Write a literary analysis. Develop an idea to write about concerning “On Keeping a Notebook” by Joan Didion. Make sure to stick to something about the writing/essay itself, and not just the content or issue being written about. Asking “how” and “why” questions, again, generally works best. Make sure to include two secondary sources in your essay as well.
One aspect of Didion’s essay to consider is its metafictional qualities. Metafiction is generally thought of as fiction about fiction, but it can also be seen as writing about writing (as we are dealing with nonfiction here – or the boundary between fiction and nonfiction), or even art about art. Magritte’s The Treachery of Images is a famous example of metafiction in the visual arts; the painting depicts a large and fairly realistic pipe, and underneath are the words (in French): “This is not a pipe.” The idea is that that art, however realistic, is a construct created by the artist. Magritte seemed to see something “treacherous” in that (though the title may be tounge-in-cheek) – but others going back to Plato have been mistrustful of art as representation of the real world. Think about how Didion takes up this idea in her essay, and the value she sees in her writing. Link to the reading: https://accessinghigherground.org/handouts2013/HTCTU%20Alt%20Format%20Manuals/Processing%20PDF%20Sample%20Files/00%20On%20Keeping%20a%20Notebook.pdf
