English 260-01 meets from 1:00-2:15 Tuesdays and Thursdays in 245 French Hall.

My office:  326L French Hall

Office Phone:  (810) 762-3429

E-mail:  [email protected]

Office Hours:  11:00-12:00 Monday through Thursday; other times by appointment.

Department mailbox: I have a mailbox in 326 French Hall, where you may leave
papers or notes for me.  The secretary or office staff will place your paper or note in my mailbox.

Catalog course description:
 

This course is described in the 2001-2003 University of Michigan--Flint catalog as “essay writing
concerned with exploring philosophical and unconventional themes through autobiographical
experience.  Readings including such historically important essayists as Montaigne, Hazlitt, Dillard.
Workshop format” (149).

All of our work, as I envision it, will focus on personal essays:  defining them, writing them, critiquing
them, revising them, and perhaps ultimately, reaching a new understanding of them.  Accordingly, our
class will be a community discussing, writing, reading, sharing, and thinking.
 

Required Texts and Materials:
 

Lunsford, Andrea.  Easy Writer:  A Pocket Guide.  2002.  2nd edition.  Bedford/St. Martin’s.  ISBN #:
 0-312-24348-0.

*I will ask you to make photocopies of your writing to share with others in the class.
 

Assignments and Weighting of the Grades:

*There will, of course, be some less extensive, in-class activities that we’ll do:  though highly
worthwhile, these will be ungraded tasks.

*I will supply essays or readings as the need arises, but most of the reading for this course will be
supplied by you:  you will read both your own writing and the writing of your classmates with a critical
eye towards helping yourself and others improve as writers.

*I reserve the right to alter these percentages and assignments to better allow for and represent
whatever actually occurs in this class.
 

Class Attendance Policy:
 

Because the work you do in the course depends on your interaction with your classmates through
in-class writing, peer review and discussion, regular attendance is expected. Do not be tardy, because
you will miss important information and will also disturb your classmates with your late arrival.  You
are responsible for making up whatever work you miss due to an absence (in-class presentations can be
made up only if time allows).

See also the UM-Flint catalog, which states that “regular attendance at class, laboratory, and other
appointments for which credit is given is expected of all students.  Irregularities in attendance should be
promptly explained by the student to the appropriate instructors.  If an instructor considers the number
of absences excessive, a written report may be sent by the instructor to the student’s faculty advisor”
(39).
 

Late assignments:
 

I frown at work handed in late.  You should be frowning if you hand it in late, too.  Yet there may
sometimes be good reasons to hand work in late, and sometimes I'm glad to see you struggle through
something and complete it, when you might have been thinking of giving up.  So I will accept late work
(at least if it's before the final due date of the quarter), but I withhold commentary on it.  You get a
grade, but no feedback (except in rare cases when I am either so deeply moved or so deeply enraged by
your work that I must respond).

Plagiarism:
 

Plagiarism is using someone else’s ideas or words as if they were your own.  You commit plagiarism
when you fail to give the original writer, speaker, singer, scholar, or other source credit for her or his
work.  You must indicate what words or ideas are yours and which come from other people’s work,
either through phrases of attribution (“According to William Shatner, Captain James T. Kirk would
never plagiarize...”), and/or use of quotation marks with proper documentation, or through paraphrase
or summary that clearly identifies the original source and which is more than a virtual copy of the
original work.  Plagiarism is a serious scholarly offense--even considered a crime--so it’s important not
to do it, even unintentionally.

Keep copies of your drafts and your research materials in case there’s a question about the originality of
your work.  If you are in doubt, talk to me about your attribution or citation, or visit a tutor in the
Writing Center, located in room 559 French Hall.
 

Schedule (a tentative one subject to change as the course unfolds)

 Tuesday, 9/3:  Class registration.

 Thursday, 9/5:  Introduce the class.  Begin discussion of “What is the Personal Essay?”

Week 2
 

 Tuesday, 9/10:  “What is the Personal Essay?” continued.  Share examples of personal essays.

 Thursday, 9/12:  Continue sharing examples of personal essays.  Copying exercise?

Week 3
 

 Tuesday, 9/17:  Writing the personal essay:  Some ways how to go about it.  Copying activity?

 Thursday, 9/19:  Ways to go about it, continued.  Ways to critique:  “What makes a personal
  essay good?”  “What are some productive ways to give advice about personal writing?”

Week 4
 

 Tuesday, 9/24:  Personal essay #1 due (2 pages).  Sharing in class/peer review.

 Thursday, 9/26:  Critique #1 due (1 page).  Imitation exercise?

Week 5
 

 Tuesday, 10/1:  Workshop for Essay #2.  Imitation exercise?  Sign up for conferences.

 Thursday, 10/3:  Workshop--Essay #2. Sign up for conferences.

Week 6
 

 Tuesday, 10/8:  No class.  Conferences.

 Thursday, 10/10:  No class.  Conferences.

Week 7
 

 Tuesday, 10/15:  Personal essay #2 due  (5 pages).  Sharing in class/peer review.

 Thursday, 10/17:  Critique #2 due (2 pages).  Imitation exercise?

 Tuesday, 10/22:  Workshop for Essay #3.  Sign up for conferences.

 Thursday, 10/24:  Workshop for Essay #3.  Sign up for conferences.

Week 9
 

 Tuesday, 10/29:  No class.  Conferences.

 Thursday, 10/31:  No class.  Conferences.

Week 10
 

 Tuesday, 11/5:  Personal Essay 3 due (5 pages).

 Thursday, 11/7:  Critique 3 due (2 pages).

Week 11
 

 Tuesday, 11/12:  Copying exercise and/or Imitation exercise and/or Reflective Writing task

 Thursday, 11/14:  TBA or Workshop--Essay 4.

Week 12
 

 Tuesday, 11/19:  Workshop--Essay 4.

 Thursday, 11/21:  Workshop--Essay 4.

Week 13
 

 Tuesday, 11/26:  No class.  Conferences.

 Thursday, 11/28:  Thanksgiving.  No class.

Week 14
 

 Tuesday, 12/3:  No class.  Conferences.

 Thursday, 12/5:  Personal Essay 4 due (8-10 pages)

Week 15
 

 Tuesday, 12/10:  Critique 4 due (3 pages).

 Thursday, 12/12:  Final Discussion:  Re-defining the personal essay.  Course evaluations.

*Note:  Unless you have an emergency and/or have made a special arrangement with me before
December 12,  all work for the course must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on December 13,
2002.  I cannot guarantee credit for any assignments submitted after December 13.

Eric Gardner--August 28, 2002