Pilgrimages and Idle Travels
HONORS 345
Reading, writing and traveling are all acts of the imagination. This course will allow us to "see" the places we've already visited, and imagine the places we plan on visiting. Our workshop will offer the returning traveler a way to synthesize her experiences, transforming them into essays, articles, poems or stories. For the future traveler, our time together will help to set a practice for writing and exploring so that a traveler can have a method of documenting her upcoming journey. Our goals include: helping you to return from future trips with a fantastic notebook/record of the sights, sounds, smells and impressions of the places you've visited and transforming a travel notebook into a more formal piece of writing. By reading poems, stories, essays and articles that illuminate the art of travel, we'll test out a range of styles and stances. These activities will surface our initial assumptions about what it means to travel as a method of inquiry and imagination, and of acceptance, through places we don't yet know-- or places we have already been.
I'll just go ahead and say that "Pilgrimages and Idle Travels" has been the best writing class I've ever taken. Hell, it's actually the best class I've taken in college so far. For the first time, I've come out of a class knowing without a doubt that I've grown immensely as a writer. While for other classes our failures seem to define us, in this class I am full to the brim with positive attitude and self-confidence. All of the credit has to go to Frances McCue. I never expected an accomplished author to be so humble and kind, but that's Frances (and the glowing adjectives could continue). It's been so amazing to get such wonderful feedback from Frances, the first teacher I've had who seems to genuinely care about my work and even more importantly, finds joy in reading it. Most teachers read our writing because they have to. I may be completely wrong, but I feel like Frances enjoys it. And that's really important, because my plan of majoring in English was becoming a bit tepid. Prior to the class, I felt like I didn't have what it would take to be successful as a writer. Now though, I know I'll do great, and I can thank Frances for reinvigorating that passion. It's not just that she compliments my work, but the fact that the entire class is set up to look at assets and then kindly offer constructive criticisms has made for a learning environment that recognizes a writer's ego, that recognizes how fragile our state of mind can be when we're opening up our hearts in our writing. I wish more classes were like this one.
I must reiterate though that this class hasn't been just compliments. If that were the case, then my writing wouldn't improve. But it has. Frances has challenged us to take risks with our writing, to shed the formulaic state of mind we had about writing. I've benefited so much from her setting the bar higher for each essay and helping me to refine my writing, and in the following essays, you'll be able to see how much stronger my voice and conventions become throughout. More importantly, if you look back at my writing from last year, the improvement is even more emphasized. But whether it's the very first paper I wrote or the my masterpiece of a final paper at the bottom of this page (no, I'm not that egotistic but I'm very proud of it), one thing is clear: I've had a great deal of fun with the writing. And the realization that that's possible in an academic setting has been the greatest lesson of all.
I must reiterate though that this class hasn't been just compliments. If that were the case, then my writing wouldn't improve. But it has. Frances has challenged us to take risks with our writing, to shed the formulaic state of mind we had about writing. I've benefited so much from her setting the bar higher for each essay and helping me to refine my writing, and in the following essays, you'll be able to see how much stronger my voice and conventions become throughout. More importantly, if you look back at my writing from last year, the improvement is even more emphasized. But whether it's the very first paper I wrote or the my masterpiece of a final paper at the bottom of this page (no, I'm not that egotistic but I'm very proud of it), one thing is clear: I've had a great deal of fun with the writing. And the realization that that's possible in an academic setting has been the greatest lesson of all.
"Write a high quality draft of a travel article that focuses on a small aspect of a place you have visited."
"Write a high quality draft of a travel article that focuses on describing a landscape you have visited. Include distance perspectives and extreme close ups. Document the internal shifts of you as a narrator in this place." |
"Write a high quality draft of a travel article in which you bring a fictional character to a place you have visited and you give this character a tour."
"Write a high quality draft of a travel article in which you resist a place you have visited or imagine visiting. Convince us that it is worthy of your resistance." |
"Revise one or more of your papers to create one ten page travel article."
Throughout the quarter, Frances had been bugging me about combining several of my pieces together for my final paper because she was convinced that they were somehow thematically connected. I didn't believe her at first (and by first I mean for at least 9 weeks of the quarter). Finally, however, I realized that this acclaimed writer and professor was correct (big surprise right?) and I created a 28 page behemoth that I consider some of my best writing. It's not just a cut and paste of my work from the quarter, but a culmination of all the critiques and revisions I've made. It's incredible how much I've accomplished in 10 short weeks, and this paper is the pinnacle of that achievement.