Week 5 Notes – 18 Oct 2017


How would you describe the difference between these two sentences?


“John looked at his wife, his brow furrowed, his lips tightly pursed, his fists clenched. Then he
got up, banged the door and left the house.”


“John was angry with his wife.”






























HW for next week (25.10):


Reading


1.       Please read the essay “What is an essay?” by Richard Nordquist:
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-an-essay-p3-1691774


It might seem strange to be reading an attempt to define the essay now, already a few weeks into
the semester—but I wanted you see a variety of essay forms before reading this, so you could
appreciate how difficult it is to define the concept of the essay. What I like about Nordquist’s
piece is that it gives us multiple criteria for defining the essay. Even more importantly,
Nordquist’s piece is a fantastic example of the principle I’ve been talking about in class: that,
in the poet Robert Creeley’s words, “FORM is never more than an extension of CONTENT.” In other
words, instead of just TELLING you what an essay is, Nordquist SHOWS you, by structuring the essay
so that it seems like you are following along with him through his thinking process (which is
exactly .


It’s time, also, to start deciding what kind of essay you will attempt to write for this course.
I’ve given you several models for essays; this week, I’d like YOU to spend some time looking for an
additional model, either for yourself or for your classmates. So…


2.      Please FIND an essay which you think could be an inspiring model for us, and BRING to class
a copy of the essay (if it’s very long, you can just bring an excerpt, let’s say about one page).
I’d like you to present your model to us in class next week (tell us the title and author, where
you found it, and why you like it).


Writing


1.       I’d like you to type up and BRING to class a short and informal proposal for the essay you
will write for the course. This should be about half a page. First, describe the kind of essay
you’d like to write. What do you want it to be “about” (it can be about many things, of course).
What question(s) would you like to answer with your writing? What do you want it to look like, feel
like? Next, think about your audience. WHO do you want to write this essay for? Try to be specific.
Writing with one specific reader in mind can be very helpful for some people. Finally, mention at
least two models which you would like to inspire you as you write (these could be essays we’ve
already read for this class, or ones you’ve found on your own). Think about form—can you “steal”
formal elements from your models? Could you combine formal elements from them into something new?
Feel free to add any other comments, thoughts, or questions you have about your writing.