This is the major assignment of this course: a mature, ambitious, complex and heavily researched work of long-form creative nonfiction (3,000-6,000 words) that will go through three separate stages of workshopping (proposal, first full draft, revised draft) before you submit a polished final version that will be worth 50% of your final grade. (The revised draft you hand in for the C Workshop will contribute another 5% to the final mark.)
You may choose to write a Personal Essay that explores and connects cultural, social, historical or intellectual trends or ideas with your own experiences and observations. The goal is to make the narrative leaps between anecdotal evidence, research material from various secondary sources, and personal insights and reflections—to tell a universal story that has personal flair; to think aloud on the page about a topic or theme or question that will intrigue your readers; to engage, enrage, entertain and persuade. This should not be pure memoir. You should feel obliged to play with structure, to break from the constraints of chronological narrative, to use forms such as the lyric essay, the braided essay, collage, the prose poem, or other experimental frameworks. You should also play with style and voice; the tone of this essay can be tragic, comic, ironic, contemplative, inquisitive, or a combination of these modes.
The other option is to write long-form literary journalism, as a magazine-style Feature Article or Book Chapter, that likewise tackles a complex and potentially controversial topic or question with wide social relevance. In this case, the challenge will be to develop a strong personal voice while gathering and integrating different forms of research: secondary material, interviews, observed scenes, recreated scenes, personal experience and memories, reflective opinion. You will also need to forge a complex multi-sectioned structure that weaves together the various research and narrative strands into a unified whole. Read through the published samples from the Taking Risks anthology for inspiration.
During the first two weeks of the course, we will work on in-class prewriting exercises brainstorm, refine and organize ideas for the major assignment. We will also explore research options for secondary and primary research sources to enrich and deepen your essay with outside ideas and examples. Finally, we will look at potential publishing venues.
From this work, you will put together and submit for September 30 a Query Letter or Proposal (750 to 900 words) that includes:
- name, title and contact information of the appropriate editor at a specific publication or publisher (literary journal, magazine, book publisher, web publication) suited to your story;
- catchy opening paragraph or lead that hooks the editor and exemplifies your unique writing voice;
- detailed nut graf that identifies the specific question or theme you will investigate, and explains why it is dramatic, sophisticated, relevant and intriguing to the publication’s readers;
- outline of the provisional narrative structure for the essay and how the story might be organized;
- list of primary and secondary sources you will interview and/or consult, including at least one quote;
- concluding paragraph that justifies why this story idea is appropriate to the publication—and why you are the best writer to deliver on its promise.
You will receive feedback from the instructor and a green, amber or red light on the project. Later, you will hand in a revised version of this Query in your Final Portfolio to be marked (10%).
Guided by this feedback, you will write and submit a First Draft of this essay for the next workshop due date (B). This needs to be a complete draft, so that the workshop readers can evaluate the different elements of style, form and content in relation to the story as a whole. In the workshop, your peers will identify areas to improve, with a particular focus on the essay’s structure, the development of its ideas, and the use of research and examples.
For the final workshop due date (C), you will submit a substantively revised Second Draft of your essay that integrates the earlier workshop suggestions about structure and research. During this workshop, we will hopefully be able to focus more closely on elements of style, voice and other fine-tuning. You will be graded on this draft (worth 5% of your final grade) and are encouraged to do a thorough revisioning of your initial draft rather than just minor tinkering.
A week after our last workshop, a Portfolio is due that will include your Final Draft of the Major Essay, substantively revised and meticulously edited. It is worth 50% of your Final Grade
Please see the Course Schedule for due dates. Late submissions will NOT be accepted for workshopping and will forfeit 20% of the Final Grade.