Writing the Self

Catalog description

What does it mean to be a writer? How does the act of writing contribute to the journey of self discovery? This first-year seminar will explore the way we cultivate self through various acts of writing. Students will critically read and discuss several forms of writing from essays to short stories to blogs and current social media outlets. In addition to Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, students will read selections from many authors including but not limited to James Baldwin, Tobias Wolff, Anne Lamott, and ZZ Packer. While interacting with an author's work, students will also read and consider the author's biography, life choices, beliefs, and values and how these are evident (or not) and connected (or not) to their work. Students will participate in creative writing and journaling assignments to explore their own experience as writers and how the act of self reflection in writing may contribute to self discovery and a better sense of self.