We begin immediately with our textbooks. If you don’t already have them,  though I very much hope you do, under no circumstance should you order your texts now without checking shipping time very closely; in a five week course that you yourself chose, there is no great excuse for emailing the instructor that you don’t have your texts until the second week. You have this week to do the homework; perhaps you can get the books within that time and get the work done without emailing me about it. 

Okay, that’s the big tough love speech. Here’s the work. 

1) Read Chapter One and Chapter Two in Creative Nonfiction: Researching and Crafting Stories of Real Life. 

2) Read the essay “I Just Want to be Average” by Mike Rose in the text 50 Essays.

3) Discuss those here. Consider answering these questions: how do you think nonfiction can be creative? Is there a particular one of the Five Hallmarks of Creative Nonfiction that seem strange or wonderful to you? How do you feel about writing in the first person (“I”)? What caught your interest, even one sentence, in the Mike Rose essay? What are subjects in your life that you could write about? 

Post this discussion by Friday evening to allow time for replies. 

4) Respond to classmates’ discussions by Sunday evening: reply to two, and work hard to reply to those who have fewer comments than others or who have none at all. 

Make sense? Feel very free to post questions about timing or navigation as you get to know the course shell.