MEM 111 W — Self as Story: Personal Essay Workshop
Quarter: Winter
Instructor(s): Brittany Ackerman
Date(s): Jan 6—Mar 10
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Wednesdays
Class Meeting Time: 12:00—1:00 pm (PT)
Tuition: $1040
Refund Deadline: Jan 8
Unit(s): 2
Enrollment Limit: 18
Status: Registration opens Nov 30, 8:30 am (PT)
The personal essay allows us to explore both major turning points and small decisions that unexpectedly set us on a new course. Doing so, we gain deeper insight into relationships and ways the past influences the present. Personal essays can include opinion pieces and mini-memoirs centered on the writer’s journey through specific experiences. This course invites students to explore those variations and study and apply craft elements such as theme, pacing, scene setting, and exposition while bringing their stories to life. We’ll observe how writers like Sarah Manguso and Ross Gay weave together disparate moments to create layered, evocative works. Through guided exercises, we’ll experiment with structure, voice, and juxtaposition. By the end of this course, students will have workshopped at least one personal essay (1,000–3,000 words) and developed a foundation for future pieces. You’ll leave with a heightened understanding of what makes for a resonant, compelling personal essay.
BRITTANY ACKERMAN
Author
Brittany Ackerman has taught for UCLA Extension, The Porch, HerStry, Write or Die, and Lighthouse Writers. A three-time Pushcart Prize nominee, her work has been featured in The Sun, MUTHA, Literary Hub, The Los Angeles Review, No Tokens, Joyland, and more. She is the author of the essay collection The Perpetual Motion Machine, the novels The Brittanys and The Style of Your Life, and the Substack Taking the Stairs. Ackerman received an MFA in creative writing from Florida Atlantic University.Textbooks for this course:
There are no required textbooks; however, some fee-based online readings may be assigned.