HMHV201Syllabus

HMHV 201: Literature, Fine Arts, and Medicine
T/TH 11:00-12:15 Mitchell Hall 120
Greg Martin, Associate Professor, English Department
Jennifer Simpson, Graduate Assistant
Syllabus Fall 2011

Overview: This seminar explores connections between health, illness and the art of the personal essay. Together, we will read books and personal essays written by patients and doctors, as well as by family members of loved ones with illnesses and diseases. One goal of the course is to learn how stories actually work. We will come to understand the "anatomy" of stories in much the same way a medical student must comprehend the complexities of the human body. Just as importantly, you will contribute to this literature with a personal essay of your own. This seminar is also a writing workshop focused on emulation. With all of the course readings, we will be looking to find models for the kinds of stories we have to tell. With each reading, we will ask the question: what lessons can I learn from this to help my own writing?

This course is designed to push you in your growth as a reflective and creative thinker and writer and help you gain insight into yourself, your goals, your future patients, and your profession.

Another goal of the course is to push you to invest and re-invest in the revision process, so that your writing becomes increasingly complex, resonant, and satisfying. Many undergraduate writers are skilled at turning out flawed, inspiration-driven, stay-up-all-night first drafts. Your task is to eventually produce a draft that your peers (or anyone) would read even if they didn't have to (for a class). Your task is to immerse the reader deeply in a complex story so that they forget they're reading.

Writing Journal: Throughout the semester, you'll be responsible for handwritten (1) in and out of class freewrites and (2) craft exercises related to your essay-in-progress.

Typed Craft Exercises & Two Essay Drafts: Throughout the semester, you will build your final portfolio in stages, using freewritten craft exercises (in your writing journal), typed craft exercises, and two drafts (a first draft and a revised draft) all relating to a personal essay about health and illness and medicine which you will revise again for your final portfolio.

Reading Responses: Typed responses are required for some of the course's required readings. (see the calendar) These responses will prepare you for discussion and the sharing of ideas with your classmates, and they will help you master the language of storytelling craft (plot, characterization, imagery, etc.) . Reading responses must be 2-3 pages, typed, and edited conscientiously, with attention paid to clarity, economy, and grammar.

Reading Quizzes: These short, in-class quizzes are to help ensure your preparation for class discussion.

Peer Responses: Typed responses for student drafts distributed for small group workshop. These peer responses are to be given to me or Jennifer, and to the author of the piece, on the day the work is discussed. Please always bring two copies.

Your attendance and participation is an integral part of this course. Students may miss two classes without penalty. A third absence will lower your final grade a half letter grade. A fourth absence will lower your grade a full letter grade. I consider five absences grounds for administratively dropping you from the course. Absences can be excused only for documented, serious situations (debilitating illness or urgent family emergency) or for direct conflict with an official event scheduled by a UNM organization (music performance, athletic competition). Illnesses not requiring a doctor's care might cause you to stay home from class, but they don't count as debilitating illness; keep your two "free" absences in reserve for these situations. You should contact me as soon as possible if you must miss class for a legitimate, verifiable excuse, ideally prior to the class you miss, and never later than the following class meeting. Absence is never an excuse for coming to the next class unprepared—it is your responsibility to find out what you missed, including handouts and/or changes in the syllabus. Consistent late arrivals disrupt the class. Three late arrivals equals one absence. If you are coming from a class that lets out far away, fifteen minutes before this class begins, come talk to me.

Note: Woody Allen said that 90% of success is just showing up. If you have perfect attendance, I will enhance your grade by a half letter.

Note: Some of the best students I've had did not speak every class, not out of smugness or condescension, but because that's the way they were. I respect this. But I will also call on students who struggle to enter into discussion. Often, the most insightful comments go unsaid because of student temperament. But I also very much appreciate those students who come to class eager to participate in class discussion, and who have a sense of how much participation is enough and how much is too much. Far too often, a class of 25 students relies on seven or eight vocal students to do all the conversational heavy-lifting. This will not happen in this class, in part, because the participation portion of your grade depends on it. Each and every class, I will cold-call on three students at random. (I draw from a deck of cards.) Your job is to come to class prepared, and convince me of your credibility, convince me that you are qualified to speak on the issue, in much the same way that you will, in the years to come, with every patient you encounter, convince them that you are qualified to be their doctor. Your job is to come to class not just sort-of-knowing what the reading is about, but to come to class in command of the material. Your job is to actively grapple with the issues at the heart of each reading, to not just be able to point out that which is obvious, but to be interesting. You must be able to contribute to a committed and sustained discussion.

Throughout the semester, you'll be asked to fill out a Participation Self-Assessment Form, in which you'll answer questions related to your engagement in the class. If there is a wide discrepancy between what you perceive your participation to be and what Jennifer and I perceive your participation to be, then we'll get together and have a conference.

Coming to class without your freewrite journal, the exercises, drafts and/or readings assigned for the day's discussion or workshop is not acceptable. If you come to class without the readings or workshop materials more than once, I will deduct half a letter grade from your final grade. My expectation is that these readings will be full of pencil notes and marginalia--your questions and insights that help you come to class best prepared to learn.

No late assignments are accepted. If, for whatever reason, you must miss class, I will accept your homework via email, if I receive it before 11:00 on the day it is due. Otherwise, do not email your work to me. It is your responsibility to make sure your work is printed out well before class is due. If you do email your work to me, you must still print it out and bring a hardcopy to the next class. I will not print out your work for you. I have done this in the past and have built up an irrational, bloodboiling resentment.

Grading: It's possible to earn a high grade in this class simply by doing the work and doing it well. You need not be fascinatingly talented. Talent is overrated. You simply must be conscientious, committed, and engaged. Grading creative work is not as subjective as it may seem. I understand that you may have little experience with the formal craft features of narrative writing. My expectation is that you will pay attention to these new craft elements, according to the guidelines of each assignment. It is your job to embrace feedback and suggestions and show constant effort at improvement throughout the semester. In general, grades for responses & creative work look like this:

A Papers: Meet the terms of the assignment. Display complexity and clarity of thought and expression. Are free from grammatical and spelling errors.

B Papers: Meet the terms of the assignment. Display attention to complexity and clarity, but occasionally lapse into awkward prose. Have a few grammatical or spelling errors.

C Papers: Meet the terms of the assignment, yet show little effort in exploring an issue complexly, or have numerous grammatical or spelling errors.

If you are struggling with issues of clarity and grammar, I will let you know, and we will meet to come up with a strategy for improvement which will likely involve both regular office hours visits with both me and Jennifer, peer editing, and visits to CAPS.

2. All other assignments should be typed, double-spaced, numbered, with one inch margins, on one side of the page, with no cover pages, and stapled . A single spaced heading on the top left should include: your name, the course number and section, my name, the date, the title .

Students who have special needs that may affect their ability to benefit fully from the class, please see me as soon as possible so I can arrange appropriate accommodation.