Emilie Menzel

ENGLISH 254 IMAGINATIVE WRITING & READING

“To Love Language Generously with Precision" 

(Spring Semester 2019)

 

Course Instructor, Undergraduates

1 section, 20 students

 

When the wirewalker Philippe Petit balanced his way to the middle of a thin line strung across the tops of the Twin Towers in 1974, he called it dancing; he called it falling in love; he said he wanted to “feel like a bird all [his] life.” And so we are with writing: how to balance the giddy love of language and story with craft, the creative impulse with analytical control, the line between prose and poetry. In this creative writing and reading workshop, we will practice our line walking—producing poems, stories, essays of our own—and draw inspiration from reading and writing engaged with the balance that written arts require between creative and analytical thinking. We will consider how creative and analytical strategies are both required for all stages of writing: sitting down and finding a courage to face the page and fill, editing, deciding how to present information in a way that gives movement and lift. We will consider preconceptions we have accrued about divisions between creative and analytical thinking.

​

—Full responsibility for course design, pedagogical approach, lecturing, leading discussions, lesson planning, grading papers, providing written feedback on drafts, holding office hours, and giving student conferences

 

​

ENGLISH 112 COLLEGE WRITING / INTRO TO COMPOSITION

Fall Semester 2016 — Fall Semester 2018 (5 semesters)

 

Course Instructor, Undergraduates

2:1 section schedule, 15 students per section

 

Not all essays are five paragraphs. Not all papers are serious. Not all research is presented through an academic essay. Not all arguments are logical. Through the exploration of essay writing, this course will explore the possibilities of language, what effective writing and communication can look like, the range of tools available to us for effective communication, and the range of purposes writing can be used toward. The purpose of College Writing is to help you grow and challenge yourself as a college writer—for academic assignments and also for the writing demands in your personal, professional, and civic lives. English 112 (aka College Writing) is the only course that satisfies the university’s College Writing requirement. As a fundamental part of your General Education at UMass Amherst, this course emphasizes critical thinking and communication, consideration of plural perspectives, and self-reflection on one’s learning.

​

—Full responsibility for lecturing, leading discussions, lesson planning, grading papers, providing written feedback on drafts, holding office hours, and giving student conferences

​

​