Hall, Kim F. "The unessay." Throughlines. www.throughlines.org/suite-content/the-unessay. [Date accessed].
The unessay
An attempt at tackling an intellectual knot outside the constraints of the usual college essay.
This unessay assignment is often the final assignment in Kim F. Hall’s "Black Shakespeares" course.
As you may know, the word “essay” means “attempt.” Usually, this is an attempt at understanding something that is complex and explaining that complexity. Similarly, the unessay is your attempt at tackling an intellectual knot outside the constraints of the usual college essay or research paper. Your unessay should deeply and critically engage with the topic of the course; while you are welcome to move between past and present, there should be some substantive engagement with the premodern. However, your texts, interpretation and analysis of premodern materials do not have to cover topics that we have discussed in class. The pedagogical purpose of the unessay is to create opportunities for you to pursue the things that arouse your intellectual curiosity and to explore them in any medium that suits you, which includes music, art, poetry, animation, sewing/stitching, drama, short film, etc. Whatever form your unessay takes you will write a paratextual statement that explains the relation of your unessay to the class and the interpretive and creative choices that you made.
You will be graded on the depth of your analysis and engagement with your choice of topic as well as the effort that you put into the unessay. The "unessay" was originally formulated by Professor Paul O'Donnell, who notes, “In an unessay you choose your own topic, present it any way you please, and are evaluated on how compelling and effective you are.” One way to think about the unessay for this class is to consider the question: How can I best convey my interest in the subject to other students and scholars?
Your unessay should include
- A title
- A clear focus
- Some attention to issues raised by scholarship in the field (talk to me! use those lightning review notes!)
- A paratextual statement that outlines your focus and goals for the project
- NOTE: I'd like a paragraph description of what you might like to do (which can be your interests thus far, etc.) and for you to make an appointment to talk about it by [DATE].
Further learning
Blackness and Shakespeare's sonnets
Shakespeare’s works at large, and early modern literature more broadly, all deal with constructions of race. Shakespeare’s sonnets are especially fruitful for considering how the languages of fairness and darkness are used in nuanced ways to develop particular understandings of race.
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