English 273-601: Introduction to Literature: Creative Writing / Food Memoirs: Identities of Abundance
CRN: 91757
Instructor: Christina Nakyong Lee (she/her)
Location: Zoom (hybrid asynchronous/synchronous)
Synchronous: TR 9:00-10:20am
Asynchronous: MWF
Course Description
Unlike the autobiography which spans across an entire life, the memoir often focuses on a single memory or theme in relation to identity. Coterminously emerging with important cultural movements, in 2011, G. Thomas Couser argued in his book Memoir: An Introduction, that the memoir has become one of the most democratic genres in the United States. With the rise of the digital age and social media, our practices of recording our lives has since expanded. And, if you’re anything like me, part of this practice, entails photographing my favorite meals and posting them on social media. That said, for this course, we will be exploring ourselves in relation to food.
What do the clutter and clatter of pots remind you of? The simmering of oil on the pan? The random crunch of a seed as you bite into a berry? What tastes trigger certain emotional responses? Why are certain smells concentrated in specific areas? And how do these different smells permeating from the kitchen or restaurants located in urban or rural spaces evoke memory? You’d be surprised at just how much food, its culture, and its consumption reveal about our own histories, genealogies, and finally, place.
A fair warning, this course will require you to not only sit and read (or listen) passively, but to actively engage with the material. Meaning, during the days we do not meet, you will be observing your local grocery stores, going to your favorite restaurants with your friends or family, being present and engaging with all five senses as you eat your favorite meal. Active engagement, being present and mindful, are all significant practices of writing food memoirs.
As a Writing Intensive (WI) course, this class will require you to submit a total of 4000 words. Each week, you will be writing a series of 1000-word writing experiments ranging from food reviews to your very own short-form memoirs. Week Five will be dedicated to revising one of the four writing experiments of your choice and constructing a final portfolio. The summer session will conclude with an online multiple choice final exam based on the texts we’ve read.
Food, culture, and identity are always in the process of becoming. And I invite you to take this journey of self-discovery from a place of care, compassion, and endless possibility.
Required Texts (tentative)
- Excerpts from G. Thomas Couser’s Memoir: An Introduction
- Excerpts from Smith & Watson’s Reading Autobiography
- Diane Ackerman’s A Natural History of the Senses
- Michelle Zauner’s Crying in H Mart
- Elissa Washuta’s Starvation Mode
- Robin Wall Kimmerer’s The Serviceberry
Assignments (tentative)
- Four writing experiments (1000-word minimum per)
- One synchronous class dedicated to peer review/writing workshop
- Final portfolio: One final revised, polished writing experiment + reflection
- Online final exam