English 1012: Memoir, Memory, and Revisioning History Professor Maxine Krenzel Office: 2311 Boylan Hall Section: TBD Class Time: T, TH 2:153:30 Email: [email protected]Room Number: TBD Office Hours: TH 3:304:30 “Common Threads”: Tribute to Philadelphia’s Youth by Meg Saligman Welcome to English 1012, a writing intensive seminar that will challenge you all to become inquisitive thinkers, writers, and researchers. As a class, we will focus our time discussing a variety of autobiographical texts and memoirs, each piece exploring how personal writing has the capacity to subvert and revision dominant historical narratives. Some questions our class will consider this semester: what is the relationship between history and memoir? How can autobiographical writing challenge a society’s historical memory? How can the form of memoir create spaces of resistance for otherwise marginalized and silenced writers? Our class will move through texts both primary and critical, including Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior, texts written by Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth who lived under the conditions of slavery, and contemporary texts such as Toni Morrison’s Beloved and M. NourbeSe Philip’s Zong! that revision incomplete and fragmented history of American slavery. Through your own autobiographical writing and critical analyses of these texts over the course of the semester, you will be challenged explore the ways memoirs negotiates the separation between the historical past, the present, and different modes of remembering.
Transcript
English 1012: Memoir, Memory, and Revisioning History
Professor Maxine Krenzel Office: 2311 Boylan Hall Section: TBD Class Time: T, TH 2:15-‐3:30 Email: [email protected] Room Number: TBD Office Hours: TH 3:30-‐4:30
“Common Threads”: Tribute to Philadelphia’s Youth by Meg Saligman
Welcome to English 1012, a writing intensive seminar that will challenge you all to become inquisitive thinkers, writers, and researchers. As a class, we will focus our time discussing a variety of autobiographical texts and memoirs, each piece exploring how personal writing has the capacity to subvert and revision dominant historical narratives. Some questions our class will consider this semester: what is the relationship between history and memoir? How can autobiographical writing challenge a society’s historical memory? How can the form of memoir create spaces of resistance for otherwise marginalized and silenced writers? Our class will move through texts both primary and critical, including Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior, texts written by Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth who lived under the conditions of slavery, and contemporary texts such as Toni Morrison’s Beloved and M. NourbeSe Philip’s Zong! that revision incomplete and fragmented history of American slavery. Through your own autobiographical writing and critical analyses of these texts over the course of the semester, you will be challenged explore the ways memoirs negotiates the separation between the historical past, the present, and different modes of remembering.
What you will need for the semester: Toni Morrison’s Beloved They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing Coursepack Notebook Texts available at Brooklyn College Bookstore. Coursepack available at Far Better Copy. If you have any trouble purchasing course material, please make a time to meet with me. Coursework for the Semester:
1. Everyone will be responsible for leading class discussion on the readings during the semester. You should be prepared to introduce the reading(s) and pose discussion questions for the class to engage in. Think of your presentation as an opportunity to think critically about our readings and prompt discussion for topics that interested you. Don’t ask questions you already have the answer to! The point of this exercise is to learn to actively engage with our readings and to think of this engagement as a dialogue. What was unclear in the readings? What seemed confusing? Was there a moment that shocked or surprised you?
2. You will have two short essays due during the semester: a. For the first short essay, you will write the first chapter (3 pages) of your
autobiography, discovering first hand what goes into composing (an excerpt of) your memoir.
b. The second short writing assignment will be a short essay that focuses on one of the texts from the first half of the semester. In this paper, you will explore how the text’s author envisions the importance of memoir in relation to the historical moment of his/her life.
3. I will grade both in-‐class and take home writing responses throughout the semester. a. Your short take home writing assignments are meant to be exploratory. I
will grade less for grammar and organization, and more based on your ideas. You will receive a ✓+, ✓, ✓-‐.
4. Everyone will work on writing a 7-‐10 page research paper, graded based on several assignments: (proposal, 1st draft, annotated bibliography, and final paper)
5. At the very end of the semester, you will have in-‐class time to work on a creative project with a group that reflects on the course’s theme of memoir and ways of exploring and/or subverting historical memory. Your group can choose any medium you encountered during the semester that you found engaging: poetry, film, you might create a syllabus, a lesson plan, music, a written project…it’s up to you! More information to follow.
Participation, Preparedness, Attendance: Everyone is expected to participate in our class discussions. Though it may not be obvious, a major part of developing your voice as a writer is being able to talk about your ideas and questions. Make sure to come to class prepared, meaning you have the readings printed out/have the book in class and are ready to engage. Attendance is also important. I expect everyone to be in class on time and to remain in class for the duration of the class. If you are consistently late – more than 10 minutes – you will find their class participation grade
lowered. If you are two times late, it will count as one absence. You may not have more than three absences. After three absences you may receive a WU (unofficial withdrawal) grade. This grade will eventually turn into an F. Please make time to speak with me if you are having trouble with attendance expectations. Late Work: You are expected to do all required readings and to submit all assignments on time. It is important to keep up with the classwork. For every day a paper is late, you lose 1/3 of a letter grade! Please speak with me if you are having a problem turning in assignments on time. Methods of Evaluation: In-‐class participation, preparedness, & attendance 10% Short papers 20% Leading Discussion 10% Homework & Group Project 20% Research Paper 40% -‐Topic proposal & Presentation-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐5% -‐Annotated Bibliography-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐5% -‐First Draft & Outline-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐10% -‐Final Draft-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐30% The following grades will be given: A, B, C, F or NC. If a student receives an NC (no credit) for the course, they will be required to re-‐enroll in English 1012. An NC grade will not affect your grade point average. The lowest passing grade for Composition 1012 is a C-‐. Grading Scale:
A+ A A-‐ 98-‐100 93-‐97 90-‐92 B+ B B-‐
88-‐89 83-‐87 80-‐82 C+ C C-‐
78-‐79 73-‐77 70-‐72 F
Below 70 Cell phone and other Electronic Devices: The use of cell phones and other electronic devices are not allowed during class time. All cell phones and other electronic devices should remain off and out of sight during the duration of class. Please speak to me if you have special circumstances regarding an electronic device.
A Special Note on Plagiarism: "Academic dishonesty of any type, including cheating and plagiarism is unacceptable at Brooklyn College. Cheating is any misrepresentation in academic work. Plagiarism is the representation of another person's work, words, or ideas as your own. Students should consult the Brooklyn College Student handbook for a fuller, more specific discussion of related academic integrity standards. Academic dishonesty is punishable by failure of the test, examination, term paper, or other assignment on which cheating occurred. In addition, disciplinary proceedings in cases of academic dishonesty may result in penalties of admonition, warning, censure, disciplinary probation, restitution, suspension, expulsion, complaint to civil authorities, or ejection" (Brooklyn College Bulletin 58). Student Disability Services: If you have a disability, please make time to meet with me to talk about how I can help make the classroom a comfortable and accessible learning space for you. You can also set up an appointment with the Director of the Center for Student Disability Services, Valerie Stewart-‐Lovell at 718-‐951-‐5538. Nonattendance due to Religious Belief: Please read the information in the Brooklyn College Bulletin regarding nonattendance because of religious belief. Please inform me in advance if you plan to be absent due to religious observance. Brooklyn College’s Writing Center: Brooklyn College’s Writing Center is located in 1300 Boylan Hall (directly facing the front entrance). The Writing Center is an amazing resource for you to use this semester. There are tutors who are more than happy to help you workshop and edit a draft of a paper or help you with any assignment. Moreover, if you would like extra help, you can set up a weekly appointment with a tutor. Please check the center out if you haven’t already! If I see consistent issues with your writing over the semester, I may ask you to make an appointment/I can refer you to a tutor.
Class Schedule (subject to change)
Week 1: So, you have to take a research writing course…. Tu 8/29 Introduction: Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed (as a class write up what makes a good class—this will be contract for participation) Th 8/31 bell hooks: “Engaged Pedagogy” & “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes Due: one page reflection paper that speaks about your expectations for the course based on the syllabus & one thing that you have a question about from the syllabus. What are your goals and intentions for the semester? Week 2: Untold Stories; Untold Histories
Tu 9/5 Excerpt from Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior: “No Name Woman” In class: Excerpt from Theresa Cha’s Dictee Th 9/7 W.E.B. DuBois’s “The Souls of Black Folk” Week 3: Feminist Revisions Tu 9/12 Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I A Woman” & Kimberle Crenshaw’s “The Urgency of Intersectionality” TED Talk In Class look at Glenn Ligon Images Th 9/14 Sarah Ahmed’s How to Live a Feminist Life (introduction) Due: The first three pages of your memoir. Consider writing about a moment/experience/person/memory that you found to be both formative and transformative. No class 9/19-‐9/22 Week 4: Theory in practice TU: 9/26 Writing Workshop: Using theory in your own words: Summarizing & Paraphrasing Create a dialogue/interview between yourself & Sarah Ahmed Read They Say/I Say Th: 9/28 Writing Workshop: What’s the deal with plagiarism? Learning MLA citation. Read They Say/I Say Week 5: Writing as dialogue Tu 10/3 Due: Short reflective paper in which you analyze the ways in which at least one theoretical text we’ve read so far reflects the importance of memoir. Peer interview & editing workshop Th 10/5 Toni Morrison’s “The Site of Memory” & Excerpt from Frederick Douglass’s Narrative Introduction to Beloved Week 6: Research Methods: Novel as history
Tu 10/10 Begin Toni Morrison’s Beloved Th 10/12 Beloved Week 7: Research Methods: Feeling as mode of inquiry Tu 10/17 Beloved Asking a research question: peer interview process Th 10/19 Beloved & Excerpt from Beth Richie’s Arrested Justice Week 8: Research Methods: Critical Dialogue with Sources Tu 10/24 Beloved Research Proposals Due Th 10/26 Chapter from Avery Gordon’s Ghostly Matters In class using secondary sources workshop Week 9: Research Methods: Navigating the world (universe) of databases and library stacks Tu 10/31 Critical article on Beloved Tbd In class: “Diving Into The Wreck” Annotated Bibliography Workshop Th 11/2 Library Visit Week 10: Research Methods: Sitting with Uncertainty (writer’s block, imposter syndrome, and feeling generally stumped!) Tu 11/7 Writing workshop: How to outline/brainstorm /creatively plan a research paper Annotated Bibliography Due Th 11/9 Writing the Research Paper Workshop: look over student examples Read They Say/I Say Week 11: Poetic Revisions Tu 11/14 Zong! Excerpts Th 11/16 Zong! Excerpts Due: First Draft
Week 12: Happy Thanksgiving! Tu 11/21 Conversion Day Th 11/23 Thanksgiving Break Week 13: Documentary as Memoir Tu 11/ 28 Movie Screening: I Am Not Your Negro Th 11/30 Movie Screening: I Am Not Your Negro Group Project Proposals Due Week 14: Honing In Tu 12/5 Work on Group Projects Th 12/7 Work on Group Projects Week 15: Wrap Up Tu 12/12 Group Presentations Final Drafts Due
***
Syllabus Reflection
English 1012: Memoir, Memory, and Revisioning History
As I wrap up my first year of teaching freshman composition classes at Brooklyn College, I am very grateful to have the chance to work on a new syllabus as both a way to reflect on this past year of teaching as well as to imagine what comes next. I created this syllabus as part of my final project for Cathy Davidson and Michael Gillespie’s course at CUNY’s Graduate Center, titled “Teaching Race and Gender Theory In The Undergraduate Classroom.” This pedagogy class taught me not only the importance of collaborative and student-‐centered learning, but also the creative possibilities that exist within the space of the classroom. Just this past week, I finished teaching English 1012, the second required class in Brooklyn College’s first-‐year writing program. English 1012 is a course that aims to help freshman become comfortable with research writing and using secondary sources. As I look back over the syllabus I used for my class this past semester, I am able to see its intentions clearly, but also its gaps. I wanted to teach a class that focused on how memoir and autobiographical writing can create spaces of resistance for
writers otherwise silenced in the Western literary canon. I wanted to teach the importance of memoir as a genre, yet I was hesitant to teach too much theory. The result was that my students often were confused by the intentions of the course. I had one student tell me at the end of the semester that while she liked the readings and discussions in our class, she did not understand the relationship between research writing and reading memoir. I realized after she said this that I, too, had not been entirely clear with myself as to what the connection between critical research and memoir exactly was. So with this confusion in mind, I created this new course, titled “Memoir, Memory, and Revisioning History”—a revision of the class formerly titled “Writing the Self”—with hopefully more theoretical depth and also necessary transparency for my students. The photograph I placed at the top of the new syllabus captures a mural painted on Spring Garden Street in Philadelphia. The mural is titled “Common Threads” and sits close to Philadelphia Community College as well as a major subway stop downtown. The mural depicts several portraits of young men and women of color (all portraits of local high school students), standing next to antiquated white marble and bronze statues. Positioned next to these relics of the past, the students in the portrait playfully imitate their poses, yet with a twist. There is an emergent, critical, and playful space that emerges between the still statues of the past and the vibrant portraits and presence of the students. It is precisely this creative threading together of the past and living present that makes memoir and autobiographical writing an exciting genre for my own students to explore as both writers and critical thinkers in today’s world. When teaching a particular text, I often ask myself what sort of pedagogy emerges through the text’s unique form and content? What does a text want its readers to learn? What can reading memoir teach us? The texts I selected for the syllabus reflect memoir’s impulse to understand the ways in which we all carry histories, both personal and collective, that create connections as well as disparities between the histories we inherit and the unfolding of an individual life. A memoir performs a unique synthesis of the particularities of one’s own life with the web of connectivity between oneself, and the history of one’s family/community/city/country/world/and universe. With the intention of always keeping student voices and perspectives as the driving force of the class, I want them to understand that personal writing is an irreducible and entirely unique form; that their own perceptions and memories of their lives can offer a unique critical analysis and history that we cannot locate anywhere else. I envision the first week of this class to be primarily focused on discussing how reading memoir informs the structure and content of the class. The very first day will include an exercise around Paulo Friere’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, particularly an excerpt in which he illuminates the difference between the “banking system of education” and “problem-‐posing education.” After reading these pages together, I will ask my students to re-‐write the list of qualities of the “banking” teacher, an exercise that I hope will help them assert their own desires in the classroom. I ultimately envision recording what the class comes up with in a google-‐doc that we will add to throughout the semester; the doc will also serve as a contract that will constitute the expectations for “active participation” in the classroom.
Continuing to have students understand the importance of their own voices in the classroom, I will have my students then read the introduction and first chapter of bell hooks’s Teaching to Transgress, hooks’s critical memoir in which she reflects back on her experience in school as a black feminist educator. hooks’s Teaching to Transgress is one of the best examples of blending memoir with writing on education that I have encountered and is a mode of writing I want my students to engage with. I hope that my students at Brooklyn College who are predominately students of color, in reading and identifying with aspects of her story, will rethink and destabilize the hierarchy between teacher and student, as well as critically reflect on their experience as students before coming to Brooklyn College. After establishing the groundwork of the class in the first week, I will continue to set up the stakes of memoir writing by way of example. The several texts that my students will read in weeks two and three will show how writers use the form of memoir to push back against enforced silence coming through in systemic gender oppression and racism. I will have my students read the first chapter of Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior, the chapter from W.E.B. DuBois’s The Souls of Black Folk where he discusses the invisible veil that produces “double consciousness” in black men and women in America, and then several texts that discuss directly the importance (“the urgency”) of intersectional feminism. In Kimberle Crenshaw’s TED talk, she says that intersectionality is not an alternative, but a necessary “frame” need to push back against the forced invisiblity and silence of women of color. Particularly as my class prepares to read the Toni Morrison’s Beloved and M. NorbeSe Philip’s poetic rendering of the violence that occurred on transporting slaves to America along the Middle Passage, I hope my students will think particularly about how women of color experience gender oppression differently than white women; I furthermore want to emphasize how women of color writing a memoir face a different set of challenges as writers. As a white teacher in a very diverse classroom, it is important for me to emphasize the importance of intersectional feminism and not speak for or in the place of students (and writers) of color. Focusing on the ways race and gender intersect not just in memoir writing, but also in an educational setting creates an important connection between the course material and the classroom environment; they are not and cannot be separate. There are practical concerns to consider when teaching a required first-‐year writing course, particularly for a class for which the English department has clear course objectives. As this class is designed both for and around the objective for how to teach students to compose a 7-‐10 page MLA formatted research paper, I have organized many of the weeks of the class around what I’m calling “research methods,” which will engage both the practical as well as affective challenges of the writing process (writer’s block, uncertainty, and imposter syndrome). I have also designed the writing exercises for the class to help students trust their voices and reactions to the texts they encounter. The very first diagnostic assignment (which will not be graded) will ask students to write a one-‐page reflection on the syllabus between the first and second days of class. Again, emphasizing a student centered pedagogy, this assignment is meant to initiate students as active participants who shape the classroom. The second writing assignment of the semester will ask
students to write the first chapter of the memoir. Both of these early assignments will open space in the writing classroom to show how personal writing is at the heart of analytical writing. I ultimately like to have students think of research writing as engaging in a dialogue with other voices and writers. I have students interview each other, create mock-‐interviews with writers we read, and also interview themselves (as bell hooks does in Teaching to Transgress). Learning how to interview is a creative process that emphasizes the importance of questioning over “knowing”; it also shows how learning and paper writing is a process that is not univocal, but dialogic. Unlike previous semesters where I’ve ended class with students presenting on their research papers (a solitary and all too expected assignment), for this class I want students to wrap the semester up by engaging in a creative group project that synthesizes what they learned during the course. Inspired by my pedagogy class this semester as well as by Eve Sedgwick’s course titled “How To Do Things With Words and Other Materials,” I will ask my students to reflect on the semester by working together on a project that explores what they learned about memoir and how personal writing is relevant to their lives today. I will ask them to choose the medium they want to work in whether it be in poetry, film, creating a lesson plan, making a music video, or even a collage. Honing in on the creative energy inspired by the course itself, the goal is for them to produce work that reflects and thinks critically about the particular stretch of time they each spent working together in our class. The thought is that we will all leave thinking about the relationship between the (short) history of a first-‐year writing class and how we can collectively try to remember and capture its unfolding.
