English 400A Topics in Writing
Travels and Tales
Spring 2015: Bilbao, Spain
Prof. Joe Calabrese
Office Hours TBA
calabj@unr.edu
Course Description
It’s very likely that all of us are here in Bilbao temporarily, as travelers. Perhaps
we share a sense of dislocation as well as adventure. Unaccustomed to the
sights, the language, the food, the routines, the outlook that we are
experiencing day by day, we are in a position to see the everyday as the
unusual. We are also in a position to see ourselves in the light of all that is new,
challenging, frightening, and puzzling. Looking out we are also looking in. That
has been a familiar experience to travelers throughout the centuries. The
writer Sara Wheeler has remarked that, having become a writer, she travels for
one purpose, “to get material, whether concrete material, i.e., observations
about what things look like and so on; or ideas, conceptual material.” That’s us,
except that we may not think of ourselves as writers.
Simply put to be a writer means to write. For the next 15 weeks, we will be
acting like writers. That means exploring Bilbao but also remembering and
writing about places we have been (or might go on a weekend away from
Bilbao). A notebook is indispensable. Load it with your everyday experiences,
bits of Spanish and Basque language, the names of food, words on signs, small
accounts of trips to the grocery and accounts of trips to famous sights in the
city. Try to organize your observations. Reserve sections of your notebook for
words; maybe another for architecture. Another for things that you find really
odd about the people you meet.
Some people you will meet in our readings. Other travelers have written
engagingly about their wanderings. We will look into Mark Twain, Evelyn
Waugh, Paul Theroux, Martha Gellhorn, and many other writers, and we will
read about the history of travel writing and also the themes and issues that
have concerned writers and their critical audiences over time. So we will be
writing and reading and writing some more as we live here for a brief part of
our lives. One bonus of this course is that you will have a very detailed record
of your sojourn in Basque Country. Over the years, the value of this record will
only grow.
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Course Texts
The Cambridge Introduction to Travel Writing, Tim Youngs
Northern Spain, The Collected Traveler, Barrie Kerper, Editor
The Best American Travel Writing 2014, Jason Wilson, Editor
Numerous bits and pieces assigned in PDF format
Course Requirements
Course notebook with a minimum of three topical divisions (Food, Phobias, and
Fun, for example; or, Language issues, Local politics, Ideas one finds about
Americans. More on this in the first week)
Three short essays, 4-5 pages. These will focus on particular issues like
language and particular places like where you go to eat or to relax or to have a
drink etc.
Weekly exercises about one page each. These will include reactions to other
writers (from our texts) and brief assignments meant to engage you with your
surroundings.
One longer paper approximately 15 pages, on Bilbao from your perspective.
This paper will encompass your entire stay here. Its structure will be based on
material both in your notebook and in your shorter papers. How have you
engaged with Bilbao and its people and your fellow travelers? What begins to
stand out for you? What do you most want to share?
Standards:
The notebook can be handwritten but it must be legible. If your penmanship
would make a doctor wince, than type your entries.
Clear and correct: All other work must be typed and it must be professional in
appearance. Grammatical prose is a must. Clarity should be the first goal of our
style.
Additionally: Little surprises of wording or point of view or insight are greatly
valued. Such things keep prose fresh and readers like that sort of thing. But
clarity above all.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will
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o be familiar with the history and issues in the genre of travel
writing
o engage with and present their experiences in the culture of
Bilbao
o demonstrate critical skills in responding to peer writing in the
genre
o effectively appraise and revise writing after peer review
Grades
Notebook
25%,
Exercises
10%
Short papers 50%
Longer paper 15%
Policies:
Come to class. Others are depending on your contributions.
Hand work in on time.
Read carefully and bring something from your reading to each class discussion
of texts.
Academic Dishonesty: Cheating, plagiarism or otherwise obtaining grades
under false pretenses constitute academic dishonesty according to the code of
this university. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and penalties can
include canceling a student's enrollment without a grade, giving an F for the
course or for the assignment.
Email: Don’t email me assignments without permission. Always email me with
questions or concerns about our course. I will try to respond within a day (but I
am not available 24/7 even by email).
Course outline
Week one:
Tues:1
Introduction, syllabus
Thurs:
The outline is based on a twice weekly schedule, whether that is M/W or
T/TR
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Cambridge, ch1; and Collected, pp. 1-23
Week two:
Tues:
PDF “Travel Writing: The Point of It”; Cambridge ch2
Thurs:
Week three:
Tues:
Collected, pp.162-173; Best, “Amigos.”
Cambridge, ch. 3 & 4, Collected, pp. 175-195
Thurs:
Week four:
Tues:
Thurs:
Week five:
Tues:
PDF “Aix, The Paradise of the Rheumatics”; PDF, “Florence.”
First Short paper due/ topics TBA
Cambridge, ch. 5; Best, America the Marvelous
Cambridge, ch. 6; Collected. pp. 195-215
Cambridge, ch. 7; Collected, pp. 255-276
Thurs:
Cambridge, ch. 8; Best, “Fifty Shades of Greyhound.”
Week six:
Tues:
Thurs:
Week seven:
Tues:
Cambridge, ch.. 9; Collected, pp. 277-300
Cambridge, ch. 10; PDF, “Milan and Como.”
Second short paper due/ topics TBA
Cambridge, ch. 11; Best, “Clear-Eyed in Calcutta,” and “This Must
be the Place.”
Thurs:
Week eight:
Tues:
PDF, “Down the Rhone.” Collected, pp.314-331
Cambridge, ch. 12 PDF, “Shooting an Elephant.”
Thurs:
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Week nine:
Tues:
Thurs:
Week ten:
Tues:
Thurs:
Midterm
Collected, pp. 334-358; Best, “Love in the Time of Coca.”
Collected, pp. 358-386; Best, “Excuse us While We Kiss the Sky.”
Third short paper due/topics TBA
Collected, pp. 387-407;
Collected, pp. 437-464; Best, “Now We Are Five.”
Week eleven:
Tues:
Thurs:
Week twelve:
Tues:
Collected, pp. 465-489; Best, “My New York.”
Collected, pp. 490-531;
Best, “Sun King,” and “The Last of Eden.”
Thurs:
Best, “Maximum Bombay,” and “A Moving Experience.”
Week thirteen:
Tues:
Best, “In the Abode of the Gods,” and “Loving Las Vegas.”
Thurs:
Best, “Open Water.”
Draft of final paper due
Week fourteen:
Tues:
Workshop
Thurs:
Videos and photos: images of Spain;
Week fifteen:
Tues:
Thurs:
Workshop
Workshop
Week sixteen:
Tues:
Portfolio Due, including revision of final paper
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