Non-Fictional Prose

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 After our class discussion on Tuesday and after reading the group suggestions, I think that our syllabus should include a variety of different genres and mediums. People in the class where interested in different mediums, like film, and different themes and ideas, like religion, science and race. I don't think we should limit ourselves to two topic themes. I think we should read whole texts as opposed to reading excerpts from chosen books because you will be better equipped to talk about the book. I really liked the idea of comparison between the texts, but it does not have to be, in my opinion, reading two books, comparing them and then choosing another two books and so on. I think that what we have been doing so far with comparing books has worked for us.

Week One: Clash of Civilizations

9/11 Commission Report  - A Graphic Adaptation (we could also read the original text but this plays with form)

Path to Paradise: The Inner World of Suicide Bombers and Their Dispatchers  -

Week Two: Environmentalism and Capitalism

When we gathered in groups today to write down a group proposal, we looked at all the books that the other people proposed and tried to find the most interesting and most suggested forms of writing. We decided that the best way to continue this semester is to choose different mediums, some of which we have explored earlier this semester such as graphic novels, and others that we have not yet studied, such as documentary and film. We considered dividing the books to a variety of categories to explore diverse forms of writing.

The books are listed in the order we thought would transition us from the books we read so far to where we could be:

1. History: Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson

2. Science: Spook by Mary Roach

Identity is sometimes defined by race, religion, and/or the place where you grew up. Yet, two people can have all of these things in common, and define themselves as very different from one another. How much of your identity is yours? How do people then go about writing an autobiography and giving their readers the 'important' pieces of information.

Suggestions for Readings:

Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington

The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James

An American Dilemma by Gunnar Myrdal

Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen

Autobiographies by W.B. Yeats

From a NYTimes article today about Why Indiscretions Appear Youthful: "memory amplifies righteous self-messaging. In piecing together a life story, the mind nudges moral lapses back in time and shunts good deeds forward ... creating a doctored autobiography .... “We can’t make up the past, but the brain has difficulty placing events in time, and we’re able to shift elements around .... The result is that we can create a personal history that ... makes us feel we’re getting better and better.”

 For the remainder of the semester I would like to look at different mediums besides that of just the printed book. I propose that we either watch or read Out of Africa for week one, watch the movie Out of Africa for week two, and read West With the Night for week three. I then want to transition into more modern non fiction; for week four I want to read a children's book- I'm not sure which right now but maybe Is A Blue Whale The Biggest Thing There Is? For week five I want to watch 13, and for our final week I suggest A Million Little Pieces.