Course Recap for Tuesday September 29, 2015

Review and Revision

This week we will be focusing on reviewing and revising our work. Revision is one of the hardest parts of the writing process because it involves taking a critical eye to all the work we've done and then having to rewrite and change it all. Sometimes we wonder why we even wrote the first draft at all if we're just going to change everything but revision is where learning happens. One of the most effective ways we learn is by making mistakes and correcting them.

When thinking about your current drafts, we're not looking for what you did wrong. We're looking for what you can do better. Maybe you have a conflict, but it's not coming off as strongly as it could. Maybe you have great characters that your reader will enjoy, but there are certain aspects of their personality that you failed to illustrate that you know are important.

In class, you received feedback on your draft. By receiving and giving feedback, you are learning more about what it means to be a writer and to think critically. Just having the chance to see how another person approached the assignment can give you ideas on how you can improve your own. Often times we are much more capable of seeing the things we like and dislike in someone else's writing than we can our own. Maybe you thought you didn't like the way you started your piece until you read your classmates who started theirs is a similar fashion and realized that that worked for you. Maybe your classmate did something interesting that you didn't think about that you want to attempt in your next draft.

Homework

• Bring in a paper copy of the draft you submitted in class (DO NOT PRINT FRONT TO BACK) and split it into at least 3 sections (beginning, middle, end OR problem, confrontation, solution) whatever makes sense to you. Just draw a line on your paper copy where each section ends.
  
• Work on your second narrative.

Posted with Blogsy

Course Recap for Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Theme and Conflict

More often than not, the theme or underlying message of a story lies within the story's conflict. What does the character want, how do they go about getting it, and do they ever get it. The answers to that question often lead to bigger questions and answers that are often related to more universal themes. In The Lesson, Mrs. Moore wanted the kids in her neighborhood to be successful and in order to do so she tried to teach them about money. Her plan doesn't go as plan because the lesson makes the children uncomfortable because they are forced out of their comfort zone. What does this tell us about life? About what it takes to become better people? That's the stories theme.

In The Unauthorized Autobiography of Me by Sherman Alexie, the conflict is both internal and external. Alexie wants people to see him as both Indian and American and he gives us examples of what happens when he tries to assert this. Sometimes people refuse to see him as American. They stereotype him and discriminate against him and "other" him. Sometimes people refuse to see the Indian in him. They deny his Indianness or discriminate against him for asserting it. If he claims his Indian heritage, he will be less successful than those who don't or who only assert a part of it. They want to label him instead of allowing him to label himself. The piece swings back in forth between asserting the Americanness of Alexie's upbringing (the music, the games they play, the people he admires) and the Indianness of his experience (the toils of reservation life, the way he connects to the different aspects of his heritage.) In some ways, the two seem to contradict each other but in the end neither identity has to be mutually exclusive, he is both Indian and American even if the world tries to tell him otherwise. This is the theme.

As you start looking at your narratives, especially your personal narratives, I'd like you to think about some of the major themes you'd like to explore in your piece. What are some of the bigger lessons people can learn from you and your character's experiences? If you're writing a love story, what does your piece say about love? If you're writing about perserverance, what things do you want the audience to take away from your piece about perserverance? This is what gives your narrative depth. When people ask why does this story matter, you can say it matters because it talks about people and how they deal with specific aspects of life, whatever they may be for your story.

Dialogue and Conflict

We looked at Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway and the way dialogue works in that piece. From the things the two characters say and the tone they use we learn the majority of the story: the conflict, the setting, what the characters are like, bits about their past, etc. Dialogue is a great way to show information without directly telling it. We can see that two characters don't get along based on the way they talk to each other. From the way they talk to each other we can learn how long they've known each other, is their relationship personal or professional, romantic or platonic, healthy or toxic. Explore this in your narrative. It's a much more interesting and active way of telling a story.

Homework (Due Thursday 9/24)

• Upload your Description of a Influential Person or Place to ELI Review
  
• Write a One Page Dialogue between two characters who are negotiating over a specific object (Be prepared to share this with the class)

Posted with Blogsy

Course Recap for Thursday, September 17, 2015

"Something had happened here. In your life there are a few places, or maybe only one place, where something has happened. And there are the other places, which are just other places." Alice Munro

The Importance of Setting and Where We're From

In the story Face by Alice Munro, the setting plays a big part in the story being told. The town where the story is set has a huge influence on the way the narrator grows up and the life he leads. His parents stay in a loveless marriage because they live in a town where hardly anyone is divorced and the neighbors talk. The fact that neighbors talk and everyone is alike has an influence on the way the father treats the narrator. The time period also plays a huge part in the story, influencing how the mother and father behave towards one another. His parent's wealth allow his mother to keep the narrator sheltered from the evils of the world for longer than other parents. The narrator chooses to leave the town because of it's atmosphere and doesn't return home until after both of his parents are dead.

Sometimes the thing that makes a place significant isn't the place itself, but what has happened in that place. In this piece, the house, specifically Bell's Cottage, is a place where both the lives of the narrator and Nancy changed, and a place where they became linked to each other forever. Just being back in the space has a profound effect on the narrator. As you prepare topics for your narratives, think of the ways you and your characters are influenced by your surroundings. What places are significant to you because of important moments that happened there?

We also looked at the topic of character again in this piece. We looked at specific passages where Munro helps illustrate important facts about characters by showing not telling. She never directly says that Sharon Shuttles is not as good of a mom as the narrator, but it's implied. Her descriptions of Mrs. Shuttles' behavior in her home and towards her child and how they contrast with the narrator's mother help us see this. Think about the exchange with the peas. As you start working on your narratives, think about the people that will feature prominently in your narrative. How can you show us what these people are like? What moments can you remember about them that perfectly illustrate who they are? What moments help illustrate who you are?

Further Exploration of Narrative

Because our class is small, I took a brief survey of the class to see how many of you might be interested in writing a story that is not a personal narrative. The majority of the class was interested. So instead of writing one five page narrative. You will be writing two 750 word narratives. One will be a personal narrative. The other will be a story of your choosing (true or not). We will be working on exercises to help us come up with ideas, and if worst comes to worst you can always write two narratives about yourself.

Homework (Due Tuesday 9/22)

• Read Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway. For every line of dialogue make note on what information is given. What do you learn about the characters, the setting, the plot, etc from what the person says. Be prepared to discuss this in class Tuesday.
• Read The Unauthorized Autobiography of Me by Sherman Alexie. As you read, try and determine what common thread is found in the events Alexie chooses to include in this piece. What do they have in common?
• One Page Description of Person(s) who has been influential in your life OR One Page Description of a place where something important happened. (You don't have to have both done by then.)

 

Posted with Blogsy

Course Recap for Tuesday, September 16, 2015

Homework

• Read Face by Alice Munro.  Be prepared to discuss the characters and how the author describes them.  Also pay attention to the setting.  How is the story influenced by where it's set? How is the setting affected by the events that occur there?

Course Recap for Thursday, September 10, 2015

Rhetorical Situations

Today we discussed the elements of rhetorical situations.  A rhetorical situation is any set of circumstances that involves at least one person attempting to communicate information with another person.  Every rhetorical situations involves the following elements:

• Purpose
• Audience
• Stance
• Genre
• Medium
• Design

For more information, check out The Norton Field Guide's take on Rhetorical Situations.   We then examined these elements in the communications we frequently share on a regular basis in pairs. For every piece you write in this class (or every piece you write ever truthfully), you will have to take into consideration the above elements. After examining these elements, in our favorite blogs, we came up with a list of things we would expect from our weekly blog posts.

Homework

• Read "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris and "The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara.  For each story, pick one character and write down a list of words you would use to describe that character, along with evidence from the text that proves your point.  For instance, if you think a character is kind, briefly tell us what you read in the text that led to that conclusion.  Also keep in mind as you read the rhetorical elements we discussed and how they are functioning in the pieces because we will discuss them in our next class.  

Welcome to English 1050: Thought and Writing

Hello I'm Mickey Moses, and I am your instructor for ENGL 151.  Welcome to the class, and welcome to our blog.  This blog is our class's central hub.  Here you can find class recaps, homework assignments, readings, and helpful links.

Our class syllabus is located to the right of this post underneath Class Documents.  It lists the rules and expectations for this course.  We will read through the entire document in class, but some of the major points you want to remember are....

1. Come to class everyday.  Attendance is important and necessary in order for you to pass this class.
   
2. Complete all your assignments.  You cannot get points for work you do not complete.
   
3. Be respectful of me and your classmates. 
   
4. Don't cheat. 
   
5. Ask questions and participate in class discussions.   

How you should be in class.





I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you.