physicist; you dearly long to be a USPS mail carrier—and what it means to you, and what it means in relation to you.

Some things to think about:

The history of this obsession (when did it start for you? how old were you? is it something you should have outgrown, and haven’t? is it something you have outgrown and wish you hadn’t?); the obsession’s own history (when were Nerf balls invented? how? by whom? when did they spike in popularity? why?); some defining moments with your obsession (shooting out a car window with your Nerf gun; breaking your brother’s nose with your Nerf football; the time you spent away from your Nerf toys because you were grounded due to the aforementioned things).

Specifics:

1. 4 pages, double spaced, at the least, for your rough draft.

2. 12 point standard font (Times New Roman, Garamond, Book Antiqua [although that one looks better in 11 point font]).

3. Standard(ish) formatting (no title page; title centered above text; name and date left adjusted above title).

Your essay may take the form of something we started/looked at in class, such as:

Word!: an essay.

Pick a single word that is important to you. It should be from your interests, hobbies, passions, dorkishness, something you geek out about. Something you’re really interested in. This should be a noun—“fishing,” “umbrella,” “agate,” “rubber band”—though it can be a verb—“to fish,” “to find,”—or an adjective—“stuck-up,” etc. Write three to five developed and detailed scenes revolving around this word that come from your experience with this word. Write this in present tense so that the remembrance of this event is extremely focused and fresh.

Next, contemplate your word as it exists outside of your experience. Research the word’s derivation; its etymological history; its presences in historical and popular fiction; its appearance in art, film, television, music; its religious significance; its mythological roots. Write two to four sections in which you meditate upon that word. Then, interject the word between the scenes, so that the final essay looks like,

scene – white space – word contemplation – white space – scene – white space – word contemplation – white space – scene. etc.

Mix up these scenes and contemplative sections as you see fit. Usually, you’ll want to order your sections so that they build in weight, with the heaviest being the climax of your essay—much like the most fraught part of the short story.

FINALLY, I'll post our workshop guidelines:

Workshop Guidelines:

1. Each writer, the class before her workshop, hands out a copy of her essay to each person in the class.

2. Your homework: read the piece for strengths and potential areas to clarify. Make notes on the copy: if a section is phenomenal, write “This is phenomenal.” If a section is unclear, write, “This is unclear.” Try for at least one comment per page.

Strengths

-Vivid details that appeal to all five senses

- New or unusual use of language

- Deliberate rhythm and flow of lines and sentences

- Surprising ideas or ideas presented in new ways

Areas for Improvement

- Unnecessary or vague words

- Clichés / common sayings

- Form or sentence usage that muddle the writer’s ideas

- Unclear ideas, or ideas that need more development

3. Begin your written critique with what this piece is about. This is very important. If the writer thinks he knows what his essay is about, but you get something totally different than he expected, he has something to work on.

4. Group (but not the writer whose work is being critiqued) comments on the strengths of the essay, discusses the main ideas of the essay and the creative / effective ways the writer communicates these ideas.

5. Group discusses specific weaknesses or confusing aspects of the essay, and asks questions of the piece.

While group members should be specific about confusing words or less effective choices the writer has made, remember that the writer owns his or her work, and it’s not your role to try to rewrite the essay.

6. Writer whose work has been critiqued may respond to the group or ask any unanswered questions about the essay.

Note: Class members hand their critiques to me so that I can evaluate and note your responses. Responses will count for a significant portion of your participation grade.

the personal essay, part one:

I've been thinking about how to most efficiently post materials from class (if I can post word documents; if I can have separate folder for things like the syllabus and similar materials)--and have come to no conclusions. Thus, this is how we're going to roll for now.

Ok--in class last Thursday, we (I) talked a little bit about what a personal essay is. I gave you my own version of a definition... I made you do a writing exercise... We had fun. Believe me.

So, posted below are both of the materials we looked at in class. In previous classes I've taught, should you have been one of my students, you would have gotten these printed on little pieces of paper. In lieu of that, you get them here, and we'll all save a few trees or some such silliness.

Ok, The Definition:

The Personal Essay:

The personal essay is a an essay in which you, the author, guide us through a subject. The subject can be one deeply tied to your past: an exploration of a book you loved as a child; a description and exploration of your first job. Or it can be something you’re interested in: Nickelodeon game shows from the 1990s. The subject of your essay can vary widely…but one thing has to stay static: the essay is from your point of view. You must guide us through the subject, comment on it, relate it to your life. We, as readers, are equally as interested in your subject as we are interested in you, in your own thought process about your subject.

Another aspect of the personal essay to keep in mind is its message. This does not have to—and should not—club the reader over his head; you do not need a moral. But your reader should come away from your essay feeling as if she has gained an understanding you were trying to impart. But don’t worry too much about this—at least, in the initial stages. If you do worry too much about it, the essay will come off as stodgy, heavy-handed.

Now, The Writing Exercise:

Landscape Essay:

Sometimes the most fruitful writing comes out of a place we’re totally familiar with—a literal place. For me, when I began, it was a river. This landscape might be, like mine, rural, or it might be urban—or even somewhere in between. Take a few minutes, channel what you might consider to be your most beloved landscape, and begin just describing the landscape you see. Because we began to talk about sentence structure today, think about sentence structure in writing about your landscape. First, try writing in long, rolling sentences, with lots of clauses and descriptive language. Then, switch it up. Rewrite, or continue writing, about the landscape in short, choppy sentences. Use subject-verb-object construction only. Use fragments.

The syllabus, the personal essay guidelines, workshop guidelines, are all soon to come.

Any questions? Anything else I've missed? Leave a note in the comments....

Welcome!

Hey everyone!

Welcome to the rawkin'est nonfiction blog that exists thus far in the universe.  That statement is true, because this is a nonfiction class.

As I mentioned in class, this blog will be used for a bunch of things: posting the syllabus, assignments, workshop procedures, reminders, updates, readings, writing prompts, and general awesomeness.  And, most importantly, it exists so that I don't flood your email inboxes with the syllabus, assignments, workshop procedures, reminders, updates, readings, writing prompts, and general awesomeness.

Please be patient as I figure out how to best post assignments, etc., that originally exist as Word documents.  

And--I look forward to this semester with y'all.