Our City The Alphabet

English 502: Fiction Workshop, Winter 2011

2011-01-04T16:53:00.000-08:00

English 502: Fiction Writing Workshop Winter 2011
Professor Carol Guess
Carol.Guess (at) wwu (dot) edu and carolannguess (at) gmail (dot) com
Office hours: T/Th 4-5pm and by appointment in HU 267
Class webpage: www.ourcitythe.blogspot.com

Breath, Word, Line, Passage

This is an experimental, collaborative studio art course with a focus on writing and revising very short hybrid prose forms. Our workshop is linked to Western Washington University’s Dance Department via an NEA grant which will enable dance faulty member Susan Haines to reconstruct several of Martha Graham’s pieces. During the quarter we’ll observe reconstruction rehearsals by WWU dance students and faculty, generating draft material during these sessions. From this material you’ll produce chapbooks, which we’ll workshop in formal sessions. Your final project will be a revised chapbook, portions of which you must send out to at least three journals. A video project may accompany or substitute for the final written project. You’ll also have the opportunity to give several readings linked to the Dance Department’s final public performances. This course will require additional hours outside of class time to observe rehearsals, share work with the dancers involved, give readings, and view performances.

Texts:
Areas of Fog -- Joseph Massey, Shearsman Books
Bluets -- Maggie Nelson, Wave Books
The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction, ed. Tara L. Masih, Rose Metal Press
Self-Portrait with Crayon -- Allison Benis White, Cleveland State University Poetry Center

Please sign up for emails from the Creative Writer’s Opportunity List and Flash Fiction dot net; I will help you with this.

Your grade will be determined by four components, each bearing equal weight: participation, effort, progress from rough drafts to final project, final project. At the graduate level, students are sometimes expected to produce publishable work by the final week of class. I find that this expectation diminishes the potential for experimentation, risk-taking, and revision, all of which distinguish generic workshopped pieces from breakout literature. I’m primarily interested in your progress as a writer. If you devote yourself to your writing this quarter, and participate enthusiastically in collaboration and professional development, you’ll do well.

You’re expected to attend, and participate in, all class sessions unless you have a legitimate excuse. Don’t use electronic devices during class time (this may be waived for meetings outside of the classroom and outside of regular class hours). Computer use for in-class writing purposes is fine. Please don’t interact with me on Facebook while you’re my student.

I expect you to take risks in your writing this quarter. Taking a risk and failing is a form of success; playing it safe and producing mediocre work is a poor use of your time. For this reason, art produced during class by other students, dancers, Susan Haines, or me may not be shared outside the classroom community, unless you have permission from the artists involved.

*****
BREATH
T Jan. 4 -- Introduction to class and each other
Th Jan. 6 – Write from rehearsal / Class meets at 311 East Holly from 6-9pm
F Jan. 7 – Optional write from rehearsal at 311 East Holly from 6-9pm

WORD
M Jan. 10 – Optional write from rehearsal at 311 East Holly from 6-9pm
T Jan. 11 – Write from rehearsal at 311 East Holly from 6-9pm
W Jan. 12 – Optional write from rehearsal at 311 East Holly from 6-9pm
Th Jan. 13 – Discuss Areas of Fog; bring 9 copies of a 1 page imitation to share

** Following this week, the dancers will continue to rehearse at night in the studio on Holly, times/dates TBA. We will try to attend several of these events as a class, and you may attend as many as you'd like as an individual.

LINE
T Jan. 18 – Bring 9 copies of a 1 page imitation to share
Th Jan. 20 – Discuss Self-Portrait with Crayon; bring 9 copies of a 1 page imitation to share

PASSAGE
T Jan. 25 – Bring 9 copies of a 1 page piece to share
Th Jan. 27 -- Discuss Bluets; bring 9 copies of a 1 page imitation to share

T Feb. 1 – No class (AWP Conference)
Th Feb. 3 – No class (AWP Conference); email chapbook to us

WORKSHOP
T Feb. 8 – Workshop chapbook; hand out next chapbook (etc)
Th Feb. 10 – Workshop chapbook

T Feb. 15 – Workshop chapbook
Th Feb. 17 – Workshop chapbook

T Feb. 22 – Workshop chapbook
Th Feb. 24 – Workshop chapbook

T March 1 – Workshop chapbook
Th March 3 – Workshop chapbook

T March 8 – Publication discussion: bring your cover letter and the names of three journals or chapbook contests you plan to submit to. Please also bring a list of questions about publishing, if you have any.
Th March 10 – Hand in revised chapbooks; class evaluations

Final exam: There is no final exam in this class.
*****
Additional class dates linked to final dance performances:
Th April 14: readings at a dance matinee for children from 10:30-11:30am; and for all ages at 7:30pm show
F April 15: readings at a dance matinee for children from 10:30-11:30am; and for all ages at 7:30pm show
Sat April 16: all ages reading at 7:30pm show
Sun April 17: all ages reading at 2pm show
*****
Workshop chapbooks: 15-20 pages, with title. Copies for entire class handed out the class before.
Final chapbooks: 10-20 pages of revised material (please contact me first if you intend to scrap your original and start over). Must have a cover page, with title and illustration, and a back cover page, with cover copy and the names of three potential blurb writers. A hard copy of this chapbook must be handed in (to me only, unless you choose to share) on Thursday, March 10th. Please make at least two copies and keep one for yourself; do not give me your only copy.

Updates to Syllabus: English 227 Fall 2010

2010-10-04T12:59:00.000-07:00

I've made a few small adjustments to the syllabus:

Monday October 11th "The Uses of the Erotic" Lorde (you are not required to read Adrienne Rich's essay, although I suggest it)

Wednesday October 13th discussion

Friday October 15th "Imitation and Gender Insubordination" Butler (moving this up from the following week)

Monday October 18th film in class: Paris is Burning

Wednesday October 20th discuss film/Butler's essay

Friday October 22nd no class (and therefore no response essay due)

Monday October 25th _Crush_; hand in fourth response essay (this means you will be handing in two response essays in one week)

Everything else remains the same; we will watch Freeheld later in the quarter.

English 227: GLBT Literature Fall 2010

2010-09-10T17:10:00.000-07:00

Professor Carol Guess
Carol.Guess@wwu.edu (use email to contact me)
Fall office hours M/F 4-5pm and by appointment in HU 267
Class webpage: www.ourcitythe.blogspot.com

English 227: Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender Literature

Participants in this course will examine the influence of queer theorists’ critiques of identity politics on contemporary American gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender literature. Our aim is to question, rather than simply celebrate, the identities “gay” and “lesbian.” What, if anything, does an affiliation with either label suggest about an author’s writing? What does it mean that “gay literature” and “lesbian literature” are to be taught in one course? How do race and ethnicity impact GLBT writers, characters, and social movements? What impact does social class have on representations of GLBT identity? We will examine these and other questions through shared readings of contemporary American literature, literary theory, film, and television.

Required texts:
Boy With Flowers
Crush
Fun Home
The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader
Money For Sunsets

Related films include: The Aggressives, Before Night Falls, Boys Don’t Cry, The Brandon Teena Story, Brokeback Mountain, But I’m A Cheerleader, By Hook Or By Crook, The Celluloid Closet, Chasing Amy, The Children’s Hour, Chris & Don, Chuck and Buck, Fire, For The Bible Tells Me So, Go Fish, The Hanging Garden, Heavenly Creatures, Hedwig And The Angry Inch, If These Walls Could Talk II, The L Word (cable series), L.I.E., Ma Vie En Rose, Milk, Monster, My Summer Of Love, Paris Is Burning, Queer As Folk (cable series), Secretary, Six Feet Under (cable series), Transamerica, Tongues Untied, Unveiled, The Watermelon Woman, When Night Is Falling, and The Wire (cable series).

Your grade will be determined on a 100 point system:
100-90=A 89-80=B 79-70=C 69-60=D etc.

25--5 response essays (5 points each, graded pass/fail)
25--group presentation (20 minutes, one grade per group)
50--final in-class essay exam

You are expected to attend and participate in all class sessions unless you have a legitimate excuse. Attendance and participation will also impact your grade. If you don’t attend class, and/or if you aren’t active in class discussions, I will lower your grade at my discretion.

You may use a computer to type lecture notes during class, but you may not send or receive phone calls, emails, texts, or instant messages. You may not take photographs of anyone during class time without permission. Please use professional language when you communicate with me in person, on the phone, or via email. Please do not friend me on Facebook while you are taking my classes.

If you are confused by material covered in class, please visit me during office hours or set up an appointment immediately. Do not wait until the last week of class. Please meet with me early in the quarter if you are struggling. I am happy to help you understand the material.

If you are under 18, please notify me, as we will be viewing R rated films and discussing adult material.

***********************************************************

Week One
W Sept 22: Introduction
F Sept 24: Lecture on GLBT American history

Week Two
M Sept 27: “Capitalism and Gay Identity” D’Emilio
W Sept 29: “Epistemology of the Closet” Sedgwick
F Oct 1: “Thinking Sex” Rubin; presentation groups of 7 assigned
FRIDAY: FIRST RESPONSE ESSAY DUE

Week Three
M Oct 4: The Office "Gay Witch Hunt" (TV)
W Oct 6: "Looking for Trouble" Mercer
F Oct 8: “Chicano Men" Almaquer
FRIDAY: SECOND RESPONSE ESSAY DUE

Week Four
M Oct 11: “Compulsory Heterosexuality” Rich; “The Uses of the Erotic” Lorde
W Oct 13: discussion
F Oct 15: Freeheld (film)
FRIDAY: THIRD RESPONSE ESSAY DUE

Week Five
M Oct 18: “Imitation and Gender Insubordination” Butler
W Oct 20: Paris Is Burning (film)
F Oct 22: discussion
FRIDAY: FOURTH RESPONSE ESSAY DUE

Week Six
M Oct 25: Crush
W Oct 27: A Single Man (film)
F Oct 29: discussion
FRIDAY: FIFTH RESPONSE ESSAY DUE; each group must email me their presentation topic no later than this date.

Week Seven
M Nov 1: Group project prep time
W Nov 3: Fun Home
F Nov 5: “The L Word” (TV)

Week Eight
M Nov 8: Money For Sunsets; class visit with author
W Nov 10: Southern Comfort (film)
F Nov 12: discussion

Week Nine
M Nov 15: Boy With Flowers
W Nov 17: mock exam in class
F Nov 19: PRESENTATIONS 3 groups

Week Ten
M Nov 22: PRESENTATIONS 3 groups
W Nov 24: No class – University holiday
F Nov 26: No class – University holiday

Week Eleven
M Nov 29: PRESENTATIONS 3 groups
W Dec 1: PRESENTATIONS 3 groups
F Dec 3: wrap-up; class evaluations

Final exam: Wednesday, December 8 3:30-5:30pm in our classroom. Please bring two black or blue pens and three large blue books.

English 451: Fiction Writing Seminar Spring 2009

2009-03-19T17:43:00.000-07:00

Professor Carol Guess
Office: Humanities 267 Office hours: Tues/Thurs 5-6pm and by appointment
carolguess@aol.com (please use email to contact me)
English 451
Creative Writing Seminar: Fiction

In "Notes of a Lyric Artist Working in Prose," Carole Maso writes:

Together, many novelists, now commodity makers, have agreed on a recognizable reality, which they are all too happy to impart as if it were true. Filled with hackneyed ways of perceiving, clichéd, old sensibilities, they and the publishing houses create traditions which have gradually been locked into place. They take for granted: the line, the paragraph, the chapter, the story, the storyteller, character.

In this course we will act as "lyric artists working in prose," revising our assumptions about "the line, the paragraph, the chapter, the story, the storyteller, character." We will consider aesthetic strategies for representing high emotion and drama. Central to this course are the questions: what is the relation between emotion and sentimentality? Between drama and melodrama? How do we, as artists, distinguish between them? We will analyze and discuss five texts concerned with reinventing narrative prose: Rebecca Brown's Excerpts From A Family Medical Dictionary, Carole Maso's The American Woman In The Chinese Hat, Charles Simic's The World Doesn't End, Elizabeth Smart's By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept, and Jeanette Winterson's The Passion. Throughout the quarter, you will write and revise a sequence of short lyrical prose pieces, organizing these pieces into chapbooks for your final project.

There is an additional hour for this course each week. We will use this hour by watching three of the following films, which you must be prepared to discuss in class by Thursday, May 28th: After The Wedding, Dancer In The Dark, Day Night Day Night, Fat Girl, The Idiots, Let The Right One In, The Lives Of Others, Taxi To The Dark Side, and/or Unveiled.

Your grade will be determined on a 100 point system.

100-90=A 89-80=B 79-70=C 69-60=D etc.

25--3 pieces written and revised (I will collect these on Tuesday, May 5th)
25--3-5 page book review of By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept (due Tuesday May 26th)
50--chapbook of 8-12 pieces, including cover art and design (due the last week)

You are expected to attend and participate in all class sessions unless you have a legitimate excuse. Class participation and attendance will impact your grade. I will add pluses and minuses at my discretion, based on effort. Cell phones must be silenced during class; ditto for pagers, handheld email and instant messaging systems, etc. You may not send or receive phone calls, emails, text messages, etc. during class. You may not take photographs of anyone in our class without prior written permission.

T March 31: Introduction; one paragraph autobiography exercise
Th April 2: No class; I'm reading in Seattle at the event "Uneasy Heavens Await Those Fleeing"

T April 7: The World Doesn't End
Th April 9: piece #1

T April 14: Excerpts From A Family Medical Dictionary
Th April 16: piece #2

T April 21: piece #3
Th April 23: piece #4

T April 28: The Passion
Th April 30: workshop piece #5

T May 5: *** hand in 3 revised pieces to me ***
Th May 7: workshop piece #6

T May 12: The American Woman In The Chinese Hat
Th May 14: workshop piece #7

T May 19: workshop piece #8
Th May 21: workshop piece #9

T May 26: film TBA
*** hand in book review of By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept ***
Th May 28: film discussion

T June 2: present chapbooks in class
Th June 4: present chapbooks in class

Final exam: There is no final exam for this class, but we may use the scheduled time to do chapbook presentations.

English 227 Final Exam Essay Guidelines

2009-03-02T16:50:00.000-08:00

Carol Guess
Final Exam English 227

Your final exam is a take-home essay. It is due to me in my office (Humanities Building, 2nd floor, Room 267) between 3:30 and 4:30pm on Wednesday, March 18th (the start of the final exam period for this class). Please hand it in to me on time. I will leave my office at 4:30. After I leave, I will automatically deduct 5 points from your exam for each day after the due date. If you are concerned about missing this deadline, you are welcome to hand in the exam early. Put early exams in my mailbox in the English Department Office on the 3rd floor of the Humanities Building. The box has my name on it. Do not slide it under my door or pin it to my office door.

Your exam should be between 5-15 pages long. It must be typed and double-spaced on white paper, with your name and my name and the name of the class on each page at the top of the page. It must be stapled. You may use any sources we used in class, plus at least two sources (articles, books, films, interviews, etc.) we did not use in class. Use MLA style to cite sources. You are allowed to take drafts of your paper to the campus writing center or any established writing tutor. You may brainstorm with friends, and talk with me in person and over email, but you must write the paper on your own.

The purpose of the exam is, in part, to provide me with a measure by which to assess your grade. This aspect of the exam is necessary, but not the aspect that should concern you. The more significant purpose of the exam is to provide you with a chance to reflect on what you have learned, and with the time and motivation to explore a question of your choosing.

Your essay may be research-oriented or argumentative. Consider thinking of this essay as an opportunity to explore a question you can’t answer. Your question and exploration must deal with GLBTQ lives and cultures. You may use first person (“I”) to write your response, or third-person detached academic voice, whichever you prefer. You must not, however, discuss your personal life or personal experiences in your paper.

Essays are worth up to 50 points, as follows:

Strength, intelligence, and challenge of your topic = 10 points
Wisdom of textual sources = 10 points
Clarity of thought in prose = 15 points
Intelligence of analysis and/or argument = 15 points

****************************************************

Tips for writing your paper:

First, make a list of things that impacted you -- things that you found puzzling, shocking, upsetting, disturbing, fascinating, exciting, liberating, or dissonant.
Next, look over your list and ask yourself, what don’t I understand? What am I most curious about? What continues to be strange or enigmatic to me? What do I want to spend time thinking about? Next, make a list of questions, large and small, you still haven’t answered about materials we discussed in class.

Out of these lists, choose one question that matters to you, and that will yield intellectual analysis. Don’t pick a dead-end question (one you can answer in two sentences). You are not expected to answer your question in your essay, only to explore it, so pick a good question.

How to Analyze Your Material in Light of Your Question

First, choose several texts that are relevant to the question. Re-read the texts, re-read your class notes, and think about them. Write down:

-- passages in the texts that relate to your question
-- other questions that relate to your question
-- answers that relate to your question
-- cool observations and interesting details that relate to your question
-- things you’re embarrassed to ask, things you feel stupid for not understanding
-- things you think you really get, and feel good about noticing and understanding
-- weird little things in each text that don’t quite fit or make sense
-- things that fit and make sense; that is, patterns in and across each text
-- moments that echo across texts; that is, an idea or image or phrase that appears in more than one text

Begin picking and choosing what seems most important to talk about. Now begin actually writing prose. Freewrite several pages of material, allowing yourself to explore your ideas without too much structure. Go back over those pages a few hours or a day later. Decide what works. Discard what doesn’t. Start this process over again. Once you have some ideas you like, begin to add structure -- see what leads where, and why. Only when you have the complete body of your paper do you need to worry about a title, a first paragraph, and a final paragraph. The first and last paragraphs should tell the reader something important about the paper -- but not sum it up. They should be engaging, making your reader want to keep reading.

Sample Questions

A. How are contemporary butch lesbian identities and masculine FTM gender identities alike and how are they different? How do these identities contribute to and/or challenge second and third wave feminism? Why is this question pertinent at this historical juncture; what other questions might it yield or obscure?

B. How is femininity linked to passivity and submissiveness in contemporary American culture? What aspects of our readings challenge that link, and how can an assertive understanding of femininity be reconstructed? What purposes would this serve; what resistance might such assertive femininity face?

C. How does the threat of violence (physical, legal, and/or emotional) shape sexual acts and gender identity in the texts we’ve read? What forms of resistance seem most effective against violence? What conclusions might you draw about possible political and/or cultural responses to homophobic violence?

Creating Fictional Characters

2009-02-15T14:13:00.000-08:00

Where Do Fictional Characters Come From?

One of the greatest pleasures of being human is enjoying the powers of imagination. Artists learn quickly that what adults often dismiss as “childish” is actually the key to artistic talent and freedom. An artist is really just someone who hasn’t lost touch with the (not so) childish pleasure of making things up -- or seeing what really exists from an unusual angle. Imaginary games, visions, and voices are all the terrain of a productive artist.
Fictional characters can come wholly from the imagination; you can invent a character out of thin air. But fictional characters can also be grounded in real life, stories seen, lived, or heard. Below are some sample exercises to help you begin developing your characters.

Building Characters From Real Life

1. Recollect your childhood enemy, the kid who hit you over the head in the sandbox in kindergarten or stole your girlfriend in seventh grade. Now imagine that kid grown up. Who is this person now?

2. Imagine your mother, father, sister, minister, barista, or personal trainer as a small child. What kind of kid might they have been?

3. Think of a local character, someone who wanders around Bellingham (or your hometown), someone you are always curious about: that guy who jogs with a bag of bagels; the tattooed woman at the grocery store; the teenager who looks like her dog sitting outside the cafe. Invent a life that satisfies your curiosity at last.

Building Characters From Pure Invention

1. Start with a challenge: think of a life that’s really, truly different from yours. Add or subtract twenty years to your age, change your biological sex, give or take away a couple of kids, live in a house much bigger or an apartment much smaller than your own. And now imagine this life as yours. What would you make of it?

2. Start from a feeling: identify a feeling you would like to explore, perhaps a feeling that you often have but rarely express. That is, start from a feeling that you do know, that you can identify with. Now give this feeling to a character very different from yourself; try to explore that character through this shared emotion.

3. Start with words: make up a funny name for a character. Now make up a funny town, and give the character odd shoes. Have them walking towards or away from something. What next?
Once you have a character you like, whether that character is wholly invented or grounded in reality, you’ll want to tap into your powers of empathy. You’ll want to find some point of connection between yourself and this character, no matter how different they might seem to be.

Connecting To Your Character

1. Think of a small pleasure you enjoy often: fresh flowers on the table; frozen pizza; a weekly phone call to a friend; your morning coffee. Now imagine that your character shares this pleasure. Describe them in the midst of it.

2. Think of a small personality trait in yourself that you don’t like or have been criticized for: you’re always five minutes late; you cross against the light; you drive too slowly. Now exaggerate this small flaw and make it bigger, more spectacular. Give this more dramatic flaw to your character: have them show up two hours late for every appointment; have them drive ten mph down I-5 every morning at 7am.

An interview with Richard Siken

2009-02-02T13:50:00.001-08:00

http://www.theinvisiblestitch.com/richardsiken

Link to Curve magazine

2009-02-01T14:39:00.000-08:00

http://www.curvemag.com/

Link to The Advocate

2009-02-01T14:35:00.002-08:00

http://www.advocate.com/

Link to article on Meghan Quinn

2009-02-01T14:31:00.000-08:00

My muse, my love: the two sides of artist-photographer Meghan Quinn.

Link to article on Womyn's land

2009-02-01T14:29:00.000-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/fashion/01womyn.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2

Link to the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS)

2009-02-01T14:06:00.000-08:00

http://web.gc.cuny.edu/clags/index.html

Link to Queerty (gay news blog)

2009-02-01T14:03:00.001-08:00

http://www.queerty.com/

Link to Kathleen Rooney

2009-02-01T14:00:00.000-08:00

http://www.kathleenrooney.com/

Link to Jeanette Winterson

2009-02-01T13:56:00.001-08:00

http://www.jeanettewinterson.com/

Link to Alison Bechdel's blog

2009-02-01T13:50:00.000-08:00

http://www.dykestowatchoutfor.com/index.php

Link to Carl Phillips on poets.org

2009-02-01T13:48:00.000-08:00

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/247

Link to Richard Siken's blog

2009-02-01T13:42:00.000-08:00

http://richardsiken.blogspot.com/

Updates to syllabus

2009-01-30T11:55:00.001-08:00

There are a few small changes to our syllabus; please take note:

Week Five

Friday Feb. 6: please read "The Girl" from Front Porch Journal online; writer Elizabeth Colen will visit class to read from her work and answer questions about writing and publishing. You will also be doing some creative writing exercises.
FOURTH RESPONSE ESSAY DUE

http://www.frontporchjournal.com/issue40_fiction_colen.asp

** Saturday Feb. 7: Elizabeth Colen, Kathleen Rooney, and Kyle Minor read at Village Books at 7pm

http://villagebooks.booksense.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp?s=storeevents&eventId=399427

Week Six:

Monday Feb. 9: meet in presentation groups to work on your presentation projects
(see list of groups below)
Wednesday Feb. 11: no class (I'm at AWP in Chicago)
Friday Feb. 13: no class (I'm at AWP in Chicago)

Week Seven:

Monday Feb. 16: no class; University Holiday
Wednesday Feb. 18: The Passion
Friday Feb. 20: Fun Home
FIFTH RESPONSE ESSAY DUE

My mixtape for Tinderbox Lawn

2009-01-14T16:11:00.000-08:00

http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2009/01/book_notes_caro.html

Class Presentation groups

2009-01-14T13:57:00.000-08:00

Here are your presentation groups. Let me know if I've misspelled any names
or if you didn't sign up yet:

Group 1

Maria-lynn Olsson
Hannah Kosten
Danielle Schmidt
Siobhan Sloan-Evans
Molly Hoffman
Kyle McMurtry
Jessica Anderson
Elliott Banko
Walter Haas
Melissa Jensen

Group 2

Tuan Trinh
Annie Tran
Whitney Kirk
Christina Breaden ?
Sevryn Ellering
Brianne Kumar
Miranda Webster
Dimitrios Zourkos
Alyson Harris
Celeste Erickson

Group 3

Ciaran Seward
Danielle Perry
Nina Ozbek
Kyla Thompson
Molly Vogel
Fiona McCrone
Peter Holloway ?
Travis Collett
Sarah Thomas
Matthew Lee

Group 4

Ian Bader
Jeremy Smith
Marissa Wenner
Steven Didis
Rachel Smith
Bryan Hawthorne
Kenny Parker
Alissa Frodel
Rachael Wallau ?

Group 5

Allegra Pomeroy
Bridget Crowley
Emily Carney
Jerica Jennartz
Bre Winldey ?
Marisa Soto
Sarah Baughey-Gill
Seth Pacleb
Kaitlyn Thayer

Group 6

Rikka Dayao
Claire Dutton
Mackenzie Hudson
Fiona Gleason
Connor Mack
Kathryn Hartman
Steven Funcke
Kienan Christianson
Denae Paff
Sarah Alansari

Group 7
Norbert Rojeza
Jordan Becraft
Rondolf De Guzman
Ilena Flynn
Calvin Herrmann
Jessica Jay
Ann Daramohvong
Jessie Engler

Group 8

Whitney Cook
Alexandra Niedzialkowski
Russ Ritchie
Jenny Hoppis
Regan Rowell

English 227: GLBT Literature Winter 2009

2008-12-14T15:01:00.000-08:00

Professor Guess
carolguess@aol.com (use email to contact me)
Winter office hours Monday/Friday 4-5pm Office HU 267
webpage: www.ourcitythe.blogspot.com

English 227: Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender Literature

Participants in this course will examine the influence of queer theorists’ critiques of identity politics on contemporary American gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender literature. Our aim is to question, rather than simply celebrate, the identities “gay” and “lesbian.” What, if anything, does an affiliation with either label suggest about an author’s writing? What does it mean that “gay literature” and “lesbian literature” are to be taught in one course? What impact does social class have on representations of GLBT identity? How do race and ethnicity impact GLBT writers, characters, and social movements? In our examination of these and other questions, we will also consider how bisexual, transgender, and queer writers have influenced both gay/lesbian and straight literary traditions.

Required texts:
Crush
Fun Home
The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader
Oneiromance
The Passion
The Rest Of Love

If possible, watch a few of the following films on your own: The Aggressives, Before Night Falls, Boys Don’t Cry, The Brandon Teena Story, Brokeback Mountain, But I’m A Cheerleader, By Hook Or By Crook, The Celluloid Closet, Chasing Amy, The Children’s Hour, Chuck and Buck, Fire, For The Bible Tells Me So, Go Fish, The Hanging Garden, Heavenly Creatures, Hedwig And The Angry Inch, If These Walls Could Talk II, The L Word (cable series), L.I.E., Ma Vie En Rose, Monster, My Summer Of Love, Paris Is Burning, Queer As Folk (cable series), Secretary, Six Feet Under (cable series), Tongues Untied, Unveiled, The Watermelon Woman, When Night Is Falling, The Wire (cable series), Zoo. The best place to find these films is at an independent store, like Film Is Truth.

Your grade will be determined on a 100 point system.

100-90=A 89-80=B 79-70=C 69-60=D etc.

25--5 response essays (5 points each, graded pass/fail)
25--group presentation (20 minutes)
50--final paper (5-15 pages double-spaced, using at least 2 texts we did not use in class)

You are expected to attend and participate in all class sessions unless you have a legitimate excuse. I will add pluses and minuses at my discretion, based on effort. Attendance and participation may also impact your grade.

Cell phones must be silenced during class; ditto for pagers, handheld email and instant messaging systems, etc. You may not send or receive phone calls, emails, or instant messages during class. You may not take photographs of anyone in our class without prior written permission.

Week One
W Jan 7: Introduction; create groups for class projects
F Jan 9: Lecture on GLBT American history
** Sat. Jan 10th is a national day of protest against DOMA

Week Two
M Jan 12: “Capitalism and Gay Identity” D’Emilio; The Office “Gay Witch Hunt” (TV)
W Jan 14: “Epistemology of the Closet” Sedgwick
F Jan 16: “Thinking Sex” Rubin; Freeheld (film)
FRIDAY: FIRST RESPONSE ESSAY DUE

Week Three
M Jan 19: University holiday (no class)
W Jan 21: “Looking For Trouble” Mercer
** Wed. Jan 21 GLBT reading 7-9pm in Fairhaven Auditorium
F Jan 23: “Chicano Men” Almaguer; Meghan Quinn photography (online)
FRIDAY: SECOND RESPONSE ESSAY DUE

Week Four
M Jan 26: “Compulsory Heterosexuality” Rich
W Jan 28: “Imitation and Gender Insubordination” Butler; Paris Is Burning (film)
F Jan 30: Paris Is Burning (film); film discussion
FRIDAY: THIRD RESPONSE ESSAY DUE

Week Five
M Feb 2: Crush
W Feb 4: For The Bible Tells Me So (film)
F Feb 6: film discussion
** Sat. Feb. 7th Elizabeth Colen and Kathleen Rooney read at Village Books
FRIDAY: FOURTH RESPONSE ESSAY DUE

Week Six
M Feb 9: Fun Home
W Feb 11: No class (I’m at AWP in Chicago)
F Feb 13: No class (I’m at AWP in Chicago)

Week Seven
M Feb 16: University holiday (no class)
W Feb 18: The Passion
F Feb 20: “The Girl” (Front Porch Journal online); writer Elizabeth J. Colen visits class
FRIDAY: FIFTH RESPONSE ESSAY DUE

Week Eight
M Feb 23: The Rest Of Love
W Feb 25: Southern Comfort (film)
F Feb 27: film discussion

Week Nine
M March 2: PRESENTATIONS
W March 4: PRESENTATIONS
F March 6: Oneiromance; writer Kathleen Rooney visits class
** Fri. March 6th Kathleen Rooney reads on campus

Week Ten
M March 9: PRESENTATIONS
W March 11: PRESENTATIONS; class evaluations
F March 13: No class (I’m reading in Brooklyn)

Final exam: Wednesday, March 18th at 3:30pm

Hand in your final exam (research paper) to me in my office. Exams will drop one grade per day late.

English 456: Queer Fiction

2008-09-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

Carol Guess
Associate Professor of English
267 Humanities Office hours: T/Th 3-4pm and by appointment
Contacts: carolguess@aol.com or Carol.Guess@wwu.edu

English 456: Fiction Writing: Contemporary Queer Writers

Conventional narrative structure follows a plot-based formula: conflict, crisis, resolution. This course challenges that structure, and invites students to create alternatives to plot-driven fiction. We'll examine several texts by contemporary queer writers whose work is both stylistically and thematically experimental. Using the novels Cool For You and Written On The Body we'll examine ways that short blocks of lyrical text can work together to create narrative drive. Using the hybrid text Aureole and the poetry collection The Rest Of Love we'll examine how single sentences, fragments, and white space can be used to punctuate prose. Students will also do a class presentation on a fifth book of their choice. Throughout the quarter, students will write and revise their own experimental prose pieces, organizing them into chapbooks to present to the class. There is a weekly additional hour for this course. It will involve viewing the films By Hook Or By Crook and The Hanging Garden, as well as episodes from The Wire.

Grades
25% 3 revised pieces due 11/6

25% Book Report
You must write a book report of 3-5 pages on a book of your choice, and introduce your report to the class with a 5-10 minute presentation. The book must be contemporary, written by a queer author and/or dealing with queer issues in an intelligent way. You must not have read the book before and it must not be a book you are reading for another class. I will grade you on both the written and verbal reports.

50% Final chapbook project, due during the final exam period
Your chapbook should be between 10 and 12 pages long. It must include at least 5 of the pieces you wrote this quarter; the rest must be new material, but may be material you didn’t share in class. You must create interesting front and back covers for your chapbook. I will grade you on both the quality of your writing and the style of the chapbook itself.

Additional requirements
I will be missing three classes this quarter. Two of my books are being published at once this Fall, and I’ll be doing book tours for both books. I ask that you make up these classes by attending three readings at Village Books (or any other local bookstore). You may also participate in a reading, and substitute that for one of the three required readings.

Class participation is mandatory. You are expected to attend all class sessions unless there is an emergency. In that event, please contact me on your return to class so I know why you were absent.

Th 9/25—Introduction to class and each other; one-paragraph autobiography

T 9/30—Written On The Body
Th 10/2— Piece #1 read aloud

T 10/7— The Rest Of Love
Th 10/9— Piece #2 read aloud

T 10/14— Aureole
Th 10/16— Piece #3 read aloud

** M 10/20—Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore reads at Village Books

T 10/21— Cool For You
Th 10/23— class cancelled (I’m reading at Hugo House for Filter’s release party)

T 10/28— Piece #4 small group workshops (4 copies)
Th 10/30— Piece #5 small group workshops (4 copies)

T 11/4— Piece #6 small group workshops (4 copies)
Th 11/6— 3 revisions due to me

**F 11/7—I’m reading at Village Books

T 11/11— Veteran’s Day holiday; no class
Th 11/13— Book Reports due

** F 11/14—I’m reading in Olympia at Orca Books

T 11/18— Book Reports due
Th 11/20— class cancelled (I’m reading in Vancouver, BC, 7:30pm at Rhizome)

T 11/25— Piece #7 small group workshops (4 copies)
Th 11/27— Thanksgiving holiday; no class

T 12/2— Piece #8 small group workshops (4 copies)
Th 12/4— class cancelled (I’m reading in Chicago Friday and Saturday)

Final Exam: Thursday, December 11th 1-3pm
We’ll meet during this time period for a chapbook party. Each class member will read briefly from their work, and pass around their chapbook for others to view. We’ll celebrate our work and encourage each other. If you would like to make copies of your chapbook for each class member, you are welcome to do so. Your final project (your chapbook) is due to me in person during this exam period. If possible, I would like to keep my copy of your chapbook to use as models for future classes. Otherwise I can return them to you next quarter.

Kary Wayson reads in Bellingham at Western Washington University

2008-05-01T15:46:00.000-07:00

POETRY READING

KARY WAYSON
TUESDAY MAY 27th
6:30pm COMMUNICATIONS 105
Western Washington University
Bellingham, WA
This event is free and open to the public.

Kary Wayson's poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Poetry Northwest, Alaska Quarterly Review, The Nation, FIELD, and The Best American Poetry 2007. Her chapbook, Dog & Me, was published in 2004 by LitRag Press. Kary teaches poetry writing classes at The Richard Hugo House in Seattle.

Find examples of her work on the web here:
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/feature.html?id=179981
(a critical essay on Sylvia Plath)
http://www.rivetmagazine.org/2007/02/26/frederico-garcia/
(a poem in Rivet magazine)

Obsession Exercise

2008-04-16T10:53:00.001-07:00

English 502

Home In Three Days. Don't Wash. exercise: This is a book about obsession, and about the difficulty of translating a passionate lived experience into art. I want you to ask yourself (now and over time) where you draw the line between recording emotional intensity (as in a journal, as in a conversation with a friend, as with a therapist, as in your mind) and creating art out of emotional intensity (which involves editing, revision, alterations, a certain degree of detachment, and ultimately the desire to share deep emotion with a wide audience).

I also want you to think about the difference between a text like The Man Suit, which is driven by wordplay, humor, whimsy, history, visual images; and a text like Home In Three Days which is driven by emotion, kinesthetic impulse, hunger, characterization. What does each text do well? What does each text do less well or not at all? What can you learn from each text?

Your exercise for Home In Three Days is to mimic the kind of obsessive drive that lies behind works written in and out of passion. Other examples I happen to like – you can make your own list to share with the class -- include Sylvia Plath's Ariel, Carole Maso's Aureole, Jeanette Winterson's Written On The Body, Heather Lewis' Notice, Rebecca Brown's Excerpts From A Family Medical Dictionary, and Richard Siken's Crush.

Rather than allow you to search your own life for a living (or haunting) muse, I want you to fixate on something invented, something imaginary, and concoct a fictitious obsession.

Your assignment is to find an intriguing inanimate object located in some public place in Bellingham. (Your house and campus are verboten; you must go off-campus for this exercise.) Examples might include: that fantastic spray-painted dinosaur in an alley downtown; a junked car on someone's lawn; the phone booth used by dealers on Railroad Avenue; a painting in the museum; one of the wooden tables at The Temple Bar.

Find an object and become obsessed with the object. Get weird about it. Worry your friends. Do not take the object out of its location (don't take the phone booth home). Worship from afar, or up close but in public. It's fine if this veers into nonfiction (if, say, the phone booth reminds you of your ex-girlfriend, and you end up writing about her indirectly). It's fine if this veers into the fictionally fantastic, or becomes absurd. But there must be an obsessive drive to the writing, a force, a power, the sense that everything is about to get out of control really fast. You want to move your reader with this piece, break some rules, and create discomfort. Think about the contrast between chaos and control; defy the notion that good writing somehow soothes your reader. At the same time, be sure to allow space for revision later – when you revise, try to cut out melodramatic language, clichés, and sentimental dross. Take note, then, of what you cut and what you revise. When is too much just right? When is too much too much? You might want to save your deleted passages on a separate sheet of paper (like the bloopers reel on a DVD), and bring them along to discuss with the class.

**************************************

English 502 schedule additions/changes

T April 22 – workshop 4 pieces

1. Ian 2. Amanda 3. Jennie 4. Morgan

** NO PIECE DUE'; HAND BACK COMMENTS TO YOUR PEERS

Th April 24 – presentation on Attempts At A Life; workshop 2 pieces

1. Aaron 2. Lori

** HAND IN 7 COPIES OF A NEW OR REVISED PIECE FOR CONFERENCES NEXT WEEK; HAND BACK COMMENTS TO YOUR PEERS

T April 29 – conferences in my office (HU 267)

1. 4pm

2. 4:40pm

3. 5:20pm

Th May 1 – conferences in my office (HU 267)

1. 4pm

2. 4:40pm

3. 5:20pm

On the day you don't have your conference, you don't need to come to class. You are required, however, to HAND BACK comments on your peers' work (put the comments in their boxes). You are also required to do an exercise based off Linda Smukler's book.

T May 6
Meet at The Black Drop; bring 7 copies of the piece you wrote for the Smukler exercise

Th May 8
Meet at The Black Drop; bring 7 copies of a piece to read

** For the next two weeks you'll need to bring 4 copies of your pieces to class on both Tuesdays and Thursdays. We'll do in-class workshops in groups of 3.

English 502: The 700 Club

2008-03-16T17:15:00.000-07:00

Professor Guess
carolguess@aol.com (use email to contact me)
Spring 2008 office hours T/Th 3-4pm and by appointment
office HU 267 webpage: www.ourcitythe.blogspot.com

English 502: The 700 Club

This course will focus on using obstructions to generate new material. The primary obstruction will be word count. Each student will write a series of short pieces (under 700 words) linked by other obstructions of their invention. The final project for the quarter will be organizing these short pieces into a larger work
of some kind, such as a chapbook, a piece of visual art or music, or a film.

Texts:

Attempts At A Life
Brevity & Echo
Home In Three Days. Don’t Wash.
The Man Suit

Required films for the quarter include Day Night Day Night, The Five Obstructions, Helvetica, and Unveiled. The best place to find these films is at an independent store, like Film Is Truth. Try to watch the films by week five, so we can incorporate the themes into our discussions.

Requirements for class, each worth 25% of your grade:

1. write 8 pieces
2. revise 4 pieces
3. concoct a small group presentation on one of the assigned texts
4. create and present a final project

You are expected to attend (and participate in) all class sessions unless you have a legitimate excuse (illness, family emergency, religious holiday, etc.). Please note that poor attendance, poor participation, hostility, harassment, etc. have no place in this class. I will add pluses and minuses at my discretion, based on effort. There is a zero tolerance policy on the use of electronic devices during class time. Computer use for writing purposes is fine; however, you may not use a computer for other purposes during class time. Finally, I not only encourage but expect you to take risks (aesthetically and thematically) in your writing this quarter. Taking a risk and failing is a form of success; playing it safe and producing mediocre work is a poor use of your time.

T April 1 -- Introduction to class; exercises
Th April 3 -- exercises

T April 8 -- piece #1
Th April 10 -- piece #2; The Man Suit
lead discussion:

T April 15 -- piece #3
Th April 17 -- piece #4; Brevity & Echo
lead discussion:

T April 22 -- piece #5
Th April 24 -- piece #6; Attempts At A Life
lead discussion:

T April 29 -- piece #7
Th May 1 -- piece #8; Home In Three Days. Don't Wash.
lead discussion:

T May 6 -- meet at The Black Drop; bring writing prompts
Th May 8 -- meet at The Black Drop; bring writing prompts

T May 13 -- small group workshop revision #1 (bring 3 copies)
Th May 15 -- small group workshop revision #2 (bring 3 copies)

T May 20 -- small group workshop revision #3 (bring 3 copies)
Th May 22 -- small group workshop revision #4 (bring 3 copies)

T May 27 -- guest speaker Kary Wayson
** reading tonight at 6:30pm; free and open to the public **
Th May 29 -- publishing/MFA/teaching discussion

T June 3 -- class evaluations; present final projects
presenting:

Th June 5 -- present final projects
presenting:

Final exam: Although there is no exam in this class, please reserve the final exam slot in case we need extra time for the project presentations.

English 460: Multigenre

2008-01-05T14:20:00.000-08:00

Professor Carol Guess
carolguess@aol.com
Winter 2008 office hours M/W 1:00-2:00pm and by appointment
office HU 267
web page: www.ourcitythe.blogspot.com

English 460: Topics in Creative Writing: Multigenre

The theme of this course is “My Secret Life.” The secret life you will be documenting is fictional, a life of your own invention. We will examine the theme of secret lives through several traditional genres of writing, as well as through texts that cross and blur genre boundaries. Using Sophie Calle’s performance art, Loretta Lux’s photographs, and Lars von Trier’s film The Five Obstructions as examples, you will construct a fictional character’s secret life and document that invented life. You will write and revise twelve short pieces, and create an accompanying art project you present to the class.

Texts:

dust and conscience Truong Tran
Fun Home Alison Bechdel
The Gangster We Are All Looking For Le Thi Diem Thuy

In addition, please watch the following films during the course of the quarter: Day Night Day Night, The Lives Of Others, Police Beat, and Unveiled. The best place to find these films is at an independent store, like Film Is Truth in downtown Bellingham.

Your grade will be determined on a 100 point system.

100-90=A 89-80=B 79-70=C 69-60=D etc.

25 first set of revisions
25 second set of revisions
25 final project
25 class participation

You are expected to attend (and participate in) all class sessions unless you have a legitimate excuse (illness, family emergency, religious holiday, etc.). Please note that poor attendance, poor participation, hostility, harassment, etc. have no place in this class. I will add pluses and minuses at my discretion, based on effort.

During class time cell phones must be turned off and put away; ditto for pagers, handheld email devices, etc. You may not take photographs of anyone in our class without prior written permission from that person. Computer use for word-processing purposes is encouraged; however, you may not use a computer for other purposes during class time.

Week One
W 1/9 Introduction to class and each other
look up Loretta Lux on the www for Friday
F 1/11 in-class examination of Loretta Lux reprints
character sketch (piece #1)

Week Two
M 1/14 character sketch (piece #2)
W 1/16 dust and conscience (read complete text for discussion)
F 1/18 character sketch (piece #3)
look up Sophie Calle on the www for Wednesday

Week Three
M 1/21 Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday
W 1/23 discussion of Sophie Calle’s artwork; in-class exercises
character sketch (piece #4)
F 1/25 secret language (piece #5)

Week Four
M 1/28 open secret (piece #6)
W 1/30 Fun Home (read complete text for discussion)
F 2/1 family secret (piece #7)

Week Five
M 2/4 The Gangster We Are All Looking For (read complete text for discussion)
W 2/6 secret name (piece #8)
F 2/8 secret place (piece #9)
look up Lars von Trier on the www for Monday
YOU HAND IN TWO REVISED PIECES

Week Six
M 2/11 The Five Obstructions (view film in class)
W 2/13 The Five Obstructions (view film in class)
F 2/15 secret knowledge (piece #10)

Week Seven
M 2/18 President’s Day holiday
W 2/20 secret enemy (piece #11)
F 2/22 the beautiful secret (piece #12)
I HAND BACK REVISED PIECES

Week Eight

M 2/25 in-class workshop; bring 3 copies of revision #1
W 2/27 in-class workshop; bring 3 copies of revision #2
F 2/29 in-class workshop; bring 3 copies of revision #3
YOU HAND IN TWO REVISED PIECES

Week Nine

M 3/3 present projects/in-class reading
W 3/5 present projects/in-class reading
F 3/7 present projects/in-class reading

Week Ten

M 3/10 in-class discussion: publishing
W 3/12 TBA
F 3/14 class evaluations
I HAND BACK REVISED PIECES

FINAL EXAM: TBA

Final Exam

2007-11-13T14:15:00.000-08:00

Professor Guess
Final Exam: English 227

Your final exam is a take-home essay. It is due to me in my office on TUESDAY DECEMBER 11th at 3:30pm. (The final exam period for this class.) My office is located on the second floor of the Humanities Building, room 267. I will be there with the door open at 3:30. I will leave my office at 4pm, so please hand it in to me on time. I will automatically deduct 5 points from your exam for each day after the due date (starting when I leave my office). If you are concerned about missing this deadline, you are welcome to hand in the exam before Tuesday, December 11th to my box in the English office (3rd floor Humanities Building; the box has my name on it). The English office is open M-F during business hours. Do NOT slide the exam under my door or email it to me or any other creative mode of presentation. I will deduct points from your exam if you do this; I am also not responsible for lost exams if you do this. PLEASE KEEP A COPY OF YOUR EXAM.

Your exam must be typed (double-spaced) on white paper, with your name (both given name and any nickname) and student number and my name on the top of each page. It must be stapled. No loose papers, no paper clips, no binders. There is no minimum length, but it must NOT be longer than seven pages. This exam is worth 50 points. You may take drafts of your paper to the writing center; you may brainstorm with friends; you may think out loud with peers, but you must write it on your own.

At the top of your essay should be a title. Below the title should be the question you are answering (retyped). Below your question will be the essay itself, an exploration of your question. You must reference THREE of the texts we’ve read for class, including at least one theoretical text and at least one literary text. You may refer to MORE than those texts, and you may also incorporate films, lectures, etc. Please do NOT base your answer on personal experience or anecdote. Please do NOT base your answer on books, films, TV shows, or essays we did NOT read/watch in class (films or TV shows listed on the syllabus are okay). Your question and exploration must deal with GLBTQ lives. This is the topic of our class, and what you are learning. You may use first person voice to write your response, or third-person academic voice, whichever you prefer.

How to Analyze Your Material in Light of Your Question

First, choose several texts that are relevant to the question. Reread the texts, reread your class notes, and think about them. Write down
-- passages in the texts that relate to your question
-- other questions that relate to your question
-- answers that relate to your question
-- cool observations and interesting details that relate to your question
-- things you’re embarrassed to ask, things you feel stupid for not understanding
-- things you think you really get, and feel good about noticing and understanding
-- weird little things in each text that don’t quite fit or make sense
-- things that fit and make sense; patterns in and across each text
-- moments that echo across texts
Begin picking and choosing what seems most important to talk about. Now begin actually writing prose. Freewrite several pages of material, allowing yourself to explore your ideas without too much structure. Go back over those pages a few hours or a day later. Decide what works. Discard what doesn’t. Start this process over again. Once you have some ideas you like, begin to add structure -- see what leads where, and why. Only when you have the complete body of your paper do you need to worry about a title, a first paragraph, and a final paragraph. The first and last paragraphs should tell the reader something important about the paper -- but not sum it up.

Above all, remember to ANALYZE THE TEXTS. Don’t try to come up with lessons on life, or chat about your opinion, or your personal observations. Should you have a thesis? Yes, but think of your thesis as an exploration, perhaps a question you can’t answer. Do NOT create an easy question in order to answer it easily. A good thesis is one another intellectual can ARGUE with you about. So, for example, “Violence in Crush is rooted in homophobia” is not a thesis. That is obvious, too simple. That's a place to start, but not a middle or end point.

Choose ONE of the questions below:
1. How does the threat of violence (physical, legal, social, emotional) intersect with sexual identity and/or gender identity in the texts we’ve examined?

2. How does the metaphor of the closet function as a presence in the texts we’ve examined?

3. How are racial and/or ethnic identities represented in the texts we’ve examined? How do these representations complicate and challenge mainstream representations of white American queer lives?

4. Argue for and/or against the production, promotion, and distribution of pornography using one or more of the following theoretical approaches (you don’t need to claim this approach personally, just use it for the exam): a pro-sex feminist standpoint; a lesbian feminist standpoint; a gay or bisexual male standpoint.

5. Compare the literary style of several texts. Pay attention to form, word choice, sound, syntax, white space, structure. How do style and content work together? How are gender/sexuality represented through aesthetic choices?

6. How do the texts we've examined define (and re-define) "family"?

7. How is bisexuality represented in the texts we've examined? What challenge does bisexuality pose to both gay/lesbian identities and heterosexuality?

8. How is transgender identity represented in the texts we've examined? What challenge does it pose to mainstream representations of both gender and sexuality?

Here is a general sense of how I will grade these essays:
Wisdom of textual choices and response to the question (ie how well you read and how well you apply what you’ve read) = 10 points
Clarity of thought in prose (ie how well you write) = 20 points
Intelligence of analysis (ie how well you think) = 20 points

Thoughts on "Southern Comfort"

2007-10-17T19:06:00.000-07:00

On Friday, we'll break into small groups and discuss the film "Southern Comfort." You are welcome to focus on any aspect of the film that interests you. Listed below are some conversation starters to help you begin analyzing the film. Feel free to use these questions, or make up your own.

1. The film focuses on Robert's journey, as well as on Robert and Lola's relationship, but there are two other couples represented, as well. How do the partners in each of these couples identify? What is each partner's history, and how does it inform their current relationship?

2. How does the film treat Robert's relationship to his parents, his son, and his grandchild?

3. Although this is a documentary, and therefore about real people in a real place in real time, it is also a work of art, a film, and therefore involves conscious choices on the part of the artist (the filmmaker). Were there places where you became aware of the filmmaker's beliefs? Were there places where you sensed the filmmaker had to make difficult decisions about the material?

4. What is your definition of "man"? Of "woman"? Does this film challenge your definitions? What other aspects of your belief system does the film challenge?

5. What questions were you left with when the film was over? Where might you begin to look for answers?

6. Define "transgender" identity. What do you think this term means? If you aren't sure, what aspects of the term are confusing to you?

7. In several moments during this film, the characters emphasize their belief in each other's (and their own) chosen genders. For example, one of the couples discusses ways that their erotic imaginations allow them to alter their biology when they are together. Choose a moment in the film when a character uses their imagination or fantasy to enhance their identity. Do you see subversive potential in this? Do you see hope? How might this be formed by oppression; how might this be useful in combatting oppression?

8. What concrete evidence of oppression does the film highlight? What subtle forms did you pick up on?

9. The characters in this film have few role models and no formal teachers to give them the knowledge they need. How do they learn from each other? If you were a community activist with time and money to support the trans community in this rural town, what sorts of programs might you want to offer?

10. The film begins with an anecdote about a man inviting Robert to join the KKK. Discuss ways that racism intersects with gender and sexuality in the film.

11. At one point, Robert argues that "trans-to-trans" intimacy can only be represented by a MTF (male-to-female) coupled with a FTM (female-to-male). Do you agree? Why might Robert hold to this idea?

12. Although the film incorporates queerness and queer characters, some of the characters feel strongly that they are heterosexual. What does heterosexual mean in the context of this film? Is it possible to queer (used here as a verb) heterosexuality and have it remain straight? Does heterosexuality change when it is set in relation to queer gender identities?

13. Looking ahead to _The Dogs_, to what degree do the characters in this film endure violence? How do they resist it?

14. What forms of pleasure do the characters in this film enjoy? What is the relation between "family" and "pleasure"?

Group Presentation Guidelines

2007-10-10T14:33:00.000-07:00

Each presentation is worth 25 points (one quarter of your grade). I will observe your presentations in class and then decide on one grade for each group, according to the following guidelines:

Relevance and originality of your central concept
5 points

Group dynamics/cooperation
5 points

Presentation Style
5 points

Quality of information presented
5 points

Use of time/adherence to assignment guidelines
5 points

Upcoming Readings

2007-10-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

Great class on Monday, folks!

Just a reminder: Rebecca Brown's reading will be Monday, October 22nd at 6pm in Communications Facility Room 120. Feel free to bring friends to this event, which is free and open to the public. The reading will end at 7pm.

Additionally, I will be reading this Thursday, October 11th, at Edmonds Community College at 2pm in Mill Creek Hall. I'll be reading poetry from my most recent book.
This event is also free and open to the public. It was organized by EDCC instructor
and poet Amanda Laughtland in honor of National Coming Out Day.

Schedule Update for English 227

2007-10-08T11:36:00.001-07:00

Your first response essays were great! This is a wonderful class.

updates on the schedule:

Monday Oct 15: NO CLASS

Wednesday Oct 17: film showing in class: _Southern Comfort_

Friday Oct 19: finish film; discuss film in small groups; hand in response essay

Monday Oct 22: Rebecca Brown visits class; please hand in typed questions for Rebecca about _The Dogs_ and/or her writing career (this typed sheet of questions will substitute for a response essay; thus, no essay due on Friday Oct 26); you must read all of _The Dogs_ by this date; remember Rebecca's reading this evening at 6pm
in Communications Facility 120

after this, class continues as planned. Great job so far!

In-class assignment: Analyze "The Office"

2007-09-22T16:33:00.000-07:00

Professor Guess
Handout: The Office, “Gay Witch Hunt,” Episode 1 Season III

1. While you are watching this episode, take note of any stereotypes about sexual orientation.

2. Analyze a joke that occurs on this episode. (Any joke is fine, including one-liners and extended sequences.)

a. First, choose and describe a joke that interests you.

b. What is meant to be funny about this joke?

c. Who is the target of the humor?

d. Where is the audience’s empathy?

e. Does the joke feel staged, or like an event you might witness in real life?

3. What questions about GLBT issues does this episode raise for you?

4. How are the parallel narratives in this episode linked to the central story line?

5. Is this segment political? Why or why not?

6. When do the characters act homophobic? When do they act heterosexist?

7. What behavior do Michael’s office mates want him to change, and why? What behavior do they want him to demonstrate? Are there rules? If so, what are they?

8. What does Oscar want? How does he experience the incident?

9. Do you agree that a gay person should control the circumstances of their coming out? Is this always possible? Are there exceptions to this?

10. How do you interpret Oscar’s last line?

11. Does this episode remind you of any current events? How is it related?

English 227: GLBT Literature

2007-09-22T16:14:00.000-07:00

Professor Guess
carolguess@aol.com (use email to contact me)
office hours Monday, Wednesday 2:30-3:30pm and by appointment
office HU 267
webpage: www.ourcitythe.blogspot.com

Fall 2007: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Literature

Participants in this course will examine the influence of queer theorists’ critiques of identity politics on contemporary American gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender literature. Our aim is to question, rather than simply celebrate, the identities “gay” and “lesbian.” What, if anything, does an affiliation with either label suggest about an author’s writing? What does it mean that “gay literature” and “lesbian literature” are to be taught in one course? What impact does social class have on representations of GLBT identity? How do race and ethnicity impact GLBT writers, characters, and social movements? In our examination of these and other questions, we will also consider how bisexual, transgender, and queer writers have influenced both gay/lesbian and straight literary traditions.

Required texts:
Crush
The Dogs
Fun Home
The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader
Voices Rising

Please try to watch three of the following films on your own during the course of the quarter: The Aggressives, Boys Don’t Cry, The Brandon Teena Story, But I’m A Cheerleader, The Celluloid Closet, Chasing Amy, The Children’s Hour, Go Fish, The Hanging Garden, Heavenly Creatures, Hedwig And The Angry Inch, If These Walls Could Talk II, The L Word (cable series), L.I.E., Ma Vie En Rose, Monster, My Summer Of Love, Paris Is Burning, Queer As Folk (cable series), Secretary, Six Feet Under (cable series), Tongues Untied, Unveiled, The Watermelon Woman, Zoo. The best place to find these films is at an independent store, like Film Is Truth. If it is impossible for you to see any of these films, you won’t be penalized, but watching them will help you learn more about various GLBT experiences. It’s fine to substitute contemporary GLBT films for the films listed above if you have the chance.

Your grade will be determined on a 100 point system.

100-90=A 89-80=B 79-70=C 69-60=D etc.

25% five response essays (5 points each, graded pass/fail)
25% group project and presentation
50% final exam

Attendance and participation may also impact your grade at my discretion.

You are expected to attend (and participate in) all class sessions unless you have a legitimate excuse (illness, family emergency, religious holiday, etc.). Please note that poor attendance, poor participation, hostility, harassment, etc. have no place in this class. I will add pluses and minuses at my discretion, based on effort.

Please note that I have a zero tolerance policy on the use of electronic devices during class time. Cell phones must be turned off and put away; ditto for pagers, handheld email and instant messaging systems, etc. You may not send or receive phone calls, emails, or instant messages during class. You may not take photographs of anyone in our class without prior written permission from that person. Violation of this policy is grounds for removal from class, at best, and failure, at worst. Computer use for word-processing purposes only is perfectly acceptable; however, you may not use a computer for other purposes during class time.

Week One
Sept 26 Introduction; analyzing “The Office”
Sept 28 Lecture on GLBT American history

Week Two
Oct 1 “Capitalism and Gay Identity” D’Emilio
Oct 3 “Epistemology of the Closet” Sedgwick
Oct 5 “Thinking Sex” Rubin
FRIDAY: FIRST RESPONSE ESSAY DUE

Week Three
Oct 8 “Compulsory Heterosexuality” Rich
Oct 10 “Looking For Trouble” Mercer
Oct 12 “Imitation and Gender Insubordination” Butler
FRIDAY: SECOND RESPONSE ESSAY DUE

Week Four
Oct 15 “Queering The Binaries: Transsituated Identities, Bodies, and Sexualities” Cromwell (ON ELECTRONIC RESERVE)
Oct 17 The Times Of Harvey Milk (film)
Oct 19 finish film; class discussion
FRIDAY: THIRD RESPONSE ESSAY DUE

Week Five
Oct 22 The Dogs; Rebecca Brown visits class; Rebecca Brown reading
Oct 24 The Dogs
Oct 26 “The L Word” (TV)
FRIDAY: FOURTH RESPONSE ESSAY DUE

Week Six
Oct 29 Crush
Oct 31 Crush
Nov 2 NO CLASS (I am out of town for a reading in DC)

Week Seven
Nov 5 NO CLASS (I am out of town for a reading in DC)
Nov 7 Voices Rising: poems, stories, and essays beginning on pages 125, 135, 246, 272, 334, 375, 380, 413, 526, 553
Nov 9 Voices Rising (see pages above)
FRIDAY: FIFTH RESPONSE ESSAY DUE

Week Eight
Nov 12 Fun Home
Nov 14 Fun Home
Nov 16 “The First Time I Lied” Colen (ON ELECTRONIC RESERVE); in-class writing exercises

Week Nine
Nov 19 film TBA
Nov 21 No class; Thanksgiving Break
Nov 23 No class; Thanksgiving Break

Week Ten
Nov 26 PRESENTATIONS
Nov 28 PRESENTATIONS
Nov 30 PRESENTATIONS

Week Eleven
Dec 3 PRESENTATIONS
Dec 5 hand out final exam; class evaluations
Dec 7 PRESENTATIONS

The final exam will be a take-home exam, to be handed in to me in person during the time period scheduled for your final exam: Tuesday, December 11th between 3:30-4:30pm. I will be in my office at this time. My office is in the Humanities Building, Room 267. I will leave my office at 4:30pm; after that time, exams will be considered late and penalized accordingly.

Final blog assignment

2007-05-24T21:44:00.000-07:00

Write the first paragraph of something you'd like to work on this summer, followed by a brief timeline of how you might work on it over June, July, and August.

This should NOT be related to your current project. Think up something new.

Good luck, keep writing,
C

A Game Of Tag

2007-05-18T19:05:00.000-07:00

This week's blog assignment is a game of tag.

Whoever starts, starts us off. The first person to read this must write a post with a short assignment for someone else in the class (your choice of who) -- eg Matt gives Kathleen an assignment. (Each assignment should be specifically directed at that person, no more than a paragraph or two of prose.) Kathleen then posts her paragraph (ie her response to Matt's assignment for her), then includes an assignment directed at someone else. And so on. The last person tagged gives the first person (Matt, in this example) an assignment. Do not include me in this list, but all 9 of you must participate as the cycle progresses.

So, someone start us off. Good luck. And by the way, if you're not reading or responding to this blog, you're going to be "IT" in a big way, so remember: blog responses aren't optional.

Other Voices

2007-05-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

Due Friday May 18th:

Write one paragraph, first person POV, in the voice of a character whose life is
very different from your own in some significant way. Ideally, the paragraph will
be similar to a short-short story, with some sense of narrative development.
Please choose a voice that allows you to stretch your sense of who you can or can't
write about.

Editorial comments now, folks: First off, great class discussions this quarter! I'm
impressed with everyone's intelligence and talent. I also like all of the projects,
and think you are all choosing to take risks and stretch yourselves. One reminder:
this blog isn't optional, but a weekly assignment you're required to do. Be sure to
participate each week.

See you Tuesday, and then in conferences:

At The Black Drop Coffeehouse

Thurs May 17
330 Jeanne
430 Lauren
530 Kathleen

Tues May 22
330 John
430 Rachel
530 Jamie

Wed May 23
330 Lucy
430 Matt
530 Anna

Please be on time. And cook up an interesting coffee drink to order -- bonus points
for weird drinks!

Dollhouses

2007-05-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

This entry takes place in stages.

1. Write a page describing a place, really allowing your reader to inhabit that place. It can be real or imaginary. Any POV is fine.

2. Now narrow down what you just wrote to half a page.

3. Now narrow down what you just wrote to one paragraph or five sentences (whichever is more interesting to you).

4. Now narrow down what you just wrote to one sentence.

Please post ONLY steps 3 and 4 on your blog entry.

Updates to syllabus

2007-04-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

Fantastic class discussion on _Notice_ today, folks.

As discussed in class, here is an updated syllabus:

April 26 -- no class

May 1 -- imitation of Notice due; bring 3 copies to workshop in groups
May 3 -- discuss first rough drafts of your piece; bring 1 copy to read aloud

May 8 -- exchange second rough draft in small groups; bring 2 copies
May 10 -- exchange third rough draft in small groups; bring 2 copies

May 15 -- hand in draft to me (for conference session); bring 3 copies to workshop
in class ** the draft you hand in to me should be substantial **
May 17 -- individual conferences with me

May 22 -- individual conferences with me

The rest of the syllabus, from May 24th on, is the same as printed

** Be thinking about which day you'd like to meet for a conference. Conferences
will be held in my office. Times will be 2-3pm, 3-4pm, 4-5pm, or 5-6pm.
We'll do a sign up soon during class.

Assignment due Friday May 4th

2007-04-24T15:43:00.000-07:00

Great job on the assignments so far!

Have fun with this one:

Create a protagonist without a middle name. Describe this protagonist in third-person, emphasizing their lack of
a middle name, and what this means to them. This should be fiction; use your imagination.

Heather Lewis Gets Noticed: assignment due Friday April 27

2007-04-12T14:43:00.000-07:00

On our reading list this quarter is the novel _Notice_ by Heather Lewis. Before her suicide, Lewis published two other novels: _House Rules_ and _The Second Suspect_. It would appear, then, that the posthumously published _Notice_ was her third novel, but this is not the case.

Please do some general research into both _The Second Suspect_ and _Notice_, paying attention to the following questions:

When was each book written?
When was each book published?
What were some of the most significant national events happening during these years in America?
What was each book about (plot summary, names of characters included)?
What sort of reception did each book receive?
And finally, how does this information impact your reading of _Notice_?

In your posting to this blog, please share just the most significant of your findings in one or two paragraphs. I'm less concerned with research detail than with the general outline of what this assignment reveals to you. What have you learned?

Assignment the next, due Friday April 20th

2007-04-12T14:34:00.000-07:00

In conjunction with Carole Maso's AVA, please juxtapose words and phrases from the following realms to make a coherent,
lyrical short-short fiction. Length: think about half a page. Tip: start long and cut, condense, cut, condense. It's fine to use this as the starting point for your imitation; fine to overlap them.

Realms to include:

lyrics from a favorite song
dialogue between you and someone you love
current political slogan or headline
physical description of your home
ingredients of a favorite food
dire warning of impending catastrophe

Off We Go

2007-04-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

Here's your assignment; please complete this by Friday, April 13th.

Pick one of the following prompts and write ONLY one paragraph about it, paying close attention to language, imagery, tone. Any POV is fine; feel free to play with the prompts. Don't get caught up in doing it "right," whatever that means.

1. Title: The Secret Life Of Railroad Avenue

2. write about a tree in Bellingham, giving it a name and a history

3. Choose your favorite character-about-town in Bellingham and invent their life for them

Spring 2007: English 502 Syllabus

2007-03-21T14:48:00.000-07:00

English 502
Professor Carol Guess
Fiction Workshop
T/Th 4-5:50 HU 106
office: HU 267
office hours: T/Th 3-4pm and by appointment
Carol.Guess@wwu.edu

Living as we do in a time of global violence and unrest, of what use is fiction in recording and re-inventing the world around us? This will be the question at stake in 502. We will begin our exploration by reading Alison Bechdel's graphic novel, Fun Home, an illustrated narrative full of family secrets. Then we'll read Carole Maso's AVA, a novel-in-fragments exploring the final day of its female protagonist. Finally, we'll read Notice, a novel from the New Narrative movement that turns an unflinching eye on the psychological ramifications of violence. We will examine each author's aesthetic choices, asking how they represent beauty
and violence, hope and despair.

After absorbing lessons from these texts, we will turn our own unflinching eyes on our personal and political landscapes, using fictionalized characters to explore questions central to our daily lives. Students will write several short pieces, and one long piece, using unconventional narrative strategies to create
unconventional characters.

Your grade will consist of four elements: 25% writing process; 25% final story; 25% art project; 25% class participation.

Art Project: Your art project must be related in some way (only you can determine how) to your story. Any art form (other than writing) is fine. You might design a book jacket for your book-in-progress. You might make a short powerpoint demonstration about an idea you’re exploring. You might draw pictures, sew a jacket, pour candles, bake a cake, choreograph a dance, sing a song -- anything you’d like to share with the class. You will present these projects during the last week of classes.

Class Participation: please attend all class sessions unless you have an excused absence. You must participate in some way during every class period. Please be respectful of your classmates and me, and treat everyone’s words with care.

This course includes one outside hour of work per week. We will enact this additional hour by interacting online. I have a blog set up for this class: www.ourcitythe.blogspot.com
Once a week, I will post some sort of writing assignment or text to read. You will then do the assignment or read the text, and send me a short comment (on the blog itself) letting me know you’ve completed this task. Remember that other students can read these comments, too. I hope this will help add to the sense of community in class.

April 3 T Introduction to class
April 5 Th in-class exercises

April 10 T Fun Home
April 12 Th bring 1 page Bechdel imitation; share with class

April 17 T AVA
April 19 Th bring 1 page Maso imitation; share with class

April 24 T Notice
April 26 Th bring 1 page Lewis imitation; share with class

May 1 T draft 1 due in class to share in discussion (bring 1 copy)
May 3 Th exchange draft 2 in small groups (bring 2 copies, typed)

May 8 T exchange draft 3 in small groups (bring 2 copies, typed)
May 10 Th hand in draft 4 to me for your conference next week

May 15 T individual conferences with me
May 17 Th individual conferences with me

May 22 T exchange draft 5 in small groups (bring 2 copies, typed)
May 24 Th exchange draft 6 in small groups (bring 2 copies, typed)

May 29 T read draft 7 aloud to class
May 31 Th read draft 7 aloud to class

June 5 T HAND IN FINAL STORY TO ME / present art projects to class
June 7 Th present art projects to class / course evaluations