English 608: the craft of the personal essay
Wednesdays 7:20 – 10 p.m. Robinson Hall B 442
Kyoko Mori 617-899-5972 (cell)
Office: 119 Planetary Hall Office Hours: Wednesdays, 5- 6:30
Email: kmori@gmu.edu
This course offers an intensive study of the craft of the personal essay and gives
you a chance to read, think about, and practice this particular form of nonfiction writing.
It presupposes that you are already a serious reader and writer—that you’ve had some
intensive study of at least one genre of creative writing (nonfiction, fiction, or poetry) and
plan to continue writing not as a hobby but as a discipline.
What is a personal essay and how is it different from an “article” or a “story”?
What are some of the successful strategies various writers throughout history and across
cultures have used in writing their essays? What makes a good essay? Does a personal
essay have to be “about” something, and if so, to what extent? How can we come up
with a good topic—the ostensible “about”-ness around which to shape our essays -- and
how can we use the topic to serve rather than drive the writing? Is the topic like a box in
which we can contain and present the writing, is it like a seed from which we can grow
the writing, or is it both? Why is it easier to think about the personal essay through these
inadequate comparisons rather than through a historical summary or a structural
description? What do we mean by “voice” anyway? How does the writer construct the
“persona” or the “narrator” of the personal essay and how is that person-in-the-essay
different from the person who is actually writing the essay? What is a lyric essay and
how is it different (is it different?) from other essays?
These and many other questions will be raised in our class discussions. Many
answers will be attempted, with varying degrees of success.
There will be weekly readings and 3 writing assignments. You will revise one of
the 3 personal essays you wrote during the semester and submit the revision to the
instructor. Grades will be based on the thoughtfulness with which you contributed to the
on-going, semester-long class discussion (1/3), the conscientiousness and openmindedness with which you tackled the writing assignments (1/3), and the quality of your
writing as manifested in the revised personal essay (1/3).
Textbooks:
Lopate, Phillip. THE ART OF THE PERSONAL ESSAY (referred to as Lopate)
THE BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS 2012 (referred to as Yellow)
THE BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS 2011 (referred to as Teal)
Writing:
You will write 3 assigned essays, each 10 to 15 pages, double-spaced. When the
essays are due, you should bring enough copies (printed on one side only, pages
numbered) for each person in the class and the instructor. You will present your essay to
the class by reading it out loud and talking about the process you used in generating the
ideas, making the first pass through the essay, and engaging in whatever revisions you
were able to do so far. The class will offer suggestions based on their initial reaction to
the essay. Since it’s almost impossible to offer detailed reactions and suggestions based
on just one reading, the purpose of the presentation is not to “workshop” the essay but to
think and talk about each writer’s process and what others can learn from it.
Schedule:
1/23
Introduction
1/30
What is the personal essay and what is the origin of the personal essay? Read all
the “introductions” in Lopate and Yellow and Teal (introductions written by
Robert Atwan, the series editor, and those written by the guest editors) and also,
Michel Montaigne,“Of Books” (Lopate, 46) and “Of a Monstrous Child” (Lopate,
57); Christy Vannoy, “A Personal Essay by a Personal Essay” (Yellow 210),
Jonathan Franzen, “Farther Away” (Teal 111).
The first assignment (“Against, or things I hate”) given.
2/6
Phillip Lopate, “Against Joie de Vivre” (Lopate 716); Max Beerbohm, “Going
Out for a Walk” (Lopate 237); Sei Shonagon, “Hateful Things” (Lopate 24);
Benjamin Anastas, The Foul Reign of ‘Self-Reliance’” (Yellow 1); Marcia
Angell, “The Crazy State of Psychiatry” (Yellow 6)
2/13
Your “Against” essays
2/20
More “Against” essays
Assignment Two (“On” or “Self Portrait through X”) given
2/27
Seneca, “On Noise” (Lopate, 5); Lu Hsun, “Death” (Lopate, 329); William
Hazlitt, “On the Pleasure of Hating” (Lopate, 189); Robert Louis Stevenson, “On
Marriage” (Lopate, 229); Geoffrey Bent, “Edward Hopper and the Geometry of
Despair” (Yellow 43); Robert Boyers “A Beauty” (Yellow 52); Steven Church,
“Auscultation” (Teal 25); Pico Iver, “Chapels” (Teal 90); Ewa HrvniewiczYarbrough, “Objects of Affection” (Yellow 167); Bernadette Esposito, “A-LOC”
(Teal 68)
3 /6
No class (AWP Convention in Boston)
3/13
No class (Spring Break)
3/20
MFK Fisher, “Once A Tramp, Always” (Lopate 546); Wendell Berry, “An
Entrance to the Woods” (Lopate 670); Joan Didion, “In Bed” (Lopate 689); Mark
Doty, “Insatiable” (Yellow 78); Jose Antonio Vargas, “Outlaw” (Yellow 262);
Toi Derricotte, “Beds” (Teal 42)
3/27
Your “On” or “Self Portrait through X” essays
4/3
Attend the Margaret Talbot reading
4/10
More “On” or “Self Portrait through X” essays
Assignment Three (“Trouble/Problem”) given
4/17
Scott Russell Sanders, “Under the Influence” (Lopate, 733); Katy Butler, “What
Broke My Father’s Heart” (Teal 12); Paul Crenshaw, “After the Ice” (Teal 31);
Victor LaValle, “Long Distance” (Teal 97); Bridget Potter, “Lucky Girl” (Teal
147); Rachel Riederer, “Patient” (Teal 165); Susan Straight, “Travels with My
Ex” (Teal 200); Jerald Walker, “Unprepared (Teal 213); Caryl Phillips, “Rude
Am I in My Speech” (Teal 141)
4/24
Your “Trouble/Problem” essays
5/1
More “Trouble/Problem” essays
Revised essay due (by email) by 11:58 p. m. on 5/11