Monday, September 14

You wrote in your writing journals about scars. In addition to recollecting and describing the experiences assoicated with your scars, we talked about the scars themselves as writing on your body - as witnesses to an event from your past. We also talke about scars as a way to see/feel your self from within two different time/places (like Kincaid). As you told your stories, we developed discussions about how you might connect to an idea - to some reflection on what it is to be human. Hopefully this discussion set you up with some connections to Lott's essay and a definition of creative nonfiction.

In our discussion of Lott, we reflected both on the definition of creative nonfiction his essay developed - and on the form of his essay. We noticed that he set his essay up by telling the reader what to expect (and leaving what the essay would actually "say" at least partially in question); we also noticed that he used a "refrain" - a repeated re-telling (but always with a little different content) as a way to bring coherence and focus to his writing. I heartily encouraged you to pay attention to the forms in the readings - and to experiment with the forms you think will work for you.

Within Lott's definition - I emphasized that for this course, creative nonfiction will include both a detailed, vividly rendered story about experience AND a reflection on what that experience means in larger terms than simply what happened. Think about the implications in Kincaid's story, or in Beard's. These stories are not just about the event, they are also about an idea.

For Thursday:
Read: Montaigne, That men should not judge; and Orwell, Shooting the elepant. Both links are at the bottom of this page, by author's last name.

Blog 3: How are th essays by Montaigne + Orwell different from / the same as the more contemporary essays you have read? What elements mark the voice in the more recent works as "contemporary"?

I will be grading Blogs 1, 2 & 3 over the weekend and giving you some feedback.

See you Thursday.