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POLICIES AND REQUIREMENTS
English 493-01 - Advanced Creative Nonfiction – Joy Passanante – Spring 2010
Reading and
study of published essays as assigned, including:
If
you’ve read any of these before, read them again.
TWO - THREE
ESSAYS:
For the
first essay, students will not be
restricted in either content or form. It is imperative, however, that for this
class all essays be more than just descriptions and narrations of events;
students must bring their intellects to bear on all material and provide
reflection in some way or other. All material students present to the class must
be NEW (not yet presented in any form in another UI class).
The
second essay assignment will focus on
the use of history in the personal essay. For this essay students will be
expected, with careful research, to incorporate history into a personal essay.
There is no assigned prototype for this; students may be as innovative as they
choose. But the research/history element must be more than merely tangential;
students are expected to grapple with and engage with the material successfully
so that it is germane to the piece. We will also experiment with the “braided
essay” form for this piece.
If I assign a
third essay, it will be a short piece.
REQUIREMENTS
·
At least
two NEW
complete essay drafts presented to the
workshop and then revised to publishable quality. This probably means 40 or more
pages of completed work.
· Two copies of a typed, one-page critique of each essay workshopped
in class. Although all critiques are required and will be recorded
in my grade book, I will officially grade only 10 of them—randomly. Two copies
of the written critique are due at the time the essay you are critiquing is
workshopped—one for the author, one for me. No late papers will be
accepted.
·
Short exercises (in and out of class)
as they arise.
·
Attendance at and a one-page response
to the Susan Orlean reading; attendance at one additional literary event.
· Mandatory attendance in class. Any unexcused absence will affect
your grade. If your absence is to be excused, you will need to show me a record
of your illness, etc. If you have more than three unexcused absences, you should
consider dropping the course since you may not pass.
EXPECTATIONS
Because this is an advanced
workshop, the final course in the nonfiction series, the expectations are high
and the workload will be rigorous. Students are expected to know—and to further
develop—the basic and intermediate tenets of the genre: language, stylization,
character, concrete details, dialogue, the names of things, P.O.V., cadence,
syntax, research, et cetera. Students are expected to bring to bear what they
have learned at the 200- and 300- levels on their own work as well as the work
of others and to analyze texts and their craft thoughtfully. In this course more
than those that have led to it, the emphasis is on revision. Because this
workshop will be established as a community of writers, all students are
expected to contribute to discussions with insight and sophistication. Students
are evaluated on the quality of their writing, participation, written responses
to peer work, and demonstrated critical acumen.
You are to hand out one copy for each
member of the class including the instructor (at this point in the semester that
means 15 copies) of each essay to be workshopped—pages numbered!—one week BEFORE
your workshop. If you have an excused absence and miss someone else’s workshop
or the passing out of his or her essay, it is YOUR responsibility to get a copy
of the student work in enough time to respond to it thoughtfully and
comprehensively. A list of class emails will be posted on the web.
All essay drafts must be typed,
double-spaced, and proofread carefully. The pages must be numbered. An
accumulation of editorial errors is not considered “average” for writers and
will cause your grade to drop. I’m happy to help with all aspects of writing,
including editing.
Joy Passanante’s office hours in Brink
203: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30 to 1:45. Email address is
joy@uidaho.edu. (I check it often, but not usually late at night. If I’m
not at school, you’re welcome to call me at my home office –882-1038—where I do
most of my work for class and research. Please leave a message, and I’ll call
you back. )
For information about English
department-sponsored readings, see the Creative Writing
webpage
Username: on e-reserve, at
http://db.lib.uidaho.edu/ereserve/show_course.php?pointer=2523
Username: reserve Password: Ac7ten
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