Sonja S. Mongar
Joseph Boyden, Thesis Chair
Comprehensive Exam Part 2
17 April 2004
An Undergraduate Course in Non-fiction as Literature
Introduction
After completing two advanced degrees in the field writing of Creative NonFiction, I discovered a large gap between what I had learned about writing non-fiction
and the seemingly endless possibilities in the field. Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson in
Reading Autobiography identify fifty two genres of what they term, Life Narrative,
which includes the canonized versions of life writing, memoir and the personal essay.
Apparently, the reason I had not come across this range of writing in my courses is
simply that both programs had focused on canonical approaches to the popularized and
relatively new genre of Creative Non-Fiction.
Overall, I found this gap disappointing and disillusioning in terms of my own
writing as I struggled to shape the stories into canonical forms, with canonical
conventions and discourse. I was not the only one. In workshops, I ran in to others who
voiced a frustration with the limitations of the possibilities presented. My own stories
refused to take shape and it was that desperation that led me to search out new ways to
write.
Fortunately, I was able to enroll a Latina/Latino autobiography course outside my
MA program, which radically altered my concept of memoir. Additionally, in my MFA
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coursework I was exposed to Modernism, Postmodernism, Contemporary Poetry, and
Cyberspace, which altered my perceptions of narrative space. When I moved to Puerto
Rico to teach, I was again struck by the variety in autobiographic discourse. That was
when the director of my department where I teach passed on Sidonie Smith’s and Julia
Watson’s book.
Reading Autobiography led me to an investigation and analysis of several of my
own ancestral texts, a travel diary, a memoir and a pocket almanac diary, which had been
passed down to me. This led to research and projects focused around Life Narratives,
which I have presented, several times at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez to both
students and faculty.
Thus, between my writing, teaching, and research, I believe I have gained a
certain unique view of non-fiction as literature, which I would strive to reflect in the
course that I would write and teach in this subject.
A Course in Non-Fiction as Literature
In a college sophomore-level course in non-fiction as literature, I would
concentrate on three main categories of non-fiction in order to expose students to both
canonical and non-canonical examples of non-fiction writing. This range would give
them a more complete picture of the importance of this writing—personally, communally
and politically and the possible applications of these genres in their chosen fields of
study.
The goal of this introductory course in non-fiction as literature is to guide the
students in an understanding of the history, theory, craft, function and purpose of three
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major categories of non-fiction. The three categories include: Narrative Essays (personal,
literary,) Creative Non-fiction (memoir,) and Life Narrative (autobiography,
autotopography, trauma narrative, and auto/biography.)
In addition to the emphasis on reading, there will be an emphasis on writing,
which will include analytical responses to the readings and five-page literary essay based
on a full-length text chosen from the book list. There will also be a creative writing
project using autotopography, specifically family photographs coupled with some sort of
autobiographical writing.
The first category is the personal essay. Though this is generally not designated
separately from Creative Non-fiction in the graduate programs I have been in, I intend to
address them separately in order to emphasize their elements. The personal essay is of
particular importance to all students because of its combination of the subject with the
personal. I have found that students are more willing to interact with academic subjects,
or larger political, social and cultural issues when the personal is integrated within.
The subjective “I,” the narrative first person point of view is unfortunately, what I
have been taught to eradicate from my students’ writing styles when I teach composition.
It is also the element they most strongly object to losing. The goal of teaching the
personal essay in this course is to reintroduce the personal into their reading and writing.
In addition to reading and analyzing several styles of personal essays, they will be
instructed in the process of writing literary essays, a form they will use to respond to the
readings and to the full-length text they will choose for their final paper. Some of the
elements studied in the personal essay will include thesis, style and tone, structure, point
of view, and rhetorical techniques.
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To introduce students to the process of writing a literary essay, they will be
required to write analyses in the form of short literary essays based on the weekly
assigned reading and using specific criteria to facilitate analysis. Since I usually use a
Discussion Board format for these essays, they would also be required to read each
other’s essays and reply. I have found this approach very effective, along with class
discussions and online Chat, in increasing undergraduate analytical skills, which are
largely underdeveloped. This practice also makes them familiar with the language and the
elements of literature, more specifically within each genre.
The second category of non-fiction to be explored is Creative Non-fiction. This
genre of non-fiction utilizes conventions of fiction such as characterization, plot, point of
view and dialogue to tell a personal story. Memoir is the focus. The issues to address are
truth, memory, structure, point of view and narrative space. A look at how cyberspace
affects narrative space will also be touched upon.
Life Narrative represents a politically charged category, which will be explored as
such. Various examples of Life Narrative texts such as diaries, journals, autobiographies
and with a particular emphasis on autotopography, which is writing about
autobiographical objects. Students will experience the personal narrative first hand by
creating a Life Narrative with the use of family photographs.
Readings were chosen based on their ability to best illustrate the elements,
theories and issues of these categories of non-fiction writing. For instance, Mary Karr,
J.M. Coetzee show narratives in the second and third person. Joann Beard’s memoir is a
mosaic. Others include voices of the Harlem Renaissance, issues of biculturalism, the
Moderns, nature writing, medical writing, Postmodernism and photography as text. I
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have also included two essays on the personal in critical writing as well as theoretical
approaches to subjects of truth, memory, narrative space and life writing. There are also
canonical and non-canonical writings and an equal distribution of male and female
writers. What has been excluded is a more critical look at the history of the personal
essay. I plan to touch on Montaigne historically but not assign him as reading.
These readings were also chosen based on my personal experience with the
material. Thus, I am very familiar with the texts. The number of readings are guidelines
only and will be adjusted based on the pace, sophistication and interest of the class.
Objectives
The objectives of this course will be for the student to identify and define the
various genres of non-fiction introduced as well as analyze each writer’s approach to
his/her writing as far as elements, strategies, and structures. The student will also be able
to place each text analyzed canonically and politically as well as come away from this
course with an understanding of issues in non-fiction such as memory, truth and narrative
space. Over the course of the semester, the student will develop his/her critical/analytical
skills, learn the language of non-fiction and then learn to integrate these skills effectively
within his/her personal point of view. This point of view will be translated into literary
essay form. Lastly, the student will experience his/her own Life Narrative in the form of a
creative project.
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Evaluation
Discussion Board Participation
& webpage
100 points
Full-length Essay
100 points
12 short personal critical essays
120 points
Autotopography Project
80 points
Proposed Calendar
Week 1 – 5
Exploring the Narrative Essay
a.
History
b.
Thesis
c.
Audience & Purpose
d.
Point of View
e.
Style & Tone
f.
Structure
g.
Rhetorical Techniques
Week 6 - 10
Exploring Creative Non-fiction – The Memoir
a.
History
b.
Conventions of Creative Non-Fiction
c.
Memory
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d.
Truth
e.
Structure
f.
Point of View
g.
Narrative Space
Week 11 – Week 14
Exploring Life Narratives
a.
History & Politics
b.
Genres
c.
Structures
d.
Narrative “I”
e.
Image as text
Proposed Reading Assignments
Reading Assignment #1
Why I Write, Joan Didion
Why I Write, George Orwell
Reading Assignment #2
How it Feels to Be a Colored Me, Zora Neale Hurston
Salvation, Langston Hughes
Reading Assignment #3
Moments of Being, Virginia Woolf
The Modern Essay, Virgina Woolf
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Reading Assignment #4
Living like Weasels, Annie Dillard
Aerial Reconnaissance, William DeBuys
Reading Assignment #5
About Personal Expressive Academic Writing, Peter Elbow
Experimental Critical Writing, Marianna Torgovnick
Reading Assignment #6
Art of Memoir, Mary Clearman Blew
Excerpts from: Boyhood, J.M. Coetzee, Stop Time, Frank Conroy
Reading Assignment #7
Memory & Imagination, Patricia Hampl
Silent Dancing, Judith Ortiz Cofer
Reading Assignment #8
The Site of Memory, Toni Morrison
Striptease, Lauren Slater
Reading Assignment #9
Collage, Montage, Mosaic, Vignette, Episode, Segment, Robert Root
Cousins, Joann Beard
Reading Assignment #10
Everything But the Truth, Fern Kupfer
Excerpt from Cherry, Mary Karr
Reading Assignment #11
Excerpt from Reading Autobiography, Sidonie Smith & Julia Watson
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Examples of a variety of Life Narratives
Reading Assignment #12
Excerpt from Canicula, Norma Cantu
Excerpt from Shot in the Heart, Mikhal Gilmore
Book List
Anzaldua, Gloria
Borderlands
Barnes, Kim
Hungry for the World
Beard, JoAnn
The Boys of My Youth
Berendt, John
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Cantu, Norma
Canicula: Snapshots of a Girlhood en la Frontera
Coetzee, J. M.
Boyhood: Scenes from a Provincial Life
Cofer, Judith Ortiz
Silent Dancing
Conroy, Frank
Stop-Time
Didion, Joan
White Album
Erdrich, Louise
The Blue Jay’s Dance
Grealy, Lucy
Autobiography of a Face
Gilmore, Mikal
Shot in the Heart
Hammerschlag, Carl A.
The Dancing Healers: A Doctor’s Journey of Healing With
Native Americans
Herrera, Juan Felipe
Mayan Drifter: Chicano Poet in the Lowlands of America
Karr, Mary
Liar’s Club
Karr, Mary
Cherry
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Kaysen, Susanna
Girl, Interrupted
Knapp, Caroline
Drinking, A Love Story
Mairs, Nancy
Remembering the Bone House
Moraga, Cherrie
Loving in the War Years
Silverman, Sue William
Because I Remember Terror Father, I Remember You
Slater, Lauren
Welcome to My Country
Suarez, Virgil
Spared Angola
Thomas, Piri
Down These Mean Streets
Williams, Terry Tempest
Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place
Wolff, Tobias
This Boy’s Life
Selected Bibliography
Lopate, Phillip. The Art of the Personal Essay; An Anthology from the Classical
Era to the Present. Anchor Books. New York, 1994.
Root, Robert, and Michael Steinberg, eds. The Fourth Genre: Contemporary
Writers of/on Creative Nonfiction, 2nd Edition. Longman. New York. 2002.
Smith, Sidonie, and Julia Watson. Reading Autobiography, A Guide for
Interpreting Life Narratives. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis. 2001.
Ward, Martha, ed. A Sounding of Women. Autobiographies From Unexpected
Places. Boston. Allyn & Bacon. 1997.
Zinsser, William, ed. Inventing the Truth, The Art & Craft of Memoir. Boston.
Houghton Mifflin. 1987.
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Zinsser, William. On Writing Well, 25th Anniversary: The Classic Guide to
Writing Nonfiction. New York: HarperSource. 2001.
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