| TRAVEL WRITING (WRTG 3020: 058)
Fall 2009
MW 6:00-7:15
Humanities 245
Instructor: Kerry Reilly
Email: kerry.reilly@colorado.edu (E-mail is usually the best way to reach me.)
Phone: (303) 492-3515
Office: 1338 Grandview Avenue
Office hours: MW 1:00-2:15pm and by appointment
TEXTS:
-The Places In Between by Rory Stewart (available in the special orders section in the basement of Boulder Bookstore on the west end of the Pearl Street Mall).
-West With the Night by Beryl Markham (also at Boulder Bookstore)
-I will distribute handouts in class or send you links. Always print the electronic copies and bring to class.
-Lapham’s Quarterly, Volume II, Number 3 TRAVEL (This text is optional. You’ll find it in the magazine section of most bookstores or at the Lapham’s Quarterly site online.)
-A writer’s notebook (hard covered, preferably unlined. You may find writers’ notebooks at Boulder Bookstore, Trident, Borders, Barnes and Noble, art supply stores, McGuckin’s Hardware, etc.)
BRIEF COURSE OVERVIEW:
In this class, we will study the craft of travel writing and we will also consider the moral and philosophical questions raised by the acts of travel and exploration. What makes successful travel writing? What are the struggles and ethical dilemmas the travel writer faces? We will read widely from across the ages and regions of the world. We will write different types of essays about what we read and discuss and we will also practice crafting our own magazine-style travel narratives. (Look to The Best American Travel Writing series for examples of the later.) We will read the work of many different types of writers and we’ll analyze the ways each uses argumentative strategies and conventions, such as genre, form and voice to suit different purposes and appeal to various audiences. I hope this class will help you to examine your own assumptions and to practice critical and open-minded questioning and reasoning.
Like professional writers, you will develop strategies for brainstorming ideas, crafting arguments, and for writing, revising and editing drafts. You will practice critiquing your own work, the work of your classmates and the work of published writers. You will also get a lot of practice conducting research within the CU Library system and beyond.
You need not have traveled extensively to take this course. Some of you may be writing about road trips to Kansas and others may have just come back from a study abroad program in Italy or even had experiences camping in Madagascar. Readings include work by: John McPhee, Isabel Fonesca, Mary Morris, Charles Darwin, Paul Theroux, Jon Krakauer, John Berendt, Rory Stewart, Freya Stark, Isak Dinesen, Bruce Chatwin, Redmond O’Hanlon, Jamaica Kincaid, Herman Melville, Beryl Markham, Paul Bowles, Dave Eggers and others.
COLORADO COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION
This upper-division writing course is part of the state-wide “Guaranteed Transfer” pathway of courses as defined by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE) and fulfills your upper-division writing requirement within the College of Arts and Sciences at CU Boulder. As such, it addresses the following curricular goals:
Rhetorical knowledge: Our readings, discussions and writing assignments will focus on enhancing your awareness of the choices available to a writer (or speaker) based upon the rhetorical situation, her/his intended audience and purpose. You will gain a deeper understanding of such conventions as voice, structure and syntax.
Writing processes: This course will also focus on techniques for how to generate, develop and refine ideas. You will practice analyzing, critiquing and editing your own and others’ writing. And you will gain a further awareness of and facility with multiple avenues and technologies for conducting effective research, including online search engines, catalogue databases and subscription research databases; etc.
Writing conventions: Through multiple drafts of related writing assignments, you will practice using appropriate conventions of academic language and form, including syntax, grammar, research and citation procedures.
Effective communication strategies: Assignments in this class are intended to prepare you for effective participation in a variety of rhetorical communities, both in and beyond your university courses.
ESSAYS:
You will write several different types of essays for this class:
-Creative Nonfiction Travel Essay
-Rhetorical Analysis of an essay from the Best American Travel Writing series
-Guided Analysis of Rory Stewart’s The Places in Between
-Guided Analysis of Beryl Markham’s West With the Night
-Hybrid Essay (An argumentative essay in which you combine personal narrative and extensive research)
On the day an essay is due, ALWAYS BRING FOUR COPIES. Over the course of the semester, you will be required to revise several of these pieces.
Please note I will not accept work that is not stapled or fastened with a paper-clip. I make no exceptions to this policy.
HOMAGE:
One of the best ways to learn to write is by imitating other writers. Over the course of the semester, you will be required to write one-page, single-spaced tributes to the writers we study. You will look carefully at the ways a particular writer uses language, sentence structure and rhetorical strategies to make various points. For these assignments, it is your job to write very short pieces in which you practice the techniques the assigned writers employ.
WORKSHOPS:
It is important for each of you to give and have plenty of feedback on your writing. We will have several small-group workshops in my office. Once again, every time an essay is due, please bring four copies. You will exchange the copies with classmates and give one to me. Before your workshop meets, you will read the essay of each group member, write comments throughout, add a paragraph of comments at the end, then sign your name. Make sure to bring a copy of your own essay to the workshop.
WRITING CENTER:
I encourage you to take advantage of the services offered at the Writing Center. The Writing Center is a place where students and faculty may go for help during all stages of the writing process. Make sure to make an appointment before you go. For more information, email wrtghelp@colorado.edu. And see the Writing Center home page: www.colorado.edu/pwr/writingcenter.html
RESEARCH CENTER:
The Research Center is located in the same room as the Writing Center. Consultants are available to help you with any aspect of the research process.
FINAL PORTFOLIO:
(Twenty-five to thirty double-spaced pages of your best revised work from the semester.)
Must contain:
-A minimum of two essays
-A minimum of two homage
-A letter in which you introduce, critique, and discuss your writing process and the rhetorical strategies you employed for each piece.
May contain:
-Additional essays
-Additional reading responses
-Homage
GRADES:
Because this is a process course, I will not grade individual assignments. I believe an obsession with grades often inhibits the desire to take risks and push your selves in new ways. I also understand that grades are important to you. At mid-semester, I will give each of you a mid-term evaluation and grade. If at any point in the semester, you are concerned about how you are doing, don’t hesitate to make an appointment or stop by during my office hours.
-Participation and Quality of Your Presence in Class and Workshop: 15%
(This includes written critiques you provide for your peers.)
It is important for everyone to participate in class discussions and workshops. If you are shy or quiet, I urge you to push yourself. Attendance is also mandatory. If you are absent more than twice, your grade will drop a letter with each additional absence. You will also be penalized for chronic lateness. Each lateness counts and half an absence.
I will not accept late or incomplete work, unless you have a medical excuse or an emergency.
Please make sure to turn off your cell phones before class begins. And please wait until after class or speak with me during office hours if you have something to tell me that only pertains to you.
-Essays Handed in During the Semester 40%
-Homage 15%
-Final Portfolio 30%
UNIVERSITY POLICIES
THE HONOR CODE:
All students at the University of Colorado, Boulder, are responsible for knowing and adhering to the academic integrity policy of this institution. Violations include: cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic dishonesty, fabrication, lying, bribery and threatening behavior. All incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Council. Students who are found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy will be subject to sanctions from the faculty member and non-academic sanctions (including but not limited to university probation, suspension, or expulsion).
See www.colorado.edu/policies/honor.html and
www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/
I would like to add:
Plagiarism is the act, whether deliberate or unintentional, of passing off another author's work as your own. Plagiarizing all or part of a paper will result in an automatic failure for that paper and possibly failure for the course. Also, I will not accept papers you have written or are writing for other classes.
.
CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR:
Disruptive behavior will not be tolerated. General CU guidelines regarding expectations of classroom behavior are available online at www.colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.html and www.colorado.edu/studentaffairs/judicialaffairs/code.html#student_code . Students who fail to adhere to behavioral standards may be subject to discipline.
RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS:
If you know you will miss class or not be able to make an assignment due date because of observation of a religious holiday, please contact me within the first two weeks of the semester so we can make accommodations. For more info: www.colorado.edu/policies/fac_relig.html
DISABILITIES
If you qualify for accommodation because of a disability, please submit to me a letter from Disability Services in a timely manner so that your needs can be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities. Disabilities Services: 303-492-8671, Willard 332, www.colorado.edu/disabilityservices
DISCRIMINATION AND HARRASSMENT:
The University of Colorado Policy on Sexual Harassment applies to all students, staff, and faculty. Any student, staff or faculty member who believes s/he has been sexually harassed should contact the Office of Sexual Harassment at 303-492-2127 or the Office of Judicial Affairs at 303-492-5550. Information about the OSH and the campus resources available to assist individuals who believe they have been sexually harassed may be found at www.colorado.edu/sexualharassment/
SCHEDULE
M 8/24
Introductions
W 8/26
Due:
-“Introduce Yourself” handout
-Bring a letter-sized file folder with your name on the tab
-Read Bruce Chatwin’s “It’s a Nomad, Nomad World” (handout)
-Come to class with one interesting fact about Bruce Chatwin
M 8/31
Due:
-Homage Paul Theroux’s “Five Travel Epiphanies”
W 9/2
Due:
-Read “Nowhere Need be Foreign” by Pico Iyer (from Lapham’s Quarterly; handout)
-In your notebook, do a ten-minute freewrite on this piece. Then, freewrite for ten minutes on Jamaica Kincaid’s “The Ugly Tourist” (handout we read in class)
M 9/7
Labor Day
W 9/9
Due:
Read the first hundred pages of Rory Stewart’s The Places in Between
M 9/14
Film:
“God Grew Tired of Us”
W 9/16
Due:
-Finish The Places in Between
-Write a two to three page, double-spaced essay in which you reflect on one of the following:
1. When a fellow-writer hears about Stewart’s plan to cross Afghanistan entirely by foot, he asks him, “Have you read Into the Wild? . . . It’s a great piece of journalism.” What points are being made here, about both adventure seeking and adventure writing?
2. Where in these pages did you witness the westernization (or
“Americanization”) of Afghani culture? How did it make you feel? What do
you think the impact of this westernization might be on the Afghani
people?
3. New York Times book critic Tom Bissell calls The Places in Between “a kind of tonic to mindless Taliban-hating.” Explain why you do or do not agree.
M 9/21
Due:
Read Scott Anderson’s “As Long as We Were Together, Nothing Bad Could Happen to Us” (handout) and write an homage.
W 9/23
Due:
Read Seth Stevenson’s “Trying Really Hard to Like India” and excerpt from Marco Polo’s “Travels” (handouts)
M 9/28
Due:
Creative Nonfiction Travel Essay
W 9/30
Due:
Small-Group Workshops. Class will not met at the regular time.
Please refer to the Workshop Guidelines earlier in the syllabus.
M 10/5
Small Group Workshops continued. Class will not meet at the regular time.
W 10/7
Due:
-Read Herman Melville’s “New York City, “ Jack Kerouac’s “United States” and Tobias Wolff’s “Utah”
-Write an homage on one.
M 10/12
Due:
Read the first one hundred pages of Beryl Markham’s West With the Night
W 10/14
M 10/19
Due:
-Finish West With the Night
W 10/21
Due:
Read “The Two Faces of Tourism” by Jonathan Tourtellot
M 10/26
Due:
Read “Desperate Passage” by Michael Finkel and write an homage
W 10/28
Due:
Rhetorical Analysis. Choose one of the handouts from the Best American Essays series.
(See separate handout)
M 11/2
Due:
Read “Deer at Providencia” by Annie Dillard and write an homage.
W 11/5
M 11/9
Due:
One-page proposal for hybrid essay
W 11/11
Due:
Read David Foster Wallace’s “Caribbean Sea” and write an homage.
M 11/16
Due:
Read Walt Whitman’s “Song of the Open Road”
W 11/18
Due:
Hybrid Essay Draft
FALL BREAK
M 11/30
Small Group Workshops
W 12/2
Workshops Continue
M 12/7
Due:
Reading
Each of you will read aloud a passage of your choice from an essa you have written this semester.
W 12/9
Due:
Final Portfolio |