Creative Nonfiction
Texts: Lopate, Phillip (ed)., The Art of the Personal Essay, Sedaris, David. Me Talk Pretty One Day
Major Essays (Critique / Literary Analysis Assignments):
 Baldwin, James. “Notes of a Native
 Kincaid, Jamaica. “Biography of a
 Tan, Amy. “Fish Cheeks” and “Mother
Son”
Dress”
Tongue”
 Baker, Nicholas. selections from The
 King, Stephen. “On Impact”
 Thurber, James. “The Secret Life of
Mezzanine
 Rich, Adrienne. “Split at the Root”
James Thurber”
 Didion, Joan, “Goodbye to All That”
 Sanders, Scott Russell. “Under the
 Vowell, Susan. “Shooting Dad”
 Fadiman, Anne. “Collecting Nature”
Influence”
 Wallace, David Foster. “Consider the
 Franzen, Jonathan. “My Father’s Brain”  Sedaris, David. selections from Me Talk
Lobster”
Pretty One Day
 White, E.B. “Once More to the Lake”
A.M.
A.M.
P.M.
TUESDAY
Study Hall
P.M.
MONDAY
WEEK 1
CONCEPTS / GOALS
Create safe, comfortable
environment; establish
standards and expectations.
Explain Course Logistics
Introduction to the genre of
the “personal essay,” and the
goals of the course.
Functional Fixedness
Pre-Test
Identify students’ writing
difficulties
Read Sample Essay
Introduce “voice” and
“honesty.”
Reinforce lessons from the
P.M. & begin short-writing
exercises.
Set a comfortable precedent/
tone to share work with each
other in class.
Bridge concepts; continue
definitional understanding of
the personal essay.
Showing vs. Telling
Narrative Decisions: climactic
actions, “plot-points,” narrative
sequence.
Showing vs. Telling (cont)
Begin working definition list of
literary devices
(onomatopoeia, simile,
metaphor, synecdoche, etc.)
Thinking about how to begin
essays: first-sentences, etc.
ACTIVITIES & ASSIGNMENTS
1. Introductions & Names (Sun)
2. Ice breakers (Sun) & class-rules (Sun).
3. Free-Write A.M. Journal
4.. Honor Code
6. “Formal Essay” vs. “Personal Essay” —as a class, read Lopate’s introduction
(xxiii-xxvii). Discuss ideas about what the differences between formal & personal
writing.
7. Play the Molly & Ned Game.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Administer Pre-Test
Writing Difficulties (small groups)
Read Amy Tan, “Fish Cheeks” (handout) & discuss.
Susan Vowell, “Shooting Dad” (handout). Compare Vowell’s attempt to reconcile
her relationship with her father to Tan’s essay; how does Vowell interweave
narrative and reflection? Use comedy?
1. “Contractions and Expansions of the Self” & “Role of Contrariety” (Lopate xxviixxxi).
2. Short writing exercise: “What I love.”
3. Garrison Keillor, excerpts from Lake Wobegon Days
1. Journal entries
2. Share some essays written the night before; highlight literary qualities. Start
generating vocabulary lists for the session.
3. Students illustrate the sentence “She was sad”; then compose written
descriptions of the illustrations.
4. Students narrate a movie scene without any background information; share the
passages and describe how writing can be effective and vivid without a lot of
exposition.
5. Plot/Narrative “essentials”: act out different scenes of well-known plots. Groups
have a 1 minute sketch, then a 15 second sketch, then a 5 second sketch.
1. Showing v. Telling Handout
2. Li Young-Li, “Persimmons”
3. Introduction to Nabokov’s “Speak, Memory”: think about different ways essays
can begin, and what the effects of beginning in different ways might be.
4. Summary & recap: What have we learned in the past 24 hours? What would we
like to learn for the remainder of the session?
4. Students will BEGIN ESSAY 1: “A MEMORY” incorporating the lessons of the past
few days into a longer narrative about an important memory in their lives.
A.M.
Study l P.M.
1. Journal entries
2. Read Sedaris, “Me Talk Pretty One Day” (166-73). Lesson focused on techniques
to shape tone in relation to a range of audiences.
3. Define irony, sarcasm, satire. Listen to Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic” – note the
different situations. What’s ironic in the song? It’s mostly just bad luck. Is it
ironic that a song called “ironic” has little or no ironic content?
4. Thurber, “The Secret Life of J. Thurber” (514-15): Thurber as a Sedaris
progenitor. Students compare pictures of James Thurber to those of Salvador
Dali: how does Thurber use figurative language to paint a surreal landscape in his
essay?
5. Explain Workshop Process & Begin Workshop of Essay 1.
1. Workshop Essay 1
Student Feedback & Peer
Review
Bringing narrative/plot and
introspection/reflection
together.
1. REVISE ESSAY 1: Computer Lab
2. If finished early, students can read Franzen, “My Father’s Brain” pp. 25-end
(handout); silently.
A.M.
ACTIVITIES & ASSIGNMENTS
1. Finish first draft of essay one.
2. Silent reading: Franzen, “My Father’s Brain” pp. 7-25 (handout); answer journal
questions (if time).
Point-of-View & Perspective
Distinction between Personal
and Familiar Essay.
Flashbacks/ flash-forwards:
grounding reflections in
specific memories, moving
between reflection and
narrative. Continue emphasis
on tone.
P.M.
CONCEPTS / GOALS
Finish first-draft of Essay 1
Developing Writing Focus
Understanding Tone / voice
and its relation to audience.
Understanding different kinds
of irony.
Narrative & Essay structure
E. Characterization and
Dialogue
Revision Strategies
Lessons about time,
perspective, and syntax:
manipulation of imagery;
interweaving or synthesis of
form and content.
Characterization & Dialogue
(cont.)
1. Journal entries
2. Anne Fadiman, “Collecting Nature” from At Large and At Small. Students write
five questions for the author about either the essay or writing technique.
3. As a class, the students will discuss Fadiman’s ability to link her own personal
memories with a larger reflection on lepidoptery & symbolism.
4. Questions are revised for submission to Anne Fadiman, who has agreed to
respond.
5. Short-Writing Exercise: Take a small object or situation and turning it into an
essay that says something larger. Spend a minute or two brainstorming as a class
ideas about what microcosm essays might look like, then students complete
short writing exercise. Share as a class and discuss literary techniques.
1. Finish Essay One Revisions: Turn in to instructor, along with a brief paragraph
about one major revision you incorporated & how it related to peer feedback
and/or class lessons.
2. Read out-loud: David Foster Wallace, “Incantations of Burned Children”
(handout); time/perspective lesson.
Study
THURSDAY
WEDNESDAY
Study
WEEK 1
1. Finish Franzen, “MFB” & Answer Journal Questions
A.M.
CONCEPTS / GOALS
Combining humor with
seriousness; avoiding
sentimentality
Introduction to Writing about
Place
P.M.
FRIDAY
WEEK 1
Symbolism
Begin Essay 2, “Place”
ACTIVITIES & ASSIGNMENTS
1. Journal entries
2. Discussion, Franzen “My Father’s Brain”: Summary of entire week’s lessons.
How does Franzen apply notions of 1) Honesty 2) Voice 3) Audience 4) Structure
5) Imagery 6) Perspective 7) Character 8) Development 9) Ambivalence 10) Social
Significance?
3. Short-Writing Exercise: Describe your bedroom. Move beyond visual
description; what makes your bedroom unique? What objects in your room could
give your audience a sense of who you are as a person, or of a possible story
behind those objects? You may incorporate brief dialogue or narrative, but keep
the focus on place.
4. David Sedaris, “My Childhood on the Continent of Africa”
1. E.B. White, “Once More to the Lake.” Introduce symbolism, discussion about
White’s different symbolic motifs.
2. Pre-Writing: Think of 4-5 different places you could write about for essay two
(silent, 10 minutes). Then, talk with a classmate about your list. Decide which
place you want to write about.
3. BEGIN ESSAY 2: PLACE where students describe in detail a place that is significant
to them, grounding the essay in one or more memories or narratives.
A.M.
A.M
.
P.M.
ACTIVITIES & ASSIGNMENTS
1. Journal Entries
2. Have students list as many clichés as they can think of; write a passage that
incorporate as many of them as possible; finally, have students replace all the
clichés in their passages with more interesting turns of expression.
3. Jamaica Kincaid, “Biography of a Dress”: Link the different “pieces” of Kincaid’s
symbols together: the dress, the cornmeal, the soap, the color yellow, the
picture, etc. Why is it a biography of a “dress” and not Kincaid herself?
1.
FINISH
ESSAY TWO Drafts.
Continue Essay 2
2. Short-Writing Exercise: Like Kincaid, think of an object from your childhood that
Application of
has at least one particular memory or story associated with it (a stuffed animal, a
defamiliarization, motif, and
baseball glove, etc.) Try to use an experimental or “weird” style, like Wallace or
experimental style.
Kincaid, or try to incorporate a motif (recurring theme or symbol) into your short
narrative.
Defamiliarization; making the 1. Begin WORKSHOPPING ESSAY 2 (finish 3-4 per group)
small loom large; perspectives 2. Read out-loud Nicholas Baker’s “The Mezzanine” (Handout); changing time
and/or perspective mid-narrative. Introduction to discussion of
beyond physicality.
character/narrative voice.
Introduction to character
construction.
1. Journal Entries
Workshops
2. Finish Essay 2 Workshops (finish 4 per group)
Understanding character;
moving from list to narrative;
dialogue.
1. Final Revisions for Essay 2 (75 minutes) (PAL LAB)
2. Read Sedaris, “I’ll Eat What He’s Wearing” (265-72). Discussion about Sedaris’
father & portrayal of family. (last 30 minutes)
Study Hall
Study Hall
P.M.
Monday
Tuesday
WEEK 2 CONCEPTS / GOALS
Mini-Lesson: Clichés
Symbolism &
Defamiliarization.
Application of figurative
language.
Application of symbolism
Link between the tradition of
the personal essay and
contemporary journalism.
1. Read Wallace Stevens’ “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.”
2. Look at visual image, and have students describe it in three ways: first, with
clinical precision; second, metaphorically; and third, by creating a narrative.
3. David Foster Wallace, “Consider the Lobster” (audio essay). Does Franzen
accomplish his journal assignment? How does he turn the idea of journalism on
its head? Can personal essays work in newspaper editorials? Narrative articles?
Why/How?
P.M.
Attend Writing Symposium
Get students up-to-date on
projects/syllabi.
Character construction (2nd
lesson): Free-indirect
discourse, voice, and backstory.
Revise & Finish Essay 3
A.
M.
P.M.
Friday
Thursday
P.M.
A.M.
Study Hall
A.M.
Continue writing about self &
exploring cultural identity.
Study Hall
Wednesday
1. Journal Entries
2. List various verbs on the board; have students generate synonyms or close
synonyms for each; volunteers will act out one of the synonyms, and the class
will guess which one the student is performing.
3. Adrienne Rich, “Split at the Root” (640-56) & discuss: how does Rich compose a
successful essay yet avoid reaching a definitive closure? How does she
incorporate “confession” and “honesty”?
Art & Innovation: What Makes 1. ART GALLERY: Nathalie Miebeck Exhibit, “Sculptural Musical Scores”: “Nathalie
Miebach’s work focuses on the intersection of art and science and the visual
Art “Art”? Introduction to the
articulation of scientific observations or theories. Using methodologies and
avant-garde.
processes of both disciplines, she translates scientific data related to physics,
Aesthetic “Authenticity” & the
astronomy or natural phenomena into three-dimensional structures.
postmodern reaction.
Writing about self-identity and 1. Have students generate as many responses as possible to the statement, “I am
____”; have students pick the four that are most important to describing who
cultural heritage.
they are, and then ask them about the criteria of selection.
2. BEGIN ESSAY 3: “Self-Identity” or “Significant Person”
Mini-Lesson: Verbs
Cultural Identities
1. Journal Entries
2. Short-Writing Activity: Character-Scout—go to Case center and observe
(discretely!) different people who wander through. From this, build a character
profile (conflict, obsessions, desires, confidence, etc.) and use your imagination
to construct a short scene that exhibits this character sketch well without too
much exhibition.
3. Finish Essay 3
1. Share Character Scout Exercise.
2. Amy Tan, “Mother Tongue”
3. Workshop Essay 3
1. Revision Exercise: “Cutting-the-Fat” – students read a 272 word paragraph and
must reduce it to 172 word
2. Finish Workshop of Essay 3.
3. Scott Russell Sanders, “Under the Influence.”
1.
2.
Tackling big questions through 1.
2.
specific
examples/narratives/images.
Visit Teaching Art Museum
Journal Entries
Works-in-Progress CTY Writing Symposium
Visit Teaching Art Museum 1-2pm
Go outside to brainstorm. In small groups, students will begin “mini-essays,”
switching the essays every five minutes to another student in the group, who has
to take up where the previous student left off (to mimic the different “turns” or
voices of Barthes’ essay).
3. Creative Project: The class splits into four groups (Franzen, Kincaid, Rich, and
Sanders) to create artwork in the style of Tim Rollins and ROC: paste text to our
“canvas,” then design illustrations over the text that evoke both the narrative
and our relationship/responses to it.
A.M.
Concepts / Goals
Introducing modes of social
critique in anticipation of
final essay.
Continuation of narrative
time: looking emphasizing
temporal frames & narrative
sequence.
Begin introduction to
“familiar” essays centered
around “social commentary.”
Study Hall
A.M.
P.M.
A.M. Study
Argumentative/Analytical
Essay writing.
Correlation and Causation
problems (continued)
Assumptions and Warrants
Problem Statements
Brainstorming: moving
beyond main ideas: planning
an essay’s layout, design,
structure
Begin Drafting Essay 4
Continue discussion of
whole-scale revisions.
workshop
P.M.
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
Activities & Assignments
1. Journal Entries
2. Discussion of Gattaca: textual analysis, introduction to texts that intend or
suggest some larger social critique.
3. Anne Fadiman: Response Letter
4. James Baldwin, “Notes of a Native Son” with questions for discussion – begin
analysis of familiar essay that attempts a larger social, cultural, or political
observation/argument. Collect responses.
1. Discuss Baldwin, “Notes of a Native Son”
2. Finish Final Draft of Essay 3. Students can begin brainstorming activity for essay
4 if time permits.
P.M.
MONDAY
WEEK 3
Moving from the Personal
Essay to the Analytical Essay
Continue discussion of
whole-scale revisions.
Students revise final essay
and finish submissions to
class anthology.
1. Mini-Lesson: Analytical Analysis & the “Five Parts of Argument” (handout).
Stasis-Theory & heuristics  developing and defining arguments for analytical
essay assignments.
2. 2. Application of Mini-Lesson: using Gattaca, how might we write an
argumentative paper “reading” the text, or responding to the film?
1. Journal Entries.
2. Complete Brainstorming activity.
3. Draft of Essay 4, “Social Critique”: For the final essay of this session, you will use
your personal experience to advocate for some larger social or cultural change.
This essay can also be a revision of an earlier essay, but should develop that
essay significantly, including substantial revisions, so that it speaks to a larger
audience and contemporary problems relevant beyond your experience. This
essay should be persuasive and critical.
1. Visit “Pop Culture” class for POP Presentations (discourse analysis, introduction
to discourse theory & literary analysis).
2. Stephen King, Final chapter from the end of his memoir, On Writing. How does
King take up the tradition of the personal essay? What does he teach us about
the revision process?
1. Workshop 2-3 essays before break.
2. Workshop 2-3 essays after break.
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
Journal Entries
Finish Workshopping.
REVISION OF ESSAY 4
Finish final revisions.
Jan 26, 2009 New Yorker Article, “Getting There from Here” by Atul Gawande:
Analytical Essay Writing in action. Class analyzes Gawande’s rhetorical and
structural strategies.
3. Students must each compose an “author bio” for the anthology.
4. Joan Didion, “Goodbye to All That” (681-88)
5. Short-Writing Assignment: Many of you are entering high-school for the first
time. Others are now moving into your sophomore year; you almost have a
license, you’re beginning to think about college, and your childhood is waning
away. Write a few paragraphs that reflect on your youth—and what growing
into adulthood means for you. Share with class.
Study Hall
A.M.
Introduce argumentative
writing: thesis-construction;
evidence; structure.
Finish Class Anthology
P.M.
Students share their work
from the session with other
CTY writing courses
A.M.
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
1. If needed, finish anthology project.
2. “This I Believe” – students listen to a few episodes of “This I believe” and
compose their own brief “this I believe” essay. [thisibelieve.org]
3. Jackie Lantry, "The Power of Love to Transform and to Heal"; Sarah Adams, "Be
Cool to the Pizza Delivery Dude"; Albert Einstein, "An Ideal of Service to Our
Fellow Man"; Muhammad Ali, "I Am Still the Greatest"
4. As a class, choose readers for final symposium.
1. Journal Entries
2. Class Evaluations
3. Post-Test & Eberspachers
Applying lessons to short
writing and op-ed
commentary.
Provide feedback for course. 1. Design Class Sign for Closing ceremonies
2. Hand-out class-anthologies
Distribute anthologies &
3. Read Margaret Atwood’s “Happy Endings”
Community Building
1. CTY Session One WRITING SYMPOSIUM: All the CTY Writing classes get together
for 1-2 student readings per class.