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English
260 - 261/01 Winter
2012 |
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Maryam Barrie 734-973-3737 |
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“…write
about what your everyday life offers you: describe your sorrows and desires,
the thoughts that pass through your mind and your belief in some kind of
beauty—describe all these with heartfelt, silent, humble sincerity and, when
you express yourself, use the Things around you, the images from your dreams,
and the objects you remember.” Rainer Maria Rilke |
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Note: This class was taught for many years by Deborah Bayer (before that, it was taught by Hal Weidner, whom I was privileged to work with in this class many times), who helped it blossom into a meaningful and rigorous writing class that deepens personal experience and provides an environment where writers of all kinds can stretch and develop their abilities. |
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Required
Text: Barry,
Linda. What It Is. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008. Some of the Options for
your required additional Self Selected Book: Baldwin,
Christina. Storycatcher: Making Sense of Our Lives Cameron,
Julia. A Right to Write New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Klauser, Henriette Anne. With Pen in Hand. Massachusetts:
Perseus Note: Many other texts will be options for this as well – please wait until we discuss this assignment to make your choice. Many of the options are available in the Library. |
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This course depends upon
participation. By taking this course, you’ve chosen to set aside time
to write, to value the writing process and where it might lead you.
You’ve chosen to risk being honest with yourself, to surprise yourself, to
work toward self-awareness, to enhance your observation skills, and to
promote your own creativity and ability to solve problems. By creating
a writing routine for yourself, you are inviting many aspects of yourself to
emerge. Together, we will become a writing community and in doing so, offer
one another our support, encouragement, and commitment on this path of
self-growth. Because of all
this, attendance is essential. If you participate, your writing skills will
improve over the course of the term. Be on time and stay the full length of
the class session. You are expected to use the class hours exclusively
for journal work. |
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Part of your responsibility in the course on several occasions will be to visit and read information at online sources. A few of these are listed on the syllabus page for our class. You may also be required to access assigned handouts, which will be located at the site for our class on Blackboard. Accessing the handouts at Blackboard will be demonstrated in class. If you have particular difficulties accessing Blackboard, or printing out the handouts, please contact me outside of class so that we can make special arrangements before the reading assignments are due. |
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Guidelines for Classroom
Conduct Excessive absences (more than three) or excessive tardiness
(more than six) may result in the reduction of your final grade by a full
letter grade. Our class will only meet for 45 hours over the course of the
semester – so missing class regularly will prevent you from completing the
class successfully. If you must arrive to class
late, or must leave early, please communicate your circumstances to me before
or after class. |
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Journal Workshop Links Center for Autobiographic Studies – Tristine Rainer http://www.storyhelp.com/ [Pay particular attention to the “Types of Autobiographic Writing” at http://www.storyhelp.com/autotypes.html This I Believe - a public dialouge about belief, one essay at a time. NPR site. The Story - Dick Gordon's American Public Media radio program focusing on personal stories of everyday people that help illuminate our times. Story Corps - this ongoing project helps document stories from people's lives and works to preserve family and other stories that would otherwise be lost. The Blog of Henry David Thoreau @ http://blogthoreau.blogspot.com/ Word Press – Blog Tool and Publishing Platform – if you are interested
in blogging, a good starting place. http://wordpress.org/ PostSecret - Frank Warren's ongoing community art project American Civil War Primary Documents – personal writing (letters,
journals) http://www.teacheroz.com/Civil_War_Documents.htm#docs The Pillow Book Online by Sei
Shonagan at http://home.infionline.net/~ddisse/shonagon.html Phil Gyford’s Samuel Pepys Diary project at http://www.pepysdiary.com/ The Diary Junction http://www.pikle.co.uk/diaryjunction.html The
Happiness Project – online and print project of Gretchen Rubin ERIC article: Journal Writing and Adult Learning http://www.ericdigests.org/1997-2/journal.htm The Anais Nin Blog http://anaisninblog.skybluepress.com/ Frida Kahlo Complete Works http://www.frida-kahlo-foundation.org/ Sun Magazine - personal,
political, provocative, ad-free writing
C G Jung Institute of Chicago – nearby, offers information and
suggestions for enriching inner life and growth Creativity Portal - associated
with Writer’s Digest, a clearing house for many forms of expression The Mandala Project – resources and information on creating images of
wholeness http://www.mandalaproject.org/ Welcome to 102 Free Mandalas http://www.free-mandala.com/ The Center of the Circle – Claire Goodwin’s Mandala Resource page Ode Magazine – the magazine for intelligent optimists – you can get a
newsletter of ‘Good News’ emailed to you… consider the positive that is in
the world http://www.odemagazine.com/p/good-news Tom Phillips Humament Site –
ongoing writing/art project In addition, there are literature links and general links pages at the site |
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If you think you may have a documented disability please let me know. There is plenty of support for you here at Learning Support Services, which you can reach at 734-973-3342. |
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Please note: I follow WCC policies and procedures regarding academic dishonesty. This means that I routinely check all student work for plagarism, and will follow the sequence of consequences outlined in the student handbook should the need arise. |
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©2012 Maryam Barrie |
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