Calendar, Engl 3040 Literary Nonfiction, Fall 2024, O'Donnell, ETSU

Engl 3040 Literary Nonfiction, Fall 2024

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Calendar
last update: November 22, 2024

- Class meets on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from11:40am to 12:35pm in Wharf-Pickel 517.

- Note that I have cancelled five Friday class meetings this semester, due to scheduling issues. Those dates are Sep 13; Sep 27; Oct 11; Oct 25; and Nov 8.

WEEK 1

Monday, Aug 26

Introductions.

Wednesday, Aug 28

Read Wild, by Cheryl Strayed, through Chapter 3 (to page 44).

Friday, Aug 30

Read Wild through Chapter 8 (to page 135).

WEEK 2

Monday, Sep 2: Labor day.

Wednesday, Sep 4: Finish Wild.

Friday, Sep 6

Read the following review essays:

- "The Tracks of an Author’s, and a Reader’s, Tears: ‘Wild’ by Cheryl Strayed, a Walkabout of Reinvention." By Dwight Garner. New York Times Book Review, March 27, 2012. www.nytimes.com/2012/03/28/books/wild-by-cheryl-strayed-a-walkabout-of-reinvention.html. Click here for a cached version.

- "The Outsiders: 'Wild' and 'Mr. Turner' [The Current Cinema]." By David Denby. The New Yorker, December 8, 2014. www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/12/08/outsiders-5. Click here for a cached version.

Also on Friday, bring a hard copy of Crapalachia to class -- if you have a hard copy -- or load up the e book on your phone or laptop: libs.etsu.edu/ereserves/ENGL-3040/9781937512125. Be prepared to preview the book.

WEEK 3

Monday, Sep 9: Read Crapalachia through page 70.

Wednesday, Sep 11: Finish Crapalachia.

Friday, Sep 13: Class cancelled.

WEEK 4

Monday, Sep 16

Read these book reviews:

- "Book Review: Crapalachia: A Biography of a Place, by Scott McClanahan -- Truth and Memory." [ SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW BEFORE YOU FINISH READING CRAPALACHIA! ] By Natalie Sypolt. PasteMagazine.com, February 2013. www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2013/02/crapalachia-a-biography-of-a-place-by-scott-mcclan.html

- "Review of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass." New York Tribune, 10 June 1845. At U of North Carolina's "Documenting the American South" website: docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/support3.html, accessed August 2023.

- "A Big New Biography Treats Frederick Douglass as Man, Not Myth." [Review of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, by David W. Blight.] By Jennifer Szalai. The New York Times, October 17, 2018. www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/books/review-frederick-douglass-prophet-of-freedom-david-blight.html.

Wednesday, Sep 18

Read, in Frederick Douglass's 1845 narrative, William Lloyd Garrison's preface, and Chapters I and II of the narrative. Bring the book to class.

Friday, Sep 20

Read Douglass, Chapters III to IX.

WEEK 5

Monday, Sep 23

Read Douglass, Chapters X and XI.

- Browse through Joan Didion's collection of essays, Slouching Towards Bethlehem. Bring the book to class.

- Read "The Essential Joan Didion," by Alissa Wilkinson. The New York Times, April 26, 2024. www.nytimes.com/article/joan-didion-best-books.html. Click here for a cached version.

Wednesday, Sep 25: Class cancelled.

Friday, Sep 27: Class cancelled.

WEEK 6 – NOTE: Classes this week were cancelled because of Hurricane Helene. As a result, the book review draft and revision assignments have been moved back. – KOD, Oct 4

Monday, Sep 30

Read the first two parts of Didion's collection, through page 168.

Also read "My A.I. Writing Robot." By Kyle Chayka. The New Yorker, July 11, 2023. www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/my-ai-writing-robot. (Click here for a cached version.)

Wednesday, Oct 2

Bring to class a rough draft of your book review essay (750-1,250 words). Bring a total of 3 copies for a peer review workshop.

Friday, Oct 4

Read part III of Didion's collection -- pages 171-238.

WEEK 7

Monday, Oct 7: In-class review for mid-term exam. The mid-term is a take-home that is due Friday, Oct 11 at 5pm.

Wednesday, Oct 9: Joan Didion discussion.

Friday, Oct 11: Class cancelled. Take-home mid-term due at 5pm.

WEEK 8

Monday, Oct 14: Fall break. No class.

Wednesday, Oct 16

Read Part I of In Cold Blood: "The Last to See Them Alive."

Read "Capote’s Masterpiece ‘In Cold Blood’ Still Vivid at 50." By Jessica Ferri. The Daily Beast, December 28, 2016. www.thedailybeast.com/capotes-masterpiece-in-cold-blood-still-vivid-at-50

First draft book review due -- Peer review

Friday, Oct 18

Read Part II of In Cold Blood: "Persons Unknown."

WEEK 9

Monday, Oct 21: Read Part III of In Cold Blood: "Answer."

Wednesday, Oct 23: Read Part IV of In Cold Blood: "The Corner."

Friday, Oct 25: Class cancelled.

WEEK 10

Monday, Oct 28

Revised book review due.

In David Foster Wallace's collection, A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, read the long title essay, which is about a cruise ship experience: "A Supposedly Fun Thing..."

Wednesday, Oct 30

Read, "An Appreciation: Exuberant Riffs on a Land Run Amok" [upon the death of David Foster Wallace]. Michiko Kakutani. New York Times. September 14, 2008. www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/books/15kaku.html. Click here for a cached version.

Friday, Nov 1

Read D. F. Wallace's essay on the Illinois State Fair, entitled ""Getting Away From Already Pretty Much Being Away From it All," pages 83 to 137.

WEEK 11

Monday, Nov 4

Read "Consider the Lobster," by David Foster Wallace. Gourmet Magazine, August 2004. www.gourmet.com.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/magazine/2000s/2004/08/consider_the_lobster.html. (Click here for a cached version.)

Wednesday, Nov 6

Begin reading Spiegelman's Maus. Bring the book to class.

Also read "Art Spiegelman’s Genre-Defying Holocaust Work, Revisited." By Ruth Franklin. The New Republic, October 5, 2011. newrepublic.com/article/95758/art-spiegelman-metamaus-holocaust-memoir-graphic-novel. Click here for a cached version.

Friday, Nov 8: Class cancelled.

WEEK 12

Monday, Nov 11: Finish Volume I of Spiegelman's Maus (pages 1-161).

Wednesday, Nov 13: Read Maus Vol II, through Chapter 3 (pages 169-260).

Friday, Nov 15: Read Maus Vol II, Chapters 4 and 5 (pages 261-296).

WEEK 13

Monday, Nov 18

In Braiding Sweetgrass, read the Preface and the first six essays, through page 59.