Note:  This course satisfies the Literacy and Critical Inquiry (L) general education requirement.

 Course description and content

 Using writing to explore one’s self and the world one lives in; emphasis on expository writing as a means of learning.

 Traditional college writing courses teach writing as a tool for explaining what we already know or reporting what someone else—an “expert,” perhaps—has to say about a particular subject.  But writing can also be a way to find out what we know, what we feel, what we mean.  Writing can be a chronicle of our experience, a healing of our pain, and a celebration of our triumphs.

 Personal and exploratory writing focuses on writing from the inside out because the best writing springs from the deepest recesses of our memories and experiences.  It comes from the dreams, fears, fantasies, hopes, secrets, and stories that we carry within us each moment of our lives.

 Because this course focuses on personal narrative—telling your own stories—you are the expert here.  You provide the content of the course by deciding what aspects of your life you wish to explore through guided writing practices.

Textbook and materials

 For this course, you will need:

• Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, Shambhala, 1986
• A notebook or journal that you feel comfortable writing in—feel free to use legal pads, blank books, spiral notebooks, etc., or you can complete all of your assignments directly on the computer if you prefer

Coursework and grades

You will choose your grade in this course by deciding how much of the coursework you will complete.  Journal entries and reading responses will earn full points when you complete them.  The three essays (creative nonfiction) will be graded on the basis of completeness, correctness, and creativity.

 I don’t accept late work for any reason, so please plan to email your work to me by the end of the designated week in which it is due.  If the last week of the course falls during finals week, please plan to email your work by Tuesday of that week.  I am glad to accept early work if you want to work faster than the course schedule, but I cannot assign a grade before the end of the term when I receive a grade roster. 

 There will be a total of 500 points available as follows:

• Ten journal assignments at 10 points each                                100 points
• Ten responses to readings in Writing Down the Bones          100 points
• Three creative nonfiction pieces in final form                            300 points
• Autobiographical (self)      100 points
• Biographical (other)           100 points
• Global (your world)             100 points
  

Total points available         500 points

I will calculate final grades on a standard 10% scale as follows:

Journals and reading assignments

Journal entries and responses to readings in Writing Down the Bones are personal and informal writing, which is why I don’t grade them for spelling, grammar, etc.  I am more interested in hearing your thoughts than in correcting mechanical errors.  For the same reason, there is no required number of pages or words--I trust you to write as much as you need to convey your responses to the journal topics and reading questions.

Some will be more interesting to you than others, so naturally the length of your journal entries and reading responses may vary throughout the course.  Generally, you will earn full credit--10 points--for each journal entry and reading response if you put a good effort into your work.  If I feel that you’re not thinking deeply enough or responding thoroughly to the topics and questions, I’ll let you know that.  Otherwise, I will respond to the content of your journals and reading responses.

 Essays (creative nonfiction)

As you explore issues and topics in your journal, you will probably find topics you can develop more thoroughly in a longer piece of writing intended to be shared with others.  These longer pieces or essays are divided into three broad units:

1. The self (autobiography)
2. The self in relationship to others (biography)
3. The self in the world (a blending of the personal and the objective as you write about larger issues that affect you personally)

There is a separate set of instructions for each of these essays, but in general they should be approximately 4-6 pages long and reflect your best writing and editing.  If you are worried about mechanical issues such as grammar, syntax, or punctuation, plan ahead to send me a rough draft, and I will gladly edit it for you before you turn in the final copy to be graded.

Course schedule and keeping in contact

There is a schedule of weekly assignments for this course, and you are expected to follow it and meet the deadlines on the schedule.  The journal assignments are arranged to lead to the more formal essays.  Please keep in close contact with me, emailing me at least once a week with your work.  When you email your work to me, you can attach assignments in Word format.  Label them in any way that makes sense to you (I can generally figure out and adjust to your system), but the easiest approach is probably to label them numerically:  journal1.doc, reading3.doc, essay1.doc, and so on.  Or you might choose to add your name, date, or week number.

Feel free to email or call me at other times when you have questions or concerns about assignments.  I welcome the chance to communicate with you!

If I don’t hear from you for three weeks in a row or if you fall behind in submitting assignments, I will withdraw you from the course.  This isn’t intended to be unkind, but to avoid having to fail you at the end of the course if you are unable to complete the work.

 Special student population policy

If you have any physical or other disability that might hamper your progress in this course, please let me know at the beginning of the semester so that I can make reasonable accommodations for you.  There are many resources available on campus for students with special needs, and I will be happy to help you identify and locate them.

 Academic integrity

You are expected to uphold the principles of academic integrity in all the work you do for this course.  This means that all of the work you turn in must be entirely your own.  If you borrow any material from external sources and use it in your writing, you must follow the MLA (Modern Language Association) guidelines for giving credit to the authors and publishers of the borrowed information.

 Students who plagiarize (either intentionally or unintentionally) or engage in other forms of academic dishonesty such as cheating will be withdrawn from the course or receive a failing grade for the course at the instructor’s discretion.
 

When I'm writing, I know I'm doing the thing I was born to do.

~Anne Sexton