Expos 20: Art of the Essay

Instructor: Greg Harris

Office Phone: 617-495-2322
Email: harris4@fas.harvard.edu
Website: http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~exposgh

Office: 8 Prescott St. (B-3)

Office Hours: after class
and by appt.

In a university context, the term essay points to at least four distinct kinds of writing: the
literary, the persuasive, the academic, and that subset of the academic, the
(freshman) composition. Expectations around these forms differ considerably: the literary essay
can diminish itself by insisting on tightly-argued persuasion; the academic earns rejection by
straying too far from its thesis. An expert in an academic discipline gains strength by
assuming the authority to address an audience of insiders in a stereotyped form; a first year
student might fear running into trouble if she assumes the authority to do anything but
establish a heavily qualified point using carefully mustered evidence.
In this course youll develop tools to approach all forms of the essay: in part through
practice (youll write both academic and literary essays), and in part through our ongoing
discussion of common strategies. Our readings will draw from a wide range of essays, and
among the issues we will discuss are the ways in which various forms of the essay try to define
and reachspecific audiences.
REQUIRED TEXTS
Best American Essays of the Century. Joyce Carol Oates, ed.
Writing with Sources. Distributed at writing test.
Expos. Distributed in class.
Course Pack. Available at Gnomon Copy, Mass. Ave. (date to be announced).

MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS
Essay One: Analyzing the Rhetoric of a Personal Essay, 5 pages
Dates: draft due 2/26; revision due 1 week after conference
Essay Two: Personal Essay, 8-10 pages
Dates: draft due beginning 3/21; revision due beginning 4/10
Essay Three: Evaluating a Body of Work, 8-10 pages
Dates: draft due 4/30; revision due 5/15 (during reading period)

OTHER REQUIREMENTS
In each of the three units you will:
Write several exercises and/or predrafts
Compose and submit a working draft, along with a brief cover letter;
Participate in a workshop discussion of drafts of the same kind by fellow students;
come to a conference with me, in my office, about your plans for revising your draft.
submit for grading a revision, along with a letter of self-evaluation.
I expect you to do the assigned reading and any associated thinking or writing in time to be able
to participate actively in class. It is especially important to participate in workshop discussion of
other students drafts.

REQUIREMENTS (CONTD)
Practicalities:
All predrafts and drafts (along with cover pages), must be turned in as printed copies and
as an email attachment in Word, text, or rtf format.
At the top right corner of your cover page/first page put, single-spaced: Your Name,
Course Title, My Name, Assignment (e.g., Conference Draft of Essay 3) and Date.
Papers must have titles, numbered pages, and reasonable margins (1 in.) and fonts (11-12
point) and be double-spaced without significant grammatical or spelling errors.

GRADES
Your first paper will count 25%, your second 30%, your third 35%, and your diligence in class
and writing exercises for 10%. To be fair to everyone, I try not to accept late work. In the case of
an emergency, you must contact me in advance of the due time in order to get a brief extension.

DRAFTS
At the heart of Expository Writing is the skill of working through multiple drafts to get to
ever-clearer and more worthwhile ideas and arguments. The draft is by definition an incomplete
piece of writing, a work in progress that will almost certainly change (sometimes quite a lot) by
the time you complete the project. It is a space of discovery, a chance to think through writing
and push your ideas as far as you can. Although the draft is a stage in the unfolding of your ideas,
it does need to be a substantive product, a sincere effort to shape your ideas in writing as
effectively as possible. It should not be the first, hasty thoughts that occur to you when you sit
down to the computer (and it should not be riddled with typos). In order to be something we can
work with, the draft needs to offer a clear, focused thesis and pursue a careful demonstration of
the argument (although some points may be less developed than others).
Draft Cover Letters reflect on your writing process and the state of your essay: they direct
the reader to areas of ongoing concern. All cover letters should be typed and -1 page long,
and should address the following:
What is your thesis (central claim)?
What are the biggest problems youre having at this point in the writing process?
What idea or point do you feel youve made most successfully? Least successfully?
Whats the most important aspect of the essay that youd like your reader(s) to give you
feedback on? (e.g., thesis, structure, use of evidence, persuasiveness, style)
If you were to start revising today, what three things would you focus on?

REVISIONS
Revising means seeing again. Far from being mere superficial editing of language,
revision will mean rethinking your ideas, the structure of your argument, and the evidence you
use. In many cases, you may feel like youre starting over. This is part of the normal (and
beneficial) process of thinking through writingof moving beyond initial thoughts towards ideas
that may be subtle or even invisible before you start wrestling with words.
Revision cover letters should address the following questions:
What was the process of revision likewhat difficulties, what insights did it produce?
What remains challenging in writing the essay?
How has the essay changed in terms of thesis, structure, evidence, etc.? Whats
improved, whats remained problematic? Have new problems developed?

CONFERENCES
These take place in my office (B-3, Expository Writing Building, 8 Prescott St) unless weve
made other arrangements. I will expect you to tell me about your plans for revision, and then
well discuss those plans.
Preparing for conference:
Arrive 15 minutes before your conference is scheduled to begin; pick up your draft and
read through my comments.
Think out some responses to or ideas about my suggestions.
Bring the text(s) you are writing about to the conference, and a pen to take notes
Conference sign-up is online (URL http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~exposgh/tool/signup/)
Conferences are a mandatory part of the course; if for some reason you need to reschedule, be
sure to call me before your scheduled conference. Be aware, though, that because conference
weeks are so busy, I may not be able to reschedule you.

ATTENDANCE
Because Expos has a shorter semester and fewer class hours than other courses, and because
instruction in Expos proceeds by sequential writing activities, consistent attendance is essential. If
you are absent without medical excuse more than twice, you are eligible to be officially excluded
from the course and given a failing grade. After two absences, you and your freshman dean will
receive a letter informing you of your peril.
Apart from religious holidays, only medical absences can be excused. In the case of a
medical problem, you should contact your preceptor before the class to explain, but in any event
within 24 hoursotherwise you will be required to provide a note from UHS or another medical
official, or your Freshman Dean, as you will also be required in the case of protracted or repeated
illness.

COMPLETION OF WORK
Because your Expos course is a planned sequence of writing, you must write all of the assigned
essays to pass the course, and you must write them within the schedule of the course--not in the
last few days of the semester after you have fallen behind. If you fail to submit at least a
substantial draft of an essay by the final due date in that essay unit you will receive a letter
reminding you of these requirements and specifying the new date by which you must submit the
late work. If you fail to submit at least a substantial draft of the essay by this new date you are
eligible to be officially excluded from the course and given a failing grade.

WRITING CENTER
The Writing Center, Barker Center Room 019 (495-1655), is a good resource for writing help of
any kind (though not simple proofreading and editing). Tutors are available free-of-charge by
appointment on weekdays and by drop-in on Monday-Thursday evenings, 7-9 PM. Appointments
can be made online at http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/ . Students are also encouraged to
consult the various guides to writing available at the Writing Center website.

UNIT ONE: CLOSE READING

WEEK ONE
February 7

Intro: What is an Essa?

The Academic vs. the Personal Essay
The Essay as literature: what earns a writer a public voice?
For next class: Read Donald Hall, A Hundred Thousand Straightened Nails
Francis Bacon, Narcissus

February 9

Discuss Hall, Baconparadoxes of the personal

Interpretation and Close Reading
For next class: Read Lydia Fakundiny, Talking About Style,
Carl Klaus, Essayists on the Essay,
Richard Wright, The Ethics of Living Jim Crow
Write Exercise 1: Noticing Rhetorical Features, Asking Questions

WEEK TWO
February 14

Discuss Exercise 1: Wright, Hall, Bacon in light of Fakundiny, Klaus

claims, observations, evidence
For next class: read Michel de Montaigne, Of Practice
Margot Livesey, How to Tell a True Story

February 16

discuss Montaigne, Livesayopen vs.closed narrative structures

For next class: read Annie Dillard, Total Eclipse
Write Exercise 2: Answering Analytical Questions with a
Thesis; pointing to evidence

WEEK THREE
February 21

Discuss Dillard, Exercise 2: Answering Analytical Questions with a

Thesis; pointing to evidence
Supporting a thesis; idea, motive, audience and academic style
For next class: read student essays:
Dennis Chira, Breaking with Our British Brethren,
Rachel Bender, Hope Against Hope in Primo Levi

February 23

Discuss Chira, Bender, academic vs. personal essays revisited

Essay Beginnings; revision; workshops
For next class: Write Essay One: Analyzing the Rhetoric of a Personal Essay
(due SUNDAY at 5 p.m.)
Pick up workshop drafts (Monday); prepare workshop letters

WEEK FOUR

CONFERENCE WEEK (signup at www.courses.harvard.edu/~exposgh)

February 26 (Sunday)

Turn in Conference Draft of Essay 1 by 5:00 p.m.

February 27 (Monday)

Pick up conference drafts at Expos Files (Lamont Library Reference Desk)

February 28

Draft workshop
For next class: write workshop letters

March 2

Draft workshop
For next class: Read Writing with Sources, prepare exercise
Read Lewis Thomas, Lives of a Cell,
George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant
Grace Paley, The Value of Not Understanding Everything

UNIT TWO: PERSONAL ESSAY

WEEK FIVE
March 7

Starting the Essay

Discuss Thomas, Orwell, Paley
Discuss Writing with Sources
For next class: Read Gordon Harvey, Shooting an Essay
Montaigne, Of Giving the Lie
Peter Elbow, Wrongness and Felt Sense

March 9

Starting the Essay

Discuss Harvey, Montaigne, Elbow
For next class: Write Predraft 2.1: Starting the essay
Read Mary McCarthy, Artists in Uniform
Read Joan Didion, The White Album

WEEK SIX
March 14

What makes essays good: motive, key terms

Discuss Predraft 2.1, Elbow
For next class: Write Predraft 2.2
Read Annie Dillard, The Death of a Moth
Virginia Woolf, The Death of the Moth

March 16

What makes essays good: style and voice, language and image
Discuss Dillard, Woolf
Discuss Predraft 2.2
For next class: Read sample student essays (handed out in class)
Read Gordon Harvey, Presence in the Essay (excerpt)
Prepare Exercise 1: Evaluating Essays

WEEK SEVEN

CONFERENCE WEEK (signup at www.courses.harvard.edu/~exposgh)

March 21

What makes essays good: outside sources and presence

Discuss Exercise 1, sample essays
For next class: prepare workshop letters

March 23

Draft workshop
For next class: prepare workshop letters

SPRING BREAK
WEEK EIGHT

CONFERENCE WEEK (signup at www.courses.harvard.edu/~exposgh)

April 4

Draft workshop
For next class: prepare workshop letters

April 6

Draft workshop
For next class (begins Unit 3): Read [sample essays

UNIT THREE: EVALUATING A BODY OF WORK

WEEK NINE
November 22

Choosing a Body of Work to Evaluate

Discuss Writing with Sources, exercise
For next class: Revise Personal Essay
Read [sample body of work essays]

November 24

THANKSGIVINGclass does not meet.

WEEK TEN
November 29

how ideas/thesis arise from comparison

Discuss [sample essays]
Turn in revision of Essay 2: Personal Essay
For next class: Read [essays theme ]

December 1

Discuss [essays theme 1]; structuring complex essays

and orienting readers to structure
For next class: Read [essays theme 2]

WEEK ELEVEN
December 6

Discuss [essays theme 2]

For next class: Read [essays theme 3]

December 8

Discuss [essays theme 3]

For next class: prepare workshop letters

WEEK TWELVE

CONFERENCE WEEK (signup at www.courses.harvard.edu/~exposgh)

December 11 (Sunday)

Turn in Conference Draft of Essay 3 by 5:00 p.m.

December 12 (Monday)

Pick up conference drafts at Expos Files (Lamont Library Reference Desk)

December 13

Draft workshop
For next class: prepare workshop letters

December 15

Draft workshop
For next class: prepare workshop letters

WEEK THIRTEEN
December 20

Draft workshop

READING PERIOD
January 6-10
Wednesday, January 11

optional conferences
Revision of Essay 3 due