Instruction Mode: Online
Professor: Multiple Professors
Resource(s): | Type | Description | Required | Textbook | Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid, Lau, E., Canada: Coach House. Student Selected Memoir, 1995 |
Required | Textbook | Running with Scissors, Burroughs, A., New York: Picador, 2003 |
Optional | Textbook | The Vintage Book of Canadian Memoirs, Fetherling, G. (Ed.)., Toronto, ON: Vintage Canada., 2001 |
Optional | Other | Zinsser, W.(ed). (1998). Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir. New York: Houghton and Mifflin. |
Optional | Other | Zinsser, W. (2004). Writing About Your Life: A Journey into the Past. New York: Marlowe & Company. |
Optional | Other | Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: Harper-Collins |
Optional | Other | Buss, H. (2002). Repossessing the World: Reading Memoirs by Contemporary Women. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier Press. |
Optional | Other | Barrington, J. (2002). Writing the Memoir. Portland, Oregon: The Eighth Mountain Press. |
Applicable student group(s): This is an elective course for students in Sheridan Applied Degree programs.
Course Details: Module 1: Literary Traditions of Life Writing
(A) Orientations, Introductions and Definitions
(B) Recognizing Forms of Life Writing
(C) The Role of Style, Purpose and Voice
(D) Perception of Time in Life Writing
Select Readings may include,
• Ondaatje, M. Running in the Family (excerpt)
• Fraser, S. In My Father's House (excerpt)
Assessments: Quiz #1 (10%)
Module 2: Historical, Cultural and Psychological Context of Traditional Life Writing
(A) Childhood Memoirs and the Impact of Historical Context
(B) Relationships between Social Context and Psychology (trauma) within Life Writing
(C) Stories of Diaspora, Travel and Trauma
(E) Constructing Perceptions of Self
Select Readings may include
• Choy, W. Paper Shadows (excerpt)
• Posted online readings and videos
• Lau, E. Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid
Assessments: Quiz #2 (10%), Online Discussion #1 (10%)
Module 3: Hoaxes, Misrepresentation and Extreme Memoirs
(A) Defining the role of Truth in Life Writing
(B) Exploring controversies of accuracy and historical hoaxes
(C) Debating the “Need” for Truth and Accuracy in Life Writing
Select Readings may include
• Glassco, J. Memoirs of Montparnasse. (excerpt)
• Burroughs, A. Running with Scissors
• Posted online readings and podcasts
Assessments: Quiz #3 (10%) ; Online Discussion 2 (10%); Research Assignment (20%)
Module 4: Contemporary & Emerging Trends in Life Writing
(A) Current Debates on the Resurgence of Life Writing in Contemporary Non-Fiction
(B) Defining and Exploring forms of Graphic Memoirs:
(C) Defining and Exploring Social Media Formats and its impact on Life Writing
(D) Impact of Participatory Culture and Citizen Journalism on contemporary Life Writing
(E) Exploring Emerging Trends
Select Readings may include
• Posted online readings and videos
• Student-selected Life Writing
Assessments: Memoir and Analysis (25%), Online Discussion #3 (5%)