Just a reminder: We'll be attending the English Writing Capstone readings on Tuesday, April 16 at 7 p.m. in VH 118. I'll return your humor essays to you and answer any questions you may have about our final portfolio checklist.
Our final class is next Tuesday, April 23. We'll be discussing Stephen Elliott's book Adderall Diaries. There will be a short quiz on the book.
Your final portfolios are due in my office -- 208 FOB -- by 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 25.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Class Updates and Final Portfolio Checklist
Hope you all enjoyed Tony Buba's presentation on using film and digital media to tell true stories, as well as Andrew Brown's essay as an example of creative nonfiction in action.
Remember next week we'll once again meet in VH 118, this time for the English Writing Capstone readings featuring senior creative nonfiction writers and more.
Our final class will be Tuesday, April 23. We'll discuss Stephen Elliott's book THE ADDERALL DIARIES, complete our last in-class writing assignment, and review the requirements for your portfolios. Portfolios are due by 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 25. There will be a drop box outside my office (208 Faculty Office Building).
Your grade in this course will be based on your attendance and participation throughout the term (including bonus points for attendance at Jimmy Cvetic/Bob Ziller's W/S reading); the overall quality of your writing; evidence of effort/revision; evidence of your ability to meet deadlines; your quiz grades (CNF/Memoir Quiz 1; Terkel Quiz); and your portfolio.
Your portfolio should showcase your best work and should include the following 17 items in this order (first item-- final revision or new piece -- on top and so on). Please label each item.
FINAL PORTFOLIO CHECKLIST
* One in-depth revision of an earlier piece OR one new piece on a subject of your choice (Note: you have the option of revising all of your pieces one more time if you'd like. If you choose to do so, be sure to label your revision as REVISION, and staple it to the original copy of your piece.)
* In-Class Writing/Adderall Diaries, April 23
* Essay/Assignment #3: Humor Essay (Sedaris model)
* Your five sure-fire interview questions (in-class writing)
* Essay/Assignment #2: Terkel-Style Interview (Terkel model)
* Table of Childhood Tastes (in-class writing based on p. 60 in ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AN ORD..)
* Three Encyclopedia Entries (Krause Rosenthal model)
* Six-Word Memoir (in-class writing)
* One True Sentence (in-class writing)
* Essay #1: (What They Don't Tell You)
* Prompts 1 and 2, p. 40 (Truth of the Matter)
* Prompts 1 and 2, p. 28 (Truth of the Matter)
* Prompt 1, p. 17 (Truth of the Matter)
Remember next week we'll once again meet in VH 118, this time for the English Writing Capstone readings featuring senior creative nonfiction writers and more.
Our final class will be Tuesday, April 23. We'll discuss Stephen Elliott's book THE ADDERALL DIARIES, complete our last in-class writing assignment, and review the requirements for your portfolios. Portfolios are due by 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 25. There will be a drop box outside my office (208 Faculty Office Building).
Your grade in this course will be based on your attendance and participation throughout the term (including bonus points for attendance at Jimmy Cvetic/Bob Ziller's W/S reading); the overall quality of your writing; evidence of effort/revision; evidence of your ability to meet deadlines; your quiz grades (CNF/Memoir Quiz 1; Terkel Quiz); and your portfolio.
Your portfolio should showcase your best work and should include the following 17 items in this order (first item-- final revision or new piece -- on top and so on). Please label each item.
FINAL PORTFOLIO CHECKLIST
* One in-depth revision of an earlier piece OR one new piece on a subject of your choice (Note: you have the option of revising all of your pieces one more time if you'd like. If you choose to do so, be sure to label your revision as REVISION, and staple it to the original copy of your piece.)
* In-Class Writing/Adderall Diaries, April 23
* Essay/Assignment #3: Humor Essay (Sedaris model)
* Your five sure-fire interview questions (in-class writing)
* Essay/Assignment #2: Terkel-Style Interview (Terkel model)
* Table of Childhood Tastes (in-class writing based on p. 60 in ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AN ORD..)
* Three Encyclopedia Entries (Krause Rosenthal model)
* Six-Word Memoir (in-class writing)
* One True Sentence (in-class writing)
* Essay #1: (What They Don't Tell You)
* Prompts 1 and 2, p. 40 (Truth of the Matter)
* Prompts 1 and 2, p. 28 (Truth of the Matter)
* Prompt 1, p. 17 (Truth of the Matter)
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Sedaris Links
Repeat After Me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-CJjGPWF3w
David's Way of Seeing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSjKKK0vc3A
David's Way of Seeing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSjKKK0vc3A
Tonight in Creative Nonfiction
We'll finish workshop on your Terkel pieces. Then we'll move on to a discussion of Sedaris. We'll try a few humor writing prompts, which you'll develop into a short (750-800 word) essay for next Tuesday. Please bring one hard copy of your essay for me when we meet for the Writers Festival next Tuesday at 7 p.m. in VH 118. Our guest that night will be filmmaker Tony Buba, who will discuss a particular kind of creative nonfiction: documentary filmmaking.
The following Tuesday, April 16, we'll meet again at 7 p.m. in VH 118, this time for the English Writing Capstone readings featuring several of our graduating senior creative nonfiction writers. I'll return your humor essays to you that night, along with a checklist you'll use to compile your final portfolio for our class.
Remember that you're able to revise all of your pieces for your portfolio, though you're required to do only one in-depth revision of one piece. The checklist will provide more details.
We'll meet for our final class on Tuesday, April 23 to wrap a discussion of our last book (we'll choose between Adderall Diaries and Stitches). Your final portfolios will be due at my office, 208 FOB, by 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 25. If you'd like your portfolio returned, please submit a SASE and I'll mail it back to you over the summer.
The following Tuesday, April 16, we'll meet again at 7 p.m. in VH 118, this time for the English Writing Capstone readings featuring several of our graduating senior creative nonfiction writers. I'll return your humor essays to you that night, along with a checklist you'll use to compile your final portfolio for our class.
Remember that you're able to revise all of your pieces for your portfolio, though you're required to do only one in-depth revision of one piece. The checklist will provide more details.
We'll meet for our final class on Tuesday, April 23 to wrap a discussion of our last book (we'll choose between Adderall Diaries and Stitches). Your final portfolios will be due at my office, 208 FOB, by 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 25. If you'd like your portfolio returned, please submit a SASE and I'll mail it back to you over the summer.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Tonight in CNF: Workshop, Best Questions, Intro to Sedaris
Tonight in CNF, we'll finish workshop on your Terkel-inspired pieces. I'll return your Terkel quizzes, too. (Good job, everyone!) And I will explain, once and for all, my Terkel obsession.
Then we'll all develop our own lists of sure-to-work interview questions. We'll use James Lipton's Actor's Studio as a model. Here are some links:
Then we'll all develop our own lists of sure-to-work interview questions. We'll use James Lipton's Actor's Studio as a model. Here are some links:
Questionnaire http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0gPwYvHb00
Dave Chappelle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84NjYRTHpfU
We'll test your lists, then do a quick introduction to David Sedaris.
Here are some links:
**************
Assignment: Read Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. Make a list of five things you think are key to Sedaris' humor. What makes his work so funny? What makes his work so good? Be ready to discuss next week.
**************
Extra credit: If you'd like extra credit for our class (a .5 grade boost on the assignment of your choice), please attend tomorrow's Written/Spoken reading with poets Jimmy Cvetic and Bob Ziller at 7 p.m. in VH 118. I'll have a sign-up sheet available at the book table. Bonus if you try your list of sure-to-work questions on Jimmy and Bob.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Today in CNF: Tuesday, March 5
Open book quiz questions:
Comb the piece for evidence of Terkel’s “bingo moments.” Define the concept of bingo moments and, citing from the piece you’ve chosen, show evidence of these in Terkel’s work.
Worth 20 points Grammar and style count.
**********
Over break:
Read through the Terkel-styled pieces handed out in class and come back ready to workshop. Also, have some fun. You deserve it!
First, choose one of the pieces you read
in WORKING. Choose your favorite and say
why it’s your favorite. Remember to identify the piece (name of subject) you’d
like to discuss.
Comb the piece for evidence of Terkel’s “bingo moments.” Define the concept of bingo moments and, citing from the piece you’ve chosen, show evidence of these in Terkel’s work.
Discuss what you think makes the piece
you’ve chosen effective and what qualifies the moments you’ve chosen as bingo-isms.
Be thorough. There are likely to be many
bingo moments in a single piece. If one stands out more than others, point this
out, too.
Then, consider your own interview
process.
Did you experience any bingo moments
with your source?
If so, cite these and discuss why they
qualify as bingos. If not, discuss why you weren’t able to get your source to
go there.
Discuss what worked best during your
interview and what was more challenging. Discuss how pleased you are with the
final portrait you’ve produced of your subject and whether or not it would
stack up on the Terkel scale.
Worth 20 points Grammar and style count.
**********
Over break:
Read through the Terkel-styled pieces handed out in class and come back ready to workshop. Also, have some fun. You deserve it!
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Tonight in CNF: Tuesday, Feb. 26
Tonight we'll wrap our discussion of Amy Krause Rosenthal's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AN ORDINARY LIFE by reviewing your own encyclopedia entries. We'll be looking at your work for voice, spark of emotion, and true sentences -- the hallmarks of Amy's best work.
We'll also spread Amy's joy with a quick writing exercise.
Then we'll begin discussing Studs' Terkel's work and why it's important. I have a powerpoint lecture for you, plus some video footage that will help introduce you to Studs the person, the writer, the journalist and oral historian.
Assignment:
Read at least five entries in WORKING and be prepared to write about them in a short essay exam next week.
Find one person to interview and, employing Studs' technique (as covered in class), produce a piece to share in class. Your piece should be no more than 800 words -- not including your introduction. Follow Studs' example in WORKING. Your piece should include not just an account of what your subject does all day, but how he/she feels about what he/she does all day. It's the feeling that really counts.
We'll also spread Amy's joy with a quick writing exercise.
Then we'll begin discussing Studs' Terkel's work and why it's important. I have a powerpoint lecture for you, plus some video footage that will help introduce you to Studs the person, the writer, the journalist and oral historian.
Assignment:
Read at least five entries in WORKING and be prepared to write about them in a short essay exam next week.
Find one person to interview and, employing Studs' technique (as covered in class), produce a piece to share in class. Your piece should be no more than 800 words -- not including your introduction. Follow Studs' example in WORKING. Your piece should include not just an account of what your subject does all day, but how he/she feels about what he/she does all day. It's the feeling that really counts.
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