October 29

Today you looked at the assignment sheet for Project 3&4, and we talked over the differences in writing for this part of the course, and what you have done so far. The biggest difference is that for these drafts you need to experiment with segmented essays, and your writing will turn from using your experience as evidence, to using observation, description, references to "facts" and so on to develop the "evidence" for your reflection.

We discussed the essays by Lott & Cofer, and looked at how they developed their reflections using references to images (photographs, home movies). Lott moved primarily between describing the images and reflecting; Cofer moved among her reflections/experiences and descriptions of the film. She used creative ways to open up the evidence of the film (she "dreamed" that the people in the movie actually talked to her). So as you can see - there are lots of possibilities.

Over the weekend - work on revising either draft 1 or 2. This will be your first "finished" essay. Post it to your blog for Monday (Blog 15).

In class we will spend some time responding to your posted essays, and do some more writing/exploring to move forward with your next draft.

Good class today - and have a happy Halloween!

October 26

We discussed Stanton's essay "Laundry" as a way to get some ideas about what is expected for essays 3&4. The assignment sheet is posted at the bottom of this page - above the syllabus, calender + assignment sheet for Essays 1& 2. We will discuss the specifics in class on Thursday. As you read through - you will notice that this assignment requires you to write a segmented essay. You will also notice that the essays we are reading as "example" are broken into segments. In class, we will discuss how the reader's participation in figuring out relationships between the segments contributes to the essays' meanings.

In class discussion of Stanton we noted how her essay included detailed description & "reporting" concerning the object in her essay, and that she used this discussion as a vehicle for telling a more "human" story about her understanding of "the way the world is." You also did some writing to look for patterns in your relationships to "things."

In class Thursday you will continue to brainstorm, write into your ideas for essays 3 & 4.

Read: Cofer, "Silent Dancing," 154; Lott, "Brothers"
Blog 14: Write about a photograph; this does not need to be a complete piece, just write, maybe ask some questions about what was going on, or what happened before or since to the people in the photo - or to the place or things ; bring several photos to class.

Conferences

Wednesday October 21
11:00 DJ; 11:20 Benny; 11:40 Joe T; 1:20 Rebecca

Monday, October 26
10:00 Cara; 1020 Lauren; 11:00 Kelly; 3:15 Nic; 3:25 Tim

Tuesday, October 27
2:00 Joe F.; 2:20 Maureen; 3:00 Julie; 3:40 Nicole

Wednesday, October 28
2:00 Kim

Thursday, October 30
1:15 Brittany

If you haven't signed up for a conference - I will pass around the sign up sheet again on Monday.

October 19

You practiced your readings for tomorrow's National Day of Writing presentations: from what I heard you were great!

Before you got together to read to each other in groups, I went back over where the class will be going in the next couple of weeks.

First - if you haven't turned in your draft essay (new topic, second essay) as an attachment, send it to the ENG3017@gmail.com address asap.

In class I passed around the sign up sheet for a conference on the second essay. In this conference we will talk over which essay you want to revise for your "final" essay (for a grade), and what you want to do to revise it. The final essay for 1/2 will be due on November 2.

For Monday, October 26, you have two sets of assignments Since we will not be meeting as a class on Thursday - we talked through them both today. we will have sort of a double-class next Monday to catch up.
Read what Thiel writes about revising. pp 88-96.
Blog 12:write a narrative (rambling planning document) to describe how you decided which essay to revise - and how you will revise it.

Also read: Stanton (link at the bottom of this page) and review Kincaid, "Biography of a Dress"
Blog 13: look in your closet, a drawer, your purse or wallet, your pockets or backpack (if you are really into this you can look in boxes where you've put away things from your past) - then write the story of one or two thinks you find.

In class on Monday - we will talk briefly about revising, and dig into brainstorming for your next assignemt (Essay 3&4): an object/place focused CNF essay.

Break a leg at the reading!

October 15

In class today we talked about commenting on classmates' blogs - and then you did some commenting on the first drafts.

We then finalized the schedule for the reading on October 20 (see last post). It will be in the Carriage house - over by Liberty Hall (across Morris Ave) _ hopefully I will have more specific directions on Monday.

We then talked about how to do a workshop on a partial draft. The writer begins by giving an overview of his/her idea and the stories s/he wants to use to support it. listeners should recive the idea + offer associations + connections - ask questions - say what /she is interested in. In some sense it is a group brainstorming session - where you have a chance to gauge the interest + connections to your focus for your next draft. You then had a workshop.

For Monday:
Blog 11: Draft 2

Come to class prepared to rehearse your reading for October 20. You will get a chance for a "dress rehearsal" - to figure out if you will run into any hitches. We will then discuss how it went - and you will have a second try if you need one.

You will also sign up for your second conference - and we will talk about the revising process.

Have a great weekend - and good writing!

Reading Schedule October 20

Schedule for CNF reading on October 20
1:30 Joe
1:40 Kelly


3:22 Kim
3:30 Maureen
3:37 Joe T
3:45 Lauren
3:52 Allison
4:00 Julie
4:07 Benny
4:15 Tim
4:22 elliot


5:52 Nicole

October 8

We talked about truth, lies, "embellishment" and how and whether the accurate representation of experience matters in creative nonfiction. Your discussion explored the kinds of misrepresentations that are possible - self-aggrandizing (creating a false character for oneself), tarnishing & distorting others' reputations (as with the police accused of brutality); "stealing" the pain of people with real problems or tragedy (claims about the extent of his addiction; the train-wreck story); being a false authority (speaking as an authority on recovery - when it is not clear he was an addict); lying about lying (not acknowledging what was true & what wasn't when directly confronted) - and more.

We considered how readers' expectations are set up by genre - and talked briefly about the changing conventions for those relationships throughout the history of fiction and nonfiction. This was a great discussion and I am still thinking about it.

At the end of class, I gave you about 3 minutes to write a list of issues/experiences you would never write about . Naturally we did not share these lists. I encourage you to go back to that list - and add to it and re-think it.

There will be no class on Monday (Happy Columbus Day)so I will see you on Thursday.
For next class you will be working on your 2nd draft essay. This is a new start. Dig into another idea and see what you come up with.

Blog 10: Post a focus (some ideas for what your essay is about/what you will be reflecting on) + a set of related stories that you can use to open up this reflection. This post will serve as a partial draft for your second essay (due on your blog Monday Oct 19). Remember that this needs to be a PUBLIC story - one you can post - and that you might choose to send out for publication. The more writing you have here - the more feedback you can get. In class Thursday you will do some workshopping/writing to develop Essay 2.

I will be giving you some feedback on Blogs 4-9 over this weekend (really).

Have a great weekend!

October 5: groups for commenting on drafts + what we did in class

I will post the conference schedule tomorrow - Blogger was down so I couldn't post it after class - and I left the list at my office.

the groups for commenting on each other's blogs are:
DJ Akinyemi, Allison Cherry, Tim Lowe, Brittany Piano

Elliot Fant, Nicole Deluccia, Stephen Mesa, & Kelly Quinn

Kim Castro, Julie Jackson, Maureen Peterson and Rebecca Wood
Lauren Buttacavole, Joe Fernandes, Benny Nieves, and Jaimesue Salva

Alex Cade, Nick Garripoli, Car Oliveto, and Joe Tingle

You signed up for conferences - and for reading times (I will post that tomorrow as well)and you then looked through your writing journals for patters. Some of you noticed that you wrote about material you didn't know what you thought about - while others observed that you wrote mostly about material you had resovled; some of you noticed particular topics that came up again and again - or that you focused on traumatic material, material from a particular time period in your life. These patterns can give you some insight in to what is on your mind - as well as to how your mind works - and they can help you find a focus for your next essay.

We breezed through Gutkind's essay - noting his points at the end where he lists do's and don't's for CNF writers. He states that every writer has to write to her or his own conscience - but as the assignment for Thursday makes clear - readers (and publishers) also have ideas about where those boundaries should be set.

For Thursday:
Read the Smoking gun expose of A Million Little Pieces
and the story of Oprah's backlash

Blog 9: What went well in your first essay? What do you need to work on (take a look at the suggestions for revision, (p. 95-96 in your text). What are you going to try to do differently in your next essay? Do some freewriting, associative freewriting (use your journal) clustering/outlining, listing - whatever works best for you to find your focus for essay 2.

In class we will talk some more about author's obligations to readers - and do some more brainstorming for your second essay.

October 1

Today we talked about truth, creative nonfiction & fiction - with a focus on the different kinds of truths writers tell within the two genres. We will be thinking in some more detail about expectations for CNF writers with respect to truth as you develop your next draft.

We then spent some time talking about O'Brien's "How to tell a true war story." It seems there is more than one way to tell the truth, that truth connects to experience, and some truths can be resistant to being put in words. There was much more to say - and hopefully I will get to read some of what you though about O'Brien on your blogs.

For Monday:
Blog 8: Post your draft for essay 1. Also - email your draft to me as an attachment. On the copy you send to me, write at the top: 1) your focus (the idea/focus/reflections you want your reader to come away with; 2) how your stories set up/connect to that focus; 3) what kind of feedback you want from me during your conference.

Read: Gutkind, "The creative nonfiction police" (in your textbook).

In class you will sign up for conferences on your drafts, do some more talking about truth, and get started on some ideas for your second shot at a creative nonfiction essay.

Have a good weekend.

Slang

in case you ran into any words in "How to tell a true war story" that didn't quite make sense - check out http://www.vietvet.org/glossary.htm