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instructor: Susan Nash, Ph.D.
e-mail: susan@beyondutopia.com
Required Work:
* One 1,000-word journal for each of the five units
* One 2,500-word project (approximately 12 pages if typed in 12-point Courier and double-spaced)
Questions:
What is the ideal structure for the journal?
Perhaps one effective way to proceed is to respond to
questions on the websites for each part. You may also
respond to the following:
What did you learn from the sites & the reading material? Why? Where?
Discuss the underlying concepts. How did they make you think? Mention specific examples.
How does the subject matter interest you? Cite specific examples.
How does the subject matter relate to your life? Can you think of instances in which it relates to other people's lives?
What should I do for my final project?
Your final project should consist of a 2,500-word personal essay in which you explore one or more of the themes that seemed particularly relevant to you in this class. This should be a first-person essay and it should be original work, although it is possible to use limited quotes. The key is to develop your own idea, following a form and format that allows you to express your thoughts, opinions, impressions, and often radical ideas on a topic.
Here are a few ideas or themes to explore:
"Every Picture Tells a Story": Behind Photographs and Paintings -- the stories, feelings, and impressions they transmit to me. Write responses to the art that you have seen.
My Movie-Watching Diary -- write a long memoir of you watching movies -- make comments on the films, your life, and the people around you.
Road Trip of the Mind -- take a road trip and make a journal of it. Mix and combine your thoughts with quotes from philosophers and artists. It is best if the movies are ones that disturb you a bit and make you think.
Autobiographical Poems -- write a series of 15 poems that respond to the work of Marina Tsvetaeva or another writer you find interesting
Diary of Madness and Joy -- write a "faux" (fake!) memoir of a person who is losing his / her sanity (slowly going schizophrenic), but doesn't realize it
Diary of Madness and Despair--write a "faux" (fake!) memoir of a person who is losing his / her sanity, and (sadly enough) realizes it.
My Family's Stories -- write about the people in your family -- these can be people whom you've only heard about via stories passed down and told to you via your other family members, or they can be your own recollections, either of distant or very recent past.
About your instructor:
http://www.occe.ou.edu/nash/nashcv/
or
http://www.occe.ou.edu/nash/nashacademic
Writings by your instructor:
http://www.beyondutopia.com
or
http://beyondutopia.tripod.com
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