Reading and Writing: the Personal Essay
Course Description
Summary
The essay is an intellectual and an artistic endeavor, and work in the form means work in thinking—about life, values, our own ideas and the ideas of others. Good personal essays entertain, inform and move us through the rendering of, and reflection over, our own life experiences. Essays and stories by artists such as Virginia Woolf, E. B. White, Daniel Orozco, Annie Dillard, Alexander Chee, Alice Walker, and James Baldwin will provide students with a foundation for approaching and understanding their own stories. In this workshop course, we will divide our time between reading and interpretation of literature (nonfiction, fiction, and what falls between), and the creation and critiquing of new work. These essays, both formal and informal, will be generated through structured in-class exercises and outside assignments. This is a course in which to experiment with narrative techniques of character, voice, and structure, with a goal of illuminating both personal truths, and the universal truths that underlie all good literature. We will share work with one another in a round-table setting, with emphasis both on interpreting and encouraging.
Learning Outcomes
- Explore and analyze the works of published writers, learning to identify the ways in which an essay can move or enlighten, through voice, structure, language, image, and metaphorical meaning.
- Develop fluency in writing, i.e. the ability to sit down and begin, following one thought, idea, or image to the next, without editing or overthinking, until an idea or a story begins to emerge.
- Learn the basics of revision—how to take a rough draft, identify what’s valuable, and begin shaping and polishing, adding and subtracting, until a clear and coherent essay emerges.
- Engage meaningfully in group conversations with peers about literature and art and ideas.
Prerequisites
Submissions should Include the following:
- 3-5 pages of your best writing, personal essay preferred (but not required)
Submissions must be submitted via this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScuWN5vs6d7CrPk28hfvI9jiAI8BO5…. Submissions are due by November 13, 2025. Students admitted to class will be notified by email by November 18, 2025.
If you have any questions, contact banastas@bennington.edu