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English 246: Advanced Exposition Spring 2006
The Personal Essay

Course description
In this section of English 246, Advanced Exposition, we will be devoting our energy to understanding the personal essay: what it is, why writers use it, how it functions, what it can help us understand about the world we live in. In his Introduction to The Art of the Personal Essay, Phillip Lopate writes, “to essay is to attempt, to test, to make a run at something without knowing whether you are going to succeed” (xlii). One of the hallmarks of the personal essay is its authors’ willingness to use writing as a means of self-investigation, as a way of understanding life experiences rather than trying to prove something. The primary tension at work in the personal essay is that between immediate experience—the concrete stuff of everyday life—and larger patterns of experience, or the insight that the writer is working toward achieving. In each of the essays that you read and write for this course, I’ll ask you to identify that primary tension.

I believe that one of the most important things to learn from studying the personal essay is not necessarily how to write, though we will discuss many issues of technique, but why to write. In this course we’ll work toward understanding why each of us might write personal essays.

This is a writing course. As such, I expect you to write multiple drafts of essays, to share those drafts with classmates, to provide constructive feedback to your classmates, and to proofread and edit the writing you submit to me for evaluation. In turn, you can expect me to provide both constructive and evaluative feedback on your writing.

Most of our class time will be spent discussing the readings and discussing your writing. This is as important to your education as the time you spend alone working on your writing. You will need to provide your peers with the kind of careful attention and feedback you hope to receive on your own writing. I do not value writerly attitudes that silence response. These include believing one is so advanced a writer that s/he doesn’t need to hear what other people think. If you subscribe to this belief or to others like it, you will likely be frustrated with the daily work of this course—and, since frustration is often a sign of learning, perhaps that isn’t such a bad thing.

Course goals

In English 246, Advanced Exposition, students will

• continue developing as readers and writers by reading and writing longer, more sophisticated pieces;
• experience writing as a process of revision, where longer, more complex pieces grow out of earlier work;
• reflect on their processes as readers and writers as they read, write about, and discuss the texts of the course: published work, peers’ writing, and their own;
• accomplish 1-3 above within a course contexts dedicated to theorizing and practicing the art of the personal essay.

Required texts

Vivian Gornick, The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative

• Barbara Kingsolver, Small Wonder
• Phillip Lopate, The Art of The Personal Essay
• Course listserv

Course assignments and grading

Note: If you are an English major, please keep copies of all of your graded papers; you’ll need them in English 300.

Reading responses 15%

Analysis of personal essay 15%

2 short personal essays (20% each) 40%

18-20 page personal essay 30%

Reading responses

You are responsible for writing 5 reading responses throughout the semester. You may choose to respond to any of the essays from the Lopate and Kingsolver collections. Your responses are due on the day we discuss the essay you’ve chosen to respond to. I will not accept responses after that date. Each response should be two computer-generated pages and should address two questions: 1) How does the essayist use the essay to make sense of immediate experience? and 2) How does the essayist use the essay to make sense of the larger patterns of experience? In other words, how does the dialectic between immediacy and wisdom play itself out in the essay?

A few words on letter grades…

Grade inflation is a real issue, one I take very seriously. In this course, a C is average, which means your writing meets the minimum standards but does not exceed them. A B, then, is writing that goes somewhat above the minimum standards, and an A exceeds those standards. A D is assigned to writing that does not meet the minimum standards but is approaching them. And an F is assigned to writing that does not meet the minimum standards. For each paper that I assign, I will make explicit the standards I am expecting you to meet. If they are unclear, please feel free to talk to me about questions you have.

Special needs and situations

Students who need special consideration because of any sort of disability or situation should make an appointment to come see me. You may also contact the Disability Concerns office at 438-5853.

Plagiarism

Work you submit for this course must have been written by you for this course. You may not submit work in this course and in another, and you may not submit under your name work written entirely or in part by someone else. ISU now requires that all cases of plagiarism be reported to the office of Community Rights and Responsibilities.

Course requirements and procedures

• Attendance is a given in this course. Your grade will not be boosted for attendance, but excessive absences (which I define as more than 3) will lower your final grade by one full letter grade. If you must miss a class, you are responsible for work assigned. Please plan to see me outside of class if you’ve fallen behind—I will not come to you.
• Three late arrivals to class will be equal to one absence, and that absence counts toward #1 above.
• All assignments must be handed in on time. Because one week’s work will lead to the next assignment, you cannot afford to fall behind. More than one late assignment will lower your final grade by one full letter grade. I will provide minimal feedback on late assignments, and I will not accept assignments that are more than one week late.
• All formal papers should be typed and proofread. Please use 12-point font size and one-inch margins. I expect you to follow MLA guidelines for all formal papers.
• PLEASE save your computer work frequently, always make back-up copies, and plan your projects with extra time allowed for those inevitable computer glitches.
• In my class, there is no such thing as “extra credit” or “make-up work,” so I urge you not to come to me two weeks before the last class to see if there’s anything you can do to make up the work you missed.
• If your cell phone rings during class, you must leave. I expect cell phones to be turned off unless you are expecting a phone call that classifies as an emergency, in which case you must leave.
• You can email me if you have an easy question that I can respond to quickly. If you want to discuss an idea for a paper or talk about anything in detail, please don’t email me. Instead, come see me during office hours or make an appointment to see me. It is against university policy to discuss grades via email, so please don’t email me about grades. Also, please don’t use email the night before a paper is due to ask me a “panic” question. You will always have ample time for questions prior to assignments’ due dates.
• Your “quality presence” is essential to the success of this course. Please come to class prepared with your book and assignment and plenty of energy, attention, and enthusiasm.

Please come see me during office hours or make an appointment to talk with me about any questions you have about the course. If you have suggestions for improving the course, I welcome them. I take student input seriously, so please share your ideas with me.

Course calendar

Contact me at aerobil@ilstu.edu

Department of English at Illinois State University