The reading was wonderful. Thanks to each of you for your participation.
I hope to be sending you your grade for the term by Saturday noon. I am just starting on your course now (at 9:25 Thursday night) and I will be traveling all day Friday - but I will get them done.
As I said in class, I will send you an email on Saturday, hopefully by noon or shortly thereafter. Please take a look at my calculations so we can see if we are in agreement. If you have questions/issues, send me an email and we will see if we can work them out.
I will be posting final grades to Keanwise Sunday morning - by 11:00 AM, so if I don't hear from you by early Sunday, I will assume we are good.
It has truly been a pleasure teaching this class. Your talk and your stories made me look forward to every class. Thanks to each of you, and stop by my office once in a while to let me know how you are doing!
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
12.18 Reading in UC 226
I checked out the space and it is great. We will need to bring a laptop for the AV part, but there is a projector & cables and we should be fine.
This is a performance for our own pleasure and comraderie. I am not grading your presentations. All you have to do is be there and share.
See you soon.
This is a performance for our own pleasure and comraderie. I am not grading your presentations. All you have to do is be there and share.
See you soon.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Portfolios
I still need the links to many of your portfolios. And some of you still need to re-set the permissions. I cannot assign you a grade for the course unless I have access to your portfolio.
Questions about what to include:
How is the Final Draft section different from the Revised Draft Section? The final drafts section is different if you have done additional revision on a piece in light of a grade. I haven't really given you grades on your final short pieces - since we got crunched up at the end. So the "Best" piece may or may not be the same if it is the short piece.
What goes in Additional Writing? Additional writing is optional - and is simply any other invention writing/thinking/etc that you did for the course that you feel demonstrates the points you make in your reflective essay. We had a lot of discussions - about emotions & representation, about truth, and about where our ideas for writing come from - that may have been important parts of your writing process - but which are not necessarily included in the pieces posted in the portfolio. So this is the place to put writing like that.
Another observation
I'm sorry the course got so crunched up at the end. There are some writing exercises I am truly sorry we did not get to do, and you didn't get as much direction or feedback on the short pieces as I wanted to provide. We missed 2 classes as a result of the storm and I guess that is just the way it goes. I appreciate your hard work to take up the slack, and I respond to and evaluate work from the last part of the course in a way that reflects the complications posed by the hurricane.
I'm sorry the course got so crunched up at the end. There are some writing exercises I am truly sorry we did not get to do, and you didn't get as much direction or feedback on the short pieces as I wanted to provide. We missed 2 classes as a result of the storm and I guess that is just the way it goes. I appreciate your hard work to take up the slack, and I respond to and evaluate work from the last part of the course in a way that reflects the complications posed by the hurricane.
I will be responding to the final 3 blogs when I send out your grade sheets.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
12.12 Grades, Reflective Essays, Performance and Final Blog Posts
IMPORTANT NOTICES:
1. Send me the links to your portfolios. Also - make sure you have set the saftey setting to "anyone with a link." I will get back to you to confirm that I can access your portfolio - hopefully sometime tomorrow (12.13).
2. Be sure to check the blog on Tuesday to make sure of the performance location
Grading:
We reviewed the distribution of points listed on the syllabus and agreed to revise the balance of points as follows:
The portfolio grade will include 150 points for the reflective introduction, and 150 points as an evalutation of the overall quality of the work in the portfolio (with emphasis placed on the evolution of craft/writing/etc evidenced in the final "best" essay); its completeness and the presentation(organization).
Workshop for reflective essay:
You spent about half an hour reviewing the criteria for the reflective essay and then workshopping your pieces in light of what you have written - and what you still need to write.
Criteria for the essay are:
4:15: Arrive, set up food, schmooze
4:40 Readings will begin
Order for presentation: (If you don't have a title - or if you have changed the presentation piece since the sign-up - let me know and I can edit the list).
Allyson : Never the Driver- Always the passenger
Arlette: "The Letter I Found in the Book"
Jameelah: "Unresolved Mysteries"
Ashley: "Introspect"
Andre: Short scenes
Midyna Short scenes
Luis Short multimedia piece
Maria: "Match Point"
Laurelle: Short piece
Heather: to be announced
Paris: "Music"
Andrea: "Rebekka and me"
Claudia: to be announced
Roshell: "Why Didn't They Tell Me?"
Lewis: Short piece
Jay: "What Deaf is Like"
Sara: to be announced
There will be a break in there somewhere.
Food sign-up
Allyson - sugar cookies
Jay - cheese & crackers
Sara - chips
Arlette- Soda
Jameelah - paper plates + cups
Ashley - Cookies
Andre - milk & chocolate chip cookies
Midiyna - coke & pound cake
Maria - cupcakes
Luis -chips/dip
Paris - juice
Laurelle - chips
Andrea - Pretzels or popcorn
Roshell - sandwiches
Lewis - shrimp
Whatever we end up with is going to be fine.
If there is anything I have forgotten/left out - let me know and I can edit this. There was a lot going on in this class!
Final blogs:
Blog 14: Revised short essay
Blog 15: Final (best essay)
1. Send me the links to your portfolios. Also - make sure you have set the saftey setting to "anyone with a link." I will get back to you to confirm that I can access your portfolio - hopefully sometime tomorrow (12.13).
2. Be sure to check the blog on Tuesday to make sure of the performance location
Grading:
We reviewed the distribution of points listed on the syllabus and agreed to revise the balance of points as follows:
1.
Blog + comments (response to readings; drafts, reflections, etc) 150 points
2. Short
projects (includes 2 drafts and 1 polished essay) 150 points
3. Long project (includes 2 drafts, and 1 polished essay) 250 points
3. Long project (includes 2 drafts, and 1 polished essay) 250 points
4. Portfolio
[2&3, + craft essay, rhetorical analysis,and essay for publication] 300 points
5. Presentations, readings, class participation 150
points
The portfolio grade will include 150 points for the reflective introduction, and 150 points as an evalutation of the overall quality of the work in the portfolio (with emphasis placed on the evolution of craft/writing/etc evidenced in the final "best" essay); its completeness and the presentation(organization).
Workshop for reflective essay:
You spent about half an hour reviewing the criteria for the reflective essay and then workshopping your pieces in light of what you have written - and what you still need to write.
Criteria for the essay are:
- Development of a series of nontrivial observations about your subject material, craft, audience, ethics, and writing process.
- Use of detailed, specific examples from your writing and from your writing activities as a basis for supporting those observations.
- . Artful use of strategies and practices associated with creative nonfiction.
- Writing that is focused, organized, adequately developed, and relatively free from surface errors.
Sign-up list for (optional) conferences on short essays:
Monday: Luis, 1:00; Andre, 2:10; Allyson, 3:00.
Tuesday: Sara, 1:00; Jay, 3:30; Roshell, 4:00;
Performance:
Location: University Center, Room 226 A (second floor as you come in the main entrance)
Monday: Luis, 1:00; Andre, 2:10; Allyson, 3:00.
Tuesday: Sara, 1:00; Jay, 3:30; Roshell, 4:00;
Performance:
Location: University Center, Room 226 A (second floor as you come in the main entrance)
Tentative schedule:
4:15: Arrive, set up food, schmooze
4:40 Readings will begin
Order for presentation: (If you don't have a title - or if you have changed the presentation piece since the sign-up - let me know and I can edit the list).
Allyson : Never the Driver- Always the passenger
Arlette: "The Letter I Found in the Book"
Jameelah: "Unresolved Mysteries"
Ashley: "Introspect"
Andre: Short scenes
Midyna Short scenes
Luis Short multimedia piece
Maria: "Match Point"
Laurelle: Short piece
Heather: to be announced
Paris: "Music"
Andrea: "Rebekka and me"
Claudia: to be announced
Roshell: "Why Didn't They Tell Me?"
Lewis: Short piece
Jay: "What Deaf is Like"
Sara: to be announced
There will be a break in there somewhere.
Food sign-up
Allyson - sugar cookies
Jay - cheese & crackers
Sara - chips
Arlette- Soda
Jameelah - paper plates + cups
Ashley - Cookies
Andre - milk & chocolate chip cookies
Midiyna - coke & pound cake
Maria - cupcakes
Luis -chips/dip
Paris - juice
Laurelle - chips
Andrea - Pretzels or popcorn
Roshell - sandwiches
Lewis - shrimp
Whatever we end up with is going to be fine.
If there is anything I have forgotten/left out - let me know and I can edit this. There was a lot going on in this class!
Final blogs:
Blog 14: Revised short essay
Blog 15: Final (best essay)
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
12.5 Set up portfolio + presentations on publication venues
Portfolios. You worked on setting up your portfolios during our time in the computer lab. At this point, everyone who was present seemed clear on the expectations for the portfolio, and you all had the correct basic structure. We also talked through the purpose + requirements for the reflective essay that you will post on your landing page. If you have questions - send me an email so we can set up a conference.
Presentations. We spent the rest of class learning about some of the many journals that publish creative nonfiction. We noted that some of the MFA program journals were more "literary" and some of the others were more "story based." We saw some regional journals, and some that while they said they did not want "political" writing - had clear political assumptions within the kinds of essays they were looking for. Those of you who did not present last night - will talk through your material (briefly) at the beginning of next class.
For next week:
Choose the piece you will read at our final class. If we read from 5:00 to 7:15, and there are 16 of you who will read, that means you each have about 8 minutes. In class we will create a sign-up sheet to organize the time. In class you will also rehearse the piece you will present for the reading.
Blog 13: Post your draft reflective essay.
During class we will also answer any remaining questions about grades and the portfolio, and finish planning the details for the last day. Have a great week, and see you in class.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
11.28 Presentations on CNF publication venues, short projects, and portfolio.
NOTE: If you have not sent your final long essay to the course email as an attachment => please do so. It makes it easier for me to comment.
Presentations on CNF publication venues. I reviewed the criteria for the presentations on your publication venues. The assignment sheet (posted to the right) was originally developed for group work - but we didn't do the project that way. Feel free to network with your classmates (to see how they are doing their presentation and talk over what you want to do for yours) but there is no group component for your class. Some sample presentations (created for publication venues by students in last year's class) are Creative Nonfiction, The Kenyon Review, and The Fourth Genre. If you click on these links you can see some of the different ways students chose to meet the requirements for this assignment.
Short projects. You talked through your ideas/brainstorming for your short projects. You came up with a wide range of formats for this project including: a thematic series of scenes/vignettes; images (moving or still) with scrolling text or voiceover; a thematic, a sharply focused, short narrative or reflective essay (like "Some things about that night"); a multimedia presentation (lyrics with images with music; i-movie with voiceover/scrolling text); and letters + reflections. Any of these approaches or a combination will work for this project. The readings posted for last week provide a range of examples for this kind of writing. After talking through your ideas we decided on the criteria for the assignment.
LENGTH:
The piece should be from 300-750 words (5-7 minutes)
FOCUS:
Your piece should have a clear conceptual/thematic focus
DEVELOPMENT:
1) It should develop a complex presentation of that focus through the use of scenes/stories or other device that develops or allows for multiple perspectives on your focus.
2) The presentation and ideas should exhibit creativity and originality (with nontrivial reflective potential and fresh representations).
3) Because this piece is short, it is essential that every word/phrase/image works to open up your central focus; this requires economy, cohesion, and sharpness in your writing.
ORGANIZATION
The structure of this piece should reflect the audience and purpose for your composition.
You were requested to post brainstorming/drafty writing for one piece as Blog 9 and brainstory/drafty writing for a second piece for Blog . This writing does not need to be elaborate, but it should provide enough information for you to network with your classmates so you can develop your writing and ideas.
The revised, final draft for the short project is due December 11.
Portfolio
A sample portfolio presented in the format required for the final presentation of your work is posted at Sample portfolio. It uses google.sites (available through your Kean email) and models the page structure with a list of what to include on each page. The Reflective essay posted on the first page, sets up your portfolio and serves as a place for you to consider your identity as a CNF writer and how the work from this semester illustrates (or not) that identity. Requirements for the introductory reflective essay are posted to the right.
For next week.
Presentations on CNF publication venues. I reviewed the criteria for the presentations on your publication venues. The assignment sheet (posted to the right) was originally developed for group work - but we didn't do the project that way. Feel free to network with your classmates (to see how they are doing their presentation and talk over what you want to do for yours) but there is no group component for your class. Some sample presentations (created for publication venues by students in last year's class) are Creative Nonfiction, The Kenyon Review, and The Fourth Genre. If you click on these links you can see some of the different ways students chose to meet the requirements for this assignment.
Short projects. You talked through your ideas/brainstorming for your short projects. You came up with a wide range of formats for this project including: a thematic series of scenes/vignettes; images (moving or still) with scrolling text or voiceover; a thematic, a sharply focused, short narrative or reflective essay (like "Some things about that night"); a multimedia presentation (lyrics with images with music; i-movie with voiceover/scrolling text); and letters + reflections. Any of these approaches or a combination will work for this project. The readings posted for last week provide a range of examples for this kind of writing. After talking through your ideas we decided on the criteria for the assignment.
LENGTH:
The piece should be from 300-750 words (5-7 minutes)
FOCUS:
Your piece should have a clear conceptual/thematic focus
DEVELOPMENT:
1) It should develop a complex presentation of that focus through the use of scenes/stories or other device that develops or allows for multiple perspectives on your focus.
2) The presentation and ideas should exhibit creativity and originality (with nontrivial reflective potential and fresh representations).
3) Because this piece is short, it is essential that every word/phrase/image works to open up your central focus; this requires economy, cohesion, and sharpness in your writing.
ORGANIZATION
The structure of this piece should reflect the audience and purpose for your composition.
You were requested to post brainstorming/drafty writing for one piece as Blog 9 and brainstory/drafty writing for a second piece for Blog . This writing does not need to be elaborate, but it should provide enough information for you to network with your classmates so you can develop your writing and ideas.
The revised, final draft for the short project is due December 11.
Portfolio
A sample portfolio presented in the format required for the final presentation of your work is posted at Sample portfolio. It uses google.sites (available through your Kean email) and models the page structure with a list of what to include on each page. The Reflective essay posted on the first page, sets up your portfolio and serves as a place for you to consider your identity as a CNF writer and how the work from this semester illustrates (or not) that identity. Requirements for the introductory reflective essay are posted to the right.
For next week.
Blog 11: Drafty writing/brainstorming for Short essay 2
Blog 12: Publication
venue handout
We will spend nest week's class creating the portfolios, working on the introductory essays, and listening to and talking about your presentations on the different CNF publication venues.
Have a great week and see you soon!
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
11.21
As you can see - I have reserved space for our end of term performance. You are welcome to bring guests. We will talk more about our plans in class.
I am looking forward to reading your final Long essays! See you in class on 11.28 and have a good Thanksgiving!
I am looking forward to reading your final Long essays! See you in class on 11.28 and have a good Thanksgiving!
11.21 Venue for end of term reading
| Event Name: | CREATIVE NONFICTION READING |
| Event Type: | Student Social Activity |
| Reference: | 2012-AACZXF |
| State: | Draft |
| Organization: | English |
| Cabinet: | (none) |
| Requestor: | Chandler, Sarah |
| Scheduler: | Chandler, Sarah |
| Head Count: | 35 expected ; 20 registered |
| Creation Date: | Wed Nov 21 2012 |
Thursday, November 15, 2012
11.14 Revised calendar, rhetorical analysis of publication venue, and short projects,
Revised calendar. The revised calendar is posted to the right. It is mostly correct - though as you pointed out in class there are a few misleading headings/due dates left over from the old draft (which I used as a template). To confirm what is due when, as usual, you will need to check the blog.
Rhetorical analysis of publication venues. The assignment sheet for this project is also posted to the right. We talked through the purpose and the requirements during class. Here are some sample handouts by students from last year's class: Creative Nonfiction, The Kenyon Review, and The Fourth Genre (be sure to scroll down to read all of this one). The handout will be your visual aid for your presentation to the class. It will be on the screen while you talk - and you can click through the links to show your classmates the journal's site, sample CNF essays, and other relevant information.
Short projects 1& 2. During the second part of class we talked over expectations for the "short essays" that use emerging forms (or not). We left a lot of room for choosing what kind of format/media you wanted to use. I suggested that you might do "essays" similar to any of the examples on the calendar. Readings listed on the calendar include regular "short" essays (less than 750 words), blog entries with and without hyperlinks, videos with voice over, hypertext (text with links) essays with images and animation, and etc. You may create a project that is like any of the examples - or that is your own creation. Keep in mind that you are writing this piece for an audience associated with a publication - so you might want to look through the publication list to see if any journals publish "essays" similar to yours.
We decided to create the assignment sheet for these projects (particularly the criteria for grades) in response to the kinds of projects you post for your first drafts. We will look over the kinds of drafts you have come up with and identify important features and criteria for describing and evaluating those features. I will post the resulting assignment sheet after class on 11.28.
For the next couple of weeks:
Read: Lord, "I met a man," p. 115; Braner, "Soundtrack," p. 29; McNight, "Mother's Day," p 120; look around Mike Steinberg's blog http://www.mjsteinberg.net/blog.htm (don't forget to read the comments), Bresland, "Les Cruel Shoes," p. 31 (read it first in your book - and then check out http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v4n1/gallery/bresland/shoes.htm you will need realplayer - free downolad) . What is Multimodal Composing? by Sonya Huber http://www.sonyahuber.com/project/Huber/projindex.html
Blog 9 : Post Brainstorming/ideas for Short essay 14
Rhetorical analysis of publication venues. The assignment sheet for this project is also posted to the right. We talked through the purpose and the requirements during class. Here are some sample handouts by students from last year's class: Creative Nonfiction, The Kenyon Review, and The Fourth Genre (be sure to scroll down to read all of this one). The handout will be your visual aid for your presentation to the class. It will be on the screen while you talk - and you can click through the links to show your classmates the journal's site, sample CNF essays, and other relevant information.
Short projects 1& 2. During the second part of class we talked over expectations for the "short essays" that use emerging forms (or not). We left a lot of room for choosing what kind of format/media you wanted to use. I suggested that you might do "essays" similar to any of the examples on the calendar. Readings listed on the calendar include regular "short" essays (less than 750 words), blog entries with and without hyperlinks, videos with voice over, hypertext (text with links) essays with images and animation, and etc. You may create a project that is like any of the examples - or that is your own creation. Keep in mind that you are writing this piece for an audience associated with a publication - so you might want to look through the publication list to see if any journals publish "essays" similar to yours.
We decided to create the assignment sheet for these projects (particularly the criteria for grades) in response to the kinds of projects you post for your first drafts. We will look over the kinds of drafts you have come up with and identify important features and criteria for describing and evaluating those features. I will post the resulting assignment sheet after class on 11.28.
For the next couple of weeks:
Read: Lord, "I met a man," p. 115; Braner, "Soundtrack," p. 29; McNight, "Mother's Day," p 120; look around Mike Steinberg's blog http://www.mjsteinberg.net/blog.htm (don't forget to read the comments), Bresland, "Les Cruel Shoes," p. 31 (read it first in your book - and then check out http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v4n1/gallery/bresland/shoes.htm you will need realplayer - free downolad) . What is Multimodal Composing? by Sonya Huber http://www.sonyahuber.com/project/Huber/projindex.html
Blog 9 : Post Brainstorming/ideas for Short essay 14
Blog 10 : Due: final draft long essay
Both of these blogs are officially due on 11.28. If you post your final long essay on or by 11.28, I will return it the following week with a grade and comments. If you post it by 11.21, I will return it by class 11. 28.
In class on 11.28 we will look at/respond to your drafts for tShort Essay 1 and develop the assignment sheet. You will also do some brainstorming for Short Essay 2 (due the following week, 12.4, as a blog post). During the second part of class, I will talk through the requirements for the reflective essay and for the portfolio (the format/requirements for the portfolio are posted to the right). You will also do some journaling on descriptive writing that makes a point without stating what the point is.
Have a great Thanksgiving - have fun with your short projects - and see you in a couple of weeks!
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Choices for Publication venues
Allyson High Desert
Andre Pank Magazine
Andrea Grist Lit Journal
Arlette Splinter Generation
Ashley Devil's Lake
Claudia Sonora Review
Heather Brevity
Jameelah Sun Magazine
Jay Sweet
Laurelle Pleides
Lewis Memoir
Luis The Pinch
Madiyna Upstreet
Maria Fuge
Paris Alaska Quarterly Review
Roshell Bellingham Review
Sara Hunger Mountain
Andre Pank Magazine
Andrea Grist Lit Journal
Arlette Splinter Generation
Ashley Devil's Lake
Claudia Sonora Review
Heather Brevity
Jameelah Sun Magazine
Jay Sweet
Laurelle Pleides
Lewis Memoir
Luis The Pinch
Madiyna Upstreet
Maria Fuge
Paris Alaska Quarterly Review
Roshell Bellingham Review
Sara Hunger Mountain
Other journals
Alison Fourth
Genre
Amanda Silk Road?
Ashley Fugue
Aydin Collision
Brian Word Riot
Catherine Brevity
James Splinter Generation
Jen The Kenyon Review
Josh The Big Ugly Review
Kathryn Hunger Mountain
Lauren Tiny Lights
Nicole Creative Nonfiction
Neiha Upstreet
Sam The Whistling Fire
Will Narrative
Amanda Silk Road?
Ashley Fugue
Aydin Collision
Brian Word Riot
Catherine Brevity
James Splinter Generation
Jen The Kenyon Review
Josh The Big Ugly Review
Kathryn Hunger Mountain
Lauren Tiny Lights
Nicole Creative Nonfiction
Neiha Upstreet
Sam The Whistling Fire
Will Narrative
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
11.7 Optional workshop class
I have already heard from enough of you that you won't be able to attend class that I am feeling guilty about not cancelling - so this is what I've decided to do.
I will be in the classroom, and we can have one-on-one conferences, or work on any final revising any of you want to do for your "best essay." This may be especially useful since we missed all of the conferences on your second essay. This way at least some of you can move through that part of the course work.
I will be in the classroom, and we can have one-on-one conferences, or work on any final revising any of you want to do for your "best essay." This may be especially useful since we missed all of the conferences on your second essay. This way at least some of you can move through that part of the course work.
I will not be moving forward with material for a regular "class" since it is not looking like there will be enough people there for us to have a regular class.
So this is the deal= you are welcome to come to class, I will be there as long as any students are present, first in the computer class, and then in our other classroom, just like usual. We will be conferencing and talking about writing. You can check off your conference and work on your revisions = but we will not be doing what is on the syllabus.
If you cannot come tonight = I will look for you during the time you scheduled your last conference, only two weeks later.
Monday, November 12
3:45 Lewis
Tuesday, November 13
1:00 Sara, 1:15 Heather, 1:30 Andrea, 1:45 Maria, 2:00 Luis
Wednesday November 14
1:15 Ashley, 1:45 Paris, 3:30 Jay, 5:45 Laurelle, 7:30 Arlette
3:45 Lewis
Tuesday, November 13
1:00 Sara, 1:15 Heather, 1:30 Andrea, 1:45 Maria, 2:00 Luis
Wednesday November 14
1:15 Ashley, 1:45 Paris, 3:30 Jay, 5:45 Laurelle, 7:30 Arlette
Be safe and keep warm and see you next week for sure.
Final drafts for the long essay will be due November 21.
Final drafts for the long essay will be due November 21.
Monday, November 5, 2012
11.5 Wow. Life is full of surprises
I hope all of you are safe and well. I feel pretty lucky my house didn't get crunched by a tree or flooded so that's good. I don't have power or internet. I am here at an internet cafe so this is going to be a short post, but I wanted to give you a heads up - and let you know your CNF course will be here waiting for you when you get back.
When we meet (this Wednesday or next - depending on Kean and whether or not you can get to campus) we will talk over how to put things together for the rest of the term.
I wanted to ask whether you wanted to write your last piece (another long piece?) about Sandy - or whether you want to work through a shortened version of the calender we have set up. I am good either way. In any case, I wanted to spend our first class together with some talk about what it is like to be in a hurricane -and being glad to be back together. We will still do the rhetorical analysis project and we will have the final performance reading - for the rest of the particulars=> will can work things out to be responsive to the remarkable, annoying, excellent fact that life doesn't always go the way we plan.
I will be on campus as soon as the school opens (especially because Kean will probably have power before I do). . If you can't attend class and you let me know I will try to be in touch with you.
I am sending all my thoughts and nonsectarian prayers your way. Take care and be safe..
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Conference times
Monday, October 29
2:00 Midiyna, 2:30 Allyson, 3:45 Lewis
Tuesday, October 30
1:00 Sara, 1:15 Heather, 1:30 Andrea, 1:45 Maria, 2:00 Luis
Wednesday October 31
1:15 Ashley, 1:45 Paris, 3:30 Jay, 3:34 Roshell, 5:45 Laurelle, 7:15 Jameelah, 7:30 Arlette
Andre? Claudia? Be in touch.
2:00 Midiyna, 2:30 Allyson, 3:45 Lewis
Tuesday, October 30
1:00 Sara, 1:15 Heather, 1:30 Andrea, 1:45 Maria, 2:00 Luis
Wednesday October 31
1:15 Ashley, 1:45 Paris, 3:30 Jay, 3:34 Roshell, 5:45 Laurelle, 7:15 Jameelah, 7:30 Arlette
Andre? Claudia? Be in touch.
10.25 Lies and more lies
Web publishing internship. I announced that there will be a web publishing internship offered as a course through the English Department for Spring, 12. This is the link for what students are doing this term. Mia Zamora is the person to contact if you are interested.
Feedback for Draft 2. Along with your draft you posted some specific requests for what you wanted from your readers. In addition to your requests, I asked the class to:
Feedback for Draft 2. Along with your draft you posted some specific requests for what you wanted from your readers. In addition to your requests, I asked the class to:
1. state or "sayback" what the essay is about
2. identify the emotional high point(s)
3. any suggestions for organization
- focus + what needs to come first to set up what the essay is about
- story arc
- emotional arc
4. anything else you might like to say.
Feedback groups:
Jameelah, Lewis, Arlette, Jay, Andrea
Sara, Laurelle, Paris, Claudia
Luis, Maria, Ashley, Midiyna
Heather, Allyson, Roshell, Andre
Jameelah, Lewis, Arlette, Jay, Andrea
Sara, Laurelle, Paris, Claudia
Luis, Maria, Ashley, Midiyna
Heather, Allyson, Roshell, Andre
You got a good start on this, and we had some follow-up talk about giving comments. Finish writing to your group members for homework.
You have scheduled conferences to talk over how you would work further on this draft = and to discuss which essay, 1 or 2, you are going to revise for a grade.
Lies. The writing prompt was about lies. We listed the kinds of lies we are told and classified them, and came up with the observations that while we tell lies for many different reasons, there are certain clusters of reasons for lying to others.
1. to manipulate or get a person or group to do or support ideas or actions (usually associated with the liar's interest); these include enabling lies.
2. to preserve freedom (for the liar); as we discussed in class these lies can be self affecting - or the deception can have concrete consequences on the autonomy or well being of the person lied to
3. to create/get others to support a worldview that the liar wants to believe in
These lies are all done with the purpose of deceiving others - although the last one - often not so much..
We also noted that there were lies where the liar didn't necessarily consider what they were doing as lying. These included:
Delusional lies were lies where the liar cannot accurately interpret what most people agree upon as "fact;" (we included supertitions in this one). Ideological lies are lies that are true in one set of assumptions (as in religious or political beliefs) but considered untruthful by individuals who have other beliefs. Ideological lies can shade into manipulative or freedom preserving lies - depending on the liar's level of awareness. Playful lies would include the kinds of embellishments and exaggerations in storytelling; and unintentional lies are simply when individuals do not have enough information; as our discussion unfolded it became clear that sometimes unintentional lies could shade into manipulations associated with enabling => when individuals are not really aware of the ways they are perpetuating/misrepresenting what an outsider might see as "really" going on.
So while we got a classification system up there on the board - it was clear there were overlaps among the categories.
Lies and power.
This led to a discussion of who has the most power = the liar or the truth teller? the lie or the truth?
We had proponents for both sides of this discussion - and again it was not clear cut. Liars have the advantage that they are not bound by reality - they can "invent" support for their position. Truthtellers have the advantage that they will not get "caught" in a lie.
At the same time - if we consider the case of President Obama's birth certificate => these two principles do not seem so clear cut. Who got caught? Who proved what? What counts as proof? Is anyone INTENTIONALLY lying in this situation. . . ?
We also raised the ideas that "truth always comes to light" and that truth's power is in its Truth (once you see it you recognize it. Again - in real life examples this gets messy.
James Frey and the responsibility of CNF writers. This conversation provided some background for our talk about James Frey. We listed all the different lies that he told, and you observed that the majority of his lies were directed toward (re)creating his life so that it matched a larger than life literary genre = the bad-boy with a heart of gold = James Dean in Rebel without a Cause, John Wayne in The man who shot Liberty Valence, Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights, and countless other stories of criminals, gang members, and outlaws who are larger than life examples of self destructive behavior and being outsiders, but are there for their loved ones or "do the right thing" in terms of "what really counts."
We also noted in class that these changes were about $$$ => about selling a book. And that is certainly true.
The last part of class discussion was about doing some reflection on the temptations of telling such lies - even when it is not (intentionally) about making a better story.
The last writing exercise was to make a list of the kinds of lies you are (tempted) to tell. We didn't get to spend as much time on this as we needed - but one quick generalization is that we want to tell lies to assure ourselves that we are OK, that the world is a "good" place, that the people we love are all right (and good people, and will be there for us). And this set of self deceptions sounds if not the same - at least similar to the class of lies Frey was selling => even very bad people are, inside, "good" = they will be "there" for you (if you are the right kind of person = some one special).
The point of the evening was to;
think about the kind of damage misrepresentations can do (we needed to spend a little more time on this with our list from Frey = but should catch up on this one next week)
think about the kinds of lies/misrepresentations that tempt us to tell them (and why)
and begin to decide on the stance we will take with respect to "truth" in our writing (each one of you will have your own individual position on this).
Great discussion!
Next week will be one more class on truth and lies.
You have scheduled conferences to talk over how you would work further on this draft = and to discuss which essay, 1 or 2, you are going to revise for a grade.
Lies. The writing prompt was about lies. We listed the kinds of lies we are told and classified them, and came up with the observations that while we tell lies for many different reasons, there are certain clusters of reasons for lying to others.
1. to manipulate or get a person or group to do or support ideas or actions (usually associated with the liar's interest); these include enabling lies.
2. to preserve freedom (for the liar); as we discussed in class these lies can be self affecting - or the deception can have concrete consequences on the autonomy or well being of the person lied to
3. to create/get others to support a worldview that the liar wants to believe in
These lies are all done with the purpose of deceiving others - although the last one - often not so much..
We also noted that there were lies where the liar didn't necessarily consider what they were doing as lying. These included:
- "delusional,"
- ideological,
- playful,
- and unintentional lies.
Delusional lies were lies where the liar cannot accurately interpret what most people agree upon as "fact;" (we included supertitions in this one). Ideological lies are lies that are true in one set of assumptions (as in religious or political beliefs) but considered untruthful by individuals who have other beliefs. Ideological lies can shade into manipulative or freedom preserving lies - depending on the liar's level of awareness. Playful lies would include the kinds of embellishments and exaggerations in storytelling; and unintentional lies are simply when individuals do not have enough information; as our discussion unfolded it became clear that sometimes unintentional lies could shade into manipulations associated with enabling => when individuals are not really aware of the ways they are perpetuating/misrepresenting what an outsider might see as "really" going on.
So while we got a classification system up there on the board - it was clear there were overlaps among the categories.
Lies and power.
This led to a discussion of who has the most power = the liar or the truth teller? the lie or the truth?
We had proponents for both sides of this discussion - and again it was not clear cut. Liars have the advantage that they are not bound by reality - they can "invent" support for their position. Truthtellers have the advantage that they will not get "caught" in a lie.
At the same time - if we consider the case of President Obama's birth certificate => these two principles do not seem so clear cut. Who got caught? Who proved what? What counts as proof? Is anyone INTENTIONALLY lying in this situation. . . ?
We also raised the ideas that "truth always comes to light" and that truth's power is in its Truth (once you see it you recognize it. Again - in real life examples this gets messy.
James Frey and the responsibility of CNF writers. This conversation provided some background for our talk about James Frey. We listed all the different lies that he told, and you observed that the majority of his lies were directed toward (re)creating his life so that it matched a larger than life literary genre = the bad-boy with a heart of gold = James Dean in Rebel without a Cause, John Wayne in The man who shot Liberty Valence, Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights, and countless other stories of criminals, gang members, and outlaws who are larger than life examples of self destructive behavior and being outsiders, but are there for their loved ones or "do the right thing" in terms of "what really counts."
We also noted in class that these changes were about $$$ => about selling a book. And that is certainly true.
The last part of class discussion was about doing some reflection on the temptations of telling such lies - even when it is not (intentionally) about making a better story.
The last writing exercise was to make a list of the kinds of lies you are (tempted) to tell. We didn't get to spend as much time on this as we needed - but one quick generalization is that we want to tell lies to assure ourselves that we are OK, that the world is a "good" place, that the people we love are all right (and good people, and will be there for us). And this set of self deceptions sounds if not the same - at least similar to the class of lies Frey was selling => even very bad people are, inside, "good" = they will be "there" for you (if you are the right kind of person = some one special).
The point of the evening was to;
think about the kind of damage misrepresentations can do (we needed to spend a little more time on this with our list from Frey = but should catch up on this one next week)
think about the kinds of lies/misrepresentations that tempt us to tell them (and why)
and begin to decide on the stance we will take with respect to "truth" in our writing (each one of you will have your own individual position on this).
Great discussion!
Next week will be one more class on truth and lies.
Read: Jill Talbert http://brevity.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/border-crossings-fiction-and-the-literature-of-fact/
Dinty Moore http://brevity.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/what-is-given-against-knowingly-changing-the-truth/
Blog 8: Discussion of how you would work more on Long Essay 2 + discussion of which essay you are going to revise.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
10.18 Real-life experience, the experience of reading, and what writers need to think about in terms of representing the "truth"
We started class with a discussion of what makes us cry - and why. As we created the list we noticed that some experiences were "real-life" experiences - like getting lost, realizing we had accomplished something we wished for/believed in, not being understood, feeling alone - and others were what I'm going to call "literary" experiences - watching a movie, reading a story, hearing a song.
As we characterized the lived-experiences that made us cry we noted clusters of features that were similar to a number of different reasons for crying. Lack of control was a frequent component in "negative" instances when we cried = for anger, loss, or frustration; and the surprise of a heartfelt wish unexpectedly (impossibly) fulfilled was a frequent component of instances where we wept from happiness, satisfaction, or relief.
When we compared the kinds of things that we cried for in literary experiences - we seemed to engage more deeply when we wept for positive reasons. In some sense - if the literary experience was TOO bad - instead of weeping with empathy (connecting to the fictional events/ideas) we withdrew or became angry or annoyed with the material. This is interesting. For lived-experience - there is not a choice to disengage and crying seems in some ways to be a response to the frustration at that fact that we can NOT disengage. With literary experiences that take us into very frustrating negative places - we break away, because we can, and while we may cry, the connection to the experince can be lost.
So what does this suggest about the experience of emotions in life versus writing. Well, lots of things - and we only began to scratch the surface of how we might use this information as we think about writing.
In the middle of this discussion we talked about emotions being "learned" = that in some sense we are socialized in how to be sad, or happy, or angry. So that we "perform" emotions in terms of the expectations of our family, social groups, or the culture at large. With respect to this observation, it seems that our written representations of emotion will draw heavily from those representations - and we might need to do some careful reflecting and checking to make sure we are accurately (honestly) representing what we experienced => rather than the story for what we were supposed to have experienced.
Another observatino might be that what Lott said about CNF's important function for "making sense out of chaos" is not just a feature of CNF, but a necessary characteristic of any writing that hopes to have an audience. If we present experience "raw" (without reflecting on or presenting its relationship to the emotions we are "supposed" to feel in terms of cultural stories)=> without making sense of it - and/or moving traumatic experiences toward the "surprise of a heartfelt wish unexpectedly (impossibly) fullfilled' - we run the risk of our audience withdrawing. Audience withdrawal may be especially risky for "true stories" (like the Hotel Rwanda, or American History X) or CNF - were we are going to cut off our feelings if there is no hope of making reality more understandable or tolerable.
And from this point on = "representations" of experience and "experience itself" and "Truth" get all mixed up. We didn't really have enough time to talk all of this through - but to boil it down to one usable reflection:ALL experience (even experience as we live it) is a perception/representation, but literary experiences seem to have certain restrictions on how our culture will tolerate their representation.
Truth and MD (code for you know who, I don't want another email so I am not posting his name) in China
We spent the second half of class characterizing the kinds of misrepresentations MD set forward about his trip to China, and discussing whether and how they mattered in terms of a discussion of truth in journalism, fiction, theater, and CNF.
In general, we observed that MD lied not about the working conditions and the kinds of things that had happened at some time and in some place in China suppliers for Apple, rather he had misrepresented his own experiences. In particular, he claimed to have been places he hadn't been and to have talked to people he had not talked to. He also misrepresented what the people he talked to said and did, and he was inaccurate (or lied) about what he actually saw and did.
The general consensus of the class was that this was unethical for a journalist, that it undermines the authority of the theatrical piece because it places the audience in a position where it does not have accurate information to distinguish between truth and fiction. Also, it misrepresents the truth about China in important ways. Because the particulars are untrue - the generalizations made from those particulars - even if they coincide with generalities that are true - remain untrue in important ways. First, it "lies" about the pervasiveness of the use of hexane, the prevalence of unions and the relationship of the government to unions, the prevalence of underage workers, and the extent and kind of "victimization" of workers from the workers' perspectives (which, ironically, is what he claims to represent).
His justified his lies in terms of telling a compelling story. Audiences identify more strongly with individual cases (particular people who say specific things in particular situations), and as Heather put it - he was an opportunist in terms of creating stories that matched cultural stories that an American audience will respond (be vulnerable?) to.
So there you have it - are writers/performers justified in messing with facts to tell a "larger" truth? Can it still be the truth if facts are tampered with? If it is not the truth, what does it become? What is the role of fictional works in critiquing "real world" situations? And are there features of CNF that put it in a better position to offer strong, compelling, and useful critiques? Or can each genre - fiction/nonfiction - bring different strengths?
For next class:
As we characterized the lived-experiences that made us cry we noted clusters of features that were similar to a number of different reasons for crying. Lack of control was a frequent component in "negative" instances when we cried = for anger, loss, or frustration; and the surprise of a heartfelt wish unexpectedly (impossibly) fulfilled was a frequent component of instances where we wept from happiness, satisfaction, or relief.
When we compared the kinds of things that we cried for in literary experiences - we seemed to engage more deeply when we wept for positive reasons. In some sense - if the literary experience was TOO bad - instead of weeping with empathy (connecting to the fictional events/ideas) we withdrew or became angry or annoyed with the material. This is interesting. For lived-experience - there is not a choice to disengage and crying seems in some ways to be a response to the frustration at that fact that we can NOT disengage. With literary experiences that take us into very frustrating negative places - we break away, because we can, and while we may cry, the connection to the experince can be lost.
So what does this suggest about the experience of emotions in life versus writing. Well, lots of things - and we only began to scratch the surface of how we might use this information as we think about writing.
In the middle of this discussion we talked about emotions being "learned" = that in some sense we are socialized in how to be sad, or happy, or angry. So that we "perform" emotions in terms of the expectations of our family, social groups, or the culture at large. With respect to this observation, it seems that our written representations of emotion will draw heavily from those representations - and we might need to do some careful reflecting and checking to make sure we are accurately (honestly) representing what we experienced => rather than the story for what we were supposed to have experienced.
Another observatino might be that what Lott said about CNF's important function for "making sense out of chaos" is not just a feature of CNF, but a necessary characteristic of any writing that hopes to have an audience. If we present experience "raw" (without reflecting on or presenting its relationship to the emotions we are "supposed" to feel in terms of cultural stories)=> without making sense of it - and/or moving traumatic experiences toward the "surprise of a heartfelt wish unexpectedly (impossibly) fullfilled' - we run the risk of our audience withdrawing. Audience withdrawal may be especially risky for "true stories" (like the Hotel Rwanda, or American History X) or CNF - were we are going to cut off our feelings if there is no hope of making reality more understandable or tolerable.
And from this point on = "representations" of experience and "experience itself" and "Truth" get all mixed up. We didn't really have enough time to talk all of this through - but to boil it down to one usable reflection:ALL experience (even experience as we live it) is a perception/representation, but literary experiences seem to have certain restrictions on how our culture will tolerate their representation.
Truth and MD (code for you know who, I don't want another email so I am not posting his name) in China
We spent the second half of class characterizing the kinds of misrepresentations MD set forward about his trip to China, and discussing whether and how they mattered in terms of a discussion of truth in journalism, fiction, theater, and CNF.
In general, we observed that MD lied not about the working conditions and the kinds of things that had happened at some time and in some place in China suppliers for Apple, rather he had misrepresented his own experiences. In particular, he claimed to have been places he hadn't been and to have talked to people he had not talked to. He also misrepresented what the people he talked to said and did, and he was inaccurate (or lied) about what he actually saw and did.
The general consensus of the class was that this was unethical for a journalist, that it undermines the authority of the theatrical piece because it places the audience in a position where it does not have accurate information to distinguish between truth and fiction. Also, it misrepresents the truth about China in important ways. Because the particulars are untrue - the generalizations made from those particulars - even if they coincide with generalities that are true - remain untrue in important ways. First, it "lies" about the pervasiveness of the use of hexane, the prevalence of unions and the relationship of the government to unions, the prevalence of underage workers, and the extent and kind of "victimization" of workers from the workers' perspectives (which, ironically, is what he claims to represent).
His justified his lies in terms of telling a compelling story. Audiences identify more strongly with individual cases (particular people who say specific things in particular situations), and as Heather put it - he was an opportunist in terms of creating stories that matched cultural stories that an American audience will respond (be vulnerable?) to.
So there you have it - are writers/performers justified in messing with facts to tell a "larger" truth? Can it still be the truth if facts are tampered with? If it is not the truth, what does it become? What is the role of fictional works in critiquing "real world" situations? And are there features of CNF that put it in a better position to offer strong, compelling, and useful critiques? Or can each genre - fiction/nonfiction - bring different strengths?
For next class:
Read: Smoking gun expose of A Million Little Pieces
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/million-little-lies
Blog 7: Due Draft long essay 2
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/million-little-lies
Blog 7: Due Draft long essay 2
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Conference schedule
All conferences will be in my office: CAS 324
Oct 11
12:30 Paris
1:00 Maria
1:15 Luis
1:30 Sara
2:30 Andre
October 17
4:15 Andrea
Laurelle - be in touch.
Oct 11
12:30 Paris
1:00 Maria
1:15 Luis
1:30 Sara
2:30 Andre
October 17
4:15 Andrea
Laurelle - be in touch.
10.10 Starting on Draft Essay 2
Hopefully, by the end of today (10.11) I will have conferenced with each of you. In this conference we talked over how you might go deeper/further with the material from your first draft, and we also spent some time talking about what you would do for your next draft. As stated in class - the plan is for you to write two drafts, then do some talking/reflecting to decide which one to revise. That means - this next draft is a NEW essay on a NEW topic. You worked some of opening up ideas at the beginning of class - and it sounded to me (and from looking at your blogs) like you are going to have some good material!
For journaling you wrote some family stories. Family stories - when told to a public audience or written in a journal - can be seen in a new light. All of a sudden the "insider" meaning they carry for the family tellings might sound a little different. As you told your stories - we sometimes suggested names for the "type" of story that they were -a blonde moment story, or a difficult (biting) child story, or a naughty but talented child story (the story about my father and the electricity), or a family identity story - and so on. These names connect your stories to "types" of stories told in other families = often for similar purposes and to accomplish similar ends in terms of defining the relationships within their group. When and how and to whom they are told often has to do with power relationships. These relationships (and the roles of stories) are things writers can notice -and turn into essays.
We spent the second half of class looking at some of the ways CNF writers use segmenting and sets of parallel or metaphorically connected story lines to develop a focus. I think the consensus was that the Cofer essay was a more pleasurable read for you - and maybe also that it illustrated more in terms of how to use segments. We spent some time looking at the different typographical cues she used to set off the different voices in her essay: italics for the film, regular print for the historical back story, inset paragraphs (no quotations though) for the voices of the individuals who were IN the flim. We noticed the movement between the film clips and the backstory - and how the two chronologies commented on each other.
We also talked about the metaphor of "silent dancing" = and how it connected to/set up the focus for the story. Just as the family in the film was dancing to music the present day viewers could not hear = weren't the family members in the backstory sections "dancing" to values and "traditions" that were from some place else and another time, and in many ways were "silent" = thought they still had the power to make the actors behaved in terms of their values. That works, doesn't it? Just as The Patch - was a metaphor for the consciousness in his father that McPhee was casting his story to - silent dancing was a metaphor for the powerful force of tradition to direct people's behaviors - even when the traditions are patterns from another place and time that no longer are "heard" in a new or changing context.
Good discussion of these two pieces. It is important to look at how these essays are built so that when you revise your writing - you can draw from the structures and ideas we see in this work.
For next week:
Read: Mike Daisey's report on the Apple factories in China, and NPR's retraction regarding their presentation of that report. These documents are available on NPR's web site at Mr.Daisey and the Apple Factory
Blog 6: More brainstorming for Essay 2.
In class you will brainstorm the draft you post on Blog 6 with your classmates. And we will use Mike Daisey's "creative" piece on sweatshops in China as a starting point for our discussion of "truth" in creative nonfiction.
See you next week.
For journaling you wrote some family stories. Family stories - when told to a public audience or written in a journal - can be seen in a new light. All of a sudden the "insider" meaning they carry for the family tellings might sound a little different. As you told your stories - we sometimes suggested names for the "type" of story that they were -a blonde moment story, or a difficult (biting) child story, or a naughty but talented child story (the story about my father and the electricity), or a family identity story - and so on. These names connect your stories to "types" of stories told in other families = often for similar purposes and to accomplish similar ends in terms of defining the relationships within their group. When and how and to whom they are told often has to do with power relationships. These relationships (and the roles of stories) are things writers can notice -and turn into essays.
We spent the second half of class looking at some of the ways CNF writers use segmenting and sets of parallel or metaphorically connected story lines to develop a focus. I think the consensus was that the Cofer essay was a more pleasurable read for you - and maybe also that it illustrated more in terms of how to use segments. We spent some time looking at the different typographical cues she used to set off the different voices in her essay: italics for the film, regular print for the historical back story, inset paragraphs (no quotations though) for the voices of the individuals who were IN the flim. We noticed the movement between the film clips and the backstory - and how the two chronologies commented on each other.
We also talked about the metaphor of "silent dancing" = and how it connected to/set up the focus for the story. Just as the family in the film was dancing to music the present day viewers could not hear = weren't the family members in the backstory sections "dancing" to values and "traditions" that were from some place else and another time, and in many ways were "silent" = thought they still had the power to make the actors behaved in terms of their values. That works, doesn't it? Just as The Patch - was a metaphor for the consciousness in his father that McPhee was casting his story to - silent dancing was a metaphor for the powerful force of tradition to direct people's behaviors - even when the traditions are patterns from another place and time that no longer are "heard" in a new or changing context.
Good discussion of these two pieces. It is important to look at how these essays are built so that when you revise your writing - you can draw from the structures and ideas we see in this work.
For next week:
Read: Mike Daisey's report on the Apple factories in China, and NPR's retraction regarding their presentation of that report. These documents are available on NPR's web site at Mr.Daisey and the Apple Factory
Blog 6: More brainstorming for Essay 2.
In class you will brainstorm the draft you post on Blog 6 with your classmates. And we will use Mike Daisey's "creative" piece on sweatshops in China as a starting point for our discussion of "truth" in creative nonfiction.
See you next week.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
10.3 Monopoly and the middle class
Feedback. You started class by writing feedback to 3-4 classmates in your group. Before getting to work, we had a conversation about the kinds of feedback that might be useful. After some general discussion, we set up the following prompts for feedback
1. state or "sayback" what the essay is about
2. identify the
emotional high point(s)
3. any suggestions for organization
- focus + what needs to come first to set up what the essay is about
- story arc
- emotional arc
4. anything else you might like to say.
You got a good start on this, and we had some follow-up talk about giving comments. Finish writing to your group members for homework.
List of topics you would never write about
Next you wrote a list of topics you would never write about. As you continued to work on your lists - we put together another list => this one characterized the REASONS you would never write about the topics on your list. These reasons included:
- open old/unresolved wounds
- potential to end relationships
- have to explain yourself
- conflict with who you are
- being seen as weak
- information harmful to others
- betray a promise
- people will think you are bad
- embarassing
- have life consequences
- change the way people think about you
- too painful
- shameful
- personal - afraid to share
- be judged
- aren't sure what you think = haven't yet processed the material
- not fun to write
After looking at this list for a while - and talking about it - we classified the different kinds of reasons and came up with the following classification for the reasons we might not want to write about a particular experience.
- outward projection of self (not a representation of how we want others perceive us)
- inward perceptions (don't want to explore these particular features of self)
- still processing (not ready to come to the kind of closure provided by writing)
- involves a relationship
- ownership (writer doesn't feel s/.he owns the story)
- culturally controversial
- not interesting
We noted that materials in the first 3 cateorgies are in some ways exactly the kinds of writing subjects we would (in some ways) like to read about - and that even though we are not willing are ready to write about these materials, we have been moved by and grateful to writers who take the risks to put the issues in these categories out there. Points four and five are more about boundary issues - and raise problems associated with our relationships not just to others - but to our own experience. Like the first 3, they involve both risks, and they add an additional need to examine/reflect on our motives or the ethics of the writing.
So what is the point of thinking about what you would never write about? To identify your conflicts? To find high stakes material? To think about what kind of writing you DO want to put out there? To share? To reach out to some reader who might be in the same place as you? Yes to all of those. And to anything else the exercise might have brought up for you.
Marvin Gardens.
4 kinds of segments. Playing monopoly (illustration of the dynamics/ethics of the game). The state of a real world urban center built on the ethics/dynamics of monopoly (illustration of real-world consequences of "playing monopoly in Atlantic City and engaging the reader in a search for Marvin Gardens - a real place, that seems to be missing from AC ). The history of Atlantic City (posing connections between a system for play and the building of cities). Reflections (several sections toward the end that connect & explain the relationships among the game play, AC's current condition, and Marvin Gardens.
These segments are arranged in terms of multiple relationships listed in Root's essay, and they are not in an entirely systematic order. As you worked on "reading" this essay in class - you noticed how the way the essay was built was also the way it built its meaning. The title sets up the overall focus = prompts the reader's attention to the central metaphor for the middle class (Marvin Gardens), the first section sets up the game play = an economic system; and the second places us in a world where that game has been played = the ruined Atlantic City of 1975. The parallels & the juxtapositions cause the reader to make connections in language and ideas the lead her/him to the last paragraph = where McPhee presents his "thesis" = that a stable economic system needs a middle class.
One more thing. Why do you think he presented this message so indirectly? Where was it published? Who are the readers for that publication? Would they be inclined to agree or disagree with a direct presentation of these ideas? What do you think?
For next week - we will be doing some more in-depth study of how segmentation works to create part of the story for the reader.
Read: Cofer,
p.54, Silent Dancing (in your book); and
"The Patch" by John McPhee, published in The New Yorker, February 8, 2010.
The essay is available through the Kean databases. Go to the Periodical list, type in The New Yorker, go to the magazine and search the February 8, 2010 issue for
John McPhee, Personal History, “The Patch,” The New Yorker, February 8, 2010, p. 32.
Blog 5: Brainstorming for Long draft essay 2 => write into your ideas AND develop some scenes (for the idea you plan to go with), and/or a map for the presentation.
Finish your comments to classmate's essays.
I will be giving you comments on your Long draft essay 1 in conferences. You get full credit for your blog if you posted an appropriate word count/approximation of the essay by the due date.
In class we will continue to talk about segmenting - and you will do some work to develop ideas for your second essay.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
9.26 Brainstorming for Essay 1 & Segmented essays
Finding a compelling focus: The idea was that this week's brainstorming and planning would get you deep into your material => open up ideas that present more than one straight through telling of an event + a clear, unconflicted statement of "what it means." It is hard to tell, but talking in your groups during the first part of class seemed to open up, deepen, re-cast some of the writing I saw posted on your blogs = and that is excellent for this stage of the planning process. I hope to be looking at blogs later today - and to give you some feedback early in your composing process - since full drafts are due next week.
Thinking about form: During the second part of class we discussed Robert Root's essay on segmentation - and took a close look at Mimi Schwartz's elegant use of the segments in "What my father always said." She didn't simply break the time into six scenes - each scene focuses on a time which grounds the events - but it is also infused with perspectives from times outside of those events. Her essay doesn't quite fit into any of the classification systems posed by Root - and that is just fine. As we discussed in class, her use of segmentation compresses and sharpens her material - so that there is more information - and more possibility for rich interpretation - than there would be if the story were told as a more straightforward, unsegmented essay. With segmentation - what is in each segment and the combinations of different elements in different segments - are part of the narrative information.
Drafts due next week: The length for drafts is posted with the assignment sheet, and I am looking for some serious - though not highly polished - work. Put your ideas out there - try out an arrangement. You might add a note at the beginning or the end to suggest ideas you are still working with or features of the draft you would like me to comment on. Resist the temptation to "finish" your work - rather keep thinking about what might deepen the story, open up the idea, tighten the focus, or how to arrange the conceptual "story" in just the right sequence.
Conferences: You will receive feedback through one-on-one conferences with me, in my office= CAS 324. The schedule is posted below.
Monday October 8
1:00 Andre; 1:15 Maria; 1:30 Luis; 2:00 Allyson; 2:15 Lewis
Tuesday October 9
1:00 Paris; 1:15 Heather; 1:30 Andrea; 1:45 Midiyna; 2:00 Sara
Wednesday October 10
1:15 Ashley; 1:30 Jay; 2:15 Roshell
7:15: Arlette + Jameelah
If you can't keep your appointment - send an email so I can schedule with other students
For next class:
Thinking about form: During the second part of class we discussed Robert Root's essay on segmentation - and took a close look at Mimi Schwartz's elegant use of the segments in "What my father always said." She didn't simply break the time into six scenes - each scene focuses on a time which grounds the events - but it is also infused with perspectives from times outside of those events. Her essay doesn't quite fit into any of the classification systems posed by Root - and that is just fine. As we discussed in class, her use of segmentation compresses and sharpens her material - so that there is more information - and more possibility for rich interpretation - than there would be if the story were told as a more straightforward, unsegmented essay. With segmentation - what is in each segment and the combinations of different elements in different segments - are part of the narrative information.
Drafts due next week: The length for drafts is posted with the assignment sheet, and I am looking for some serious - though not highly polished - work. Put your ideas out there - try out an arrangement. You might add a note at the beginning or the end to suggest ideas you are still working with or features of the draft you would like me to comment on. Resist the temptation to "finish" your work - rather keep thinking about what might deepen the story, open up the idea, tighten the focus, or how to arrange the conceptual "story" in just the right sequence.
Conferences: You will receive feedback through one-on-one conferences with me, in my office= CAS 324. The schedule is posted below.
Monday October 8
1:00 Andre; 1:15 Maria; 1:30 Luis; 2:00 Allyson; 2:15 Lewis
Tuesday October 9
1:00 Paris; 1:15 Heather; 1:30 Andrea; 1:45 Midiyna; 2:00 Sara
Wednesday October 10
1:15 Ashley; 1:30 Jay; 2:15 Roshell
7:15: Arlette + Jameelah
If you can't keep your appointment - send an email so I can schedule with other students
For next class:
Read: McPhee, p.
128, "Search for Marvin Gardens"
Blog 4: Draft Long essay 1
Spend some time with McPhee. This is another, slightly different use of segmentation. The focus of this essay unfolds as you read so keep asking yourself - what IS he writing about?
I am REALLY looking forward to reading your essays. See you in class!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
9.19 Waiting for inspiration, truth in (non)fiction and discussion of Long Essay assignment
Watching our unconscious selves. We started class with an exercise to access "unconscious" material. This exercise was not meant to get a list of ideas for an essay on the page, it was meant to introduce you to one practice for accessing feelings, intuitions, and dream thoughts in a way that you can "watch" them - and then describe them. By describing what you see/experience during the kinds of brief meditation we did in class - especially if you visit this thinking/feeling/nonverbal space regularly and write what you see - you can document patterns in the images, feelings, obsessions, ruts for thinking, and so on that come into your mind. Some of you may have taken the exercise to the next step by "speaking to" the dream figures that you invite (or that come unbidden) into your mind. These kind of exercises open us up to what we don't know that we don't know. For more on watching your mind (a zen based approach) you might look at Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana, and for more on exploring your dreams you might read Robert Johnson's Inner work: Using dreams and active imagination for personal work (both on Amazon).
First assignment. The assignment sheet for the first essay is posted to the right under Assignment sheets. We talked through the criteria. I pointed out that we hadn't talked about segmented essays yet (we will be reading about them for next week) and suggested that you do your brainstorming for next class without worrying too much about that requirement (see prompt for Blog 3). The requirements for undergrads and grads are slightly different so pay attention to your classification.
We then did a little talking about how some of the topics/stories you brought up in our discussions from the first two classes might be turned into CNF essays. Probably the most important consideration was to make sure you had both a conceptual focus and a "story" that could be presented using the "techniques" for CNF (narrative, character, scenes, dialog, literary moves similar to what we observed in the sample texts, and so on), and that there be movement between the concept and the narrative. As we observed in our discussion of Lott - a CNF essay can "fail" if it hammers us too hard with its point (as with Lott's story), and if there seem to be narrative elements that are not central to the essay's development of its concept (as some of you found with the presentation of the blond woman who called for the CNF police) the essay weakens as well. For your writing for Blog 3, you may find yourself more able to produce lots of stories or lots of reflections - and for this week just go with whatever comes to you. Hopefully the class workshop will help you write into and integrate the two components.
Lott & Gutkind: You raised many thoughtful observations about how CNF works - and about how these two authors "defined" the genre. You noted that Lott's essay was a little idealistic - in that it emphasized the art and interactive/experiential and mission (see the responsibility section at the end) features of CNF to the extent that CNF writers may seem as if they belong to a cult (yeah that's a little exaggerated - but I found my self thinking that as we came to the end of the discussion - it was like Lott was pushing a set of beliefs CNF writers needed to buy into to be "real" CNF authors). At the same time - Lott's essay also articulated a concrete series of things that CNF did or engaged readers (and authors) in doing. On that list were significant considerations about telling the truth => which leads into Gutkind's piece. While his essay was more narrative (and for some of you more enjoyable) - the body did not provide some much "how to" (though the the list at the end does when it warns about not creating incidents or characters, not harming innocent victims, remembering your own story but thinking intently on how it impacts your reader...). Rather it raised questions (at least it seemed to for us) about the authors repsonsibilities to truth-telling - and what (T)ruth is. I'm not sure I can sum up this discussion because it seemed there were different perspectives. We will definitely be continuing this talk as we read about Stephen Frey.
First assignment. The assignment sheet for the first essay is posted to the right under Assignment sheets. We talked through the criteria. I pointed out that we hadn't talked about segmented essays yet (we will be reading about them for next week) and suggested that you do your brainstorming for next class without worrying too much about that requirement (see prompt for Blog 3). The requirements for undergrads and grads are slightly different so pay attention to your classification.
We then did a little talking about how some of the topics/stories you brought up in our discussions from the first two classes might be turned into CNF essays. Probably the most important consideration was to make sure you had both a conceptual focus and a "story" that could be presented using the "techniques" for CNF (narrative, character, scenes, dialog, literary moves similar to what we observed in the sample texts, and so on), and that there be movement between the concept and the narrative. As we observed in our discussion of Lott - a CNF essay can "fail" if it hammers us too hard with its point (as with Lott's story), and if there seem to be narrative elements that are not central to the essay's development of its concept (as some of you found with the presentation of the blond woman who called for the CNF police) the essay weakens as well. For your writing for Blog 3, you may find yourself more able to produce lots of stories or lots of reflections - and for this week just go with whatever comes to you. Hopefully the class workshop will help you write into and integrate the two components.
Lott & Gutkind: You raised many thoughtful observations about how CNF works - and about how these two authors "defined" the genre. You noted that Lott's essay was a little idealistic - in that it emphasized the art and interactive/experiential and mission (see the responsibility section at the end) features of CNF to the extent that CNF writers may seem as if they belong to a cult (yeah that's a little exaggerated - but I found my self thinking that as we came to the end of the discussion - it was like Lott was pushing a set of beliefs CNF writers needed to buy into to be "real" CNF authors). At the same time - Lott's essay also articulated a concrete series of things that CNF did or engaged readers (and authors) in doing. On that list were significant considerations about telling the truth => which leads into Gutkind's piece. While his essay was more narrative (and for some of you more enjoyable) - the body did not provide some much "how to" (though the the list at the end does when it warns about not creating incidents or characters, not harming innocent victims, remembering your own story but thinking intently on how it impacts your reader...). Rather it raised questions (at least it seemed to for us) about the authors repsonsibilities to truth-telling - and what (T)ruth is. I'm not sure I can sum up this discussion because it seemed there were different perspectives. We will definitely be continuing this talk as we read about Stephen Frey.
Next week we will start in the computer lab (CAS 202) where you will workshop your brainstorming. We will then spend some time thinking about the different ways CNF writers use segments as "meaning making" elements of their essays - and you can develop ideas about how you might use segmenting in your writing.
Read: Root, 318; Schwartz,
p. 194, Kahn, p. 95
Blog 3: invention
writing for Long essay 1. This posts should explore "episodes" or "scenes" associated with the idea you want to write about. Or it can be writing about the ideas or points you want to make. If possible, try to hold off on composing coherent, edited prose. Rather do some in-depth describing and speculating that circles around your "story" and/or your "idea." Go as far as you can - and do not "marry" your prose - you are going to be moving on. Also, the more writing you post the stronger position you will be in to benefit from the workshop during the first part of class. Have fun!
Thursday, September 13, 2012
9.12 Connecting to felt stories + what is CNF?
For the journal prompt, you began by writing a list of feelings, sensations (tastes, touches, sounds. . ) bodily perceptions. Psychologists tell us that accessing memories through looking at these nonverbal, felt experiences can allow us to remember and relive experiences that are difficult to approach through words. You came up with a great list of sensations/feelings - and an awesome set of stories.
In-class writing and sharing stories from your journals is part of a process for creating a reservoir or "treasure chest" of materials that you can dip into as you pursue your writing interests. The essays you write for this course are not the only or even the most important products of our work together. The course is designed to set you up with some new approaches to brainstorming (such as tapping into sensual associations and the in tact stories and scenes that often come with them) AND to provide you with friendly support as you write down and explore ideas for your future writing.
We spent the second half of class doing a close analysis of the features of "Some things about that day" and "Out there." We looked at focus, organization, directness/indirectness, "literaryness," word choices, point of view (always first person) - to mention only some of your good observations. As we talked - we went back and forth between noticing the particular features of these essays - and naming the general features of creative nonfiction.
I know I promised you that we were going to come up with a kind of description of what CNF was and what it did - and that them we would circle back to the some of the stories you told about memories/experiences associated with sensations - but we didn't quite get there. That's OK. Fortunately we have about 14 more classes.
For next class:
In-class writing and sharing stories from your journals is part of a process for creating a reservoir or "treasure chest" of materials that you can dip into as you pursue your writing interests. The essays you write for this course are not the only or even the most important products of our work together. The course is designed to set you up with some new approaches to brainstorming (such as tapping into sensual associations and the in tact stories and scenes that often come with them) AND to provide you with friendly support as you write down and explore ideas for your future writing.
We spent the second half of class doing a close analysis of the features of "Some things about that day" and "Out there." We looked at focus, organization, directness/indirectness, "literaryness," word choices, point of view (always first person) - to mention only some of your good observations. As we talked - we went back and forth between noticing the particular features of these essays - and naming the general features of creative nonfiction.
I know I promised you that we were going to come up with a kind of description of what CNF was and what it did - and that them we would circle back to the some of the stories you told about memories/experiences associated with sensations - but we didn't quite get there. That's OK. Fortunately we have about 14 more classes.
For next class:
Read: Lott &
Gutkind on creative nonfiction (handouts in class)
Blog 2: Use today's class discussion + what you are
reading in Lott + Gutkind to develop your definition of creative nonfiction. Keep working on your list of features you see as "essential" to CNF. What do Lott & Gutkind leave out of their discussions? How are definitions of creative nonfiction
changing in light of digital publishing?
I will be providing you some feedback on Blog 1 - hopefully before the end of the weekend. Comments will be sent via email - and you can use them to get a better idea of the expectations for a "good" post.
In class on Wednesday we will start with journal writing, finish up our discussion of what CNF is, finally get a chance to think about how to turn "stories" into CNF, and finish up with talk about segmented essays.
Have a great weekend. It is pretty beautiful out there.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
9.5 Writing Journals and What is Creative Nonfiction?
IMPORTANT NOTES:
1. The next class will meet in CAS 310
2. If you have not done so already -- send me an email with your blog address from the account you want to use for the course. I will use this email account to be in touch and send comments on your writing.
WHAT WE DID IN CLASS:
Getting to know each other. Tonight was the first class and we started with introductions. Hopefully going through the class names and listening to classmates' stories gave you some ideas about who you are going to be working with. That way - as the blog list to the right is completed, you will have a face to go with the writing. I was struck by what serious storytellers you are - you went for "real" stories and told them with details and thoughtfulness. In some cases your observations and stories deserved much more validation and acknowledgement that I was able to give on the spur of the moment in class. I had lots to think about after class - and I am guessing you did, too. I am looking forward to reading your writing!
Syllabus, Calendar, and questions. We spent some time going over the course objectives, the general plan for the assignments, how grades will be calculated, and my "teaching philosophy." I know it was a lot all at once - pretty much impossible to remember it all - so if you have questions ASK - either in class (your classmates will thank you), by email or in person. I am on campus most of the day from M-Th - if you give me a heads up - I will make sure to be in my office so we can talk.
Blogs. During the second part of class you created a blog and sent me the address (url) for your blog. You will do your first post for next class (see below).
Essential features of creative nonfiction (CNF). If you are going to write CNF, you need to have an idea of what it is and what it does. What is its subject material (what do CNF writers write about)? What point of view do the authors take? How do they present information (is it told as a story? as a lecture/essay? like journalism? is it more like a sermon or a short story? which features does it have in common with those two forms?) During the last part of class we listed some possible characteristics that might serve to describe what creative nonfiction is and what it does. For your first blog post, you develop your own description. Maybe you will agree with some of the features we put on the board - but not others. You will use the model essays assigned under Readings as evidence of what CNF is and what it does. There is no right answer. What counts is your exploration. Have fun!
FOR NEXT CLASSS:
Read: Check out course blog + browse your text and read carefully: Beard, p. 3,"Out There," Marquart, p. 118, "Some things about that day," Lopate, p,107, "Portrait of my body," Ebert,p.258, "I think I'm musing my mind," (then check out a couple entries + comments on his blog http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/
Blog 1: Using the sample essays from your text - identify and discuss what you see as features of creative nonfiction, then make a list. What are the "essential" features? What are the sometimes there and sometimes not features? What are some of the differences between short and long forms?
And: Bring your writing journal to class!
See you next week!
1. The next class will meet in CAS 310
2. If you have not done so already -- send me an email with your blog address from the account you want to use for the course. I will use this email account to be in touch and send comments on your writing.
WHAT WE DID IN CLASS:
Getting to know each other. Tonight was the first class and we started with introductions. Hopefully going through the class names and listening to classmates' stories gave you some ideas about who you are going to be working with. That way - as the blog list to the right is completed, you will have a face to go with the writing. I was struck by what serious storytellers you are - you went for "real" stories and told them with details and thoughtfulness. In some cases your observations and stories deserved much more validation and acknowledgement that I was able to give on the spur of the moment in class. I had lots to think about after class - and I am guessing you did, too. I am looking forward to reading your writing!
Syllabus, Calendar, and questions. We spent some time going over the course objectives, the general plan for the assignments, how grades will be calculated, and my "teaching philosophy." I know it was a lot all at once - pretty much impossible to remember it all - so if you have questions ASK - either in class (your classmates will thank you), by email or in person. I am on campus most of the day from M-Th - if you give me a heads up - I will make sure to be in my office so we can talk.
Blogs. During the second part of class you created a blog and sent me the address (url) for your blog. You will do your first post for next class (see below).
Essential features of creative nonfiction (CNF). If you are going to write CNF, you need to have an idea of what it is and what it does. What is its subject material (what do CNF writers write about)? What point of view do the authors take? How do they present information (is it told as a story? as a lecture/essay? like journalism? is it more like a sermon or a short story? which features does it have in common with those two forms?) During the last part of class we listed some possible characteristics that might serve to describe what creative nonfiction is and what it does. For your first blog post, you develop your own description. Maybe you will agree with some of the features we put on the board - but not others. You will use the model essays assigned under Readings as evidence of what CNF is and what it does. There is no right answer. What counts is your exploration. Have fun!
FOR NEXT CLASSS:
Read: Check out course blog + browse your text and read carefully: Beard, p. 3,"Out There," Marquart, p. 118, "Some things about that day," Lopate, p,107, "Portrait of my body," Ebert,p.258, "I think I'm musing my mind," (then check out a couple entries + comments on his blog http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/
Blog 1: Using the sample essays from your text - identify and discuss what you see as features of creative nonfiction, then make a list. What are the "essential" features? What are the sometimes there and sometimes not features? What are some of the differences between short and long forms?
And: Bring your writing journal to class!
We will begin next class with some journaling - and shared stories from your jourmals. You will have time IN CLASS to write in your jourmal. The general focus of the journal prompt is listed on the calendar. I will set up the writing - maybe by asking you to freewrite or list memories connected to taste, touch, smell - physical sensations + associations, and then you will (maybe/depending on what is important to you and your writing) will "write into" one of your thoughts/associations.
See you next week!
Monday, September 3, 2012
9.5 About this Blog
This is the course blog for ENG 4017/5017 Section 1. We will use this blog to keep a record of what we do in class, as a hub for communications with me and other class members, and to keep all the important course documents in one place.
Documenting what we do in class: After each class I will write up a summary of what we talked about, what you turned in, and what you are expected to do for next class. Although I have created a class calendar - sometimes we might not do exactly what is on the list. This blog will update the calendar and give the real story on what we accomplished and where we are going next. You should be sure to check these updates every day. By using the link list to the right titled Blog Archive, you will be able to check back on earlier class discussions. I will title Blog Archive posts both by the date, and a title describing the post's content.
A hub for course communications: You can see a link list to the right named "Course Blogs." So far, my blog is the only link on that list. By next week, each of you will have created your own blog. You will send me the link in an email posted from your kean email, the account you will use for this course. The list of course blogs will allow you to read and review writing, comments on class discussions, and questions posted by everyone in class. If you do not want your blog to be searchable (visible to search engines), when you set up your blog set the privacy functions so that your blog is visible only to individuals who have the link.
You do not need to be tech savvy to take this course. If you are uncertain about how to create your blog - or if you have trouble using it - stop by my office and I can talk you through it. This is meant to be a resource for you, and if it is not working about that way let me know so we can fix it.
Course documents: To the right you will also see several sets of link lists with links to they syllabus and calendar, assignment sheets, useful links, and etc. We will be creating and accumulating these links and documents as we go through the course. By posting them here - you will have access to the assignment sheets, possible publication venues, and other course information - all in one place.
If you have questions - ask me in class, or email me at ENG4017@gmail.com.
Documenting what we do in class: After each class I will write up a summary of what we talked about, what you turned in, and what you are expected to do for next class. Although I have created a class calendar - sometimes we might not do exactly what is on the list. This blog will update the calendar and give the real story on what we accomplished and where we are going next. You should be sure to check these updates every day. By using the link list to the right titled Blog Archive, you will be able to check back on earlier class discussions. I will title Blog Archive posts both by the date, and a title describing the post's content.
A hub for course communications: You can see a link list to the right named "Course Blogs." So far, my blog is the only link on that list. By next week, each of you will have created your own blog. You will send me the link in an email posted from your kean email, the account you will use for this course. The list of course blogs will allow you to read and review writing, comments on class discussions, and questions posted by everyone in class. If you do not want your blog to be searchable (visible to search engines), when you set up your blog set the privacy functions so that your blog is visible only to individuals who have the link.
You do not need to be tech savvy to take this course. If you are uncertain about how to create your blog - or if you have trouble using it - stop by my office and I can talk you through it. This is meant to be a resource for you, and if it is not working about that way let me know so we can fix it.
Course documents: To the right you will also see several sets of link lists with links to they syllabus and calendar, assignment sheets, useful links, and etc. We will be creating and accumulating these links and documents as we go through the course. By posting them here - you will have access to the assignment sheets, possible publication venues, and other course information - all in one place.
If you have questions - ask me in class, or email me at ENG4017@gmail.com.
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