ENG217:  Personal and Exploratory Writing

Online version



Course Schedule of Assignments




Here are the weekly assignments for this course.  As you work on the assignments, please remember:
  • Even though you are required to turn in only one journal entry each week, I’ve provided many more topics and ideas to inspire you.  Why not set aside some time every day or three or four times a week to write in your journal and then send me your favorite for the week?
  • Assignments are due by the end of each week (Friday), but I’m happy to get them earlier.
  • You’re welcome to finish the coursework early, but remember that I can’t give you a grade early--I have to wait until I get a grade roster at the end of the semester.
  • I don’t accept late work because it’s bad for you and me both to fall behind in our work.
  • I am glad to answer any questions you have about the assignments--just email me!
  • If you don’t hear back from me within a few days after sending an assignment, follow up with me and make sure I got it.  If I get a message from you, you will get a reply from me--guaranteed!
  • Keep a copy of everything you write and send and everything you receive from me.




Part One:  The Self

Week One (due Friday, August 24)
  1. Read the Course Policies document, and email me with any questions or concerns.
  2. Read Writing Down the Bones, pp. 1-22.
  3. Reading response--answer these questions:
  • What does Goldberg mean by “beginner’s mind”?
  • What does Goldberg mean by “first thoughts”?
  • What are Goldberg’s six “rules” for writing practice?
    4.  Read What is a journal?
    5.  Choose a topic from Part One:  The Self, or come up with your own topic, and use Goldberg’s writing practice method to write your first journal entry.


Week Two (due Friday, August 31)
  1. Read Writing Down the Bones, pp. 23-40.
  2. Reading response--answer these questions:
    • Why does Goldberg advise us to “separate the creator and the editor or the internal censor”?  Who or what are your editors and censors when you write?
    • Explain this strange observation:  “Writing is not a Mcdonald’s hamburger.”
    3.    Choose a topic from Part One:  The Self, or come up with your own topic, and use Goldberg’s writing practice method to write your second journal entry.


Week Three (due Friday, September 7)
  1. Read Writing Down the Bones, pp. 41-60.
  2. Reading response--answer these questions:
•    According to Goldberg, what is the power of descriptive specific detail?
•    Why must we not “marry the fly”?

    3.    Choose a topic from Part One:  The Self, or come up with your own topic and use Goldberg’s writing practice method to write your third journal entry.


Week Four (due Friday, September 14)
  1. Read the instructions for the essay on The Self (autobiography).
  2. Go back through your journal entries so far, and make a list of themes, issues, or topics that seem to come up again and again.  Or make a list of themes, issues, or topics that seem to be on your mind often.  This list will give you some ideas of a focus for your essay.  You don’t have to send me this list unless you want to.
  3. Send me a brief description of your chosen focus or topic for your essay and why you want to write about it.
  4. The final draft of your essay is due next week, and this will be graded for both content and style, so it will be much more polished than a journal entry.  If you are nervous about mechanics (spelling, grammar, syntax, etc.), go ahead and send me a rough draft NOW, and I will help you edit it before you turn in your final draft for a grade.

Week Five (due Friday, September 21)

Send me the final draft of your autobiographical essay.





Part Two:  The Self in Relationship

Week Six (due Friday, September 28)
  1. Read Writing Down the Bones, pp. 61-81.
  2. Reading response--answer these questions:
  • Explain this advice:  “Don’t tell, but show.”
  • Respond to this comment from Grace Paley (a fabulous short story writer, by the way!  treat yourself to reading one of her books!):  “It is the responsibility of writers to listen to gossip and pass it on.  It is the way all storytellers learn about life.”  Do you agree?  Do you ever do this in your writing?
    3.  Choose a topic from Part Two--The Self in Relationship or come up with your own topic, and use Goldberg’s writing practice method to write your fourth journal.


Week Seven (due Friday, October 5)
  1. Read Writing Down the Bones, pp. 82-102.
  2. Reading response--answer these questions:
  • This section deals with places where we can write and how a place can affect our writing.  Where do you do your best writing?  Where do you find it impossible to write?
  • Take Goldberg’s advice and write this week’s journal in a place where you ordinarily don’t write.  Then tell me what this experience was like for you.
     3.    Choose a topic from Part Two--The Self in Relationship or come up with your own topic, and use Goldberg’s writing practice method to write your fifth journal.


Week Eight (due Friday, October 12)
  1. Read Writing Down the Bones, pp. 103-123.
  2. Reading response--answer these questions:
  • Why do you write?  Make a list of reasons.
  • What is your relationship with doubt?  Does it stop you in your tracks or spur you on to more courage and determination?
    3.    Choose a topic from Part Two--The Self in Relationship or come up with your own topic, and use Goldberg’s writing practice method to write your sixth journal.


Week Nine (due Friday, October 19)
  1. Read the instructions for the essay on The Self in Relationship (biography).
  2. Go back through your journal entries so far, and make a list of themes, issues, or topics that seem to come up again and again.  Or make a list of themes, issues, or topics that seem to be on your mind often.  This list will give you some ideas of a focus for your essay.  You don’t need to send me this list unless you want to.
  3. Send me a brief description of your chosen focus or topic for your essay and why you want to write about it.  This essay may require some research--for example, you might want to interview the person you’re writing about or someone who knew him or her.  Or if you’re writing about a public figure, you might need to do some library research.  If so, what research do you need to do, and what are your plans to do this?
  4. The final draft of your essay is due next week, and this will be graded for both content and style, so it will be much more polished than a journal entry.  If you are nervous about mechanics (spelling, grammar, syntax, etc.), go ahead and send me a rough draft NOW, and I will help you edit it before you turn in your final draft for a grade.
    
Week Ten (due Friday, October 26)

 Send me the final draft of your biographical essay.




Part Three:  The Self in the World

Week Eleven (due Friday, November 2)
  1. Read Writing Down the Bones, pp. 124-142.
  2. Reading response--answer these questions:
  • Respond to this observation:  “Writing can teach us the dignity of speaking the truth, and it spreads out from the page into all our life, and it should.”  Do you agree?  Are you able to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in your writing?  Are there any limits to truth-telling?
  • Try Goldberg’s advice in “Blue Lipstick and a Cigarette Hanging Out Your Mouth.”  Put on a disguise, and write as if you were a person who normally dressed this way.  Try writing in a way you don’t normally write--in a coloring book with crayons, on newsprint with a paintbrush and watercolors, on the sidewalk with chalk--whatever.  How does this affect your writing?
   3.    Choose a topic from Part Three--The Self in the World or come up with your own topic, and use Goldberg’s writing practice method to write your seventh journal.


Week Twelve (due November 9)
  1. Read Writing Down the Bones, pp. 143-158.
  2. Reading response--answer these questions:
  • Goldberg talks about having tried to run away from her own upbringing and religion--running away from home.  Is there anything in your “home” or background that you have run away from?  You don’t have to tell me exactly what it is if you don’t want to, but think about this:  do you believe it is valuable or necessary to come to terms with the way we grew up?  Or can we simply leave behind what we don’t want to deal with as if it never happened?
  • Do you ever share your writing with others for their feedback?  Do you find it helpful, or do you prefer to rely on your own instincts?
     3.    Choose a topic from Part Three--The Self in the World or come up with your own topic, and use Goldberg’s writing practice method to write your eighth journal.


Week Thirteen (due Friday, November 16)
  1. Read Writing Down the Bones, pp. 159-170.
  2. Reading response--answer these questions:
  • Who is the Samurai inside the writer?  What purpose does the Samurai serve?
  • What methods or techniques do you find especially helpful in revising and rewriting your work?
    3.    Choose a topic from Part Three--The Self in the World or come up with your own topic, and use Goldberg’s writing practice method to write your ninth journal.


Week Fourteen (due Friday, November 23--or earlier if you wish since this is Thanksgiving week)
  1. Read the instructions for the essay on The Self in the World (creative nonfiction).
  2. Go back through your journal entries so far, and make a list of themes, issues, or topics that seem to come up again and again.  Or make a list of themes, issues, or topics that seem to be on your mind often.  This list will give you some ideas of a focus for your essay.  You don’t need to send me this list unless you want to.
  3. Send me a brief description of your chosen focus or topic for your essay and why you want to write about it.  This essay may require some research--for example, you might want to interview a person who is experienced in the topic you’re writing about, or you might need to do some library research to learn more about your topic.  If so, what research do you need to do, and what are your plans to do this?
  4. The final draft of your essay is due next week, and this will be graded for both content and style, so it will be much more polished than a journal entry.  If you are nervous about mechanics (spelling, grammar, syntax, etc.), go ahead and send me a rough draft NOW, and I will help you edit it before you turn in your final draft for a grade.

Week Fifteen (due November 30)
  1. Send me the final draft of your creative nonfiction essay.
  2. Reading response--send me your thoughts about Writing Down the Bones.  Did you enjoy reading it?  Did you learn from it?  Was it helpful to you?
  3. Last journal:  reflect back on the writing you’ve done for this course.  How do you feel about this experience?  Have you changed as a writer at all?  What advice would you give other writers who were planning to take a course like this?