English 160: Autobiography and Memoir

Transcription

1 English 160: Autobiography and Memoir Mary Mullen Fall 2011: T,Th 9:30-10:50 am, Room 206 Taylor Hall Office hours 2:30-3:30 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays in 025 Kauke hall or by appointment. Please me and I will happily find a time for us to meet (mmullen@wooster.edu) There are good reasons to embark on a memoir: the world and the self collide in a particular way that only you, or mostly you, can narrate; you would like a preemptive grab at controlling the discourse. For instance: Are you Winston Churchill? Are you Nixon in China? Are you Pat Nixon in China? - Lorrie Moore, What If The New York Review of Books May 12, 2011 Autobiography and memoir are two forms of self-writing. As Judith Barrington suggests, autobiography is the story of a life, and memoir, a form of autobiographical writing, is the story from a life (Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art, 12). Although the notion of an individual self seems to ground these genres, they introduce important questions about relationships: the relationship between the self and others, truth and fiction, past and present, history and memory, and the public and the private, among others. In other words, as Lorrie Moore suggests, memoir is not simply a lyric expression of the self, it is a discourse. Over the course of the semester, we will explore the diverse ways that autobiography and memoir represent the collision between self and world. We will also experiment with different strategies, modes and styles to represent this collision in our own writing. By reflecting on the relationships - even the contradictions - at the heart of self-writing, we will expand our understanding of the genres of memoir and autobiography as well as our understanding of the self in the world. This course fulfills in part the writing requirement for graduation: you will be asked to revise at least 3 papers after feedback, and will write more than 6000 words. Significant weight will be given to your writing in the calculation of final grades. Objectives: To define the memoir genre while also recognizing its diversity, flexibility, and complexity. To focus on the process of writing as a means of learning and effective communication. To produce several substantial memoir essays that you can be proud of: clear, organized, sophisticated, and polished. To develop your abilities as an engaged, critical, but sympathetic reader of your own work, of the work of your peers, and of the work of others outside the class writing on the same issue Assignments:

2 Participation: This class requires active participation. Your participation grade depends upon three things: your contributions to class discussion, your participation in in-class writing exercises, and your work as a member of a writing group. You are expected to come to class prepared, to be a generous reader of your peers work, and to use class writing exercises as an opportunity to improve your writing. Weekly Writing: Due Thursday in class, these writing assignments are short (1-2 pages) exercises that will help us focus our writing, develop topics for our longer papers, and experiment with different formal structures. Sometimes we will read our writing exercises out loud and other times we will use them as starting places for in-class writing exercises. Portfolios: Each portfolio has three components: 1. A memoir essay (include the rough and final draft, as well as notes from the writing workshop). These are more complete essays (4-6 pages) that develop the ideas and themes from one (or several) weekly or in-class writing exercises. You will work with your writing groups to find a topic, and to revise the memoir essay. 2. A weekly writing assignment that you are proud of. 3. A cover letter that explains the portfolio s contents why you wrote these pieces, how they relate to one another, what aspects of your writing that you re most proud of, and what you are going to continue to work on to improve. *You will read a piece from your final portfolio to the class. Grade Breakdown: Portfolio 1 (25%) Portfolio 2 (25%) Portfolio 3 (30%) Class Participation (20%) Policies: Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. Your active participation is essential for your success and the success of this class. Come to class having finished the reading, with the text in hand, ready to contribute to the discussion. Your grade will suffer if you are not in class or prepared for class. You are allowed one free absence for which your grade will not be marked down. Each additional absence will result in a reduction of your participation grade by one letter grade (i.e. A --> A-). A total of five absences will result in a failing grade for the entire course. Be advised that habitual tardiness will also lead to a reduction in your participation grade. Late Assignments: All assignments are due on the day specified. Any late papers or writing assignments will be marked down one grade (eg. B -> B-) for each calendar day past the due date. Papers not submitted within one week of the due date will automatically fail. If you know that you cannot finish an assignment on time, please let me know well in advance and we may be able to work out a solution. If you talk to me after the fact, I can t help you. (note: ing me 1/2 hour before an

3 assignment is due does not constitute prior notice. You must talk to me at least 24hrs before the deadline or class). I may grant extensions for special cases such as illness or emergency. Academic Honesty: Students are expected to uphold the Wooster Ethic (for more information see: and abide by the Code of Academic Integrity. Plagiarism, or the use, citation, or paraphrase of someone else s words or ideas without attribution, will not be tolerated. If you have questions about plagiarism, or the Code of Academic Integrity, please ask. Required Texts (available at the bookstore): David B., Epileptic Randi Davenport, The Boy Who Loved Tornadoes Dave Eggers, What is the What? Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis *Other readings will be available on our class blog: Writing the self in the world Week 1: T (8/30): Introductions (Lorrie Moore, What If ) Th (9/1): Judith Barrington, What is Memoir? Joan Didion, Why I write, excerpt from The Year of Magical Thinking Week 2: T (9/6): Randi Davenport, Prologue - Chapter Five Th (9/8): Randi Davenport, Chapter Six - Chapter Ten Randi Davenport Class visit 4:00 pm, Randi Davenport reading, 244 Kauke Hall Week 3: T (9/13): Randi Davenport, Chapter Eleven - Chapter Sixteen Th (9/15): Randi Davenport, Chapter Seventeen - end. Week 4: T (9/20): James Baldwin, A Stranger in the City, André Aciman, Shadow Cities Th (9/22): writing group workshops Draft One, Paper One Due Week 5: Food T (9/27): MFK Fisher, excerpts from The Gastronomical Me, Barbara Kingsolver, excerpts from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life Th (9/29): Ruth Reichl, The Queen of Mold

4 Portfolio One Due Writing the world in the self Week 6: T (10/4): David B., Epileptic, Th (10/6): David B., Epileptic, Week 7: T (10/11): David B., Epileptic, Th (10/13): Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis, 1-71 Week 8: T: FALL BREAK Th (10/20): Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis, Week 9: T (10/25): Writing group workshop Draft one, paper two due Th (10/27): J. M. Coetzee, excerpt from Boyhood Writing group workshop (25 minutes) Week 10: T (11/1): Edna O Brien, excerpt from Mother Ireland: A Memoir Th (11/3): Brendan Behan, excerpt from Borstal Boy Portfolio Two due The self and others Week 11: T (11/8): Dave Eggers, What is the What?, Chapters I-IX Th (11/10): Dave Eggers, What is the What?, Chapter X-XIV Week 12: T (11/15): Dave Eggers, What is the What?, Chapters XV-XVIII Th (11/17): Dave Eggers, What is the What?, Chapters XIX-XXII Week 13: T (11/22): Dave Eggers, What is the What?, Chapter XXIII Th: THANKSGIVING Week 14: T (11/29): Writing group workshop Draft One, Paper 3 due Th (12/1): Dave Eggers, What is the What?, Chapter XXIV-end Writing workshop (25 minutes)

5 Week 15: T (12/6): Final Presentations Th (12/8): Final Presentations Portfolio Three due