SEMESTER AT SEA COURSE SYLLABUS Voyage: Spring 2014 Discipline: Writing ENWR 1559-502: Travel Writing (Section 4) Division: Lower Faculty Name: Greg Seib Pre-requisites: An introductory composition course. Some advanced essay writing/creative nonfiction experience helpful but not necessary. COURSE DESCRIPTION: Travel stories aren t just what we tell an audience upon our return home from a journey; they reveal to ourselves what we ve learned. We want to describe moments that have rattled us or moved us or changed the way we think and feel. But to make a travel story truly memorable requires understanding of techniques, care for accuracy, engagement of the senses, personal insight, and knowledge of stories that have been told before. In this class, we will create travel stories that remain vivid, memorable and relevant long after we have left ports. We will write to uncover what is authentic about our experience, then revise our drafts to make them more intelligent, coherent, and entertaining. The class will be structured around workshops, readings, and discussions where we consider our identities as travelers, and we will analyze our responses to encounters. Students will keep a travel journal, write personal essays and complete in-class writing exercises. Writing that has been peer reviewed and critiqued will be honed and resubmitted as final drafts. Emphasis will given to the personal essay, but we will also look at examples of fiction and poetry to help us achieve different effects. COURSE OBJECTIVES: 1. Give students an understanding of travel writing 2. Expose students to a range of essays and writings by writers who travel 3. Inspire students to write entertaining, meaningful travel essays 4. Help students appreciate and hone their unique voices and insights 5. Help students create a dynamic written record of their time on SAS 6. Help students improve their writing skills 7. Give students an understanding and appreciation of the function of the workshop REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS: None. We will used scanned library materials put in an electronic folder accessible on the ship. TOPICAL OUTLINE OF COURSE B1- January 13: Course syllabus review and expectations 1
B2- January 15: Introduction to Travel Writing Being A Stranger Paul Theroux How To Explore Like A Real Victorian Adventurer Monte Reel Where The Hula Goddess Lives James Houston The 300-Word Challenge William Zinsser January 17: Hilo B3- January 18: Traveler or Tourist Hawaii Vignette Due The Art of the Travel Essay Patti Marxsen Why We Travel Pico Iyer The Other Oahu Paul Theroux B4- January 21: Trying to Forget What the Photographer Saw Reading National Geographic, Lutz, Chapter 1 excerpt (pp. 1-9); Chapter 6 B5- January 23: Methods On Keeping A Notebook Joan Didion The Situation and The Story Vivian Gornick (pp. 3-26) The Lead and the Ending William Zinsser The Lonely Planet Guide To My Apartment Jonathan Stern January 24: Study Day B6- January 26: Japanese Content Ship Vignette Due The Narrow Road to the Deep North Matsuo Basho Japanese Tattoo Dustin W. Leavitt On Japanese Trains Sallie Tisdale B7-January 28: Preparation for Field Lab January 29- February 3: Yokohama and Kobe B8- February 5: Better Editing Japan Vignette Due On Writing Well, Part 1 (pp. 1-37) Content Management William Zinsser Shitty First Drafts Anne Lamott February 6-11: Shanghai, transit, Hong Kong B9- February 13: Women s Travel Writing China Vignette Due Women s Travel Writing Today Carl Thompson Our Own Apocalypse Now Haley Sweetland Edwards 2
February 14-19: Ho Chi Minh City B10- February 21: Introduction to Workshopping (Using Vignettes) Vietnam Vignette Due February 22-23: Singapore February 25: Study Day B11- February 26: Workshop Day for Japan Field Lab Essay Shooting An Elephant George Orwell First Draft of Japan Field Lab Essay Due February 27-March 4: Rangoon B12- March 6: Creating Portraits FINAL draft of Japan Field Lab Essay Due The Incredible Buddha Boy George Saunders The Interview William Zinsser B13- March 8: Maximum India Pico Iyer March 9-14: Cochin B14- March 16: Bad Trips India Vignette Due My Worst Journey Jan Morris The Second Journey William Trevor Is That It? (excerpt) Bob Geldof March 17: Study Day B15- March 19: Description Sight into Insight Annie Dillard Life on the Rocks Annie Dillard Flunking Description William Zinsser March 21: Port Louis B16- March 22: Down to Earth (Nature Writing) Desert Solitaire, Chapter Water, Edward Abbey B17- March 24: Workshop Day (Vignettes) Mauritius Vignette Due 3
March 25: Study Day B18- March 27: Politics In Writing Keeping Watch Lynn Freed How To Write About Africa Binyavanga Wainaina March 28-April 2: Cape Town B19- April 4: Ghanaian Content South Africa Vignette Due The Very Best Intentions Margaret Laurence For Whom Things Did Not Change Ama Ata Aidoo The Messiah Paul Harper B20- April 6: Workshop Day for 2 nd Essay First Draft of 2 nd Essay Due April 7: Study Day April 10-14: Takoradi and Tema B22- April 9: Giving Advice Ghana Vignette Due Advice To A Traveler Joseph Brodsky B23- April 18: Revision/Workshop Day April 19: Study Day B24- April 21: FINAL Draft of Second Essay Due A Distant Episode Paul Bowles April 22: Global Lens Finals/Study Day April 23-27: Casablanca B25- April 29: B Day Finals May 2: Arrive in Southampton Note: A writing course requires flexibility. There may be minor additions and deletions to course readings, along with changes in the allocation of class time. There may be times when we don t adhere strictly to the schedule as outlined. FIELD WORK 4
Field lab attendance is mandatory for all students enrolled in this course. Please do not book individual travel plans or a Semester at Sea sponsored trip on the day of our field lab. FIELD LAB (At least 20 percent of the contact hours for each course, to be led by the instructor.) For our field lab we will travel by public transit to Harajuku in Tokyo, where we will observe, take notes on and try to make sense of this vibrant and complex neighborhood full of contrasts. We will experience one of the most modern urban areas in the world in proximity to the Meiji Shrine grounds, a place of tradition and spirituality. We will observe the city s transformation as day turns to night and we will enjoy a Japanese dinner out before returning to the ship. While on location, students will take detailed descriptive notes in their journals, considering course readings in relation to their observations. Students will gather specific types of information at different locales, and a portion of the day will be dedicated to listening and creating a written soundscape. Given that the outdoors might be very cold, we will focus on both indoor and outdoor sights, and students will need to bring currency for time in cafés and warming up. Students will rely upon their notes to write a 1250-1500 word personal travel essay about their experience. Notes will also be handed in with the final draft. The essay will be workshopped and peer reviewed prior to being submitted in final draft. This assignment counts for 30% of your final grade. Other field assignments along the voyage will include 10, 1 page (single-spaced) vignettes that together will compose a travel journal suitable for an audience. The vignettes will derive from your own personal, travel journals. There will be vignettes due for 8 ports and 1 for the ship. 1 additional vignette is required. As well, up to 2 alternate vignettes may be submitted. The additional and alternate vignettes may fall under topics such as Rough Waters or On Deck at Night, or may be about whatever excites and inspires you to write (an incident, a moment, an event, a person, an encounter). Vignettes do not need to follow a traditional personal essay format, but they do need to be clearly, coherently and intelligently written, exploring meaningful material. Vignettes will be shared with the class, for reflection and critique both immediately following ports, but also in dedicated workshops. Each vignette is worth 2% of your final grade. Your second essay will be an expansion of one of your vignettes into a longer piece of 1250-1500 words. METHODS OF EVALUATION / GRADING RUBRIC Field Lab Assignment, Essay 1 (1250-1500 words): 30% Essay 2, expanded vignette (1250-1500 words): 30% 10 Field Assignment vignettes (1 single-spaced page each, max. 500 words): 20% Reading Quizzes: 10% (very basic quizzes designed to verify your completion of readings) Other Participation (including in-class discussion and exercises, workshop participation): 10% Grading Criteria A The writing is clear, vivid, inspired, intelligent and original, expressing complex and subtle observations in engaging ways. The paper is error free and successfully takes intellectual risks. It meets 5
length requirements and skillfully employs techniques and methods discussed in class. Surprising and entertaining, the writing makes the reader curious. It demonstrates refined thought processes while grappling honestly with its subject matter, which is well chosen, meaningful and pushes the author. B The writing is intelligent but not exceptional. Good writing is in evidence, as is an interesting topic, and organization. There is depth of analysis and solid exploration of ideas. There are vivid descriptions and some surprises. It attempts to employ techniques and methods discussed in class, though less successfully than in an A paper. There may be some grammatical issues or instances where the writing is less clear. The paper is a good effort that meets length requirements, but that is not as successfully executed as an A paper. C There may be competent writing in evidence. There are gestures toward insights, but they are not completely developed or explored. The writing may come across as rushed or artificial. An honest effort may also be in evidence; however, the subject matter may not be fruitful for exploration and cannot yield challenges or surprises. The paper does not meet length requirements. Grammatical problems tend to characterize the C paper. D The writing is unclear, cluttered and confusing at the sentence and paragraph levels. The paper is hard to follow, its point difficult to discern. The subject may not be appropriate for writing about or be worthy of exploration. The paper does not meet length requirements and can reveal carelessness or a lack of basic grammar and writing skills. Note: Class attendance is mandatory. No absence from class is excused without notification from the infirmary or your R.D. Absences will affect your participation grade. I will not accept late assignments unless I receive official notice regarding your absence. Note about writing workshops: Being on the ship requires a modified workshop structure that may be different from workshops you have participated in on your home campus. RESERVE LIBRARY LIST Not applicable ELECTRONIC COURSE MATERIALS The Art of the Travel Essay Patti Marxsen Why We Travel Pico Iyer Being A Stranger Paul Theroux The Lonely Planet Guide To My Apartment Jonathan Stern The 300-Word Challenge William Zinsser How To Explore Like A Real Victorian Adventurer Monte Reel The Other Oahu Paul Theroux Where The Hula Goddess Lives James Houston Reading National Geographic, Lutz, Chapter 1 excerpt (pp. 1-9); Chapter 6 On Keeping A Notebook Joan Didion The Situation and The Story (pp. 3-26), Vivian Gornick 6
The Lead and the Ending William Zinsser The Narrow Road to the Deep North Matsuo Basho Japanese Tattoo Dustin W. Leavitt On Japanese Trains Sallie Tisdale On Writing Well, Part 1, (pp. 1-37), William Zinsser Content Management William Zinsser Shitty First Drafts Anne Lamott Women s Travel Writing Today (pp. 195-198) Carl Thompson Our Own Apocalypse Now Haley Sweetland Edwards Shooting An Elephant George Orwell The Incredible Buddha Boy George Saunders The Interview William Zinsser Maximum India Pico Iyer My Worst Journey Jan Morris The Second Journey William Trevor Is That It? (excerpt) Bob Geldof Sight into Insight Annie Dillard Life on the Rocks Annie Dillard Flunking Description Zinsser Desert Solitaire, Chapter Water, Edward Abbey Keeping Watch Lynn Freed How To Write About Africa Binyavanga Wainaina The Very Best Intentions Margaret Laurence For Whom Things Did Not Change Ama Ata Aidoo The Messiah Paul Harper Advice To A Traveler Joseph Brodsky A Distant Episode Paul Bowles Note: there may be minor additions and deletions to this list. HONOR CODE Semester at Sea students enroll in an academic program administered by the University of Virginia, and thus bind themselves to the University s honor code. The code prohibits all acts of lying, cheating, and stealing. Please consult the Voyager s Handbook for further explanation of what constitutes an honor offense. Each written assignment for this course must be pledged by the student as follows: On my honor as a student, I pledge that I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment. The pledge must be signed, or, in the case of an electronic file, signed [signed]. 7