Reading and Writing Nonfiction: History of the Essay
Course Description
Summary
This workshop course in nonfiction will ask students to generate essays in conversation with canonical essayistic works, both classical and contemporary, as well as traditional and experimental. We will read Pre-Socratic philosophers such as Heraclitus and Roman orators such as Plutarch, examine Sei Shonagon and Kenko, muse on Michel de Montaigne, Virginia Woolf, and William Hazlitt. We'll read essays--across time and cultures--regarding walking, hauntings, love, heartbreak, mourning, food, illness, and other subjects. We think about the cinematic essay and imagistic narratives as well as the variety of essayistic pursuits. Additionally, we will read: theoretical essayists such as Roland Barthes and Susan Sontag; social essayists such as Joan Didion, James Baldwin, and Valeria Luiselli; and nature essayists such as Annie Dillard and Lacy M. Johnson. Students will be expected to share their work in a workshop setting.
Learning Outcomes
- - To read and interpret nonfiction literary texts with attention to shifts in forms, language, metaphor, tone, and other devices;
- To assimilate feedback in one’s revision process as well as complete significant revisions of one's creative work;
- To articulate critical and constructive feedback, both verbally and written, on the work of peers as well as texts discussed in class;
- To examine one’s own creative process and its possibilities.
Prerequisites
To apply for this course, students should write a one-page essay on one of the following subjects:
- pencils
- moths
- meatballs
- doll eyes
Please contact the faculty member : jennyboully@bennington.edu
Corequisites
Attendance at Literature events.