Monday, September 20

Tonight we used Phillip Lopate's essay on becoming a character in your writing as a basis for your writing prompt. After characterizing yourselves in a list-y sort of way using his categories + some of our own - you developed some sketches/stories that are "so you" and we shared them - and they were AWESOME. Clearly you are developing some strong material that could serve as a basis for a CNF essay.

Two caveats= 1. do not choose/dedicate yourself to a topic too soon -work at staying open so you can spend some time window shopping; 2. remember that CNF is both a story AND the exploration of an idea. In otherwords CNF is about something that makes "sense" of what otherwise could degenerate into an anecdote.

We then talked about Kidder's emphasis on point of view - and the importance of making the truth believable, followed by an overview of Lott's listing of what CNF is. For Lott - we paid attention to the structure of the essay (since it is in itself a CNF essay) and noticed both his use of segments - and the recurring refrain where he restated his points.

Great stories tonight - I am getting really excited about reading your work.

For next class:

Blog 3: Continue to develop your definition of CNF. How does the concept of believability fit into your definition? point of view? your self as a character? and what about the elements on Lott's list? Use your blog to contemplate one or more of these features in terms of what you feel CNF is or ought to be.

Read: 3 more "I" essays => Cofer, 83; Simic, 166; and Atwood, 288.