Contemporary Memoirs

This is a course description for informational purposes only. When this course is next offered in spring 2007, a full syllabus will be available via Blackboard to students registered in the course. Readings are subject to change.

Please note that, according to departmental policy, only those who have previously taken an ENG course are eligible to take a 3000-level ENG seminar.

Contemporary Memoirs (ENG 3115/5115)

course description:

This course investigates the significance of the memoir—a first-person account of a portion of one’s life, often written by a person not otherwise famous—in late-twentieth- and early-twenty-first-century literature. Through reading and discussing thirteen critically acclaimed memoirs, many of which were (or are) also bestsellers, we will examine the ways in which memoirists represent themselves through prose and the choices they make in shaping their life stories. We will approach these memoirs both as literature—as rich sources for critical analysis and reflection—and in terms of their appeal to present-day mass audiences. Recognizing that memoirists and novelists share many techniques, we will question the firmness of the boundary between nonfiction and fiction, as well as the relationship between text and visual images in memoirs. This course counts towards the English major as a genre course.

Readings:

Bauby, Jean-Dominique. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. 1997. 0375701214

Bechdel, Alison. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. 2006. 0618477942

Conway, Jill Ker. The Road from Coorain. 1989. 0679724362

Fuller, Alexandra.  Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood.  2001. 0375758992

Godwin, Peter.  Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa.  1997. 0802141927

Grealy, Lucy.  Autobiography of a Face. 1994. 0060569662

McBride, James.  The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Search for His White Mother.  1996. 1573225789

Patchett, Ann.  Truth & Beauty: A Friendship. 2004. 0060572140

Reichl, Ruth.  Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table. 1998. 0767903382

Salzman, Mark.  Lost in Place: Growing Up Absurd in Suburbia. 1995. 0679767789

Satrapi, Marjane.  Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood.  2003. 037571457X

Slater, Lauren.  Lying: A Metaphorical Memoir. 2001. 014200006X

Slater, Nigel.  Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger. 1592401619

course requirements:

active participation in discussion
research and preparation of a ten-minute oral presentation with an accompanying handout on the subject of one memoir’s critical reception
for undergraduates: one short paper (5-6 pp; option to revise) and one long paper (10-12 pp; topic proposal and detailed outline/abstract required)
for graduate students: one long paper (20 pages) that incorporates secondary sources and criticism

course objectives:

to explore the significance of the genre of memoir to present-day literature, and to present-day readers
to acquaint you thoroughly with the eleven memoirs we will read, as well as with their critical and popular reception
to deepen your understanding of the concerns exhibited and techniques deployed by writers of contemporary memoirs
to interrogate the boundary between memoir and fiction
to investigate the influence of gender upon memoir
to develop your skills as critical readers—particularly close reading, making connections within a literary work, and generating thought-provoking questions—through active reading and guided class preparation
to develop your skills at presenting your questions and ideas verbally, and at responding to those of others, through seminar-style class discussions and your oral presentation
to develop your skills as critical writers about literature, through analytical paper assignments, including an opportunity for revision
to develop your skills at library research, through the preparation of your oral presentation

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