Thursday, January 9
Writing about the Humanities
Heather Mac Donald, “The Humanities Have Forgotten Their Humanity”
Natalia Cecire, “Humanities Scholarship is Incredibly Relevant, and that Makes People Sad”
In-class paper. Please bring your laptops.
Tuesday, January 14
Syllabus quiz
Dwight Garner
Book Reviews
“A Modern Warrior (and a Meat Sack)”
“Two Pleas for Sanity in Judging Saneness”
Personal Essays
“Seven Days on the Queen Mary 2”
“A Journey Home in Search of Himself”
Thursday, January 16
No class. Attend Dwight Garner’s talk at 7pm in Buttrick 102.
Tuesday, January 21
Peter Elbow, “The Doubting Game and the Believing Game”
Thursday, January 23
Writing about Technology
Clive Thompson, “Don’t Blame Technology if Your Teen is Unsocial. It’s Your Fault”
Odelia Kaly, “Robot Apocalypse”
Amanda Hess, “Why Women Aren’t Welcome on the Internet”
First Essay Posted to Blog by Midnight Sunday.
Tuesday, January 28
Selections from John Trimble, Writing with Style
Thursday, January 30
Writing about the Law
Susan Schorn, “Sorry, Thank You, Please”
Noam Scheiber, “The Last Days of Big Law”
Sarah Stillman, “Taken”
Second Essay Posted to Blog by Midnight Sunday.
Tuesday, February 4
Handouts:
They Say, I Say
Effective Quotes, Paraphrases, and Summaries
Quotation Grammar, Punctuation, and Style
Introducing and Contextualizing Evidence
Logical Fallacies
First Formal Essay (Chosen from Essays One and Two) Submitted to Me Via Email by Midnight Wednesday.
Thursday, February 6
Writing about Race and its Representations
Cord Jefferson, “Video of White, Rioting Surfers Shows White Culture of Lawlessness”
Ta-Nehisi Coates, “In Defense of a Loaded Word”
Eula Biss, “No-Man’s-Land”
Third Essay Posted to Blog by Midnight Sunday.
Tuesday, February 11
Selections from John Ruszkiewicz, How to Write Anything
Thursday, February 13
Writing about Wealth, Gender, and Work
Sarah Kendzior, “Mothers are Not Opting Out—They Are Out of Options”
Judith Warner, “The Opt-Out Generation Wants Back In”
Shannon Hayes, “Meet the Radical Homemakers”
Fourth Essay Posted to Blog by Midnight Sunday.
Tuesday, February 18
Selections from Joseph Williams, Style
Thursday, February 20
Writing about Medicine and Medical Ethics
Juliann Garey, “When Doctors Discriminate”
Emily Bazelon, “The Nazi Anatomists”
Robin Marantz Henig, “A Life-or-Death Situation”
Fifth Essay Posted to Blog by Midnight Sunday.
Tuesday, February 25
Student Conferences. No class.
Second Formal Essay (Chosen from Essays Three and Four) Submitted to Me Via Email by Midnight Wednesday.
Thursday, February 27
Student Conferences. No class.
Tuesday, March 4
Spring Break
Thursday, March 6
Spring Break
Tuesday, March 11
Selections from Matthew Clark, A Matter of Style
Thursday, March 13
Writing about the Movies and TV
Wesley Morris, “It’s a Crime”
Emily Nussbaum, “Difficult Women”
A.O. Scott, “Our Own Worst Enemies”
Sixth Essay Posted to Blog by Midnight Sunday.
Tuesday, March 18
Kurt Vonnegut, “How to Write with Style”
Thursday, March 20
Writing about Abstractions
Tom Scocca, “On Smarm”
Edward Hoagland, “On Friendship”
Zadie Smith, “Joy” >Now behind a pay wall. Please read this instead.
Seventh Essay Posted to Blog by Midnight Sunday.
Tuesday, March 25
Selections from Strunk and White, The Elements of Style
Third Formal Essay (Chosen from Essays Five Through Seven) Submitted to Me Via Email by Midnight Wednesday.
Thursday, March 27
Writing about Books, Reading, and Libraries
Neil Gaiman, “Why our Future Depends on Libraries, Reading and Daydreaming”
Sheila Heti, “Why Teens Should Read ‘Adult’ Fiction—And Vice Versa”
Zadie Smith, “The North West London Blues”
Eight Essay Posted to Blog by Midnight Sunday.
Tuesday, April 1
Donald Barthelme, “Not-Knowing”
Thursday, April 3
Writing about Writing
Rebecca Solnit, “The Faraway Nearby”
Phillip Lopate, “The Essay, An Exercise in Doubt”
Joshua Mehigan, “I Thought You Were a Poet”
Ninth Essay Posted to Blog by Midnight Sunday.
Tuesday, April 8
Leslie Jamison, “How to Write a Personal Essay”
Dwight Garner, “Contemplating Other People’s Pain”
Thursday, April 10
Writing a Personal Narrative
Sherman Alexie, “The Unauthorized Autobiography of Me”
Kiese Laymon, “How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America”
Ariel Levy, “Thanksgiving in Mongolia”
Tenth Essay Posted to Blog by Midnight Sunday.
Fourth Formal Essay (Chosen from Essays Eight, Nine, and Ten) Submitted to Me Via Email by Midnight Monday.
Tuesday, April 15
Identify the five most useful things you’ve learned from the craft readings. Please come prepared to discuss.
Thursday, April 17
Last day! Please bring your laptops.
Final Portfolio Due by Midnight on our Scheduled Exam Day.