Syllabus

Instructor: Dana Jaye Cadman ENGLISH 21:350:338 00282 Hill Hall 102 M-F 1:00-4:30pm CREATIVE NONFIC – FRAMING SELF IN CONTEMP LIT & MEDIA Framing the Self: Creative Non Fiction in Contemporary Literature and Media Course Description: The “third genre,” creative nonfiction is unlike poetry and the story or novel in that it is categorized not by its form but by a promise of truth-telling. The genre extends beyond what we have popularly expected of it in journalism and memoir. In this course we'll explore the various incarnations of creative nonfiction in a contemporary literary world by analyzing its manifestations in the written word (personal and lyric essay, memoir, identity and persona poetry, interview etc.) while looking into its developments in visual texts and popular media (documentary, reality TV, drag, profile and avatar construction in social media and virtual worlds, blogs, selfies, and youtube channels) as well as where these modes intersect (eg. twitter performance art, Steve Roggenbuck's internet poetry and video “rants”). We'll discuss how memory and medium effect the individual's conception and performance of self while using the lens of theoretical texts to problematize the idea of “the confessional.” We'll be considering the very packaging of “reality” and the expectations it creates of the reader or viewer, while conversely asking how the gaze of the audience effects the performance of oneself, especially as reality in media has changed the perceptions and place of “scripting” and “editing” in non-fiction. At the core of the course remains the essential questions “what is authorship?” and “how does one write their true self?”

Assignments: 15% 10% 10% 20% 25% 20%

Participation Reading/Discussion Questions Reading Presentation Comparative Paper Persuasive Paper Memoir/Lyric Essay

Reading/Discussion Questions – Students must bring in two generative discussion questions for each class based on the assigned readings. Reading Presentation – Students must sign up to guide the class through a 15 minute discussion + 5 minutes of questions on one of the core readings Comparative Paper – Students put two course texts in dialogue in order to investigate core themes. 3-4 pages Persuasive Paper – Students write a thesis paper in which they make their own claim or argument on creative non-fiction. 4-5 pages Memoir, Lyric/Personal Essay – Students generate a creative piece in response to course texts and discussion, may pull from several genre. approx. 3-4 pages

Reading Schedule: Mon December 23 Course Overview ·Syllabus Review and genre discussion ·The Only Way is Essex – clips ·Anne Sexton – poems Thu January 2 What is Creative Non-fiction? - Real Facts in Creative Languages ·Eula Biss – Time and Distance Overcome http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102235226#102237046 ·Amy Leach – Sail on, My Little Honey Bee http://apublicspace.org/magazine/detail/sail-on-my-little-honey-bee Fri January 3 Memoir, Confessional Rooms and Confessionalism – Telling our own stories & Speaking for ourselves ·The Only Way is Essex – clips ·Big Brother - clips ·Sylvia Plath – handout available on Blackboard (diary entries, poems, letters) Mon January 6 Lyric/Personal Essay & The Self in Contexts ·JoAnn Beard – The Fourth State of Matter http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1996/06/24/1996_06_24_080_TNY_CARDS_000376447 ·Scott Russell Sanders – Under the Influence http://courses.jmsc.hku.hk/jmsc6025spring2013/files/2012/01/Scott-Sanders-Under-the-Influence.pdf Tue January 7 Documentary & What is truth? What is “real”? ·The Real Housewives - clips ·Eula Biss – The Pain Scale Wed January 8 Identity & What is the “self”? COMPARATIVE ESSAY DUE ·Judith Butler – handout available on blackboard ·Judith Butler in context to course texts covered Thu January 9 What is“true”? What is “real”? What is “self”? (Journalism & Constructed Realities') ·Desperate Housewives – fiction based on reality ·Desperate Scousewives- reality tv on fiction on reality tv ·Tony Ortega – Pete Hamill's Eyewitness Account of Robert Kennedy's Assassination http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2010/05/pete_hamills_ey.php

Fri January 10 Reality TV: Framing & Authoring the Other (the narrator, the editor, the network) ·The Only Way is Essex – clips (staging) ·It's All About Amy – clips (narration) ·Foucault – excerpts ·RuPaul's Drag Race – clips (on the fragmented selves) Mon January 13 Twitter, Facebook, and Avatars – Digital Selves (The Authentic in an Unreal Space) ·discussion on Avatars and Online Profiles – (on Constructing the Self) ·Judith Butler – excerpts (on Performing the Self) ·Steve Roggenbuck – essay excerpts http://www.steveroggenbuck.com/2011_01_01_archive.html Tue January 14 Connecting Selves - The Possibility of Love PERSUASIVE ESSAY DUE ·discussion on social networks – Friends, Followers & Fans ·discussion on online dating – constructing the self as mate ·Catfish – clips (on Representing the Self) ·Luce Irigaray – excerpts ·Eileen Myles – poems Wed January 15 Persona and Self: Online and IRL ·Clarice LeSpectre - excerpts ·John Keene – Blog ·Andy Warhol – excerpts and images ·Steve Roggenbuck – Youtube Channel ·Eula Biss – The Pain Scale http://blog.lib.umn.edu/puot0002/queerethics/HarpersMagazine-2005-06-0080588.pdf Thu January 16 Genre Crossing ·Virginia Woolf – A Room of One's Own http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91r/ ·Thomas Larson: Now, Where Was I?: On M Nelson's Bluets http://www.triquarterly.org/views/now-where-was-i-maggie-nelson%E2%80%99s-embluetsem ·Maggie Nelson – Bluets ·Luce Irigaray – excerpts from Elemental Passions Fri January 17 Memoir/Lyric/Personal Essay CREATIVE PIECE DUE ·Virginia Woolf – A Room of One's Own http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91r/ ·Student Readings Syllabus is tentative and subject to change