Hazlitt group work

William Hazlitt, “On the Pleasure of Hating”

Discuss these questions with your small group, taking turns recording answers in this document as you arrive at conclusions:

1.    Take the long paragraph beginning at the top of page 190 and ending at the top of page 192 and break it into several shorter paragraphs. Where would it make sense to break this very long paragraph up? What effect does breaking it up have?

2.    Does Hazlitt actually see Hating as a “pleasure,” or is it something else? What else might this essay be called? (“On the ______ of hating?” “A ______ for/of hating”? Or…?) Does this seem like a defenseor an apology, or is it something else entirely (and if so, what would you call it?)

3.    Does this defense of hating seem in any way true to you? (Does it seem to show us something important about its age and/or culture, or about human nature itself?) Or is more a product of its author’s personality? Why? Find one or two pieces of evidence for one perspective, or the other, or both.

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4.    Is hating an important part of contemporary mainstream American culture? If so, how so? (And if not, what makes you say so?) Answer in a well-developed paragraph that encompasses the complexity of your group's discussion on this question.

Reflecting on your direction for essay #1

Five minute quick-write (in your notebook):

• If you already have an idea for your topic or direction for Essay #1: Describe your general idea for your essay and briefly sum up where you think you might go with it
• If you're still deciding on a direction: Sum up the most promising couple of ideas you have so far and where you think you might take each
• If you don't have any solid ideas for a direction yet : Look through the writing you’ve done in your notebook and identify two kernels of writing that you think could become an essay. Pick one to explore more and write about how it might become an essay, or combine the two, if that seems interesting. 

Ten-minute walk-and-talk:

In pairs, walk toward Kenney Gym along Stoughton, pass DCL, turn left just before you reach Kenney, and walk around the quad leading toward Beckman. We'll walk around the loop of that quad and come back the same way we came. As you walk, spend five or so minutes discussing one person’s essay ideas and six or so minutes discussing the other person’s. (I’ll let you know when five minutes have passed and you need to switch.) Each of you should share your ideas as concisely as you can, then your partner should briefly sum up 1. the aspect of your idea that seems most interesting and promising to them and (if there’s time) 2. the thing that seems most "thorny"* to them, and then share their ideas for things to consider in pursuing the idea. Bring your notebooks along. 


* (We'll talk about "thorny" in class.)

A few select blogs from former Nonfiction Writing students

A couple of posts from Clara's thoughtful, introspective blog, Solo: "Post #1 (reflection, very dramatic)"(on the topic of Frank Ocean's then-recent record, Blonde, from which Clara took her blog title), "Thoughts on being vulnerable," and "introverts, elitism, and Uni."

Anupam's vivid and engaging travel-themed blog, L'Avion Rose.

Lily's blog, Dashing On, which has a series of excellent travel posts (with beautiful pictures) from a trip she took to Ireland with her family the summer before she took NFW.

A post from Simone's blog, Cliff Notes, on the subject of her art postcard collection. (Check out the rest of her blog, too, if you're interested.)

Claire's blog, The View from Thing 2, which offers a variety of humorous and nicely detailed posts on a range of personal and usually fairly lighthearted topics.

"Dspburtte" from Xanthe's blog SpaghettiOs and Sunshine

"Art" from Adi's blog, Enter Title Here

"If you’ve seen me in the hallway" from Daniel's blog, Daniel Ramkumar's Deeply Personal Rummagings of the Mind and Soul


Read at least three posts from one of the blogs above, and then read at least one individual post each from three of the other blogs. Then we'll talk.

(Keep some brief and basic notes in your notebooks as you read. Most importantly, the names of the blogs you read and the titles of the posts. Also, anything that strikes you about the voice of the writer, the topic[s] they focus on, the details they include in their post, and anything else that really jumps out at you.)

Reading for Wednesday postponed

Today in class we voted to postpone our reading of one of the four essays listed in the post below until next week, in favor of one extra work day for the multimedia project.

Some of you still need to take the reading poll, however, so please do that now if you haven't already!

Reading poll, part II

Please take this reading poll to decide which essay we'll read and discuss together next week.

Here are links to the four possible choices:

David Foster Wallace, “Consider the Lobster”

Dina Nayeri, "My Father, In Four Visits Over ThirtyYears"

Abbey Fenbert, “I Was a Seventh-Grade Book Censor"

Rafiq Ebrahim, "Strangers on an 18-Hour Train"

Feedback on a very early draft of your portfolio reflection

Choose a partner, if possible someone you’ve worked with on peer editing one of your essays this semester (if not, that’s okay too). Take about 20 minutes to read their draft reflection and answer the following questions on their draft (questions 1-3) and on your own draft or in your notebook (question 4):

1. What was the most interesting and/or surprising part of this draft reflection? 
2. What did you want to hear more about?
3. List between one and three questions you were left with after reading this draft reflection.
4. Did reading this make you think of anything you want to add to your own reflection? If so, make a note of it in your notebook or on your own draft reflection. 

Choose-one-of-two-essays discussion questions

For the Gelareh Asayesh essay:

1. Asayesh describes the veil she wears to the wake of a family friend as “this curtain of cloth that gives with one hand, takes away with the other.” How would you sum up the things she feels wearing hijab “takes away” from her (and/or women in general), and the things it “gives” her (and/or women in general)? Does each side of this divide seem equally compelling or powerful, given her essay?

2. Discuss whether the ambivalence Asayesh expresses toward wearing hijab is something you related to while reading this essay, and (if so) which aspect(s) of your life made it relatable for you.

For the Barack Obama essay:

1. What surprised you the most about this essay?

2. Obama says “everywhere I go across the country, and around the world, I see people pushing back against dated assumptions about gender roles.” This essay was published about sixteen months ago. Do you think that generalization is more or less true than it was then? How? Or is it both more true and less true? How?

For both essays:

3. Can you imagine writing an essay for publication sometime in the future? The two essays you chose from today are from Vogue and The New York Times, respectively. Can you envision a context where you might publish a personal essay in a similar publication? If not, is there any context where you see yourself writing an essay that an audience larger than a classroom would read? Why and/or why not? Discuss.

Reading for Tuesday, and a poll

Read one of the following essays for class tomorrow, and answer the questions below the essay in your notebook:

“Shrouded in Contradiction” by Gelareh Asayesh

• What new information or perspectives about the Islamic practice of women wearing hijab did this essay give you? 
• Do you relate to the ambivalence Asayesh expresses toward wearing hijab? What in your life makes this relatable for you?
• Consider this as a piece of writing. What is strong about it? Is there anything you would suggest to make it stronger?

“This is What a Feminist Looks Like” by Barack Obama

• What did you expect from this essay, based on the title and author? In what ways did the essay fulfill your expectations, and in what ways did it surprise you?
• Did Obama's definition of and examples of feminism widen or challenge your definition of "feminism"? If so, how? If not, reflect on why your ideas and his might be so in accord.
• Consider this as a piece of writing. What is strong about it? Is there anything you would suggest to make it stronger?

And please take this poll to decide which of the essays below we'll read for class next week:

David Foster Wallace, “Consider the Lobster”

Alyssa Morgan, "Saving a Piece of a FamilyPortrait"

Alex Tizon, "My Family’s Slave"

Dina Nayeri, "My Father, In Four Visits Over ThirtyYears"

Abbey Fenbert, “I Was a Seventh-Grade Book Censor"

Alan Burdick, “The Secret Life of Time”

Kathryn Schulz, “When Things Go Missing”

Rafiq Ebrahim, "Strangers on an 18-Hour Train"