Abstract
The personal narrative essay is an excellent assignment for an expository writing course, but students do not always explore themselves deeply. A modifed version of Elbow’s layered freewriting that pushes students toward uncomfortable emotions in selecting topics facilitates that. In this session, after receiving a quick review of the pedagogical underpinnings of the practice, summaries of student feedback, and brief samples of student work, participants will engage in the same process of topic selection that students did to experience it for themselves. The importance of mid-process peer and instructor feedback will also be discussed, and handouts on all these aspects will be provided
Freewriting Towards the Emotions
Handout- Know Thyself, Student_ Getting Students to Dig Deep in Personal Narratives.pdf (278 kB)
Personal Narrative
Knowing Thyself: Getting Students to Dig Deep in Personal Narrative Essays
Session 5 Breakouts
The personal narrative essay is an excellent assignment for an expository writing course, but students do not always explore themselves deeply. A modifed version of Elbow’s layered freewriting that pushes students toward uncomfortable emotions in selecting topics facilitates that. In this session, after receiving a quick review of the pedagogical underpinnings of the practice, summaries of student feedback, and brief samples of student work, participants will engage in the same process of topic selection that students did to experience it for themselves. The importance of mid-process peer and instructor feedback will also be discussed, and handouts on all these aspects will be provided
