LUCY SCHILLER – The Art and Craft of the Literary Essay –

Dr. Bonnie Sunstein; Jessie Kraemer

39 LUCY SCHILLER – The Art and Craft of the Literary Essay –

The Art and Craft of the Literary Essay

3:30-4:45 TTh

Instructor: Lucy Schiller

This Class:

What drives the best nonfiction writers is a desire to make sense, and art, of the world around them. This semester, you will find yourself exploring the breadth of possibilities within nonfiction, the murkiest depths of your interior, and the lives of others. We’ll do this in two ways: first, via reading from all corners of the genre, meant to throw you into perspectives you hadn’t considered and help you identify your sensibilities and impulses as a writer of creative nonfiction. Second, you’ll be doing writing—a lot of writing—designed to jumpstart your explorations. In this class, you are encouraged to experiment, to take risks, and to try your hand at telling true stories in new and artful ways. Meanwhile, you’ll find necessary support and feedback from the community of writers in this room who will be reading, thinking, and experimenting alongside you.

Objectives/Goals:

+To understand the history and the breadth of creative nonfiction as a genre

+To develop your sensibilities as a nonfiction writer

+To practice crafting tight, intentional, beautiful prose

+To put deep revision into practice

+To push your writing and to explore with both form and content

+To gain exposure to the workshop method, to sharpen your vision as a reader and critic of others’ work, and to elucidate what is going on in a piece of writing and why or why not it is working

Required Materials:

+Course packet from Zephyr, 124 E. Washington St. (Hours: M-F: 8:30am-5:30pm
SAT-SUN: CLOSED, phone: 319-351-3500)

+Field notebook for all notetaking relating to observation, writing, and assignments. I will collect this at the end of the semester.

Reading:

We will be doing a lot of reading, since reading widely is, to a writer, akin to breathing oxygen. I expect you to read the material for this class closely and with an eye towards what intrigues you, excites you, disturbs you, and makes you question. You should note sentences that stop you in your tracks and places that stir you in some way. Your course packet should be brought to every class and with marks around instances you think might be important to discussion, so that you can refer to them quickly by page number during class. Our discussions will go beyond statements of personal taste in order to examine what the writer is actually doing on the page and why. Each of these essays was selected to serve as part of a foundation for considering creative nonfiction as an art and as a craft. And as you begin to write, these essays will provide you with concrete models and inspiration.

Writing:

+Mini-essays: You will write four short essays of approximately 350-750 words. These will be due shortly after being assigned and are designed to help you experiment with techniques and risks we see in the readings. They are also designed to help you reach a precision of language and a specificity of meaning in your work. The class will workshop one of these four essays (I will choose which one). Each essay should be submitted to me in Times New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced.

+Major essay: In the second half of the semester, you will submit a longer essay to be workshopped by the class. It should be about seven pages in length and in Times New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced and with page numbers. When it is your turn for workshop, you will submit one copy of the essay to each of your classmates and one to me. The essay is due one week to the day before its workshop date to give everyone enough time to read it over a few times and compose a response.

+Workshop responses: Once formal workshops begin, everyone will be expected to write one page of feedback for each essay that is submitted. It’s often nice to write this page in the form of a letter, but you don’t have to. Please bring two copies of these responses to class the day of the discussion, one for the writer and one for me. Workshop responses are essential to the mechanics of our class; they provide a distillation of your thoughts in preparation for our workshop and also provide the writer with concrete ideas and suggestions for her further work.

+Revision: At the end of this course, you will have treated one piece to a “deep revision.” A lot of writers find it hard, or even impossible, to reexamine their work after “finishing” with it—but very often it is in revision that you are able to discover what it was you were trying to do or say all along. Two weeks after your mini-essay workshop, you will be responsible for turning in a serious revision of that essay.

+Field notebook: This notebook is a place for you to collect everything that happens this semester, from unusual snatches of dialogue to the details of your perambulations for your walking essay to the writing prompts you’ll be working from in class. Your notes on the readings should also be in here. The best writers use a notebook almost like a second brain—it’s a place for you to put ideas and fragments to use later. At the end of the semester, I will check your notebooks for signs of honest, committed effort.

Grading:

Evaluation-wise, I am most interested in how much effort you put into truly exploring this genre and pushing your capabilities as a reader and a writer. Did you take risks, creatively and otherwise? How hard did you try to push yourself, whether in our discussions, or dreaming up ideas for essays, or the words you put together on page? I think you will find that genuine and earnest effort will be rewarded in this class. On the other hand, this is not an easy A, and anyone who is a good writer, but simply wants to coast, or anyone who just tends to dash things off at the very last minute without thought or care or reflection is likely to be frustrated. Here’s how your final grade will break down:

Participation (including your workshop comments) 25 %

Mini essays 20 %

Major essay 20 %

Field Notebook (and other daily writing requests) 10%

Portfolio (including revision and one-page reflection) 25 %

To give you a more concrete idea of what I’ll be looking for when I review your portfolios and your efforts for the semester:

{A}: Excellent work that shows initiative and sophistication that goes beyond general expectations. The writing is well crafted and reflects a commitment to the creative process. The writer is capable of analyzing, reflecting and revising. The writer takes risks in service to the work.

{B}: Strong work. The writing is well crafted and demonstrates that the writer is engaged with the creative process in ways that are above average. The writer demonstrates attempts to reflect, and analyze his or her writing and can make some choices about revision. Risks are taken, some may be more successful and resonant than others, but they show an attempt to serve the work.

{C} Adequate work that meets the basic requirements. The writer’s work could be stronger with more engagement with the creative process. The writer has composed essays that reflect varying levels of success. There is some revision, but it’s superficial. Some risks might be taken, but they may not be in service to the work.

{D} Weak work that falls below the basic requirements. The writing produced is brief or not fully developed. The writing does not show an engagement with the creative process and does not reflect the writer’s potential.

{F} Unacceptable work. It exhibits fundamental problems which consistently go unaddressed or ignored. The work is frequently incomplete. Writing that does not represent the writer’s original work will get an F.

*Late work* will receive a grade deduction at my discretion for each day it is late (so it’s just best never to be late). If you know ahead of time that you will be missing a class and an assignment is due, you must turn it in (either in person or in my mailbox in 308 EPB) before the start of class. Otherwise it will be considered late. Any work turned in more than three days after its due date gets an automatic zero, unless we have explicitly come to some other arrangement. If you show up late on a day when work is due, that work will also be considered late, and may be subject to a grade penalty. If you are up for workshop and do not turn in your essay on the date it is due, you will receive a zero for the assignment, and your participation grade will also be affected.

***AN IMPORTANT NOTE: I DO NOT ACCEPT EMAILED WORK. THIS CLASS MOVES VIA IN-PERSON COMMUNICATION. It is your responsibility to turn in your work on time, and in person.***

Attendance/Participation:

The two are interrelated; you can’t participate if you aren’t attending. And active participation is going to be key in this class; we will be dependent on each other for thoughtful conversations of the readings and to provide meaningful feedback to each other in workshop.

You can have up to two absences over the course of the semester. You’ll still be responsible for any work you miss, and it will be your responsibility to check in with classmates to familiarize yourself with what was covered in class. (The exception is your workshop date; if you fail to show up on that date or fail to turn in your essay when it is due, there will be majorly negative consequences to your grade, as discussed above.)

Any more than two absences will result in a reduction of your grade for the entire course. After {three} absences you will not be able to receive any grade higher than a C for the course; after {four} you will receive a D; {five} absences will result in an automatic failure of the course.

While class participation will make up a significant portion of your final grade, I also recognize that there are many forms of participation. I am most concerned with the quality of the contributions that you make over the course of the semester, not the quantity. Please keep in mind that showing up late or being unprepared and acting obviously unengaged will negatively affect your participation grade.

Quizzes

There may be some on the reading, depending on how the semester progresses. The grades for these will count towards your participation grade.

Conferences

We’ll meet one-on-one after your first mini-workshop to talk about how the process went and help you think about revision and talk about your longer essay. That meeting will be mandatory for everyone, and missing appointments can affect your grade. It will be up to you to schedule this meeting to take place with me in the week following your first workshop. Beyond that, you are always welcome to drop by any time during my office hours to chat, or set up an appointment to see me.

Respect

In this class we’ll be exploring the depths of the human experience in the readings we discuss, and in the essays we write—a task that requires particular care because we are talking about real events and real lives. Our class conversations might head in sensitive directions as a result, and I expect everyone to respond with maturity and open-minds. Also, in order for our community to be the encouraging and supportive space it needs to be for everyone to feel safe taking artistic risks, you must pledge to each other not to talk about potentially sensitive information that might be revealed in your essays with people outside our class. Additionally, I expect everyone in this class to be treated with utmost respect. Not only are we obligated by the UI’s non-discrimination policy to treat our colleagues equally and without regard to race, national origin, color, creed, religion, sex, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or associational preference; we are also obligated by our own consciences to treat one another with dignity.

This Will Be a No-Tech Zone

Please respect your classmates and the time we are together by turning off all phones, laptops, or other wireless technology and keeping it out of sight during our class. Please believe me when I say that I can see you using your phone beneath your desk. I will not necessarily spend class time letting you know that I notice what’s going on, but your participation grade will be affected for each time I notice any use of electronics during class.

OUR SYLLABUS!

PHASE ONE: LOOKING INWARD

Tuesday, January 16:

Introductions

Sensibilities discussion: What do we look for in nonfiction? What do we want to write?

ISPITE: Imagery, Structure, Pattern, Insight, Tension, Energy

In-class handout: James Agee, “Knoxville: 1915,” discussion of how a writer can harness the lyrical impulse in a short personal essay.

+Assignments: In your field notebook, copy six sentences total that you love from the essays we will be discussing on Thursday. Also, list ten things that define your sensibilities as a writer and/or a reader.

Thursday, January 18:

Defining our sensibilities

Joan Didion, “Why I Write”

George Orwell, “Why I Write”

+Due: Six sentences you loved from Didion and Orwell, plus the list of ten things that define your sensibilities.

+Assignment: Compose a 350-word essay on what moves you to write. Since space is extremely limited, consider abandoning standard introductions and broad conclusions. Push for concision, clarity, and the deeply felt. Due Jan. 23 to me at the beginning of class.

Tuesday, January 23:

The Personal Essay, Round One: Who Am I?

Durga Chew-Bose, “Since Living Alone”

Natalia Ginzburg, “He and I”

Kiese Laymon, “Da Art of Storytelling (A Prequel)”

Seneca, “On Noise”

+Due: A 350-word essay on what moves you to write.

+Assignment: In your field notebook, make a list of ten things you would like to know more about. These things could be mundane (Kleenex). They could be complex (astrophysics).

Thursday, January 25:

The Personal Essay, Round Two: Looking Back

Meghan Daum, “Variations on Grief”

Susan Steinberg, “Signified”

+Assignment: Pick one of the essays we will be discussing on January 30 and write a 500-word critique in the form of a personal letter, as though the essay had been written by one of your classmates for workshop. Find moments and strategies to praise. Look too for places where you might offer thoughtful criticism, suggestions, and your own experience as a reader. Due to me at the beginning of class on January 30.

Tuesday, January 30:

The Observational Essay, Round One: Focusing Our Observational Powers

Bernard Cooper, “The Fine Art of Sighing”

Campbell McGrath, “Sunset, Route 90, Brewster County, Texas”

Virginia Woolf, “The Death of the Moth”

+ Due: A 500-word critique of one of these essays.

+Assignment: In your field notebooks, write down five local places or events that might provide a wealth of worthwhile material for an observational essay.

Thursday, February 1:

The Observational Essay, Round Two: Letting Descriptions Reveal our Interiors

James Agee, “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men”

James Baldwin, “Stranger in the Village”

Sei Shōnagon, “Hateful Things”

+Assignment: Write a short observational essay based on one solid hour in the place or at the event of your choice. Your notes from your hour of observation should be in your field notebook. This essay will be 500 words, Times New Roman, 12-point font, and double-spaced. It is due to me at the beginning of class on Feb. 6.

PHASE TWO: LOOKING OUTWARD

Tuesday, February 6:

Re-Examining the Familiar, Making the Familiar Strange, and Family History

Thomas Mira y Lopez, “The Path to the Saints”

Joy Williams, “Hawk”

+Due: 500-word observational mini-essay.

+Assignment: Compose two lists. The first is a list of five possible subjects in the area who you might profile. The second is a list of five potential topics/“snags” (moments/memories that strike you for reasons possibly unclear) that you feel might yield valuable exploration in the form of a personal essay. You will shortly have to choose between writing a profile and writing a personal essay.

Thursday, February 8:

Making the Strange Feel Familiar + Profiles, Portraits, Snapshots, the Interview

Susan Orlean, “The American Male, Age 10”

Studs Terkel, “Working”

Interviewing + in-class practice

+Due: A list of five possible subjects in the area that you might profile and a list of five personal essay topics/snags.

Tuesday, February 13:

Meditations on Familiar Objects, or Using the Mundane to Craft the Extraordinary

Eula Biss, “Time and Distance Overcome”

John McPhee, “The Search for Marvin Gardens”

Michel de Montaigne, “On Thumbs”

Prep work for profile assignment/personal essay assignment.

Decision time: profile or personal essay?

In-class brainstorming of possible subjects, concerns, imagined obstacles, logistics

+Upcoming Assignment:

Outwards-lookers: Contact possible profile subjects and set up interviews for your mini profile. For this essay, you will go out into the community and conduct an interview with someone you do not know. You will ultimately write a 750-word profile, due Feb. 20.

Inwards-lookers: For your personal essay, think hard about making the best use of your limited space and using the techniques and tools we have explored in class to write something that takes a risk. You will ultimately write a 750-word personal essay, due Feb. 20.

Thursday, February 15

Seeding the Essay, or Using “Snags” to Explore Broader Ideas

Lina María Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas, “Pain Pays the Income of Each Precious Thing”

Mary Ruefle, “My Private Property”

Tuesday, February 20

Entering “Subculture,” Emerging with a Story

Joan Didion, “The White Album”

Esther Wang, “Creation Myth”

+Due: 750-word mini profile or mini personal essay, due to me at the beginning of class.

+Assignment: In your field notebook, write down three solid ideas for your major essay, and list corresponding essays that we have read that could provide a model or inspiration. Come to class prepared to share and discuss.

Thursday, February 22

The Walking Essay + Travel Writing, Part One

Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, “Harlem is Nowhere”

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “Reveries of a Solitary Walker”

Discuss: Major essay ideas

+Assignment: For next class, read the packet of essays I have chosen for your first workshop from your last two mini essay assignments.

Tuesday, February 27

Mini workshop #1

+Assignments:

Read: The packet of essays for our next workshop

Rewrite of workshopped essay: Due March 22

Thursday, March 1

Mini Workshop #2

+Assignments:

Rewrite of workshopped essay: Due March 22

Tuesday, March 6

The Walking Essay + Travel Writing, Part Two

William Least Heat-Moon, “Blue Highways”

David Foster Wallace, “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again”

+Assignment: Write in your field notebooks a list of at least five walks or journeys that you think would make for intriguing walking essays.

Thursday, March 8

The Witness

Teju Cole, “Death in the Browser Tab”

John Hersey, “Hiroshima”

+Assignment: Be working on your final essay.

Tuesday, March 13

No Class: Spring Break

Thursday, March 15

No Class: Spring Break

Tuesday, March 20

On History

Layli Long Soldier, “38”

Wendy S. Walters, “Lonely in America”

+Assignment: Write in your field notebooks five historical subjects that you would love to write about, then choose one and list five specific sources you would consult for information.

Thursday, March 22

Collage, Fragments, Lyricism, and Building Meaning

John D’Agata, “Flat Earth Map: An Essay”

Matthew Gavin Frank, “The Nevada Cocktail and the Meadows of Auschwitz”

Michael Ondaatje, “The Collected Works of Billy the Kid”

+Due: Rewrites

Tuesday, March 27

Lyricism and Research

Miho Nonaka, “Production of Silk”

Eliot Weinberger, “The Stars,” “Ice”

+Due: Essays of those in Workshop A

+For the next class, read the packet of re-writes I distribute and come prepared to discuss them.

Thursday, March 29

Mini workshop of rewrites

+Due: Essays of those in Workshop B

+Assignments:

Read: Workshop essays for 4/3