The Art of the Essay

All Levels. What distinguishes an essay from a memoir or other work of nonfiction? What formal methods do essayists have at their disposal? Whether you’re a seasoned essayist or simply trying to get a basic handle on the craft, this class will give you a thorough introduction to the genre through guided readings of some of its most loved incarnations. Weekly readings will include James Baldwin, Roland Barthes, Joan Didion, Audre Lorde, Friedrich Nietzsche, Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf, and many others.

Readings

Week 1 – Truth in a Post-Factual Age

“On Truth and Lies in an Extra-moral Sense,” Friedrich Nietzsche
“The Decay of Lying—An Observation,” Oscar Wilde
“On Not Knowing Greek,” Virginia Woolf

Week 2 – Global Tribalism, Social Injustice

“We Refugees,” Hannah Arendt
“The Anger of the Damned,” Orhan Pamuk
“A Modest Proposal,” Jonathan Swift
“Violence, Mourning, Politics,” Judith Butler (in Precarious Life)
optional: Butler interview on Black Lives Matter

Week 3 – Black Lives Speaking

“Down at the Cross: Letter from a Region in My Mind,” James Baldwin
“Eulogy for Nigger,” David Bradley
“The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism,” Audre Lorde
Exchange with a racist Twitter troll on Martin Luther King Day, January 19, 2015, Ijeoma Oluo

Week 4 – Manifestos: The Rhetoric of Proclamation

“The Communist Manifesto,” Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
“First Manifesto for Surrealism,” Andre Breton
“The Privileges,” Stendhal
“A Cyborg Manifesto,” Donna Haraway
“The SCUM Manifesto,” Valerie Solanas

Week 5 – Meditations

“An Account of My Hut,” Kamo no Chōmei
“Walking,” Henry David Thoreau
“Holy Water,” Joan Didion
“Junkspace,” Rem Koolhaas

Week 6 – Food for Thought

“A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig,” Charles Lamb
“How to Boil Water,” MFK Fisher (from How to Cook a Wolf)
“Steak and Chips,” Roland Barthes (from Mythologies)
“With or Without a Lake of Melted Cheese,” Bethany Jean Clement