[In Fran Lebowitz's reflection on Toni Morrison, she describes her writing process and desire for fun in ways I find to be truly inspiring.]
This Unusual Semester
From the most positive perspective I can muster, this will be an unusual semester. It is also likely to be really difficult and challenging. We will share some challenges, for instance the work of learning online, figuring out zoom, managing our emotional responses to the news cycle. But in other ways, each of us has vastly different responsibilities, privileges, resources, and opportunities. We are all in it together but that togetherness cannot erase structural inequalities. And in many ways, the pandemic has made those structural inequalities even more visible.
My primary goal this semester is to help make our class a space of joy and creativity. I know that all students are working hard and dealing with challenges that are invisible to me. I will try to be clear, communicative, and flexible. At the same time, I ask students to be patient with me, as I figure out the best ways to use new technology and respond to your messages. Please do you best to communicate with me. Although I will always do my best to respond to emergencies quickly, the volume of email I get means that it will usually take me two work days to respond to any message (i.e. not including the weekend, when I try to stay away from email). If you have a question, I highly suggest you sign up for office hours so we can talk it over.
Course books
Together we will read four books.
Silvia, Paul. 2007. How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing. New York: American Psychological Association.
King, Stephen. 2000. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. New York: Scribner.
Lamott, Anne. 1995. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. New York: Anchor Books.
Helen Sword. 2017. Air & Light & Time & Space: How Successful Academics Write. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
The links above go to the library's e-versions. Please note that sometimes there is a limit to how many e-copies can be used at once. If that causes problems, you can also access the digital versions shared in Canvas, but that doesn't include all the books. Finally, if you want to read on paper, they are all available at Literati, the independent bookstore in Ann Arbor. They have curbside pickup or will ship books to you but please buy them with some lead time.
Grade breakdown
Discussion participation: 25%
Please come to our class meetings ready to share your ideas and questions, but also to hear what others’ share.
Daily writing practice / writing journal: 25%
This assignment is credit / no credit. Either you’re doing the (sometimes hard) work of daily writing, or you’re not. This grade is never about how much you write, just that you are doing the daily writing by whatever measure you picked (time or word count).
Short writing assignments: 25%
These assignments are all listed elsewhere on this site. Late work loses three points per day and everything must be turned in through Canvas. All deadlines are midnight.
Final paper project: 25%
This is a project of your own choosing. More details are here.