11:15A-12:30P  TR  (25) 3 cr
2:30P-3:45P  TR  (25) 3 cr

ABOVE SECTIONS COAS INTENSIVE WRITING

These sections of Advanced Expository Writing will focus on the social and political role of
storytelling, personal testimonies, and autobiography in twentieth century America.  Class format
will be a combination of writing workshops and discussions of readings.  The reading and
writing topics will invite students to analyze the social processes through which stories and
personal testimonies are constructed and consumed.  For instance: we will consider why
particular stories are tellable at this time in history, the dynamics of storytelling in the family, the
role of the personal in contemporary politics and how the personal gets configured in different
cultural contexts.  We will examine how intersections among gender, race, class and sexuality
shape writing communities and a writer's sense of self.  Additionally, we will explore the
implications of the turn toward autobiography and narrative in a number of scholarly fields, such
as feminist studies, literacy studies and cultural studies.

Writing requirements will include: 5-6 essays drafted and revised during the course of the
semester and reading journals.  Texts might include excerpts from the following books: Maxine
Hong Kingston, THE WOMAN WARRIOR; Lucy Grealy, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A FACE;
bell hooks, TALKING BACK; and Becky Thompson and Sangeeta Tyagi NAMES WE CALL
HOME: AUTOBIOGRAPHY ON RACIAL IDENTITY.  We may view a number of
documentaries that rely heavily upon personal testimony such as COMMON THREADS and
excerpts from the 1996 presidential campaign.