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The course examines the genre’s art, from Montaigne’s early defense of the essay form to contemporary writers, emphasizing reflection, self-knowledge, and avoiding self-indulgence. It frames scholarly debates about the personal essay’s status and compares it with other genres, using clear learning objectives to support assessment and progress throughout the semester.",{"@graph":63,"@context":118},[64,80,101],{"@type":65,"itemListElement":66},"BreadcrumbList",[67,71,74,77],{"item":68,"name":69,"@type":70,"position":9},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":72,"name":10,"@type":70,"position":73},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/",2,{"item":75,"name":46,"@type":70,"position":76},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/paper-templates/",3,{"item":78,"name":59,"@type":70,"position":79},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/fwis-151-making-sense-of-ourselves-the-art-of-the-personal-essay/349221/",4,{"url":78,"name":59,"@type":81,"image":82,"author":87,"headline":59,"publisher":90,"fileFormat":93,"inLanguage":57,"description":61,"dateModified":94,"datePublished":95,"encodingFormat":93,"isAccessibleForFree":96,"interactionStatistic":97},"DigitalDocument",{"url":83,"@type":84,"width":85,"height":86},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/fwis-151-making-sense-of-ourselves-the-art-of-the-personal-essay/349221.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":88,"@type":89},"Aran","Person",{"url":68,"name":91,"@type":92},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-07","2026-09-22",true,{"@type":98,"interactionType":99,"userInteractionCount":30},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":100},"ViewAction",{"@type":102,"mainEntity":103},"FAQPage",[104,110,114],{"name":105,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":107},"What is the main focus of FWIS 151?","Question",{"text":108,"@type":109},"FWIS 151 centers on the personal essay as a way to make sense of oneself and the world, using reading, discussion, and writing to build reflection and self-knowledge.","Answer",{"name":111,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":112},"Who influenced the course’s understanding of the personal essay?",{"text":113,"@type":109},"The syllabus highlights Michel de Montaigne’s role in popularizing the essay form and traces the genre’s development from his time to contemporary writers.",{"name":115,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How are students’ learning objectives and final grades connected?",{"text":117,"@type":109},"The course uses specific objectives aligned with FWIS learning goals, and students’ final grade is based on how fully they achieve those objectives by the end of the semester.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":78,"og:type":120,"og:title":59,"og:site_name":91,"og:description":61},"article",{"robots":122,"canonical":78},"index,follow",{"doc_id":124,"site_id":56},349221,1790292633,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":127},{"doc_id":124,"user_id":128,"nickname":88,"user_avatar":129,"doc_module":9,"category_id":45,"category_name":46,"doc_title":59,"doc_description":61,"doc_content":130,"file_id":131,"file_url":132,"file_type":133,"file_size":134,"view_count":30,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":9,"is_downloadable":9,"audit_status":9,"page_count":25,"language":135,"language_code":57,"site_id":56,"html_lang":57,"table_of_contents":136,"faqs":137,"seo_title":138,"seo_description":61,"update_tm":139,"read_time":47},137455076865,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","FWIS 151  \nMaking Sense ofOurselves:ȈeArt ofthe Personal Essay  \nMWF 12:00-12:50pm (Section 1) , MWF 1:00-1:50pm (Section 2) Classroom: Martel 101  \nInstructor: Burke Nixon  \n[Email:](Email: bnixon@rice.edu)[ ](Email: bnixon@rice.edu)[bnixon@rice.edu](Email: bnixon@rice.edu)[ ](Email: bnixon@rice.edu)[O](O)Ǻfice: Fondren 423  \nWelcome to FWIS 151! Ȉis syllabus will introduce you to the course and outline what you can expect—and what’s expected ofyou—throughout the semester. Whenever you have a question about course policies or due dates or anything else related to our class, always check the syllabus first. Ifyou can’t find the answer in the syllabus, you can always ask me in person or by email.(Don’t ask me before checking the syllabus, though!) Okay, let’s get started...  \nWhat’s the point ofFWIS 151? What’s this class all about?  \nȈis course, like all FWIS courses, is designed to help you build your academic writing, reading, thinking, and communication skills. Ifyou don’t think ofyourself as a particularly good writer, don’t worry. Ȉis class will give you plenty of strategies and ideas for how to strengthen your writing, and how to find meaning and even maybe joy in the writing process along the way. On the other hand, ifyou already do think ofyourself as a particularly good writer, then I hope this course will show you that even the best writers are always learning and adding to their toolbox, and that even the most successful writers struggle sometimes.1  \nWhat is this particular FWIS—“Making Sense ofOurselves: Ȉe Art ofthe Personal Essay”—all about? Let me break down the name ofthe class a little bit. We’ll be focusing on writers who use the personal essay as a way to try to make sense ofthemselves and the world around them. In  \n1 Nobody writes perfect first draȄts, not even the great writers we’ll read this semester (including the writers pictured above: Michel de Montaigne, James Baldwin, Jenny Zhang, and Kirsten Valdez Quade) . And even writing this syllabus, I’ve struggled sometimes to say exactly what I want to say.  \nthe late 16th century, when Michel de Montaigne created (or at least popularized) the essay form by devoting the rest of his life to writing his Essais, he defended the work’s focus on his own thoughts and experience by noting that “each man is a good education to himself, provided he has the capacity to spy on himself from close up.” Ȉis semester, we’ll be examining the work of writers from Montaigne to the present who use the personal essay to spy on themselves from close up, so that their own thoughts, habits, and experiences become an education to themselves. And we’ll attempt to accomplish the same thing by writing our own personal essays, pushing ourselves to use the form as a vehicle for reǼlection and self-knowledge.  \nIn the process of reading, discussing, writing, and writing about personal essays, we’ll come to better understand the complex art ofthis literary genre. Great personal essays somehow enlighten both the reader and the writer; we’ll try to decipher the elements that allow a piece of writing to avoid self-indulgence and genuinely, insightfully, and compellingly grapple with one’s thoughts and experiences. We’ll also examine scholarly debates about the personal essay: Is the essay the underappreciated “fourth genre” of literature? Is it a genre that only reinforces the status quo, a genre for the privileged? Finally, we’ll examine the similarities and diǺferences between the personal essay and other genres, including the scholarly article. How can our knowledge ofthe personal essay help us become better academic writers? Ȉis underlying question will drive much ofour work throughout the semester.  \nWhat exactly are we supposed to learn in this class?  \nAs your instructor, my ultimate goal is that you’ll look back on this course well aȄter it’s over and still recall—and continue to draw upon—the specific ways that this FWIS helped you become abetter writer, reader, critical thinker, and c","cbCaipp44jSpFxFk","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaipp44jSpFxFk","pdf",338050,"English","# Course Overview\n## What’s the point of FWIS 151?\n## What is the course about?\n# Learning Objectives and Assessment\n## Course objectives\n## Grading categories","[{\"question\":\"What is the main focus of FWIS 151?\",\"answer\":\"FWIS 151 centers on the personal essay as a way to make sense of oneself and the world, using reading, discussion, and writing to build reflection and self-knowledge.\"},{\"question\":\"Who influenced the course’s understanding of the personal essay?\",\"answer\":\"The syllabus highlights Michel de Montaigne’s role in popularizing the essay form and traces the genre’s development from his time to contemporary writers.\"},{\"question\":\"How are students’ learning objectives and final grades connected?\",\"answer\":\"The course uses specific objectives aligned with FWIS learning goals, and students’ final grade is based on how fully they achieve those objectives by the end of the semester.\"}]","FWIS 151 - Making Sense of Ourselves - The Art of the Personal Essay | PDF",1790082272]