Readings | Writing and Experience: Reading and Writing Autobiography | Comparative Media Studies/Writing

Most readings have corresponding written assignments. Readings are discussed in class, seminar style.

Course readings.
SES #	TOPICS	READINGS
1	Introduction to the Course: Why Write Autobiographically?	No readings
2	Beginning to Tell Our Stories	Student Readings: First Assignments
3	Crafting the Self: Experience and the Shaping Of Identity; Writer and Audience	Walker, Alice. "Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self." In Uncommon Knowledge: Exploring Ideas Through Reading and Writing. Edited by Rose Hawkins and Robert Isaacson. Wadsworth Publishing, 1995. ISBN: 9780395709580. Rauch, Jonathan. "Caring for Your Introvert." The Atlantic, March 2003. Shepherd, Susan. "Daughters Without Borders." Angles, 2008.
4	Crafting the Self: Experience and the Shaping Of Identity	Orwell, George. "Shooting an Elephant." Charles' George Orwell Links. Orwell, George. Excerpt from Nineteen Eighty-Four. Charles' George Orwell Links. Hamilos, Alison. "The Starting Line." Angles, 2010. Nwosu, Kelechi. "Zero Beach." Angles, 2010.
5	Family Relationships, Language, Legitimacy and the Writer's Craft	Tan, Amy. "Mother Tongue." (PDF - 1.9MB) 1990.
6	Workshop: Essay 1	No readings
7	The Self and the Community	Edelman, Marian Wright. "A Family Legacy." In The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children & Yours. HarperCollins Publishers, 1993. ISBN: 9780060975708. Marin, Peter. "Helping and Hating the Homeless: The Struggle at the Margins of America." Harper's Magazine, January 1987.
8	Work and Education	Douglass, Frederick. "Learning to Read and Write." Excerpt from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014. ISBN: 9781497573567. Nelson, Anita. "Fast Food, Living Fast." Angles, 2010.
9	Work: Creativity and Integrity	Atwood, Margaret. "A Path Taken, With All the Certainty of Youth." New York Times, March 11, 2002. Witherspoon, Abigail. "This Pen for Hire." (PDF) Harper's, June 1995.
10 and 11	Self-Writing / Speaking: Captivity and Advocacy	Frank, Anne. "At Home, In School, In Hiding." In Fields of Reading: Motives for Writing. 7th ed. Edited by Nancy R. Comley, David Hamilton, et al. Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 2003. ISBN: 9780312412579. Truth, Sojourner Truth. "Ain't I A Woman?" December 1851. Fordham University. King, Jr., Martin Luther. "Letter From Birmingham Jail." April 16, 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University.
12	Workshop I (Large Group): Essay 2	No readings
13	Workshop II (Small Groups): Essay 2	No readings
14	How to Tell a Story of War or Struggle: Writing About Groups Oral Presentations	O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Mariner Books, 2009. ISBN: 9780618706419. Martinez, Demetria. "Inherit the Earth." In Confessions of a Berlitz-Tape Chicana. University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780806137063. ———. "The Things They Carried." In Confessions of a Berlitz-Tape Chicana. University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780806137063.
15	How to Tell a Survival Story	Eggers, Dave. Excerpt from A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Vintage, 2001. ISBN: 9780375725784.
16	Oral Presentations	No readings
17	Writing About Illness (1)	No readings
18	Writing About Illness (2) Oral Presentations	Ehrenreich, Barbara. "Welcome to Cancerland." (PDF) Harper's, November 2001, 43-53. Engelberg, Miriam. Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person. Harper Perennial, 2006. ISBN: 9780060789732.
19	Writing about Mental Illness (1)	Kaysen, Susanna. Excerpt from Girl, Interrupted. Vintage, 1994. ISBN: 9780679746041.
20	Workshop: Essay 3	No readings
21	Writing about Mental Illness (2) Oral Presentations	Thompson, Tracy. "Seeking the Wizards of Prozac." Saturday Evening Post 266, no. 2 (1994): 50-95.
22	Writing About Mental Illness: Autobiographically Inspired Fiction / Beyond the Known: Autobiographical Travel Writing	Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." New England Magazine, 1892.
23	Workshop: Essay 3	No readings
24	Beyond the Known: Autobiographical Travel Writing (cont.) / The Challenge of Closure in Autobiography	No readings
25	Online Course Evaluations	No readings
26	Course Overview / Celebration	No readings