EN 349 Literature and the Environment Creative Nonfiction Essay Assignment In addition to reading, discussing, and writing about the work of other American nature/environmental writers, you will each produce your own creative/creative nonfiction piece. Working off of the ideas and techniques that you have been developing in your field observations, as well as through our reading and class discussion, you will produce a creative nonfiction essay of 4-6 pages. Some approaches you may wish to consider: •
a personal essay relating an experience you had in nature or the outdoors, exploring the topic through the lens of your own personal experiences, reflections, ideas, and reactions. Remember that in writing creative nonfiction, you should attempt to observe, record, and thus shape a moment from real life. Writers thus extract meaning through factual details—they combine the fact of detail with the literary extrapolation necessary in rendering meaning from an observed scene. • imitate the style of one of the authors(authors read are,(Aldo leopold's sound county almanac "Thinking like a mountain"), (Rachel Carson's silent spring and the birth of modern environmental movement),and (Henry Thoreau's Walden) we have read and write an essay based on your own close, personal observations of a specific animal, plant, or natural physical object or of a particular landscape or biotic environment, drawing connections between your physical observations and insights you gain
• develop a lyric essay based on one of the Field Observations that you conducted in class (or on a new, original observation that you conduct for this assignment). A lyric essay relies heavily on descriptions and imagery. Lyrical suggests something poetic, musical, or flowing (in a sense). This type of piece uses a heavily descriptive, flowing tone in order to tell a story. •
Is there something we read or something you observed that has left you wanting to know more? Write a journalistic piece investigating something that you read about in one of our assigned texts or that you observed or speculated about in one of your Field Observations. Creative nonfiction should (1) include accurate and well-researched information, (2) hold the interest of the reader, and (3) potentially blur the realms of fact and fiction in a pleasing, literary style (while remaining grounded in fact). As one of the three formal writing assignments for this class, your creative nonfiction essay should reflect a great deal of thought, revision, and care. Please take some time to carefully read through all of the information below so that you have a complete and detailed understanding of the assignment expectations and requirements. Requirements: • Length: 4-6 pages (typed, double-spaced, 12-point font) • Grammar, Usage & Mechanics: as a formal piece of writing, your essay should show evidence of careful revision and have few if any errors in expression, usage, or mechanics