Eng 423 Course Calendar – Please Bring to Each Class

Week 1

8/23     Syllabus.  Judson Mitcham's "The Signature of God"

8/25     READ:  "Essayists and the Essay" (handout in class)

            Familiarize yourself with website for the course:  www.unm.edu/~gmartin & the e-reserve site

            http://ereserves.unm.edu/eres/courseindex   (password:  study423 )

            WRITE:  A typed response (2-3 pages) to the following questions:

• What draws you to a class on doubt and faith?

• What do you look for in a personal essay? 

• Describe your writing process:  Do you write in Cafes?  Must you have absolute silence?  Are you a procrastinator?  Do you snicker to yourself?  Forego bathing and hygiene to lock yourself up in the world of your imagination?  Are you comfortable in pajamas at two in the afternoon?  How do you remove yourself from the “real world”?

• What are the essays and books that have made you want to write? 

• What are the essays and books about doubt and faith that have stirred you, moved you, challenged you, made sense?  Why?  Were these primarily narratives (stories) or were they more meditative or philosophical?

Week 2

8/30     READ:  Hampl:  "Memory and Imagination"    &  Rick Moody's "Why I Pray"

            WRITE:  Reading Response #1  (h)*

9/1       READ:  Vivian Gornick's  "The Situation & The Story"  

            READ:  Scott Russell Sander's "The Force of Spirit"

            WRITE:  Reading Response #2

Week 3

9/6       READ:  Annie Dillard's "Expedition to the Pole"

            WRITE:  Reading Response #3

9/9       READ:  Philip Lopate's  "Writing Persona Essays: Turning Oneself into a Character"

            READ:  Anne Lamott's "Ashes" & "Why I Make Sam Go to Church" 

            WRITE:  Reading Response #4

            Due in Class:  Draft 1: #1-6

Week 4

9/13       WS 1-3  : WRITE:  Peer Responses (h)

9/15       READ:   Handout:  Revising for the Middle Draft (h)

              WS 4-6

              Due in Class:  Draft #1: #7-12

Week 5

9/20     WS  7-9

9/22    WS 10-12

            Due in Class:  Draft #1: # 13-16

Week 6

9/27    WS 13-15

9/29    WS 16

Week 7

Conferences

During conference week, (with all your free time), work on Reading Responses for FOUR Personal Essays Chosen from the list below:

• Annie Dillard's "Total Eclipse"

• Mary Gordon's "Still Life"

• Rachel Carson's "The Marginal World"

• Jon Kabat-Zinn's "Is Mindfulness Spiritual?"

• Myra Jehlen's "F.P."

• Adrienne Rich's "Split at the Root: An Essay on Jewish Identity"

• Tim Judah's "Passover in Baghdad"

• Cynthia Ozick's "Remember the Sabbath Day, to Keep it Holy"

• Phyllis Rose's "The Music of Silence"

• Wole Soyinka's "Why Do I Fast?"

• N. Scott Momaday's "The Way to Rainy Mountain"

• Virginia Woolf’s “The Death of a Moth”

• Jonathan Rosen’s “The Talmud and the Internet”

Week 8

10/11   Craft Discussion

Due in Class:  2 Reading Responses (#s5,6,7,8) on 4 Essays of your choice.  (You can write separate responses for each essay, or you can combine your responses, and compare and contrast the different essays.  If you choose this option, your response should be 8-12 pages long.)

            Due in Class:  Draft #2:  #1-6

10/13     Fall Break

Week 9

10/18    Draft #2:  WS 1-3

10/20    Draft #2:  WS 4-6

             Due in Class: Draft #2:  #7-12

Week 10

10/25    Draft #2:  WS 7-9

10/27    Draft #2:  WS 10-12

             Due in Class: Draft #2:  #13-16

Week 11

11/1     Draft #2:  WS 13-15

11/3     Draft #2:  WS 16

Week 12

11/8      READ:  Penny Wolfson's "Moonrise"

             WRITE:  Reading Response #9

11/10    Craft Discussion

             Due in Class:  Draft #3:  #1-6

Week 13

11/15    WS 1-3

11/17     WS 4-6

              Due in Class:  Draft #3:  #7-12

Week 14

11/22    WS 7-9

             Due in Class:  Draft #3:  13-16

11/24     Thanksgiving

Week 15

11/29     WS 10-12

12/1       WS 13-15

Week 16

12/6      WS 16

             READ:  Maxine Hong Kingston's "No Name Woman"

             WRITE:  Reading Response #10

12/8       Preparing for the Final Portfolio

Week 17

• 12/13   Portfolio DUE In my Box, Humanities Bldg 2nd floor by 5PM  .   

*(h) = handout on website

Note:  Assignments DUE on the date listed.