Some assignments are due between class sessions. These are listed in the right column, but without any session numbers.
In the table below, “distribute” indicates when an assignment is handed out, and “due” indicates when it is due.
For additional guidelines see Guidelines for Homework and Class Participation (PDF).
| SES # | TOPICS | ASSIGNMENTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction to the Course: Why Write Autobiographically? |
Distribute: Introductory materials |
| 2 | Beginning to Tell Our Stories |
Due: Introductory exercise: Beginning to Tell Your Story (PDF) Distribute: Homework exercise on Walker (PDF) |
| Due: Writer’s Letter Assignment | ||
| 3 | Crafting the Self: Experience and the Shaping Of Identity; Writer and Audience |
Due: Homework exercise on Walker Distribute: Essay 1; Homework exercise on Orwell (PDF) |
| 4 | Crafting the Self: Experience and the Shaping Of Identity |
Due: Homework exercise on Orwell Distribute: Homework exercise on Tan (PDF); Oral Presentations on Writing Issues (PDF); Past Topics: Oral Presentations on Writing Issues (PDF) |
| 5 | Family Relationships, Language, Legitimacy and the Writer’s Craft |
Due: Homework exercise on Tan Distribute: Essay 1 workshop instructions In-class: Deep Autobiography Exercise: The Intersection of Family History and Autobiography (PDF); Writing on Language (PDF) |
| Due: Essay 1 | ||
| 6 | Workshop: Essay 1 |
Due: Marked-up essays and comment letters for classmates Distribute: Homework exercise on Edelman and Marin (PDF) |
| 7 | The Self and the Community |
Due: Homework exercise on Edelman and Marin Distribute: Essay 2; Suggested Citation Style for Essays (PDF) |
| Due: Proposals for oral presentation topics | ||
| 8 | Work and Education |
Bring five copies of Proposal / Paragraph, Essay 2 Due: Homework exercise on Douglass and Nelson (PDF) Distribute: Homework exercise on Witherspoon (PDF) In-class: Five Minutes “In Media Res” (PDF) |
| 9 | Work: Creativity and Integrity |
Due: Homework exercise on Witherspoon Distribute: Homework exercise on King and Frank (PDF) Peer review: Proposal, Essay 2 (2 paragraphs) |
| 10 | Self-Writing / Speaking: Captivity and Advocacy (1) | Due: Homework exercise on King and Frank |
| 11 | Self-Writing / Speaking: Captivity and Advocacy (2) |
Distribute: Essay 2 workshop instructions |
| Due: Essay 2 | ||
| 12 | Workshop I (Large Group): Essay 2 | No assignments due |
| 13 | Workshop II (Small Groups): Essay 2 |
Bring review letters and marked-up essays Distribute: Homework exercise on O’Brien (PDF) In-class: Self-assessment: Editing and Reviewing Skills (PDF) |
| 14 |
How to Tell a Story of War or Struggle: Writing About Groups Oral Presentations |
Due: Homework exercise on O’Brien Distribute: Essay 3; Homework exercise on Eggers (PDF) In-Class: Exercise in Collective Autobiography, “The Things They Carried” (PDF) |
| 15 | How to Tell a Survival Story | Due: Homework exercise on Eggers |
| 16 |
Oral Presentations |
No assignments due |
| 17 | Writing About Illness (1) |
Distribute: Homework exercise on Ehrenreich (PDF) |
| 18 |
Writing About Illness (2) Oral Presentations |
Due: Homework exercise on Ehrenreich Distribute: Homework exercise on Kaysen (PDF) Bring four copies of Proposal / Paragraph, Essay 3. Write two paragraphs: A one-paragraph proposal for your essay (describing experience and theme) and one paragraph from the essay (introduction, or another paragraph). |
| Due: Revision of Essay 1 with commented-on first version and cover letter | ||
| 19 | Writing About Mental Illness (1) | Due: Homework exercise on Kaysen |
| Due: Essay 3 | ||
| 20 | Workshop: Essay 3 |
Due: Marked-up essays and comment letters for classmates Distribute: Homework exercise on Thompson (PDF) |
| 21 |
Writing about Mental Illness (2) Oral Presentations |
Due: Homework exercise on Thompson Distribute: Homework exercise on Gilman (PDF) |
| 22 | Writing About Mental Illness: Autobiographically Inspired Fiction / Beyond the Known: Autobiographical Travel Writing |
Due: Homework exercise on Gilman Distribute: Essay 4 |
| Due: Revision of Essay 2 with commented-on first version and cover letter | ||
| 23 | Workshop: Essay 4 |
Due: Essay 4 Bring five copies |
| 24 | Beyond the Known: Autobiographical Travel Writing (cont.) / The Challenge of Closure in Autobiography | In-class: Closure in Autobiographical Writing (PDF) |
| 25 | Online Course Evaluations | No assignments due |
| 26 | Course Overview / Celebration | Due: Final Submissions of Essays 3 and 4 (PDF) |
Supplemental Handouts
Working With Images of the Future Self (PDF)
Working With Interior Monologue (PDF)
The Soundtracks of Our Lives: Integrating Music Into Autobiographical Writing (PDF)
