Document Type
Syllabus
Publication Date
Fall 9-1-2024
Course Description
Coined in 2003 by Brenda Miller and Suzanne Paola in their book Tell It Slant: Writing and Shaping Creative Nonfiction, “hermit crab essays,” that take the form of something un-essay-like—such as a recipe, how-to manual, or marriage license—and use this form to tell a story or explore a topic. The human story becomes the hermit crab borrows a form or shell to express itself. Also known as “borrowed form,” these essays have exploded in popularity, blurring the lines between fiction and nonfiction. This class is a meditation on repurposing familiar forms through research, imagination and craft. We are surrounded by so many forms we take them for granted. Some examples include the Bible or any sacred text, song lyrics, phone books, newspaper articles, obituaries, resumes, class schedules, dating profiles, government documents such as the U.S. Constitution, famous speeches like Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s, “I Have a Dream,” screenplays, scripts, letters, directions on board games and how-to- manuals, are just a few. As we delve into the material you are going to see infinite possibilities. Once you start laying your narratives onto borrowed forms you may strangely find a liberty. My goal is to liberate your imagination to nonfiction’s greater possibilities. For years Dinty W. Moore’s essay “Son of Mr. Green Genes,” showcased in the textbook, became literary catnip for my students. It’s called an abecedarian or an alphabetically arranged essay. His unconventional memoir Between Panic and Desire makes use of mostly experimental essays. He famously says “Don’t make shit up.” That doesn’t mean we can’t invent within the confines of truth. Invention differs from fabrication. While fiction and nonfiction have clear distinctions. Things we’ll read in our textbooks and online push boundaries but are clearly nonfiction. We will always push up against that line. Hopefully by end of the semester you will be exploding with new approaches and ideas you can pursue in nonfiction, and the worlds of form around you become a creative oyster. Some of my favorites include Megan Vered’s Requiem for a Lost Organ and Will McMillan’s Twister Weather. Both do a superb job of taking a personal narrative and concealing it in a form that’s not intuitively human.
Recommended Citation
Autman, Samuel, "ENG 322A The Hermit Crab Essay Autman Fall 2024" (2024). All Course Syllabi. 671, Scholarly and Creative Work from DePauw University.
https://scholarship.depauw.edu/records_syllabi/671
Student Outcomes
STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO: • Appreciate the “hermit crab or borrowed form essay” as a way telling stories across multiple disciplines. • Wrestle with the moral and ethical dilemma in generating nonfiction without doing harm. • Develop a vocabulary for close reading and offering useful input. • Engage in artistic community with people who might have differing worldviews. • Employ research, imagination and craft expansively in nonfiction.