Some things we skipped over that you will need to follow through on your own:
- Read the syllabus - it is a contract. More detailed reading of the syllabus (including policies for attendance, plagiarism, detailed descriptions of the components of your grade, etc)
- Create your course blog In the original plan I alloted class time for this. In the revised plan (because we missed our first class) you need to create your blog and send your url to me as an out of class assignment (directions are in the email sent last week). If you aren't sure how to follow through, send me an email at the course email (ENG4017@gmail.com) and set up a time so we can work it through.
- Read the "sample" examples of CNF (listed on the calendar) and think about what makes these very different pieces of writing CNF. It is much more than the list we generated in class.
What we did in class
Introductions (why bother?). After the proscribed discussion of the syllabus - particularly how the course is organized and how you will be graded- you introducted yourselves. Rather you introduces someone you didn't know. This class is conducted as a workshop. These individuals will be your audience. It is important to know your classmates, and me, so you can assess whether our feedback is a match for your audience - the readers you are hoping to connect to. So pay attention to what we say in class. Lurk around on our blogs. Talk to each other. You can get powerfully useful feedback in workshops, but you have to know who your talking to in order to figure out what to do with it.
Watching what is inside your head. We then took part in an exercise to "watch" what we are thinking. This is not especially original on my part, there is tons of research on creativity that says that we get ideas, not from "thinking" but from letting what is going on an the associative, felt part of our minds come to the surface so we can put it into words. Watching your mind allows you to bring into language important "things" don't have language. Their non-languageness is what you are going for. Just "feel" them, or watch them. Then later write from where you were.
We didn't really get especially "deep" into this. For one thing, most of us experienced some version of "feeling" the awkwardness of doing this in a classroom. For another, for most of us, the time spent was not long enough to get out of the planning, obsessing, anxiety about day to day responsibilities phase. So - that's what we were able to do.
What this exercise offers to you is a way to "practice" watching parts of your mind that are not thinking. It is a great exercise to do before you write. Whether you get a particular idea or not is really not the point. What it does is make the nonlanguaged ideas/feelings/wholistic representations more available.
What do we mean by CNF?
When I asked what your impressions were of what CNF is or how it works, we came up with this list.
- turns the mundane into the extraordinary
- inspired by true events
- factually accurate narrative
- about experience of people and places
- means of bending the rules without breaking them
CNF as about "true events." This part of the conversation seemed to emphasize the nonfiction part of the name. Most comments raised the issues of "truth" with an emphasis on the role of the mundane, the factual accuracy, the rules, and experience. And this IS one of the defining features of CNF. It has to be "true" and writing "true" has its own unique challenges. Like writing to the music of language when you write poetry, writing "true" places particular constraints on what you can say and how you can say it. But what it means to write true is by no means obvious. As we acknowledged in class, ANYTHING we write will only be partially "true" to the evnts it represents. All writing is a partial representation and it is invested in a perspective - so what's "true" about it? We will spend a significant portion of the semester grappling with what we mean by "true."
We then had a VERY brief discussion of the form and language use in the "sample" readings assigned for tonight's class.
Features of assigned readings
indirect
stylistically => very different
first person
used dialog (often)
lots of switching scene and location in time
told as stories
Good job on this! The assigned readings for next week will give you a firmer handle on the features we have identified so far.
Sensation and writing. For the second writing prompt, you wrote to your senses, specifically the dark senses - smell, touch and taste. You started by listing particular sensations (smells, touches, tastes) that are evocative for you, and you then developed/elaborated some of the material that came up for you with one sensation. Readings/tellings associated from this writing brought up lots of random material that could form the basis of a piece for the course, for you, or not. Sensations are a rich source of felt (unlanguaged) experience that can work as "new" material for you, or at least a fresh perspective.
For next week:
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR BOOK + CREATE YOUR BLOG & SEND ME THE LINK.
Read: Lott and Gutkind (handouts in class). Read the sample texts assigned for week 1 if you have not already.
Blog 1: (Please label it Blog 1, it helps me keep track of the posts). Use references to the readings (both the sample CNF pieces from last week, and the "definition" essays for next week) to identify what you see as the most important features of CNF.
The question of "how long does my post have to be" is answered in the syllabus. If you are still uncertain, stop by my office and we can talk.
Great class! Our little community has a good feel and I am looking forward to a great semester reading your work! Wonderful and thanks.
