21W.022 | Spring 2014 | Undergraduate

Writing and Experience: Reading and Writing Autobiography

Assignments

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

In-class: Communication Self-assessment Inventory (PDF)

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)

Integrating Music Writing Exercise (PDF)

Course Info

Instructor
As Taught In
Spring 2014
Learning Resource Types
Presentation Assignments
Written Assignments