Non-Fictional Prose Course

 So far, I am enjoying this course. i enjoy listening to the opinions of my classmates, and I especially like using Serendip. i enjoy being able to look on the site and still feel connected to the class and the course materials. I also think that the over-arching questions as we read have been helpful in connecting all the materials we have read and discussed. I would like for the rest of the semester to have that sort of flow as we continue to read other novels and explore other avenues of discussion. 

I've really enjoyed using Serendip for this class...I think its a great way to communicate ideas informally and it makes me feel a lot less stressed about submitting written work. I've also liked the types of books that we have read. I feel like they are the kinds of books that I would never have had the opportunity to read and discuss in a more conventional English class...I look forward to reading the books we have chosen for the rest of the semester. The main thing I would change about the course is the way that we discuss the pieces we read. I feel as though we spend a lot of time discussing the authors' opinions and our own opinions about them rather than the form of the work itself and how the piece relates to the genre of non-fiction.

 I think that thus far in the semester we have had some good class discussions with interesting insights into the reading. However, I think that sometimes discussions can turn into arguments and while this isn’t a bad thing in itself, it can sometimes distract from the original topic of discussion.

I like how the class is structured to facilitate discussion and share ideas without feeling the restriction of grading. I also like the shared aspect of the papers, and how we were able to see all of the papers. It was nice how we were linked to web papers that had a similar topic as our own. I also liked how we had the freedom to choose our own topic on which to write our papers.

GROUP MEMBERS: Sandra, Rachel, and Jacky

For our proposal we wanted to go with what seemed most popular in all the individual proposals, because we felt that what mattered was that everyone would enjoy at least some books and or movies on the list.

Below is our proposal:

Most Popular

 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.

Since all of the proposals from Tuesday are held together by one central theme, the best way to choose a syllabus would be to decide as a class what theme everyone is most interested in studying- history, science, personal identity, a compare/contrast approach to the reading, etc. I think that it will be easier to choose books to read if all of them fall under the same broad idea.

Personally, I like the idea of the construction of reality that one group suggested. The idea of what is reality seems to be a major theme of the course already, and it would be interesting to keep exploring this question. Also, “What is reality?” is a broad enough question that it could definitely take us until the end of the semester to discuss.

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

Group Members: Aya, Kate, Sandra

Theme: The Construction of Reality

Spatial Reality:
"You Are Here" by Colin Ellard

Language:

OED, Webster, Urban Dictionary

"The Professor & the Mad Man"

Distortion:

"F is for Fake" by Orson Welles (mock-documentary)

Affiliation:

"Spook" by Mary Roach

"The Varieties of Religious Experience" by William James

Mental Health:

-"Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health" by Ron Hubbard

Memoir:

"The Year of Magical Thinking" by Joan Didion

 -Grading: Relationship to getting lost.

              Numeric value might give students a sense of place in curriculum

Link: "The Anosagnosic's Dilemma"

              "not very good at not knowing what we don't know"

-Discussion on 2nd Half of Course:

             Post in course forum a proposal for the rest of the semester, an "Independent Study Program".  Think about what you do not already know.

-Discussion on Arne Naess

              We all meet a different Arne Naess.