Dead Man Laughing

The Art of the Personal Essay doesn't feature a lot of essays by female writers. For those of you who are sensitive to such things (and for those of you who are just interested in reading essays by some successful contemporary writers,) here's the opening paragraph of an essay from the New Yorker that I read and enjoyed recently . It's by Zadie Smith (that's Zadie in the photo at right) and it appeared in the December 22nd, 2008 issue. The full title of the essay is "Dead Man Laughing: Jokes run through a family." It is labeled a "Personal History." This essay, and Rosenblatt's "Making Toast" (which I distributed in class), offer an interesting contrast to Steele's "An Hour or Two Sacred To Sorrow" in the different ways that they process the death of a loved one through writing.

My father had few enthusiasms, but he loved comedy. He was a comedy nerd, though this is so common a condition in Britain as to be almost not worth mentioning. Like most Britons, Harvey gathered his family around the defunct hearth each night to watch the same half-hour comic situations repeatedly, in reruns and on video. We knew the “Dead Parrot” sketch by heart. We had the usual religious feeling for “Monty Python’s Life of Brian.” If we were notable in any way, it was not in kind but in extent. In our wood-cabinet music center, comedy records outnumbered the Beatles. The Goons’ “I’m Walking Backward for Christmas” got an airing all year long. We liked to think of ourselves as particular, on guard against slapstick’s easy laughs—Benny Hill was beneath our collective consideration. I suppose the more precise term is “comedy snobs.”

If you are interested in reading the rest, click on this link .

The gentleman in the hat in the photo at left is Benny Hill.

Man of Fetters

Here's a link to "Man of Fetters" by Adam Gopnik, the New Yorker article on Samuel Johnson that I mentioned in class this week.

What kind of personal essayist might you be?

Phillip Lopate's Introduction to The Art of the Personal Essay is divided into 11 subsections that deal with different aspects of the personal esay. I have reformulated the titles of these subheadings as questions. Consider what your answers to each question say about the kind of personal essayist you are (or might become).
I. The Conversational Element (xxiv-xxv). Would you describe yourself as someone who often feels ambivalent about issues? Are you the kind of person who has lots of doubts? Do you make a habit of examining your doubts?

II. Honesty, Confession, and Privacy (xxv-xxvii). Would you describe yourself as a private person or do you tend to be more of an "open book"?


III. The Contractions and Expansions of the Self (xxvii-xxix). How comfortable do you feel about talking about your flaws or things you've done in the past that embarrass you now? Are proud of your knowledge of a particular subject?

IV. The Role of Contrariety (30-31). How comfortable do you feel expressing an opinion that you know others will disagree with?

V. The Problem of Egotism (31-32). Do you worry that writing about your personal life in detail is a sign of egotism or vanity?

VI. Cheek and Irony (32-33). How comfortable do you feel making fun of yourself? How do you feel about mocking other people?

VII. The Idler Figure (33-35). How do you feel about wasting time? Are you the kind of person who likes to have a strict schedule that you can stick to or do you prefer not to have a schedule at all and let things happen spontaneously?

VIII. The Past, the Local, and the Melancholy (35-37). Do you often find yourself looking back at past experiences and reflecting on how they shaped the person you are today?

IX. Questions of Form and Style (37-41). Would you say you feel more comfortable writing narratives or writing arguments or writing reports? Do you like to read texts that take a straight path from A to B or do you prefer to read texts that meander into unexpected places?

X. Quotation and the Uses of Learning (41-42). Would you describe yourself as someone who is well-read? Do you like to quote others in your own writing? Do you like to write about what others have written?

XI. The Personal Essay as Mode of Thinking and Being (42-45). Would you describe yourself as someone who is open to a radical change in your life right now?

On Writing

In Thursday's class (January 8th), we read a passage from Montaigne's Essays that lays out some of the differences between formal, traditional essays and the kind of personal essays that he was writing (and don't you love the ZZ Top-beard Michel is sporting in this painting?). With that reading and that distinction as background, I thought it would be a good idea for your first blog post to be on the subject of writing. Call it "On Writing." It should be at least 250 words long and I will not put any further restrictions on it than that.

Here is an excerpt from the passage we read in class:

" If I had written to seek the world's favor, I should have bedecked myself better, and should present myself in a studied posture. I want to be seen here in my simple, natural, ordinary fashion, without straining or artifice; for it is myself that I portray. My defects will here be read to the life, and also my natural form, as far as respect for the public has allowed. Had I been placed among those nations which are said to live still in the sweet freedom of nature's first laws, I assure you I should very gladly have portrayed myself here entire and wholly naked. Thus, reader, I am myself the matter of my book; you would be unreasonable to spend your leisure on so frivolous and vain a subject."

Note the language Montaigne uses to describe the kind of essays he writes—“simple,” “natural,” “ordinary,” “frivolous,” “vain,” “naked”--and the language he uses to describe more traditional writing--"bedecked," "studied," and “ artifice.” We will revisit this contrast between personal essays and academic/critical essays throughout the course.

Roundtable on the History of the Essay

Here's a link to the WGN Roundtable on the History of the Essay that we began reading on the first day of class.

That's Joe Epstein on the left, Bob Root in the middle, and moderator Milt Rosenberg on the right. Not pictured: Tom Kaminski.

Course Design

Aside from meeting the departmental guidelines, my first priority when designing this course has been to think about what I would want to get out of a “Reading and Writing Advanced Essays” course” if I were taking it. First of all, I would want to come out of the class feeling that I had read the world’s most influential essayists. For that reason, I have made Philip Lopate's The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present the assigned text for the class and expect that we will discuss one or more of the world’s most influential essays in almost every class period (that's Michel de Montaigne in the image at right).

Secondly, I would want ample opportunity to explore my creative talents as a writer and I would want to be challenged to produce the best writing I am capable of. For that reason, I expect to give short writing assignments in almost every class as homework. These assignments will be due a week from the date that they are assigned and they will be posted on blogs designated for course use. Everyone in the class will be able to read and to comment what you post on your blog, but students will choose which of these shorter writing assignments they want to develop into essays that everyone in the class will read. Students will also choose the two essays they submit to me for editing suggestions and letter grade analysis.

Finally, if I were a student, I would want such a course to prepare me for higher level course work. For that reason, part of this course will be committed to critical analysis and debate about our subject. More specifically, we will read personal essays and academic critical essays in a way that invites discussion of the relative merits of each genre (the image at left is from the 1937 film, The Prince and the Pauper; presumably, the academic critical essay would be cast in the role of the prince here). The academic critical essay you write for this class should in some way respond to the following question: should schools require students to write personal essays, academic critical essays, both or neither? I also hope to invite some of my colleagues into our class to discuss this question and to talk to us about essays (of either genre) that they have written and essays they admire.

Grading and Attendance Policies

To pass this class with a “D,” you must:
· attend at least 60% of the classes;
· get a score of at least 60% on the daily assignments (50% credit for assignments turned in late);
· get at least a “D” grade or better on the final draft of both your final personal essay and your final academic critical essay.

To get a “C” or better, you must:
· attend at least 70% of the classes;
· get a score of at least 70% on the daily assignments (50% credit for assignments turned in late);
· get at least a “C” grade or better on the final draft of both your final personal essay and your final academic critical essay.

To get a “B” or better, you must:
· attend at least 80% of the classes;
· get a score of at least 80% of the daily assignments (50% credit for assignments turned in late);
· get an average score of “B” on the final draft of your final personal essay and your final academic critical essay.

To get an “A,” you must:
· get at least an “A” on the final draft of either your final personal essay or your final academic critical essay;
· submit final drafts of both essays that demonstrate an appreciation of the value of revision and editing.