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Fall 2001 Middlesex Community College
Syllabus and Course Description
The Autobigraphical Adventure:  
Our Lives as Stories  HU 6151-50

Instructor: Prof. Jean Trounstine           Office: City, 5th floor, 30 (teal blue)
E-mail; jean@trounstine.com     Office Hrs: W/F 1:15-2:15 &T/Th 12:00-1:00     
Phone: (978) 656-3121

        

            ...I have come to see that today's readers are hungering for I-as-witness
             truth perhaps because we live in an age where it is now commonly known 
            that our political leaders are liars and thieves.  People are choosing to 
            learn about Vietnamese war brides, the years of Stalin and the American 
           1950's, not from the so-called expert historians...but from real people
            whose solitary landscapes and single voices have a power that 
            illuminates the larger humanity we all share.

                                                Natalia Rachel Singer
                     Nonfiction in First Person Without Apology, 1996

 

            In memoir, apparently, you have to do with what you've got.  You can't 
            order a new shipment of materials.  You're on a desert island, sorting 
            your memories into little piles

                                                Bobbie Ann Mason
                                         Stranger than Fiction, 1998

 

            Let go of everything when you write, and try beginning with simple words
             to express what you have inside.  It won't begin smoothly. Allow yourself
             to be awkward. You are stripping yourself.  You are exposing your life, not 
            how your ego would like to see you represented, but how you are as a  
             human being.  And it is because of this that I think writing is religious. 
             It splits you open and softens your heart towards the homely world.

                                                Natalie Goldberg
                                     Writing Down the Bones, 1986

 

            Who will teach me to write? a reader wanted to know.  The page, the page,
             the eternal blankness, the blankness of eternity you cover slowly, affirming
             time's scrawl as a right and your daring as a necessity...the page will teach
             you to write.

                                                Annie Dilliard
                                     The Writing Life, 1989

 

                        The study of autobiography or memoir is designed to help us make meaning of our lives.  We all have stories to tell, family anecdotes that make us laugh and cringe, significant moments that as Joan Didion says, shimmers in our minds, some not often available until we begin to write about them.  Many of us write to find out more about who we are.  Many of us want to find out more about who are parents are, our grandparents, our towns, our country    Reading memoir helps us understand about the way others see and express their stories and helps us feel less alone in a world that is often whizzing around us.

            Memoir reading and writing are important, not just for the professional writer, but for the new and struggling writer, the person who feels like an outsider in this country, the cynic who feels abandoned by his family or the nice girl who follows all the rules and doesn't know why.  Colleges all over the country are offering reading and writing memoir courses  to allow us to explore our life and the lives of others more deeply. 

            In this course you will have the opportunity to learn:     to read more carefully as you explore passages from a number of memoirs/ autobiographies that give insight into how people tell the stories of their lives

�         to engage in what you read, both through class discussion and journaling

�         to investigate and use writing techniques such as freewriting, scenemaking, character work
      metaphor, map making and exposition

�         to work from freewriting through rough draft, editing, and revising to a final copy on your written work

�         to be part of a conference group with classmates, to assist others and receive feedback while you
      improve editing skills

�         to explore your own family history and do research into stories/ people/ towns/ideas that interest you

�         to work with a portfolio of writing and develop pieces from that portfolio for graded writing

 

Texts &       Writing Life Stories by Bill Roorbach; Shakepeare Behind Bars by 
Materials:   Jean Trounstine
                      a good dictionary/ pens you like/ two folders for your journal/portfolio
                       Handouts: memoir selections handed out for you to read.

Recommended: a good thesaurus & The Elements of Style by Strunk and White

Requirements:
Reading Journal   A place to record your reactions to what you read and steal
                                   ideas/borrow imagery/make connections between writers.
                                   Students have the responsibility to participate in class
                                   discussion and clarify readings.  Readings are due on day
                                   listed on syllabus.  Get a cheapie folder with pockets  to hold
                                   pages and use one side to keep reading responses/ another for
                                   portfolio writings.  Please keep handouts separate from folder. 

Writing Portfolio   A collection of your writing exercises, also to be handed in and
                                   evaluated from time to time, and a collection from which you will
                                   create two finished autobiographical pieces, one due mid term 
                                   and one at the end of the course.  With your portfolio, I�ll look for 
                                  depth, detail, energy, and your growing ability to work on 
                                  assigned techniques.

In Class Group        After we get rolling, you will get the chance to work 
Work:                         collaboratively and get feedback from others which will help you 
                                    clarify what you read, as well as develop detail and expand 
                                    your written pieces.  You are expected to be a productive and 
                                    active member of this group to give supportive, helpful feedback
                                    and to learn to hear suggestions on your own writing.  Exchange
                                    e-mails with your fellow writers to gain more feedback.

Memoir Pieces        Two finished pieces of substance that you work on from 
                                    rough rough draft(!) to final copy will be evaluated by you,  
                                    your peers and graded by me. Typed.  In person please. 

Conferences            Will be held during the semester to discuss writing.



Attendance etc         Please, no cell phones or beepers on in class. Since this
                                     is an active participation class and unless there are extenuating 
                                     circumstances, you will be asked to drop the course if you 
                                     missmore than 3 classes before the first ten weeks. 
                                     3 lates=1 absence.  CLASSWORK COUNTS.

Evaluation:                Reading Journal   15% 
                                                      Portfolio  30%
                                     Polished Memoirs 40%
                            Classwork/Attendance 15%      
                                                         TOTAL 100%

   click on!

 

 

Questions or comments? Send email to jean@trounstine.com or call Jean Trounstine at 978-656-3121
Last updated:  June 23, 2002