ENWR220 Writing in the Major: The Analytic Essay
Topic: Twentieth Century Confessional Literature
Spring 2014, Mon/Wed 10:00 am
Prof. Emily Isaacs
465 Dickson Hall
Office Hrs: Mon: 1-3; by appointment isaacse@mail.montclair.edu
973-655-7321
Dept website: montclair.edu/chss/english
Required Texts:

Hacker, Diana and Nancy Sommers. A Writer’s Reference. 7 th ed. Montclair State University custom edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. Print. (or equivalent)

Ensler, Eve. “The Vagina Monologues.” New York: Random House, 1998. Print.

Ward, Jesmyn. Men We Reaped. London: Bloomsbury, 2013. Print

Wolff, Tobias. This Boy’s Life: A Memoir. New York: Grove Press, 1989. Print

Readings provided via Canvas primarily poetry of Lowell, Sexton & Plath; short form personal histories)
You can buy any version of these books. In class we will reference the page numbers from the editions above, but you should be able to find where we are.
Course Description
ENWR220 focuses on the development of students’ skills in writing a thesis-driven analytic essay.
Students will work with literary and cultural texts to strengthen their reading and analytic abilities, using those skills to construct sophisticated arguments. Because the course is designed for English majors, students will learn and apply the vocabulary, writing conventions, research methods, and documentation practices of the discipline. Students will write 5000-6000 words of formal prose and regularly revise their essays with feedback from peers and the instructor. ENWR220 meets the
Graduation Writing Requirement. Recommended but not required as a precursor to Pursuits of English.
For English majors only. In this section students will read and write analytic papers on "confessional" literature, from several genres -- personal narrative/memoir, drama (the monologue), and poetry. Focus will be entirely on the 20th and 21st centuries and we will read many new and likely unfamiliar authors. Authors include: Eve Ensler, Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, David Sedaris, Anne Sexton, Tobias
Wolff, Jesmyn Ward, and John Edgar Wideman. Blog entries on readings, four papers, four quizzes, a final ID exam, and a portfolio to conclude the program.
Objectives

To strengthen students' ability to read and analyze texts, which may include works of literature, film, or similar representational forms within the English discipline, and to write sophisticated academic essays about them.

To provide students with intensive writing instruction through teacher commentary, revision, peer feedback, lecture and discussion, in-class writing exercises on particular aspects of analytic writing, and/or examination of model essays.

To engage students in sustained, semester-long study of a particular topic or theme relevant to the discipline of English, as selected by the professor.


To teach the foundational skills for advanced writing about literary and cultural texts. These skills include: close reading, thesis development, discursive analysis, use of evidence, textual comparison, discipline-specific research methods, and developing interesting and original arguments.

To assess students’ abilities in analytic writing as part of the Graduation Requirement in Writing.
Scope
1.
Students will be assigned between three and five formal analytic essays for a total of 5000-
6000 words.
2.
Students will be provided with the opportunity to revise essays after feedback from peers and the instructor.
3.
Students will be asked to complete informal writing assignments designed to support their analytic writing abilities. These may include specific work on parts of an essay (introduction, support, textual analysis, or conclusion), reading notes, and self-assessments of their own reading and writing.
4.
Students will read and analyze several texts on the selected topic of 20 th century confessional
literature.
5.
Students will be provided with instruction in a range of analytic skills, which may include but are not limited to the following: observing and describing patterns and structures of language; identification of significant shifts in imagery, tone, plot, rhetorical stance, figuration, and narrative voice; attending to form in its relation to content in such genres as poetry, fiction, drama, or film; articulating the impact of historical, political, and cultural forces on artistic production; and comparing and contrasting specific aspects of two or more texts.
6.
Students will be provided instruction in the conventions of writing in the major. These may include:
A.
MLA documentation.
B.
Review of common disciplinary terms and resources. For this class, please bookmark and take a look at Lit Gloss: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/litgloss/ . This is one of many online literary term guides.
C.
Introduction to disciplinary language standards, including the use of appropriate style, voice, and terminology; non-sexist and non-racist language; and other conventions.
7.
Students will be guided in the use of Sprague library databases relevant to undergraduate research in the English major.
8.
Students will be provided with feedback and assessment on all aspects of their writing, including their abilities to make and support a central claim, closely analyze and interpret a text, organize and write with clarity and elegance. In accordance with the graduation writing requirement, students whose analytic writing is weak will be so informed, provided with instructor guidance, and also directed to the Center for Writing Excellence. Students who do not meet minimum requirements in these areas will not pass the course.
Evaluation:
Canvas Blog posts
Paper One
Paper Two
Paper Three
10%
10%
15%
15%
Paper Four 15%

Quizzes
Final (terms, style and conventions)
Final Reflection Paper
20%
10%
5%
Note: Come to class and do you work. Do everything on-time. I take attendance and notice student engagement, signs of reading, signs of non-reading and poor reading, etc. Do your best work – life is better that way, all around.
Outline of Content
Unit 1: Memoirs – Short Forms
Language and terms: Memoir & Fiction – in-class quiz
Skills/Activities: close reading; central claim development; drafting, feedback from peers, revision
Unit 1 paper
Unit 2: Confessional Poets Lowell, Sexton and Plath
Skills/Activities: discovering formal disciplinary conventions (including review of selected grammar rules and stylistic principles); guidance in comparing and contrasting texts; drafting, feedback from instructor, revision
Language and terms: Poetry – in-class quiz
Unit 2 paper
Unit 3: Masculinity: This Boy’s Life (Tobias Wolff) and Men We Reaped (Jesmyn Ward)
Skills/Activities: instruction in documentation; guidance in the effective use of evidence, including quoting; drafting, feedback from peers and instructor, revision
Language and terms: Top 20 errors – in-class quiz
Unit 3 paper
Unit 4: Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues
Skills/Activities: instruction in using databases; guidance in selecting and using secondary sources; drafting, feedback from instructor, revision
Language and terms: drama – in-class quiz
Unit 4 Paper
Final – identification and short answer in-class exam based on language and term quizzes; revision of one essay