Requirements:
750 words MAXIMUM
Must show creative attention to form
Must demonstrate a unique way of thinking/feeling
When we think of “creative nonfiction” we often think of facts and information, but creative nonfiction can take other forms. In many ways, the essay is the most fluid and flexible of any of the written genres of literature. A lyric essay, especially, can do and be many different things, and leaves a lot of room for creative expression. Make creative choices. Try new things. Craft a piece that feels new and different, but that engages directly with the CNF strategies and ideas we’ve been talking about together in class.
Pay attention to smaller and larger moves in your piece. What choices will you make at the sentence and phrase level to create a dynamic experience for your readers? What overall form or structure will your piece take? Will your essay become a series of tweets? A kind of recipe? An annotated play list? A blog post? A conversation? A letter? Something else? How will that form enhance the meaning of your subject? Be creative and innovative with this. There are many right ways to successfully complete this assignment.
Follow your own curiosity and thoughts. Think about creating a moving experience for your reader. Think of this essay as a map of your own thinking. Use the space of the page itself to help relay the ideas you’ll explore. Be concise and pay extra attention not only to what your words say, but how they say it. The idea is to create an essay that moves the way our thoughts and emotions move. Explore a theme. Comment on something in society that bugs you. Write to demand that we think or feel differently. Have fun here. Do not simply tell us something. Show us something. Give us something that makes us think and feel.
