Beyond the Dutiful Essay: Literary Ambition in the First Year Course

Jennifer Lee and Brenda Whitney, University of Pittsburgh

Session Description: How do we, as teachers of composition, think about the kinds of writing students do in our courses as different from those practiced in either literature or creative writing courses, and what would it mean to disrupt those distinctions? In this Session, we will consider the merits, and challenges, of a course that positions first-year students as literary scholars and writers. Our central text, this year's staff syllabus at the University of Pittsburgh-“On the Essay: Writing the Times,” co-authored by the workshop leaders-asks students to enter the work of literary essayists, both by engaging texts critically and by trying out similar projects. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to critically engage their own and disciplinary assumptions about what students can, and should, do in a first-year composition course.