Calendar

Sometimes assignments are due between sessions. These are not marked with a session number, and are on their own lines, under the KEY DATES column.

SES # TOPICS KEY DATES
1 Introduction to the Course: Why Write Autobiographically? Distribute: Introductory materials: (syllabus, in-class writing exercise, first reading and writing assignments)
2 Beginning to Tell Our Stories Due: Introductory exercise - Beginning To Tell Your Story
    Due: Writer's Letter Assignment
3 Crafting the Self: Experience and the Shaping Of Identity; Writer and Audience Due: Homework exercise on Walker
4 Crafting the Self: Experience and the Shaping Of Identity Due: Homework exercise on Orwell
5 Family Relationships, Language, Legitimacy and the Writer's Craft

Due: Homework exercise on Tan

    Due: Essay 1
6 Workshop: Essay 1 Due: Marked-up essays and comment letters for classmates
7 The Self and the Community Due: Homework exercise on Edelman and Marin
    Due: Proposals for oral presentation topics
8 Work and Education

Due: Homework exercise on Douglass and Nelson

Bring five copies of Proposal / Paragraph, Essay 2

9 Work: Creativity and Integrity

Due: Homework exercise on Witherspoon

Peer review: Proposal, Essay 2 (2 paragraphs)

10  Self-Writing / Speaking: Captivity and Advocacy (1) Due: Homework exercise on Frank
11  Self-Writing / Speaking: Captivity and Advocacy (2) Due: Homework exercise on King
    Due: Essay 2
12 Workshop I (Large Group): Essay 2  
13 Workshop II (Small Groups): Essay 2 Bring review letters and marked-up essays
14

How to Tell a Story of War or Struggle: Writing About Groups

Oral Presentations

Due: Homework exercise on O'Brien
15 How to Tell a Survival Story Due: Homework exercise on Eggers
16 Oral Presentations  
17 Writing About Illness (1)  
18

Writing About Illness (2)

Oral Presentations

Due: Homework exercise on Ehrenreich

Bring four copies of Proposal / Paragraph, Essay 3

    Due: Revision of Essay 1 with commented-on first version and cover letter
19 Writing About Mental Illness (1) Due: Homework exercise on Kaysen
    Due: Essay 3, Version 1
20 Workshop: Essay 3 Due: Marked-up essays and comment letters for classmates
21

Writing about Mental Illness (2)

Oral Presentations

Due: Homework exercise on Thompson

22 Writing About Mental Illness: Autobiographically Inspired Fiction / Beyond the Known: Autobiographical Travel Writing Due: Homework exercise on Gilman
    Due: Revision of Essay 2 with commented-on first version and cover letter
23 Workshop: Essay 4

Due: Essay 4, Version 1

Bring five copies

24 Beyond the Known: Autobiographical Travel Writing (cont.) / The Challenge of Closure in Autobiography  
25 Online Course Evaluations  
26 Course Overview / Celebration Due: Final Submissions of Essays 3 and 4