Week 1 presents the basics of personal essay writing, and the rest of the course is built around subject matter: writing about the place you’re from, your youth, your obsessions, your work, and the art that moves you.
In this course you will receive a reading and assignment every week. Each reading will be about the theme for that week. You can choose to complete three out of the six assignments and submit them to the instructor for feedback. You will also have the opportunity to revise one of the pieces for feedback at the end of the course. We will conduct the course via email, and hold discussions on the readings each week on a Yahoo Group set up for this course.
Week 1: What is a Personal Essay?
This week we will go through some of the main elements of the genre of personal essay writing.
The word ‘essay’ comes from the French for ‘try’ because the form is modest and partial in nature—it does not attempt to convey the ‘whole’ truth. Rather, is an attempt to be accurate and give your personal perspective.
Anything in the world can be potential subject matter. Typically, a personal essay has its origin in something that has happened in the writer’s life. Try to choose a subject small in scope to suggest something larger. For example, write about one afternoon when things changed, rather than “my family.”
Reading: Killing Chickens by Meredith Hall
Assignment: Using Hall’s essay as a guide, write about a moment of emotional upheaval. What simple, mundane or outlandish tasks sustained or challenged you at this time? Start with the activity that distracted you from the deeper emotions you were experiencing. Slowly reveal what your mind is preoccupied with.
Week 2: Writing About Where You’re From
Writing about the place where you grew up is fertile ground for a personal essay. What does that place, and that time period, mean to you? Looking back, how did that place shape you? If you had to describe that place and its effect on you in one sentence, or one word, what would it be?
Reading: Tough by Anne Pancake
Assignment: Write an essay about your hometown. Can you describe the place you grew up in one word, like Pancake does? What are some specific moments / scenes and reflections that show how and why your hometown should be described in this way?
Week 3: Writing about Your Youth
Your childhood and teenage years are filled with stories that are ripe with meaning and potential for personal essays. Describe the intensity of that important period of your life. Does any story or moment come to mind as particularly meaningful?
Reading: It Meant We Were in Motion by Fay Darcy
Assignment: Describe your teenage / young adulthood years, like Darcy does. What most characterizes those times? Is it wildness or close friendships or even loss? Are there are particular moments you can think of to encapsulate those times?
Week 4: Writing about Your Obsessions
We all become obsessed by something at one time or another. It could be food, Facebook, our cell phones, or perhaps something more serious and even dangerous. Explore that obsession. What does it mean to you? Why were you prone to this particular obsession?
Reading: Drinking Coffee by Mary Ellen Jordan
Assignment: Write about your own obsession, like Jordan. What can't you live without? Do those close to you understand your obsession? What would happen if your obsession was taken away from you? Do you think a part of you would change?
Week 5: Writing about Work
We spend most of our adult lives involved in some form of work. The work we do often defines us, and is a powerful way we can transform ourselves. Is there a particular job that you loved or hated, that you were proud of or embarrassed by, a job you find yourself talking about over and over again, years after you quit?
Reading: The Hard Word of Selling Myself Short by J.N. Decker
Assignment: Using Decker as a model, tell us a story about your experiences at work. The subject could be an old job or your current one, something you did for one day or for years. What did the job mean to you? What did it teach you?
Week 6: Writing about Your Relationship to Art
We are all moved by art. It could be a painting, a photograph, a play, a dance, or a piece of music. Write about that piece of art and what it meant to you. How did that piece of art speak to you at a particular point in your life?
Reading: Prologue to a Sad Spring by Brenda Miller
Assignment: Describe a piece of art (music, literature, photography, film) and your relationship to it. Like Miller, tell us how it makes you feel? Why are you drawn to it?
Send me a revised piece of your writing from this course, and I will respond with feedback.
Notes: Upon successful completion of payment, your name, email address, and contact info will be submitted to your instructor. She will contact you via email and deliver your self-study program on Friday.
