EN 349 Literature and the Environment Creative Nonfiction Essay Assignment In addition to reading, discussing, and writing about the work of other American nature/environmental writers, you will each...

EN 349 Literature and the Environment Creative Nonfiction Essay Assignment In addition to reading, discussing, and writing about the work of other American nature/environmental writers, you will each produce your own creative/creative nonfiction piece. Working off of the ideas and techniques that you have been developing in your field observations, as well as through our reading and class discussion, you will produce a creative nonfiction essay of 4-6 pages. Some approaches you may wish to consider: •








EN 349 Literature and the Environment Creative Nonfiction Essay Assignment In addition to reading, discussing, and writing about the work of other American nature/environmental writers, you will each produce your own creative/creative nonfiction piece. Working off of the ideas and techniques that you have been developing in your field observations, as well as through our reading and class discussion, you will produce a creative nonfiction essay of 4-6 pages. Some approaches you may wish to consider: • a personal essay relating an experience you had in nature or the outdoors, exploring the topic through the lens of your own personal experiences, reflections, ideas, and reactions. Remember that in writing creative nonfiction, you should attempt to observe, record, and thus shape a moment from real life. Writers thus extract meaning through factual details—they combine the fact of detail with the literary extrapolation necessary in rendering meaning from an observed scene. • imitate the style of one of the authors we have read and write an essay based on your own close, personal observations of a specific animal, plant, or natural physical object or of a particular landscape or biotic environment, drawing connections between your physical observations and insights you gain • develop a lyric essay based on one of the Field Observations that you conducted in class (or on a new, original observation that you conduct for this assignment). A lyric essay relies heavily on descriptions and imagery. Lyrical suggests something poetic, musical, or flowing (in a sense). This type of piece uses a heavily descriptive, flowing tone in order to tell a story. • Is there something we read or something you observed that has left you wanting to know more? Write a journalistic piece investigating something that you read about in one of our assigned texts or that you observed or speculated about in one of your Field Observations. Creative nonfiction should (1) include accurate and well-researched information, (2) hold the interest of the reader, and (3) potentially blur the realms of fact and fiction in a pleasing, literary style (while remaining grounded in fact). As one of the three formal writing assignments for this class, your creative nonfiction essay should reflect a great deal of thought, revision, and care. Please take some time to carefully read through all of the information below so that you have a complete and detailed understanding of the assignment expectations and requirements. Requirements: • Length: 4-6 pages (typed, double-spaced, 12-point font) • Grammar, Usage & Mechanics: as a formal piece of writing, your essay should show evidence of careful revision and have few if any errors in expression, usage, or mechanics • Writing Center or Smarthinking tutorial: You are required to make an appointment for a tutorial session at either Caldwell University’s Writing Center or through Smarthinking, the free online tutoring service available on Blackboard. You should bring a rough draft with you for this session and/or upload it. o You can access the Writing Center a variety of ways, including on the Portal: https://my.caldwell.edu/ICS/Students/Online_Writing_Lab.jnz o You can access Smarthinking on Blackboard o Please make sure that your tutor sends me a confirmation that you met with them Due Dates: o Writing Center or Smarthinking Tutorial: must complete by end of Unit 11 (11:59 PM on Friday) o Final Draft: Due Unit 12 by Sunday at 11:59 PM Resources: While you should use the texts that we have read in class as a model for this type of writing, you may also wish to consult a reference on creative nonfiction. There are many useful guides available in print or online (check with a librarian if you would like help in locating a guide). One online source that I would recommend is the UVM Writing Center’s page on creative nonfiction (https://www.uvm.edu/wid/writingcenter/tutortips/nonfiction.html). Here are some excerpts from this site: What “is” creative non-fiction? • Sometimes called literary journalism or the literature of fact, creative nonfiction merges the boundaries between literary art (fiction, poetry) and research nonfiction (statistical, fact-filled, run of the mill journalism). It is writing composed of the real, or of facts, that employs the same literary devices as fiction, such as setting, voice/tone, character development, etc. This makes if different (more “creative”) than standard nonfiction writing. • Creative nonfiction should (1) include accurate and well-researched information, (2) hold the interest of the reader, and (3) potentially blur the realms of fact and fiction in a pleasing, literary style (while remaining grounded in fact). • In the end, creative nonfiction can be as experimental as fiction—it just needs to be based in the real. https://my.caldwell.edu/ICS/Students/Online_Writing_Lab.jnz https://www.uvm.edu/wid/writingcenter/tutortips/nonfiction.html Content of creative nonfiction: • It's important to clarify that the content of creative nonfiction does not necessarily have to come from the life or the experience of the writer. Say, for instance, the writer is using techniques from literary journalism to create a portrait of a person interviewed. The writer may choose to write a portrait of the interviewee through an omniscient perspective, meaning the writer wouldn't be in the piece at all. • On the other hand, nonfiction writers often choose to write about topics or people close to them (including themselves). As long as the piece deals with something real, or something based on the real, the writer is allowed to take the piece in any direction he or she wishes. • In creative nonfiction, writers attempt to observe, record, and thus shape a moment(s) from real life. Writers thus extract meaning through factual details—they combine the fact of detail with the literary extrapolation necessary in rendering meaning from an observed scene. • At the same time, successful creative nonfiction attempts to overlay fact with traditional conceptions of dramatic structure. While rendering meaning from an observed scene, a piece should suggest a beginning, middle and end that clearly conveys the conflict and the characters and pushes the action toward some sort of closure. • In effect, creative nonfiction attempts to project a dramatic, literary framework upon everyday existence, rendering it enjoyable, enlightening and potentially meaningful. • While writing creative nonfiction, writers should dwell on sensory details and "show show show." • A piece should never just tell the reader something or summarize—this is what research non-fiction does. Different “types” of creative non-fiction writing: The Personal Essay: A piece of writing, usually in the first person, that focuses on a topic through the lens of the personal experience of the narrator. It can be narrative or non-narrative-it can tell a story in a traditional way or improvise a new way for doing so. Ultimately, it should always be based on true, personal experience. Literary Journalism: Literary journalism uses the techniques of journalism (such as interviews and reviews) in order to look outside of the straightforward, objective world that journalism creates. It uses literary practices to capture the scene/setting of the assignment or the persona of the person being interviewed. It can often be narrative or heavily imagistic. Another important aspect of literary journalism is that it often stretches the idea of "objective facts" in order to better reflect real life and real people. In other words, while journalism is about being completely objective, literary journalism says that people can't be objective because they already have their own subjective views about the world. Therefore, by taking the "objectiveness" out of the journalistic process, the writer is being more truthful. The Lyric Essay: The lyric essay is similar to the personal essay in that it also deals with a topic that affects the reader. However, the lyric essay relies heavily on descriptions and imagery. Lyrical suggests something poetic, musical, or flowing (in a sense). This type of piece uses a heavily descriptive, flowing tone in order to tell a story. What “is” creative non-fiction? Content of creative nonfiction: Different “types” of creative non-fiction writing: