An Annotated Look At My Fall 2024 Syllabus
Getting into The Art of the Essay
Last fall, I taught a writing workshop called “The Art of the Essay,” which explores the essay and the different ways people can, as Dinty Moore says, tell the truth, artfully. Students were expected to do a lot of reading and writing and they were responsible for writing four different original essays—a personal essay, a profile or piece of narrative journalism, a cultural criticism essay and an opinion essay.
I have some essays I always use when I teach this class but each time I revisit the course, I also add newer works because the essay form is ever-evolving. I am always discovering writers with whom I was not previously familiar. The best writing textbooks are extant works in a given genre. These readings teach students what works well and what doesn’t, what’s possible and how to take risks. I won’t bore you with all the administrivia that litters the modern syllabus—course policies, objectives, information about resources to support their academic work, how I will be grading, and of course, a gentle reminder to not plagiarize or use A.I. because creative writing is supposed to be creative. I am never entirely convinced that students read their syllabi but I make one each semester, just in case they do. Also, the university demands it, for some reason.
Onward.
Course Calendar
September 2
Homework:
Even though we aren’t meeting during the first week of classes, I do have some reading for you:
Excerpts from Montaigne’s Essays
“Thanksgiving in Mongolia,” by Ariel Levy
“The Price of Nice Nails,” by Sarah Maslin Nir
“This is Who Kamala Harris Fails” by Halya Alan
“Missy Elliot’s Hip-Hop Transformation” by Hilton Als
A couple semesters ago I started assigning pre-reading because the first day of classes always falls on a Tuesday which gives our class, which meets on Mondays, one fewer session. With these readings, I wanted to give students a taste of the types of essays we will be reading and discussing and writing. I also wanted to start with a bit of Montaigne, who is often credited as Essay Daddy. If you ever get a chance, check out his work! It’s often very droll. I always assign “Thanksgiving in Mongolia,” because it is, simply, brilliant. There is not a word or idea out of place. It is tonally fascinating given the subject matter and just a marvel. “The Price of Nails,” is a great example of journalism that tells a really compelling and necessary story. Halya Alan’s essay is a new addition to the syllabus and again, it is simply phenomenal. It is beautifully structured, crystal clear on its ambitions, and unwavering in its ferocity. And finally, Hilton Als is a great essayist but I am particularly intrigued by his profiles. He has such a vast cultural knowledge to draw from and I love how he seeds his essays with dimension and perspective.
September 9 (campus)
Introduction to the class; the origins of the essay; what it means to bring subjectivity into creative work
Homework:
Reading:
In Pulphead, please read “Mr. Lytle” and “Peyton’s Place.”
In We Are Never Meeting in Real Life please read “Fuck It Bitch, Stay Fat” and “Thirteen Questions to Ask Before Getting Married”
“Crying in H Mart” by Michelle Zauner
In Telling True Stories, please read “On Voice” by Susan Orlean and “The Emotional Core of the Story by Tom Wolfe” and “Ethics in Personal Writing” by Debra Dickerson
Writing:
Please write a reflection on the assigned essays. You might consider looking at how these essays function as memoir and examples of creative nonfiction. In what ways do you see the writers using craft to convey their experiences? What do you notice about how these essays are structured? Do these essays manage to look both inward and outward, as a good essay should? Emotion plays a significant role in each of these essays. How do these writers manage the emotional tenor of their writing? Are their emotional choices effective or ineffective? Why? What other observations do you have about these essays?
This reflection (500 words or so) should be uploaded to Canvas before the start of class on 9/16.
As a heads up, your first essay, a personal essay, is due by 8 pm EST on September 26th.
Canvas is a necessary evil. Like Blackboard and other such systems, it allows you to centralize course materials and student homework submissions and theoretically I know it does a bunch of other, more interactive things but I don’t care. I don’t want to learn anything new with regard to educational technology and that’s all I have to say about that. The first essay students will be writing is a personal essay so for the next couple weeks, they are reading examples in the genre. I love John Jeremiah Sullivan’s essays and Pulphead is one of my favorite books ever so I am always alternating which essays I assign from this book. When I tell you this man can write! This man can write. Samantha Irby is hilarious but she will also break your heart so I assign essays from her books to show students how humor can be used to achieve multiple ends. “Crying in H Mart,” is just, again, pitch perfect. It is so specific and yet, there is room for readers from all kinds of backgrounds to connect. I teach this essay to help students see how they absolutely can write a very specific essay that only they can write, while looking outward, beyond the self. And finally, I’m using Telling True Stories by the Nieman Reports folks as a more traditional guidance offering. Some weeks, I assign essays that can help students learn bout various techniques they can potentially add to their narrative toolbox. Telling True Stories is a pretty good book in that it offers a lot of breadth.
Behind the paywall: the entirety of my syllabus, assignments, what we did in class from week to week, and my thinking around it all. You’re welcome!