ENG 103: CREATIVE NONFICTION PROJECT
SEMINAR IN RHETORIC AND WRITING: WRITING THE TRUTH
Instructor:
Catherine Keefe
keefe@chapman.edu
FALL, 2013
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"Powerful individual stories create community. They link tellers to listeners, and
listeners to one another... They give us images for what is truly worth seeking, worth
having, worth doing. They teach us how every gesture, every act, every choice we
make sends ripples of influence into the future."
Scott Russell Sanders,
from "The Most Human Art: Ten Reasons Why We'll Always Need a Good Story."
PROJECT & PURPOSE:
You'll create one 1000-1250 word creative nonfiction essay about one specific true incident involving
your self that illuminates a universal truth.
INTENDED AUDIENCE:
Class peers, other students, and readers who don't know you but who enjoy gleaning new insights about
the human condition.
WHO DOES THIS KIND OF WRITING?
Memoirists, essayists, comedians, activists, poets, motivational/spiritual writers. Writers we've read like
Suzanne Farrell Smith and Eula Biss.
PROCESS AND DUE DATES:
1- IN-CLASS EXERCISE, MON. SEPT. 9.
DUE WED. SEPT. 11, POSTED ON YOUR BLOG AS "ROUGH DRAFT #1"
What unsettles you? Remembering our mandate from Wed. 9/4 that we must only write that which we
care about deeply, either write again about the event from your Post #4 (Fri. 9/6) or create a new draft of a
specific event.
WHEN YOU FINISH THIS PROMPT REMEMBER TO CONSIDER HOW YOU WILL
INTEGRATE OUTSIDE FACTS INTO YOUR STORY.
(SEE YOUR 9/9 BLOG POST: "PROJECT BRAINSTORM.")
2- IN-CLASS EXERCISE, WED. SEPT. 11.
DUE FRI. SEPT. 13, POST BOTH SCENES ON YOUR BLOG AS "ROUGH DRAFT #2"
Now write two more scenes revolving around your Rough Draft #1. Scene #1 happens immediately
before the action in your rough draft. Scene #2 happens some time after the action in your rough draft.
3 - CONSIDER HOW FACTS OUTSIDE THE IMMEDIATE STORY WILL ADD DEPTH TO
YOUR ESSAY.
DUE FRI. SEPT. 20, POSTED ON YOUR BLOG AS "OUTSIDE SOURCES."
For examples of how facts enhance personal essays, reread "Genetic Tribe of One" and "The Pain Scale."
Read self-selected academic journal studies and/or develop original primary research relevant to some
aspect of the topic you're writing about. Hyperlink sources and give a brief description.
Talk to someone who was with you before, during, or after the event you're writing about. Include that
person's reflections. Include that person's name and relationship to you too.
4 - INTEGRATE INSIGHTS GLEANED FROM ROUGH DRAFT #2 PLUS YOUR OUTSIDE
SOURCES, TO CREATE A REVISION OF ROUGH DRAFT #1. KEEP IN MIND THE FINAL
WORD COUNT IS A MAXIMUM OF 1250 WORDS.
DUE SAT. SEPT. 21, BY 5 P.M. POSTED ON YOUR BLOG AS "INTEGRATED DRAFT"
Refer to your Blog Post #5, your "Outside Sources" post, your Rough Drafts #1 and #2 for all the
elements you'll want to include.
Refer to your Blog Post #3 for ideas of how other writers braid multiple voices into one essay.
5 - IN-CLASS INTENSIVE WORKSHOPS ON "INTEGRATED DRAFT."
DUE MON. SEPT 23 - FRI. SEPT. 27
6. - FINAL DRAFT, DUE POSTED ON YOUR BLOG BEFORE CLASS, MONDAY, SEPT. 30
ASSESSMENT:
Value: 150 points
Grading will be based on:
Focus – Is this one, singular, compelling event that is of interest to others? Is there a discernible
purpose to telling the story? What makes this worthwhile to a reader who doesn’t know you?
Have you articulated your Personal Theory of Writing the Truth and is it evident in your writing?
(40 points)
Depth –Have you placed this story within a larger context outside of yourself? Can the reader
easily find a larger social issue that relates to some news event during your life? Do you have at
least three areas with research data like our sample stories?
(40 points)
Observation –Is the story alive with input from the five senses? Have you used the specific over
the general? Is there a distinctive mood evident through language?
(25 points)
Voice–Does your personality show through with word choice and sentence structure? Is your
vocabulary varied? Is your pacing consistent and forward moving? Do you begin quickly, build
tension, and get out the minute the story is finished?
(25 points)
Format –Have you checked for spelling, grammar, and word usage errors? Did you turn in all the
drafts on time? Have
(20 points)