LIEU 0920 B—EXPRESSION AS IDENTITY: ‘WRITING AS READER’
Fall 2010
S 9:00-11:40am
The New School: 6 East 16th St,
Instructor:
Email:
Office Hours:
Claire Donato
[email protected]
By appointment
“There are only three things, I suppose, that are important if you want to
be a writer: read widely, voraciously, and without respect; write all the
time; and look at everything and don't lie to yourself while you're doing it.
The latter is harder than it sounds.”
— Ted Mooney
“I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say.”
— Flannery O’Connor
COURSE DESCRIPTION
As writers, we are bound and unbound by our reading. We enter into a relationship with
everything we read, becoming enraptured, beguiled, surprised, perplexed, and/or
unconvinced by a text’s geography. Our writing, in turn, reflects who, what, when,
where, and how we read. Thus literature is a citizenry: each reader, each writer
becomes an inhabitant.
This class will provide you with tools to help you 1) express yourself as a writer and 2)
better understand yourself as a reader. We will read, write, and respond to one
another’s writing, always bearing in mind that the ways in which we respond to a text’s
literary possibilities represent both our strengths and limitations as readers and writers.
For the next 12 weeks, we will also inhabit a body of literature: a variety of 20th- and
21st-century texts with diverse aesthetics, meanings, and literary goals. The class will
culminate in a revised portfolio of nonfiction essays which you will prepare.
COURSE THEMES/OBJECTIVES/APPROACHES
The goal of this course is to produce and revise multiple drafts of nonfiction essays in
order to gain a greater understanding of yourself as a writer and reader. Working towards
this goal, you will:
1) Participate in large and small group discussions about assigned readings
2) Compose short responses to assigned readings
3) Engage in large and small group peer writing workshops
4) Give a presentation on a 20th or 21st-century writer
5) Write and revise three essays and a compile a final portfolio
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EXPECTATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS
Attendance and Classroom Etiquette
Because of the nature of this course, which is designed to create a context in which trust,
honesty, and true collaboration are possible, it is vital that each of you are present, both
physically and intellectually, during each class session and that you are on time. Your
attendance and punctuality are viewed as a sign of respect for your professor and
classmates; they are important criteria for building rapport and understanding between
all of us as a community of learners.
If for some reason you need to miss a class, you are responsible for all of the material
presented during that class meeting. If possible, please let me know ahead of time if you
will be absent; if this is not possible, please send an e-mail before the next class
explaining your absence. Please arrange to get class notes and a briefing of the discussion
we had from a fellow student. Please also note that absences justify some grade
reduction, and excessive absences mandate a failing grade for the course, unless there are
extenuating circumstances, such as the following: an extended illness requiring
hospitalization or visit to a physician (with documentation); a family emergency, e.g.
serious illness (with written explanation); observance of a religious holiday. For
significant lateness, I may consider the tardiness as an absence for the day.
Building a Respectful Classroom Community
For our class to succeed, we will need to foster an environment of respect among us all,
remaining open to others’ opinions and questions (and critically self-reflective of our
own), realizing that we all come with various areas of expertise and have unique
perspectives on the world.
Additionally, please turn off cell phones and beepers in class.
Students are expected to follow the New School’s student code of conduct and
participate in the learning process in a professional, respectful, and courteous manner. In
other words, sending/receiving text messages, using a mobile phone, or surfing the
Internet during class is disrespectful and disruptive to the learning environment.
Consent from the instructor is required for electronic recording of class.
Blackboard: Blackboard technology may be used to post course documents and to
communicate important messages to students. Please be aware that your IUE gmail is
the primary email address through which you will be contacted in the course.
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CLASS SCHEDULE
(Subject to Change)
Sept 18: Introductions. Review syllabus and class procedures. In-class writing diagnostic. In-class
discussion.
SEEING
Sept 25: Ted Mooney (‘On Seeing’) & Joan Didion (‘On Self-Respect’)
BREVITY
Oct 2: Clarice Lispector (from Cronicas), Azareen Van Der Vliet Oloomi (‘Kidney’), Lydia Davis
(‘Good Times’)
Essay #1 Draft #1 Due
MEMORY
Oct 9: Joan Didion (‘Goodbye to All That’)
MEDITATION
Oct 16: ‘Ash’ by Meghan Dailey, ‘Pink’ by David Byrne, and ‘Grey’ by Geoffrey O’Brien (from
Cabinet Magazine)
Essay #1 Draft #2 Due
DOCUMENTARY
Oct 23: Hybrid Journalism. ‘Straight Man’s Burden’ by Jeff Sharlet (from Harper’s Magazine)
Essay #2 Draft #1 Due
Nov 13: Personal Profiles. ‘M.I.A.’s Agitprop Pop’ by Lynn Hirschberg (from the New York Times).
Adopt-an-Author Presentations Begin. Revisions of Essays #1 & #2 due.
FRAGMENT
Nov 20: Poetry. Claudia Rankine. C.D. Wright, et al.
Essay #3 Draft #1 Due
WORDS & IMAGES
Dec. 11: Comics packet. Lynda Berry, Gabrielle Bell, Jeffrey Brown, et al.
LISTENING
Dec 18: TBA.
Essay #3 Draft #2 Due
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COURSE ASSIGNMENTS
More information about each assignment will be given in class.
In this class, you will write and rigorously revise three essays. The first essay will be ~2-3 pages in
length. The second essay will be ~3-4 pages. The third essay will be ~4-5 pages. Topics will be
assigned in class. We will hold several small group writing workshops so that you may give and
receive feedback in class. You will also spend time writing and editing in The New School’s
computer labs.
Essays, homework assignments, and final creative projects must be typed, double spaced, with
one inch-margins, on standard 8 ½ x 11 white paper, stapled together in the top left-hand corner.
Your name, the date, class, assignment, and email address must be at the top left of the first page.
Use Times New Roman, font size 12. Please number your pages.
GRADING CRITERIA
Participation: 25%
Weekly Responses: 25%
Essay I: 15%
Essay II: 15%
Essay III: 15%
Final Portfolio: 20%
To receive a letter grade of “P” in this course, you must complete all of your assignments on time.
Failure to complete assignments on time will result in a final grade of “F.”
EUGENE LANG COLLEGE POLICIES
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of someone else's work as one's own in all forms of
academic endeavor (such as essays, theses, examinations, research data, creative projects,
etc), intentional or unintentional. Plagiarized material may be derived from a variety of
sources, such as books, journals, internet postings, student or faculty papers, etc. This
includes the purchase or “outsourcing” of written assignments for a course. A detailed
definition of plagiarism in research and writing can be found in the fourth edition of the
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, pages 26-29. Procedures concerning
allegations of plagiarism and penalties are set forth in the Lang catalog.
Disabilities
If you have a documented disability and would like to apply for disability services, please
contact the IUE and we will connect you with the proper offices.