Department of English

In this writing workshop we will embrace the possibilities of error. The personal essay form begs for discovery through process, one of its great appeals found in the essayist’s willingness to think on the page. Indeed, from the French, essai is a “trial” or “attempt,” and the form, characterized as “digressive,” resembles conversation more than argument even as it persuades, in this case, via risking one’s own comfort. Expect to write 35-40 pages of new and original work (four short essays, two of which will be developed into longer essays); to offer substantive written critique of peer work; and to keep a craft journal on course readings in preparation for class discussion.

Probable texts include selections from: Biss’ The Balloonists; Blanchfield’s Proxies; Hopper’s Hard to Love; Laymon’s How to Slowly Kill Yourselves and Others in America; Rankine’s Citizen; and a representative anthology such as The Touchstone Reader.