Department of English

In this course, we will be reading several different types of American autobiographical writings. By reading essays, books, and other examples of authorial self-representations, we will seek to understand the variety of ways in which contemporary American writers describe themselves and their relationships to the communities and national and international events in the contexts of which their self-fashioning -- their becoming and inscription of themselves -- takes place. Students will be asked to do a variety of types of writing: two-three 3-5 page critical essays on the course material; a month-long daily journal; weekly response papers; and a 5-7 page description of a significant moment in their own lives.