During the semester, it may be necessary to modify certain aspects of this syllabus or the course calendar. Any modifications will result in the distribution of the new version of the syllabus or course calendar.
| WEEK | DATES | Lessons | Reading Due | |
| 1 | T | 29-Aug | Introduction to Composing the Self | |
| Th | 31-Aug | Writing as Complex System Due: Barn Exercise draft |
Vonnegut “How to Write with Style”; Wallace “The Nature of the Fun” | |
| S | Due: Blog Entry 1 – Barn Exercise | |||
| 2 | T | 5-Sep | Rhetoric and the Self: Authorial Presence | Gunner and Sweet “The Basics of Rhetoric”; Tan – “Mother Tongue” |
| Th | 7-Sep | Rhetoric and the Self: Constructing Audience | Gunner and Sweet “The Rhetorical Uses of Critical Frames”; Didion “Why I Write” | |
| S | 10-Sep | Due: Blog Entry 2: Why I Write | ||
| 3 | T | 12-Sep | Rhetoric and the Self: Genre and Form | Gunner and Sweet “The Rhetorical Uses of Conventions”; Statement by the AL Clergymen |
| Th | 14-Sep | Rhetoric and the Self: Genre and Form | King, Jr. – “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” | |
| S | 17-Sep | Forum Discussion 1 | ||
| 4 | T | 19-Sep | Rhetoric and the Self: Audience | Ong “The Writer’s Audience is Always Fiction” |
| Th | 21-Sep | Rhetoric and the Self: Voice due: Audience Analysis exercise |
Coates “Letter to my Son” | |
| S | 24-Sep | Forum Discussion 2 | ||
| 5 | T | 26-Sep | Rhetoric and the Self: Voice | Lamott “Shitty First Drafts”; Bring in examples of voice in writing |
| Th | 28-Sep | Workshop First Draft Open Letter | Group Members’ Open Letters | |
| S | 1-Oct | Due: Open Letter | ||
| 6 | T | 3-Oct | The Creation of Self – Theory | Bolter “Writing the Mind” |
| Th | 5-Oct | The Creation of Self – Theory | Chang “Culture: A Web of Self and Others” | |
| S | 8-Oct | Due: Blog Entry 3 | ||
| 7 | T | 10-Oct | The Creation of Self – Memoir | Sedaris – “I like guys” |
| Th | 12-Oct | The Creation of Self – Memoir | Lorde – “Chapter 10”; Vowell – “Shooting Dad” | |
| S | 15-Oct | |||
| 8 | T | 17-Oct | The Creation of Self due: Memory Box |
Bring Memory Boxes to class. |
| Th | 19-Oct | Class Cancelled – Professor Conference | ||
| S | 22-Oct | due: Blog Entry 4 – Memory Box | ||
| 9 | T | 24-Oct | The Creation of Self: Persona | Noble “Wrestling’s new left-wing villain” |
| Th | 26-Oct | Workshop First Draft Memoir Project due: Forum 3 (peer revision) |
Group Members’ Memoir drafts | |
| S | 29-Oct | due: Memoir Project | ||
| 10 | T | 31-Oct | The Self and Society | Ronai: “My Mother is Mentally Retarded” |
| Th | 2-Nov | The Self and Society | Jones, Adams, and Ellis “Coming to Know Autoethnography as More than a Method” 22-32 | |
| S | 5-Nov | Forum Discussion 4 | ||
| 11 | T | 7-Nov | The Self and Society | Jones, Adams, and Ellis “Coming to Know Autoethnography as More than a Method” 32-41 |
| Th | 9-Nov | The Self and Society | Adams “Post-Coming Out Complications” | |
| S | 12-Nov | due: Blog Entry 5 – proposal | ||
| 12 | T | 14-Nov | The Self and Society | Chang “Collecting External Data” |
| Th | 16-Nov | The Self and Society | Harris “Ghost-Child” | |
| S | 19-Nov | due: Blog Entry 6 | ||
| 13 | T | 21-Nov | Thanksgiving Break | |
| Th | 23-Nov | |||
| S | ||||
| 14 | T | 28-Nov | The Self and Society | Chang “Analyzing and Interpreting Data” |
| Th | 30-Nov | The Self and Society | This American Life epidsode | |
| S | 3-Dec | Forum Discussion 5 | ||
| 15 | T | 5-Dec | The Self and Society | TBA |
| Th | 7-Dec | Workshop due: first draft Self-Ethnography |
Group Members’ drafts of self-ethnography project | |
| S | 9-Dec | |||
| 16 | M | 11-Dec | Final Exam 1:30-4:00pm | due: Final draft Self-Ethnography Project |
| due: final exam/course reflection blog entry | ||||