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Emma Burris-Janssen English 1011.009: Writing through Literature First Essay Assignment Fall 2014

Texts Anthology of illness narratives generated by the class Any other texts that may be helpful to you; this list can include (but is certainly not limited to) the following: “The Empathy Exams” by Leslie Jamison Narrative Medicine by Rita Charon “Breathing” by Cortney Davis

Assignment In “The Empathy Exams,” Leslie Jamison interrogates the central term of her essay collection: empathy. Jamison observes that “[e]mpathy comes from the Greek empatheia – em (into) and pathos (feeling) – a penetration, a kind of travel. It suggests you enter another person’s pain as you’d enter another country” (6). And, in her work on narrative medicine, physician Rita Charon suggests that it is this kind of travel – the act of traveling into someone else’s experience of pain – that is crucial to medical. Charon goes on to suggest that travelling into the pain of another should take place primarily through the vehicle of narrative. In fact, many medical schools today use illness narratives (the act of writing them and the act of reading them) as part of their attempt to train physicians in empathy.

In this essay, I would like you to think about the experience of writing your own illness narrative and reading the illness narratives of others in the class. Then, I would like you to relate this experience to the concept of empathy. In other words, I would like you to respond to this central question: How does the experience of writing and reading about illness relate to the concept of empathy?

Along the way, you will probably also want to respond to some of the following questions: What is empathy? Were you able to “learn” how to be empathetic through the work of writing and reading these illness narratives? How do you think empathy relates to narrative and storytelling in general?

Evaluation When I am responding to, evaluating, and grading your essays, I will primarily be looking for the following things: (1) evidence of your close and considered engagement with your source material and with the terms of the assignment and (2) a clear sense of your contribution to this ongoing discussion.

Some Logistical Considerations This essay should be six pages long and should be set in Times New Roman, 12-point font. Your paper should also have an MLA header, an engaging title, page numbers, one- inch margins, and it should be stapled when submitted in hard copy. 2

Deadlines Sunday, September 7: Post your first draft on our HuskyCT Discussion Board by midnight.

Tuesday, September 9-Thursday, September 18: In-class workshopping of Essay 1; everyone should attend these workshops prepared to assist in the peer review process.

Tuesday, September 23: Bring a hard copy of your most up-to-date draft to our class meeting, and we will do a final review in small groups.

Thursday, September 25: The final draft of your essay is due by class time; please bring one hard copy of the essay with you to our class meeting and post your final draft on our HuskyCT Discussion Board, as well.