Portfolio: Final

Today is the first deadline for the completed portfolio. It should be turned in today. If you need Monday to complete your work, please do so, but also please realize that you may be at an assembly. Make sure you can turn in your completed work by Monday end of day. No late work will be accepted.

HOMEWORK: Good luck on your finals!

Portfolio: Final Exam

Please continue to prepare your final portfolio.

Final Exam/Portfolio Assessment

Please complete the following today in the lab:

• Look through your portfolio. Remove any hand-written and homework assignments from it.
• Gather your fiction together, gather your poetry together, and gather your script drafts together.
• Print out any poem, script, or short story you wrote, but did not yet include in your portfolio.

Once you have done those three things:

• If you have it, take out and re-read your letter to "The Enemies of the Writing Process." How'd you do against your old enemy? Procrastinators: do not avoid this next step!
• Reflect on your progress as a writer this year. In a 3-4 page reflection (double spaced) reflect on your progress as a writer: what step in the writing process do you still struggle with? What part of the writing process is easy for you? What did you do well, what do you need more work or help on, what did you learn this year about crafting your work as art? Reflect on your overall growth that you feel you made this year. You may reference your English and Journalism classes as well if you'd like, but please reflect on your own growth as a creative writer. If you participated in any extra curricular activities, reflect on these too (particularly how they helped or hindered your progress as a writer).
• Revise and craft your best work this year. This is your final 2015 draft. Change the heading of the pieces you are submitting as BEST CRAFTED WORK. You must include at least one poem, one short story, and one script, but you may choose several of your pieces for your final assessment. Please show ALL drafts!
• Use a separate manila folder for your best crafted work and your reflection essay. These will be scored and evaluated as your final exam and will be sent to Central Office as your post assessment for this class.

Your portfolio (with reflection) is due as your FINAL EXAM on Monday, June 11 or June 15 whichever date works best for you. Once you're done with this portfolio, you are done with this course work. Congratulations!

HOMEWORK: Bring your portfolios/work/drafts to class to work on them. Return books to the library.

Annie Hall; Final Portfolio

After screening Annie Hall, please complete the following:

• Look through your portfolio. Remove any hand-written and homework assignments from it.
• Gather your fiction together, gather your poetry together, and gather your script drafts together.
• Print out any poem, script, or short story you wrote, but did not yet include in your portfolio.

Once you have done those three things:

• If you have it, take out and re-read your letter to "The Enemies of the Writing Process." How'd you do against your old enemy? Procrastinators: do not avoid this next step!
• Reflect on your progress as a writer this year. In a 3-4 page reflection (double spaced) reflect on your progress as a writer: what did you do well, what do you need more work or help on, what did you learn this year about crafting your work as art, and reflect on your overall growth that you feel you made this year. You may reference your English and Journalism classes as well if you'd like. If you participated in any extra curricular activities, reflect on these too(particularly how they helped or hindered your progress as a writer).
• Revise and craft your best work this year. This is your final 2015 draft. Change the heading of the pieces you are submitting as BEST CRAFTED WORK. You must include at least one poem, one short story, and one script, but you may choose several of your pieces for your final assessment.
• Use a separate manila folder for your best crafted work and your reflection essay. These will be scored and evaluated as your final exam and will be sent to Central Office as your post assessment for this class.

Your portfolio (with reflection) is due as your FINAL EXAM on Monday, June 11 or June 15.

HOMEWORK: Bring your portfolios/work/drafts to class to work on them. Return books to the library.

Woody Allen: Without Feathers Test; Annie Hall

After our test today on Without Feathers and comedic techniques, please read the sample script from the film Annie Hall.

please review the Annie Hall materials below:
Further information about Annie Hall can be found here at IMDB.com.
Annie Hall Script
Annie Hall explanation/film history

Often cited as one of the best 100 films of all time, Annie Hall won four Oscars:

Best Actress: Diane Keaton
Best Director: Woody Allen
Best Picture: Charles Joffe
Best Screenplay: Woody Allen & Marshall Brickman
Woody Allen was also nominated for Best Actor.

As you watch the film, note the following:

--This plot is an archetype of the Romance plot: boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back after much ado.
--Much of the humor revolves around the film's Diegesis (the world of the film). Note when the script breaks this convention and what the effect on the viewer is at those moments.
--Woody Allen is a fan of silent film (particularly slapstick) notice when the film becomes quiet, when physical comedy is presented to us as reality, and scenes that include silly physical jokes or chase scenes. These are all homage to the yesteryear of film.

HOMEWORK: None. 

Comedy Techniques and Love & Death (1975)

Why do people laugh?

• Incongruity or Non sequitur. Humans are rational (supposedly) and laugh at anything that breaks a pattern or does not logically follow.
• Farce or physical humor (often pratfalls, slapstick, hurting people, etc.) What doesn't kill us makes us laugh.
• Superiority vs. inferiority (we laugh at those weaker or in a worse situation than us)
• Mistaken identity (using aspects of feeling superior or inferior, when the true identity of a character is revealed, this also includes surprise--so we laugh)
• Absurdity (if it doesn't make sense, and we are logical people, we laugh)
• Surprise: humans may laugh when startled to release adrenaline. It's part of our monkey brain.
• Hyperbole: an exaggeration
• Understatement: Often used at the end of a paragraph or idea, an understatement reverses the importance of the subject matter.

How can writers use these techniques in their writing? Like everything else, choice allows us to skillfully craft our work for a desired effect.

As you watch the film today, please find an example of each type of comedy in the film.

HOMEWORK: Complete your reading of Without Feathers. 

Poetry Projects & Without Feathers

Please complete your poetry projects today in the lab. I've given you this extension, so today will be our last day to prepare these in class.

Please upload your documentary to YouTube and submit your URL to the COMMENT section below.

If you finish early, please complete the following:

• Without Feathers (reading up to page 107)
• Prepare a piece to read at our Coffeehouse: Thursday, May 28 at 7:00 in the Ensemble Theater

Without Feathers:

• A Brief, yet Helpful, Guide to Civil Disobedience: People were protesting the Vietnam War when Woody Allen wrote this book. Even this serious topic is humor-fodder for writers. The allusion to The Trojan Women is referring to a Greek Tragedy (see: God) about the women of Troy banding together to protest the Trojan War.
• Match Wits with Inspector Ford: In the 70’s books such as 5-Minute Mysteries were very popular. The idea was that the author gave you a very short mystery or crime. The answer to the “riddle” was in the back of the book. A fan of whodunits will enjoy this parody.
• The Irish Genius: This is a parody (similar to Lovborg) but dealing with the poet William Butler Yeats. Yeats was an Irish culture fanatic and wrote “Irish” lyrics celebrating Gaelic and Irish legends. His poems drip with allusion and Allen plays around with this idea by providing fake “footnotes.”
• God, a Play: Poking fun at Greek Theatre, Allen is also joking about writers and the process of writing a play and the challenges of performing it. Allen was a playwright before he became a film writer. So you can assume the Writer character is partly autobiographical. Of course, the character of “Woody” is also Allen’s alter-ego in the play. Enjoy the absurdist ideas of the piece. By the way, the machine reference in the play is a reference to: Deus Ex Machina (or God from the machine) referring to a contrived ending of a play (a God comes down and fixes the characters’ problems).
• Fabulous Tales and Mythical Beasts: Bestiaries were an old fashion (Medieval) form of the nature guide. They were all the rage in the 1500’s.
• But Soft, Real Soft: There is a scholarly debate over who really wrote Shakespeare’s plays. Many critics say that Marlowe (another Elizabethan playwright) wrote Shakespeare’s work. Others say Queen Elizabeth or Francis Bacon wrote the plays. Probably, odd as it may seem, Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare’s plays. The title refers to a line from Romeo and Juliet.
• If the Impressionists Had Been Dentists: The Impressionist painter Van Gogh kept close correspondence with his brother Theo. Later a song and a movie were made from Van Gogh’s private letters. The title tells the rest of the joke.
• No Kaddish for Weinstein: Kaddish is a Hebrew prayer of mourning usually recited at a person’s grave. Woody Allen often jokes about Freudian Psychoanalysis or therapy. He is using a comic technique of the non-sequitur (or surprising a reader by saying something unrelated to its subject or something that makes no sense or is nonsensical.)
• Fine Times: An Oral Memoir: Another parody of a book review and autobiography of a fictional character. This one is about Flo Guinness, a speakeasy owner in the 1920’s. Alcohol was prohibited (illegal) in the early 1920’s and later repealed. Guinness is the name of a popular beer. Allen references many famous 1920’s musicians and people.
• Slang Origins: The English language has so many weird expressions and sayings. Allen pokes fun at them in this “essay.”

HOMEWORK: Complete your film projects if you didn't complete these in the lab. Complete Without Feathers. 

Poetry Projects: Day 5; Woody Allen: Without Feathers

Please complete your film documentary projects today in the lab. If you do not complete your project, please complete it on your own time at home, etc.

If you finish early today, please begin reading the Woody Allen collection: Without Feathers. As you read, please use the following to help you understand what you are reading.

As you read his collection Without Feathers, understanding "the joke" can be helpful with a little background. Those of you who read widely will probably find more humor in his work. See the information below to help you figure out what you're reading and what Allen is poking fun about.

Much of Allen's humor requires a little knowledge about form, content, or knowing a little bit about his life (or the life of a Jewish New Yorker intellectual). To help you, please refer to his bio and this page for explanation of some of the allusions and humor in Woody Allen's book.

• The title: Refers to Emily Dickenson’s poem: “Hope is a thing with feathers.” Ergo, if you have no feathers, you have no hope.
• Selections from the Allen Notebooks & The Early Essays: Both these essays parody the publishing industry’s love affair with memoir, creative non-fiction, and publishing a well-known author’s private writings after they have died. Hence, the humor of these weird insights into the famous “Woody Allen” journals. Traditionally, creative essay form always used the same form: the word “ON” and then the subject of the essay.
• Examining Psychic Phenomena: The supernatural is always a good subject to parody. In this case, a review of a newly published “non-fiction” book on Psychic Phenomena. Look up Psychic Phenomena on the internet to see the sort of thing Allen is parodying.
• The Guide to Some of the Lesser Ballets: When you attend an opera or ballet, inside your program you often get the story synopsis. Since opera is usually in another language, and ballet is hard to follow if you don’t know the story, these sorts of program notes are helpful in interpreting the performance. Allen, of course, is poking fun.
• The Scrolls: A few years before the book was published, the Dead Sea Scrolls were uncovered. In the early 70’s this sort of thing caused a lot of controversy between religious scholars and scientists. They wondered if these scrolls were part of the Bible. Allen is also Jewish, so the humor relates to this fact as well.
• Lovborg’s Women Considered: The playwright Henrick Ibsen (the guy who wrote A Doll's House and is considered the Father of Modern Drama) is the bane and love of many literary scholars and theatre students. Woody Allen is poking fun of the field of literary criticism (scholars who write about books, authors, and their “private” lives).
• The Whore of Mensa: Allen is parodying the hardboiled detective novel made popular by writers like Dashielle Hammett (The Maltese Falcon). Think of Humphrey Bogart as the narrator and you’ll have the idea. Mensa is a national program/club – entry into which is based on I.Q. The idea then of whores who intellectually stimulate their johns is a very funny idea.
• Death, A Play: Allen was a philosophy major in college. He is also interested in psychology. The two main philosophical ideas this play refers to are existentialism and Nihilism. Existentialism is a type of writing or the study of answering the question: what is the meaning of life? Existentialism tries to explain what the meaning of life is. Some people believe we are alive for a reason, others are Nihilistic, and say that there is no point in our existence--that there is no purpose to our lives. Kleinman is representative of everyman. He represents all of us. We sometimes don't know what our purpose in life is (Kleinman doesn't know his purpose in the play, for example). By the way, we are all being "stalked" by death, just as Kleinman is being stalked by the maniac. Death is the great equalizer. All living beings are going to die. Along with LOVE, DEATH is one of the most common themes in literature. Woody Allen made this play into the film: Shadows and Fog.

HOMEWORK: Read Without Feathers: pp. 7-106. Complete your poetry film project.

Poetry Project: Day 4

Before we return to the lab to continue working on our film poetry projects, let's complete our reading of T.S. Eliot:

Preludes
Rhapsody on a Windy Night and a short animated film based on the poem (and a popular Broadway song).

HELP:

• Windows Movie Maker Tutorial (10 minutes)
• iPhone to Movie Maker advice
• How to Make a Film on an iPhone
• More advice about transferring files to Movie Maker

• How to extract Audio
• How to splice/edit audio files

Organization for the project:

Have you:
1. Chosen a poet?
2. Researched this poet's life/work?
3. Taken notes on your poet?
4. Written a short 1-2 page (at most) script about your poet?
5. Found a single poem from this poet to record?
6. Found images or video clips to import into Movie Maker that go with your notes/script?
7. Recorded your Voice Over(s) (either on iPhones, cell-phones, or microphones--realize you have to convert these files to sound files Movie Maker can use!)
8. Uploaded sound files?
9. Organized or edited your film? You will want to include a title/heading in your credits
10. Added end credits: copyright, authorship, directing credits, voice-over credits, etc.

Work on any # in the lab that you have not yet accomplished.

HOMEWORK: None. Work on project so that you are not falling behind!

Film Documentary Project: Day 3; T.S. Eliot

IN THE LAB: Poet Film Documentary Project

Some help if you need it:

Making a film in Windows Movie Maker

Making a podcast in Adobe soundbooth:

Video:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96ZzJQlkyRI

• View video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4IBSseAJlk&feature=related
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF6WmxRIeHg
• http://www.wikihow.com/Start-Your-Own-

Using the script you were supposed to have completed last class (see previous post), you may record your VOICE OVER using our microphones or your own equipment (similar to your film projects in Journalism), or...

Continue to use the time in the lab today gathering images/resources and inputting these into a MovieMaker project. Use the JPG's and GIFs that you find to assist your voice over in creating a short documentary about your chosen poet.

You will also want to choose 1 poem that this poet wrote and perform (read and record) that text as well. Your video project should include your voice over script (see previous post) AND a poem by the author that you perform.

If you did not complete your script, do that first. Realize that you are falling far behind and catch up!

• Work on your poet film documentary today in class.
• You may also use the time in the lab to write creatively. See previous poetry prompts, or the prompt above and try writing a draft of a poem.

During PERIOD 8: Please collect the poetry collection: Prufrock & Other Poems by T.S. Eliot. Then come to the classroom (238) and let's take a look at his poetry.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (read by the author) and some analysis of the poem by Shmoop.
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (read by Anthony Hopkins)
Portrait of a Lady
Preludes
Rhapsody on a Windy Night and a short animated film based on the poem (and a popular Broadway song).

Continue reading on your own. Find examples of the literary/poetic devices in the remaining poems.
If you do not finish today, please complete as homework.
 

HOMEWORK: Complete anything you haven't completed in class/lab today. Write poetry.

Poet Film Documentary Project

Please turn in your homework: Drawing evidence from the poems in D.H. Lawrence's collection, write a paragraph review of D.H. Lawrence's poetry: what is his style? What did you notice about his style? How does Lawrence use poetic crafting techniques in his poetry? (look for imagery, style, meter, stanza form, diction, tone, theme, figurative language, etc.)

Let's complete the following poems from the collection:

• "Fish" (pg. 46)
• "Bat" (pg. 50)
• "The Mosquito" (pg. 52)
• "Hummingbird" (pg. 54)
• "Pomegranate" (pg. 55)
• "Medlars & Sorb Apples" (pg. 56) 

POETRY PROMPT: Using your list (created last class) of animals that disturb you, or that you don't generally find lovely, write a poem about the beauty or importance of that animal. You may also choose a flower, fruit, shrub, or tree and research its meaning. Use that meaning as a metaphor/symbol in a poem. Use D.H. Lawrence's poems as a model.

IN THE LAB: Poet Film Documentary Project

Using the script you were supposed to have completed last class (see previous post), you may record your VOICE OVER using our microphones or your own equipment (similar to your film projects in Journalism), or...

use the time in the lab today gathering images/resources and inputting these into a MovieMaker project. Use the JPG's and GIFs that you find to assist your voice over in creating a short documentary about your chosen poet.

You will also want to choose 1 poem that this poet wrote and perform (read and record) that text as well. Your video project should include your voice over script (see previous post) AND a poem by the author that you perform.

If you did not complete your script, do that first. Realize that you are falling behind and catch up!

• Work on your poet film documentary today in class.
• You may also use the time in the lab to write creatively. See previous poetry prompts, or the prompt above and try writing a draft of a poem.

HOMEWORK: Complete anything you haven't completed in class/lab today. Write poetry.

Poetry Project: Day 2; D.H. Lawrence

Period 7: please research and read about the poet and his/her poems that you have selected to research.

All poets can be found at this website: The Poetry Foundation.

Begin researching and taking notes about the details of your author's life. Who is he/she? Where did he/she live? What is he/she known for? What influences or philosophy or historical events helped shape this poet's work? What themes does the poet seem to favor in his/her poetry?  How does this poet fit into the period in which the author wrote, and how does the poet influence poets AFTER he/she wrote? What happened to this poet? What major works/awards/books did this poet create/achieve/obtain? What other interesting things about your poet's life and work did you find interesting or important?

Write your notes into a 1 page script. You will be using this script for the next step in the project. Complete this script by the end of 7th period. If you finish early, feel free to write a poem. Keep all drafts in your portfolio for now.

At the end of period 7, please turn in your 1 page script.

HOMEWORK: Complete anything of the above that you have not finished in class.

Period 8: Please take a few minutes and learn about D.H. Lawrence before we pick up his book and read it. Return to room 238 after you pick up the book "Snake" and we'll read the following poems together:
"Snake" (pg. 44)
"Fish" (pg. 46)
"Bat" (pg. 50)
"The Mosquito" (pg. 52)
"Hummingbird" (pg. 54)
"Pomegranate" (pg. 55)
"Medlars & Sorb Apples" (pg. 56)

D.H. Lawrence: Please read the poems "From: Love Poems & Others--1913" and from "Amores (1916)" through "From: Tortoises" (pages 1-43).

Drawing evidence from the poems from these pages, write a paragraph review of D.H. Lawrence's poetry: what is his style? What did you notice about his style? How does Lawrence use poetic crafting techniques in his poetry? (look for imagery, style, meter, stanza form, diction, tone, theme, figurative language, etc.) Turn this analysis in Tuesday as homework/participation credit.

Williams (con't); Introduction to the Poetry Project

William Carlos Williams:
The Last Words of My English Grandmother
This is Just to Say (pg 586)
To a Poor Old Woman
Nantucket
The Young Housewife
The Dance
A Sort of Song
The Sparrow

IN THE LAB: Continue writing your poem drafts.  Just as you would summarize or highlight the important moments of a novel or longer, short story--use parts in your poem, as Williams and Stafford do. You have two options:

A. Create your own story. Choose a character, a setting, a theme, etc. Then consider your plot. What happens in the beginning (inciting incident, rising action, etc.) Start by summarizing the important parts of your story and breaking them into at least 3 parts (you may break your story into as many parts as you'd like, as long as you have a minimum of 3) Ex. i. Beginning, ii. middle, iii end or i. morning ii. afternoon  iii. evening, or i. birth ii. childhood, iii. adolescence, iv. young adulthood, v. adulthood, vi. middle age, vii. old age, etc.

B. Borrow a well known story from someplace else. Use a fairy tale, or favorite short story, or film, or well-known classic novel, and take the most important scene(s) from the story and break the story into at least 3 parts. Basically, you are doing the same as A above, but using source material from outside of your own creation. Consider: Historical events, myths, legends, fairy tales, Bible stories, or any thing else your audience would be familiar with. Avoid choosing stories that only you have read. borrow ideas from English/Social Studies classes, etc.

C. Extra credit poem draft: "The Last Words of my English Grandmother"--write the last words of someone you know who has passed, OR write the last words of a fictional character. Write the first words a child says to parent. Make a poem of it!

C. Extra credit poem draft: "This is Just to Say" is a refrigerator note. Write a FOUND poem of your own.

C. Extra credit poem draft: Williams often writes TO his subject. Choose a subject and address it: speak to a city, a person, a thing/object, an idea, or action.

Period 8: please choose one of the poets on the sheet going around the room and begin researching and reading this poet's work.

All poets can be found at this website: The Poetry Foundation.

Begin researching and taking notes about the details of your author's life. Who is he/she? Where did he/she live? What is he/she known for? What influences or philosophy or historical events helped shape this poet's work? What themes does the poet seem to favor in his/her poetry?  How does this poet fit into the period in which the author wrote, and how does the poet influence poets AFTER he/she wrote? What happened to this poet? What major works/awards/books did this poet create/achieve/obtain? What other interesting things about your poet's life and work did you find interesting or important?

Write your notes into a 1 page script. You will be using this script for the next step in the project.

HOMEWORK: Complete anything of the above that you have not finished in class.

D.H. Lawrence: Please read the poems "From: Love Poems & Others--1913" and from "Amores (1916)" (pages 1-12).

Drawing evidence from the poems from these pages, write a paragraph review of D.H. Lawrence's poetry: what is his style? What did you notice about his style? How does Lawrence use poetic crafting techniques in his poetry? (look for imagery, style, meter, stanza form, diction, tone, theme, figurative language, etc.)

Wallace Stevens & William Carlos Williams; Poetry Project

Today, let's continue our reading of poetry with these poets.

Wallace Stevens: (and his poems)
Peter Quince at the Clavier (pg. 559)
Sunday Morning
The Snow Man
Anecdote of the Jar
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
The Planet on the Table read by Bill Murray

William Carlos Williams (and his poems):
Danse Russe (pg. 576)
January Morning
The Last Words of My English Grandmother
This is Just to Say (pg 586)
To a Poor Old Woman
Nantucket
The Young Housewife
The Dance
A Sort of Song
The Sparrow

IN THE LAB: Write a poem draft as you would summarize or highlight just the important moments of a novel or longer, short story--using parts as Williams and Stafford do in much of their poetry. You have two options:

A. Create your own story. Choose a character, a setting, a theme, etc. Then consider your plot. What happens in the beginning (inciting incident, rising action, etc.) Start by summarizing the important parts of your story and breaking them into at least 3 parts (you may break your story into as many parts as you'd like, as long as you have a minimum of 3) Ex. i. Beginning, ii. middle, iii end or i. morning ii. afternoon  iii. evening, or i. birth ii. childhood, iii. adolescence, iv. young adulthood, v. adulthood, vi. middle age, vii. old age, etc.

B. Borrow a well known story from someplace else. Use a fairy tale, or favorite short story, or film, or well-known classic novel, and take the most important scene(s) from the story and break the story into at least 3 parts. Basically, you are doing the same as A above, but using source material from outside of your own creation. Consider: Historical events, myths, legends, fairy tales, Bible stories, or any thing else your audience would be familiar with. Avoid choosing stories that only you have read. borrow ideas from English/Social Studies classes, etc.

Finally, please choose one of the poets on the sheet going around the room and begin researching and reading this poet. All poets can be found at this website: The Poetry Foundation.

HOMEWORK: None.

Gerard Manley Hopkins
A.E. Housman
William Butler Yeats
Edwin Arlington Robinson
Paul Lawrence Dunbar
Amy Lowell
Carl Sandburg
H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)
Marianne Moore
Claude McKay
Archibald MacLeish
Edna St. Vincent Millay
e.e. cummings
Jean Toomer
Langston Hughes
Countee Cullen
W.H. Auden
Theodore Roethke
Robert Hayden
Muriel Rukeyser
William Stafford
Dylan Thomas
Gwendolyn Brooks
May Swenson
Amy Clampitt
Denise Levertov
Robert Bly
Allen Ginsberg

Robert Frost: Poetry Writing: Day 2

Today, please read the introductory information about Robert Frost, then read the poems.

You will notice that Frost favors the themes of nature and death. But there's love and life in there as well. What makes Frost important, is that he writes about common, ordinary things (remember earlier this year--when I suggested you write about ordinary things and we read Ralph Fletcher's book of poetry, taking a walk outside to 'inspire' you?)

Frost uses poetic technique just like all other poets. He uses the sonnet form (a 14 line love poem), ode/hymn (praising a subject), he uses metaphor and similies to create imagery, he uses sound devices (alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia, rhyme, etc.) to create sound imagery, and uses symbols (pay close attention to his titles!), tone, and diction to suggest human meaning and the events of our lives. He uses stanza forms, meter and pattern to create rhythm, and all that stuff we've been talking about since the beginning of this course. His work, in other words, is CRAFTED.

It all starts with a willingness to write about something we, as writers, notice about our lives. So today in the lab, stop self-editing yourself and being distracted, and write some poems:

After reading, go to the lab and write a poem.

Choose either Dickenson or Frost as a "mentor" and try a hymn about death, or a sonnet about nature, use em-dashes, or couplets, or any other idea listed in the bullet list below (see previous post), etc.

Create and complete a draft. Put it in your portfolio for safe keeping. We'll come back to it!

When you finish early (yes, you!) write another poem draft. Or do the reading you avoided at the beginning of this post. Read, write. Write, read. Repeat.

HOMEWORK: None.

Poetry: Week 1 (Spotlight on Emily Dickenson & Robert Frost)

Today's readings include the introductions for each poet, and the poems on the following pages: 463-475 (Dickenson) and 534-554 (Frost).

Some of this we will read together as a class, some in small groups or pairs, and some alone.

Key ideas/literary techniques referenced:

• Prose versus Poetry or verse
• Iambic tetrameter
• Iambic trimeter
• Iambic pentameter
• Hymn
• Ode
• Sonnet (both Shakespearean & Petrarchan) 
• Diction
• Tone
• Symbol
• Metaphor/simile
• Imagery
• Elliptical syntax
• Connotation versus denotation
• Grammar in poetry: particularly the em-dash, but also capitalization, sentence length, enjambment, etc.

LAB: Now it's your turn. After reading/examining these poets, go to the lab and write a poem. Choose either Dickenson or Frost as a "mentor" and try a hymn about death, or a sonnet about nature, use em-dashes, or couplets, or any other idea listed in the bullet list above, etc. 

Create and complete a draft. Put it in your portfolio for safe keeping. We'll come back to it!

Hemingway Project Rubric

Project Rubric:

9-10: story is imaginative, clever, well written, grammatically sound (almost completely free of proofreading, mechanical or spelling errors), story uses effective dialogue and effective description, story has an interesting theme, character is effectively characterized through all drafts, enhanced by clever and creative use of flashback and stream of consciousness. Story is turned in on time and is of excellent length, appropriate and effective for this story and its plot. Work is properly formatted as fiction. Story has a clever and creative title. Dialogue, paragraphing, and sentence structure is punctuated correctly with care and craft that makes the sentence variety interesting and effective. 

8: story is mostly well written, with some gaps or weaknesses, but nothing that makes reading the story laborious or difficult. Story is mostly grammatically sound (some errors) but nothing that gets in the way of comprehension. Story has some dialogue and description, but work is not as compelling as scores of 9-10. Character is developed by stream of consciousness and flashback sequences in some way. Story is turned in on time and is of adequate length for this project. The final draft is properly formatted as fiction. Story has an appropriate title. Dialogue, paragraphing, and sentence structure is overall adequately presented.

7: story is completed, turned in on time, but lacks the imagination and creativity of scores of 8-10. Some moments of storytelling, but story may need more plot development, conflict, character development, or attention to detail and specifics. Story might have dialogue or description, but this is relatively uninteresting, repetitive, unnecessary, or weakly presented by the author. Character lacks development. Flashback and stream of consciousness scenes are too limited or ineffective. Story may be late (missed deadline), and is on the shorter less developed in length. Work may have formatting errors. Story has a title. Dialogue, paragraphing, and sentence structure may have several errors.

5-6: story is as 7 above, but may be very late, or there are so many grammar and development or writing problems that makes comprehension difficult for a typical reader. Work is carelessly or hastily done. Student spent more time off-task in the lab than working on this project. Story lacks a title. Student still does not understand how to punctuate dialogue, use paragraphing, and create adequate sentences, often lacking punctuation or capitalization in the draft.

0: story or project not turned in.

Hemingway Project Due!

Your Hemingway Project (drafts 1-4) are due today at the end of class!

If you haven't completed Draft Four (or three or two or one...) please do so now.

Draft Four: Sentence length

1. Keep your sentences short and declarative in your non-flashback section of the story. Remember dialogue sounds more realistic when you speak in short sentences or fragments.

2. In your flashback scenes, find moments where you digress and create long, complex sentences. Use em dashes to indicate digressions. Use semi colons ; to connect related clauses (but don't over use these). Use commas to make a simple sentence into a complex one. Use an ellipsis … to indicate trailing off. Use repetition of phrase to expand a comment (chiasmus, anaphora, and anadiplosis).

Ex: “They knew who had shot their fathers, their relatives, their brothers, their friends…”;

• Semicolons
• Em-dashes
• Ellipsis

Use conjunctions to add phrases to your independent clauses (and, or, but, etc.)

3. Try to find a rhythm in your writing. Most paragraphs start out with short sentences. This allows for a certain length of speed. Then as your sentences get longer and more complex, you can slow or speed the eye of the reader. Usually, you want important information to be delivered slowly. The use of repetition helps create a meter and rhythm for your sentence structure.

IMPORTANT: 

Before you turn in your draft:

• Proofread your writing!
• Correct grammar/punctuation, etc.
• Punctuating Sentences
• Punctuating Dialogue
• Paragraphing
• Give your story a TITLE
• Collect all drafts and put them in order: 4th on top, 3rd under that, 2nd after that, 1st after that! Your drafts should have proper MLA headings and indicate what draft # they are.

Note: Grades will be reduced if you make mistakes with your punctuation, dialogue, or paragraphing! Be warned--and learn to format your work correctly and professionally!

If you finish before the bell (it rings at 2:09, by the way), please entertain yourself by reading and writing some poetry--as our next unit will go back to poetry.

Here's a sample poem & writing prompt, if you need one:

Ode to Love by Jennifer Militello

Place its toothpicked pit in water, watch the grist
of its insides grow. Witness its populous bloom,

honeycombed with rough. Its cobblestones grip
the heart in its mitt, a closed fist thickened

and gritty as silt. The swamp of the plumb beat
adamant as weeds. The dish of which is salted

by complexities or cries. It is a house in which
we cannot live, the quiver on the arrow

we cannot launch. It grows late over Nevada
as we watch. Strikes its gullies: we grow burnt

as a moth. Mimics a sleep of archives and
the small lies all forget. Mimics all laughter

broken by the time it leaves the mouth.
With its moving parts, its chimes, its gleam,

it muddies our archways, lying low, gives off
noise and steam; its mechanics clear the fence.

It must be wooed. Must be quieted. Hush. It must
be soothed. Has a snag. Has a bleed. A drape.

Flaps awkwardly, at its edges, a heron. At
its center, a wide bottom perfect with fish.

Copyright © 2015 by Jennifer Militello.

PROMPT: Pick an emotion (in Militello's example she has picked "Love") and write an ODE to it--a poem of praise. You can see that she seems to be inspired by recipes or instructions. You can incorporate this kind of idea in your poem as well, if you'd like.

Remember that poetry heavily relies on IMAGERY: so use metaphors, similes, symbols, allusion, and personification somewhere in your poem to create visual imagery. Use alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia, and rhyme for SOUND imagery. Count your syllables and create metrical patterns, etc.

Be creative and risky. If you finish one draft, pick another emotion and write about that one! Keep writing!

HOMEWORK: Complete your Hemingway extra credit novel, if you are reading one. 

Hemingway Project Drafts 3 & 4

Hope you enjoyed the play, if you went. Today, continue working on your draft three of your Hemingway Project. Remember to keep all drafts and label them! Your story should be much longer than it started!

Use the lab today to write:

Draft Three: Stream of Consciousness

1. Examine your flashbacks. Find moments where your character can include digressions, get stuck on topics, trail off, etc. You are trying to replicate or reproduce how the character’s mind works.
2. Write these flashbacks using stream of consciousness.

Done? Go on to Draft Four!

Draft Four: Sentence length

1. Keep your sentences short and declarative in your non-flashback section of the story. Remember dialogue sounds more realistic when you speak in short sentences or fragments.

2. In your flashback scenes, find moments where you digress and create long, complex sentences. Use em dashes to indicate digressions. Use semi colons ; to connect related clauses (but don't over use these). Use commas to make a simple sentence into a complex one. Use an ellipsis … to indicate trailing off. Use repetition of phrase to expand a comment.

Ex: “They knew who had shot their fathers, their relatives, their brothers, their friends…”;

Use conjunctions to add phrases to your independent clauses (and, or, but, etc.)

3. Try to find a rhythm in your writing. Most paragraphs start out with short sentences. This allows for a certain length of speed. Then as your sentences get longer and more complex, you can slow or speed the eye of the reader. Usually, you want important information to be delivered slowly. The use of repetition helps create a meter and rhythm for your sentence structure.

HOMEWORK: Complete your Hemingway, extra credit novel, if you are reading one. We will be completing our Hemingway Project next class, so prepare for that!

Drafts 2 & 3 of the Hemingway Short Story Project

Stream of consciousness: a narrative device or technique a writer uses to develop character (characterization). The writer does this by presenting the THOUGHTS of a character as they would occur in the mind. It is similar to an internal monologue that a character has about his/her situation in the narrative of the story. The character is speaking to him/herself in stream of consciousness. This technique is unique to fiction or poetry. It is similar to the voice over (VO) in film or the soliloquy in plays. It is useful to:

• Provide characterization or develop character
• Explains the attitude or POV of the character's mind or thought process

Let's learn about stream of consciousness with this short lecture/pod-cast video.

Draft Three: Stream of Consciousness

1. Examine your flashbacks. Find moments where your character can include digressions, get stuck on topics, trail off, etc. You are trying to replicate or reproduce how the character’s mind works.2. Write these flashbacks or part of these flashbacks using stream of consciousness.

Still confused? Check here and here.

HOMEWORK: Extra credit: Keep reading Hemingway's novels. Go see the play Richard II at 142 Atlantic Ave (MuCCC) this weekend or next week.

Flashbacks in Fiction: Hemingway Project: Part Deux

Flashback: a narrative technique useful in plotting. Usually stories are written in chronological time (i.e., a story is told from the beginning to the end). A flashback, however, allows the writer to insert a scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point (present). Flashbacks are used to:

• Provide important background or story details
• Develop details about a character (characterization)
• It helps to develop setting
• It can be used to create suspense

Let's see how it works. Let's read the first few pages of Hemingway's "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" and examine how this works or is crafted. Then, continue reading with a partner (yes, you and someone else).

Take 10-15 minutes today in class to work with a partner. Find examples of FLASHBACK in the story "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" and IDENTIFY how these flashbacks:

• Provide important background or story details
• Develop character
• Develop setting
• Create suspense

Record your names on an index card and identify the page # in which you found an example of flashback. Turn this in as credit today by the end of time in room 238.

Then, to the lab!

LAB TASK:

Please label your story draft: (You will want to show all four drafts of your work for this project)
Draft Two: Flashback

1. After you complete the basic story (see post below for details), write a second draft including the following:

NOTE: You should not ADD to your dialogue scene. That draft has sailed like a boat across the sea. Leave it alone. Find moments IN the dialogue to interrupt and expand the story!

a. Find moments in your dialogue/story for your character to refer or comment about his/her past. Select these moments and for each one, develop the inner dialogue of your protagonist.
b. This “flashback” should reveal personal opinions, reflect on the situation or comment made, and/or connect ideas and people with your character’s past. Your character’s past should be detailed with much verisimilitude.
c. You may cover years or many days or a great length of time for your flashbacks. You may also change scenery or setting.

2. Separate your flashbacks from your dialogue or first draft by italicizing them.

Complete your draft #2 today in the lab. Effectively, your story should be LONGER by at least 2-3 pages.

For assistance:

• Making Characters Come Alive
• Using flashbacks
• Punctuating sentences
• Punctuating dialogue (for the thousandth time!)

HOMEWORK: None. If you are not caught up, please do so. Next class, we will cover draft #3 of this project. If you are reading Hemingway, continue to do so.

Hemingway Project; Draft #1

Ernest Hemingway is one of the most influential and important writers of the 20th century. Let's learn a little about him today.

Lab Task: Begin writing a narrative scene where you only provide the dialogue (i.e., you do not need to describe a lot of the setting, but indicate the setting through the dialogue of your characters). For an example of what I'm talking about, take a look at the first section of the story: "The Snows of Kilimanjaro".

Here are the rules:

• Your dialogue should be between at least two characters. You may have more than two characters in the scene. 
• To start, if you need help, think about WHERE your characters are (pick a specific setting), WHO (who is here in this setting--your "characters"), and WHAT (what are the characters physically doing--also often the conflict, plot, and theme). 
• Genre is completely up to you.

Try to write at least a page (double-spaced) or as much as you can during the rest of 7th-8th period today. If you need a break, stop and read one of the short stories in the packet. Then go back to it. 

Avoid unnecessary distractions!

When you have completed your first draft, continue writing. You may write poetry, fiction, non-fiction, scripts, etc. Choose a genre and get writing!

I will be collecting your 1st drafts of the Hemingway Project at the end of class today. We will be using these drafts for our second draft assignment next class!

Get going!

HOMEWORK: Read the packet of Hemingway Short Stories.
Extra Credit: Read Hemingway's first novel: The Sun Also Rises and/or The Old Man & The Sea. More info on this if needed.

Genre Collection Test; Genre Story Project Due!

After our test today, please turn in your books. After you complete the test, please retire to the lab and continue to prepare and polish your first draft of the genre story project.

BEFORE YOU TURN IN YOUR WORK:

• Check your grammar/spelling/punctuation
• Make sure you have given your story a title
• Make sure you have an MLA formatted heading
• Polish and craft your writing. Go back and read your work--add specific details where you are vague, cut or edit unnecessary or redundant words, cut or edit unnecessary dialogue, etc.

Advice videos from students' questions (watch and learn!):

• Basics of Plotting/Sequencing
• Plotting & Plot Elements
• Putting Imagery in a Story
• Choosing POV & Tense
• Making Characters Come Alive
• Using flashbacks

The genre story project draft is due at the end of class. It is better to turn in an unfinished draft, than not to turn in a draft at all.

HOMEWORK: None. If you did not complete your first draft to your satisfaction, please continue working on it. Craft your writing. 

Endings; Prep for the Test; Draft Due Soon!

Please gather in your groups this afternoon and check in with your reading group. Have you finished reading the book? Talk about the CRAFT of the WRITING of the stories you have read with your group.

When you conclude your discussion, please use the time in the lab to complete your first draft of your story. You should have continued to work on this story during break, but if you did (or did not) please use the time in the lab to consider how you ended your story.

• The story project is DUE THURSDAY, April 9.

As you revise and prepare your story project, consider how you ended your stories. If you are unsatisfied with your endings, look below for some advice regarding new endings:

Endings can be:

Circular: The beginning and the end reflect upon one another, often using the same situation, setting, characterization, or even repeating the same line or idea presented in the opening. This provides a sense of parallelism in your story structure. It is best used when suggesting that the past and future of a character/story is similar.

Matching vs. Nonmatching: similar to a circular ending, the first image is transformed, and is repeated at the end. This is most like the pattern in music: theme and variation. The first image of the story foreshadows or suggests the last image. Sometimes this is obvious, other times the image is subtle.

Surprise ending: Often an ironic ending, or an ending that surprises the reader. The American writer O.Henry was a master of this kind of ending. It is often found in horror/suspense or mystery fiction. The "surprise" needs to be planned by the writer, who should include details that prepare the reader for the surprise, instead of "shocking" the reader, who usually resents this strategy.

Summary ending: A summary of the outcome of the story – this kind of story wraps the plot up very tightly, suggesting the future for the characters. No loose ends. This sort of ending has fallen out of favor lately, so use it at your own peril.

Open ending: used largely in contemporary fiction, the story doesn’t end nice and neatly (like the summary ending). Instead, it leaves an important question posed to the reader, so that the reader must interpret the ending. Caution: this can sometimes confuse a reader. It is best used for subtle effect.

Ending with an image/idea: ending a story with an important detailed image or idea that reflects the theme of the story can "stain" the idea or image in the mind of the reader.

Try one of these endings for your story!

HOMEWORK: Be prepared with notes on your reading collection for the test Thursday. Be prepared to turn in your first draft of your short story Thursday as well. 

Pressing on toward the First Draft; Outline Revision

This afternoon, please redo your outlines as they are not formatted correctly.

If your outline is not in the proper format you will receive no grade for it. Sometimes formatted counts a lot to publishers. It's also a good skill to have. Most students got the "gist" of the idea, without reading or looking at the examples as to how to set up the outline. Shame. Learn. That's your job as a student.

Use Roman numerals for major things like: Title, character, plot, setting, theme, etc. Use #'s for details headings under this: Under CHARACTER, you might put: 1. John, 2. Peppie, 3. Snashza

Under these, use letters to add details 1. John: a. Hobo, b. friendly, c. Protestant, d. 50-55 years old, but looks younger.

Outlines should always be parallel--in other words if there is a #1, there has to be a #2. If you have an A., you need a B.

More help on outlines:

How to Create an Outline
Creating a Plot Outline
Outlining a Story (tips)

Tips from your questions/problems:

Low self-esteem & finding motivation to write
Finding motivation for characters
Organizing scenes & moving plot & plot motivators

Once you have your outline corrected and turned in, please continue working on your story draft. Complete a "ticket out the door".

If you do not finish your draft today in class, please complete it on your own time over break. Additionally, please complete the short story collection you have been reading and be prepared to take an exam on the book when you return from break. This will be an open-note exam, so taking notes may be a good idea.

HOMEWORK: See above. Have a great spring break! Woo-hoo, sunshine!

Short Story Project: Outline due!; Working Through the Middle

Today, please turn in your outline. Mark the # of words you have completed so far and at the end of the period.

Take 10-15 minutes to discuss the short stories you read from last class! Decide with your group what stories to read for next class!

After the Beginning: now what? Working through the middle

You began typing the moment you had an idea. You started off strong. Now three sentences in, or three paragraphs, or even three pages, you've reached your first stumbling block: what happens next?

With prompts and experience, most writers can get started. What's difficult is continuing through a murky middle. Here are some tips to slog through the worst part of your writing experience:

1. Most of the time we get stuck when we don't know what our characters want. Give your character a motive (a desire, or goal, etc.) to keep him/her moving forward.

2. Forward march: Move the plot forward by adding conflict and action. Involve your characters in a specific action or direct conflict with another character. This is particularly helpful if you are bored.

3. Put yourself in your protagonist's shoes: go inside a character's head. This is a common error that young writers constantly forget to do. Get your character's perspective. What would you think in a similar situation? What would you see if you were in this scene? What would you notice? What would you say? What would you do?

4. Skip forward in time. No one said this story has to be chronological. Advance the time period and move forward with the plot. Skip a line to indicate you've changed time (either forward or backward).

5. Skip to another setting/location. Move your character to a new setting. What happens there? Describe the setting/location, and the actions of minor characters. Skip a line to indicate change of setting.

6. Skip to a scene happening at the same time, but in a different location. Skip a line to indicate a change of setting.

7. Skip to a different protagonist or the perspective of a new character. Skip a line to indicate a change of POV.

8. Press forward: If you need more time to research details and don't want to stop to look up a fact or information, indicate what you need to look up by BOLDING or CAPITALIZING a note to yourself. You can also insert NOTES using your word processor feature under the insert menu.

9. Skip to the next major plot point. If you know where the story is going, but don't know yet how to get there, skip a line and write the next scene.

10. Go back to brainstorming. Use your journal to try out some new things. If you don't know (or are stuck on):

• Your characters: write a character sketch, draw a picture of your character, or develop your character's background history
• Your setting: draw your setting, find a picture of an appropriate setting on the internet, describe your setting using imagery--what sounds, smells, tastes, textures, and sights would one experience in the setting
• Your plot: list possible challenges or problems that a character might face in a similar situation or setting. Decisions characters make (or don't make) often create conflict. Create a mind map or use a graphic organizer to focus on plot elements.
• Your theme: create a premise for your story. What do you want to communicate about the human condition? What lesson or experience are you trying to relate?

HOMEWORK: Work on your short story on your own, in your own space. Short story drafts (complete or incomplete) are due Friday. Please read the stories your group assigned.

Outlining; Short Story Discussion; Getting Started

After our short story discussion with your groups, please return to the lab (or log on) and brainstorm an idea for your own short story.

One tool for writers as generating ideas or in the first stage of the writing process is:

Outlining

An outline is a very useful tool to use before writing a formal essay. Some students love them, others don't. If you are having trouble figuring out or organizing your essay, try using one. For this assignment, please try using an outline for your plot points. Your story should have AT LEAST three scenes: a beginning, a middle, and an ending!

It is also helpful to write notes in outline format. It saves time and you can use your notes (reading or from classes) to prepare for tests or in composing essays.

How to do it? Look here.

Sample Outline

After sketching ideas for a story based on your chosen genre--remember to appease your audience by writing something that they may like--and using the writing exercises we did in class, come up with your own outline for a short story. When you have finished, go on to this next point:

Beginning a Story

A beginning promises more to come. It should hook our attention, allow us entrance into the world of the story. Beginnings need to be full of potential for the characters (and the reader). Some simple ways writers do this is the following (taken from The Fiction Writer's Workshop by Josip Novakovich)

Setting: setting sets the stage and raises our expectations, introduces us to location, time, and supports character, tone, mood and POV.

On the pleasant shore of the French Riviera, about half-way between Marseilles and the Italian border, stands a large, proud, rose-colored hotel. Deferential palms cool its flushed façade, and before it stretches a short dazzling beach. Lately it has become a summer resort of notable and fashionable people.

Ideas: While this can sometimes be dry or essay-like, it can also characterize a speaker, a place, an important motif or tone of a story.

“Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them…”

Imagistic or Strong Sensations: Imagery invites your reader to experience your narrative, giving you a good start. It also helps establish setting, usually.

1956. The air-conditioned darkness of the Avenue Theater smells of flowery pomade, sugary chocolates, cigarette smoke, and sweat.

A Need or Motive: Need is essential for all major characters. It is usually what drives the
conflict and characterization, also the plot in a story. Starting off with a motive or need is
the fastest way to learn what characters want.

On his way to the station William remembered with a fresh pang of disappointment that he was taking nothing down to the kiddies. Their first words always were as they ran to greet him, “What have you got for me, daddy?” and he had nothing.

Action: Action catches our attention.

The pass was high and wide and he jumped for it, feeling it slap flatly against his hands, as he shook his hips to throw off the halfback who was diving at him.

Scene: Usually in one sentence, combines action, setting, and character.

Card-playing was going on in the quarters of Narumov, an officer in the Guards.

Symbolic Object: Describe an object that has significance to your story, characters, plot. Usually a reader will recognize the importance of an object if mentioned in the first paragraph of a story.

An antique sleigh stood in the yard, snow after snow banked up against its eroded runners.

Sex: Sex sells. It also gets our attention.

After I became a prostitute, I had to deal with penises of every imaginable shape and size.

Character portrait: Introduces a reader to your protagonist or an important character.

The girl’s scalp looked as though it had been singed by fire—strands of thatchy red hair snaked away from her face, then settled against her skin, pasted there by sweat and sunscreen and the blown grit and dust of travel.

Character’s Thoughts: Like a portrait, this one’s internal.

If I am out of my mind, it’s all right with me, thought Moses Herzog.

Question: A direct way to motivate the reader, who often wants to know the answer to a posed question.

“Well, Peter, any sign of them yet?”

Prediction: Creating an ominous tone, a prediction foreshadows or hints at the ultimate ending of a story.

Neither of the Grimes sisters would have a happy life, and looking back it always seemed that the trouble began with their parents’ divorce.

Anecdote: an anecdote (a short story) can introduce an important idea or theme, create a symbol, or set a particular tone.

The village of Ukleyevo lay in the ravine, so that only the belfry and the chimneys of the cotton mills could be seen from the highway and the railroad station. When passers-by would ask what village it was, they were told: “that’s the one where the sexton ate up all the caviar at the funeral.”

Activity: In your journal write a variety of "opening lines" for your story. Select the best one and use that to begin (remember to refer to your outline!)

Using the best opening, begin a short story. During the rest of class, write. See where this opening takes you. If you get stuck, get unstuck by going back to the planning process.

HOMEWORK: Continue reading the short stories in your collection. Meet with your group to decide how far to read for Wednesday's class.

Genre Writing: Generating Ideas, Fleshing Out Characters/Plot Advice

This morning, please take 10-15 minutes to read the handout article based on your genre study. If you do not finish the article during this time, please feel free to continue reading during your lab time or as homework.

In the lab: Please view the following videos (if you did not watch them last class):

A. Fantasy/Sci-fi: Creating Worlds & Tips for Writing Fantasy & Top Five Tips in Fantasy/Sci-fi

B. Writing Detective Fiction & How to Write a Mystery  & Thriller Crime Fiction #1 & Thriller Crime Fiction #2 & Episode 1: Writing Detective Fiction

C. Tips for Writing Romance & Writing Lovable Romance Heroes & How to Write Erotic Fiction & Romance Authors: About the Writing Process & How to Plot a Romance Novel/Story & Historical Fiction Advice

Generic writing advice:

D. Literary fiction versus commercial fiction & How to Write Fiction Stories 

E. Writing Historical Fiction tips & Memoir Writing

F. Don't Mistake Words for Writing & Bad Writers Have Nothing to Say (Tips for Screenwriters too!)

Limerick Exercise; Short Story Group

This afternoon, please try your hand at writing a limerick or two.

A limerick is a  5-line poem (usually in anapestic meter) with a rhyme scheme of (AABBA). Limericks were originally meant to be obscene or dirty. They are still often meant to be humorous. The first, second and fifth lines are longer than the third and fourth in meter.

The form appeared in England in the early years of the 18th century and popularized by Edward Lear in the 19th century. The following limerick is of unknown origin:

The limerick packs laughs anatomical
Into space that is quite economical.
  But the good ones I've seen
  So seldom are clean
And the clean ones so seldom are comical.

Here's a dirty one: (anonymous)

A phobic young virgin named Flinn
Shouted before she gave in
   "It isn't the deed
   Or the fear of the seed,
But the big worm shedding its skin!"


Well, enough of that. Now on to some practical and (hopefully useful) advice about storytelling.

The Clues to a Great Story: Ted Talk with Andrew Stanton (author of John Carter of Mars, Wall-E & Toy Story)

TASK: Get together in groups of 2-4 and discuss Andrew Stanton's advice. Apply it to stories, movies, novels you have read this year or in the past. Share your ideas with your peers.

Then, please brainstorm plots, premises, and characters that would likely fall into your genre or style.

A. Characters: make a list of characters in your journal
B. Create premises for short story ideas. A premise is a 1-sentence description of the basic idea of your story.
C. Plot: create plot events for your story ideas. Include lists of plot events appropriate to your chosen genre.

During the second half of class, please make a decision as to which genre of short story you want to read and focus on in the next week or two:

A. Romance/Realistic Fiction (Cowboys Are My Weakness or What Am I Without Him?)
B. Fantasy (Fragile Things)
C. Mystery (Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)

For the remaining time in class...

Fiction Videos for Groups: (please watch and learn!--feel free to take notes in your journal!)

A. Fantasy/Sci-fi: Creating Worlds & Tips for Writing Fantasy 

B. Writing Detective Fiction & How to Write a Mystery 

C. Tips for Writing Romance & Writing Lovable Romance Heroes 

D. Literary fiction versus commercial fiction & How to Write Fiction Stories 

E. Writing Historical Fiction tips & Memoir Writing

F. Don't Mistake Words for Writing & Bad Writers Have Nothing to Say (Tips for Screenwriters)

HOMEWORK: Once you have decided please pick up these books from the library and begin reading one of the short stories in your collection. Complete at least 1 story from your collection. Decide on a group how many pages you will read for our next class. 

Samuel D. Hunter Master Class at MCC

If you did NOT attend the seminar today with the rest of the class, please complete the following:

1. Write a short play of at least 3-5 pages in play script format. Turn this in for participation credit.

2. If you finish early before we are back in school, please work on your portfolio. Write.

If you DID attend the seminar, I have taken attendance and you have received participation credit for the master class. You do not have to complete the play exercise the others who did not go to the master class had to complete.

Have a nice weekend! 

Geva Play Contest; MCC Field Trip & Other Events

Geva's Young Writer's Showcase:

Submit up to 3 of your 10-minute play scripts (after you proofread them) to this link:
youngwriters@gevatheatre.org

Please include a title page with clear contact information:
Name
Address
Phone #
Email

In the post below, please make a comment if you have entered your play so you can get credit from me.

Upcoming Events:

• March 15: Field trip/Master Class to see Hunter at MCC (5th period -8th period)
• March 19: period 2/3 - Master Class with Karen Thompson Walker, author of The Age of Miracles. Bring your journals and your imagination!
• March 25-28: Playwrights' Festival:
• March 25: Guest Writer's Panel on Writing for the Stage: 7:00 Black Box (free event)
• March 26: Play script readings: Please submit play scripts you would like to see staged and/or read! 7:00 Black Box (free event)
• March 27: 24-Hour Play Festival: if you are interested in acting, directing or writing, please let Ms. Gamzon or Mr. Craddock know.
• March 28: 24-Hour Play Festival Performance: Black Box ($5 admission/fund raiser for our department--tickets available at the door)
• Senior Coffeehouse: May 28 at 7:00

Graphic Novels (con't)

Please refer to Ms. Jordon's blog for the daily agenda.

Materials for the unit can be found below.

Comic Book Script Format

Sample comic book script pages (note that there are two standard types, either one is correct):

1. Header; 2. Page #; 3.-5. Panel description; 6. Caption & information; 7. Character & dialogue; etc.

SCRIPT FORMAT AND SPECIFICATIONS. Please create your scripts as follows:

TITLE PAGE: 

WRITER’S NAME (name, address, and phone should appear only on the first page of your script) Street Address City, 

State and Zip 

Phone Number 

(sometimes email)

HEADER: Book Title, Issue # • Writer’s Name (should appear at the top of each page after the title page) page number, etc. 

PAGE ONE (# of panels) (Begin each new story page on a new sheet of paper, label it, and indicate how many panels make up that page.)

Panel 1. Number your panels. Panel descriptions should be typed in standard upper and lower case. Please do not use tabs, alternate fonts, or any other formatting.

CHARACTER: The “attribution” (the name of the character speaking) should appear in all caps on a separate line from their dialogue. It used to be that all comics were lettered by hand. These days, much of the lettering is done on computer.

OTHER CHARACTER: Typing the dialogue in standard upper- and lowercase, flush-left, with no tabs or other formatting makes it easy for dialogue to be copied and pasted onto the comics page.

Panel 2. There is no set limit for how much or how little information should be included in each panel description; generally a sentence or two is enough. If there are specific character traits, objects, or placement of either that you need, make sure you tell the artist. The most important thing to remember: if it isn’t in the script, don’t expect to see it in the art. You’ll get best results if you list characters in your panel descriptions in the order (left to right) that they need to speak in the panel.

SFX: Sound effects are indicated just like dialogue.

CAP: Captions are indicated the same way. All dialogue, sound effects, and captions should be listed in the order in which they should be read in the final art.

CHARACTER (thought): Thought balloons are indicated in this fashion. Captions and dialogue should be limited to approximately 25 words per balloon, and about 50 words per panel, max.

Panel 3. Exact panel layout is usually left to the artist, but if you have something specific in mind, put it in your description. If absolutely necessary, you can draw a sketch of what you want.

CHARACTER (OP): Characters speaking from off-panel are indicated this way.

OTHER CHARACTER (whisper): If a character is whispering, the letterer needs to know. Other common indications for modified lettering or word balloons are (small), (burst), and (weak).

Panel 4. For action sequences, you’ll get best results if you limit yourself to three or four panels per page. Remember: the more spectacular your action description, the less room you’ll have for other panels on that page. In comics, space is your major limiting factor. If you have two characters speaking to one another in a panel on a page containing five or more panels, chances are there won’t be room to show something happening simultaneously in the background. Also, except in rare cases, the most “back-and-forth” dialogue that will comfortably fit in a panel is a comment, a response, and a counter-response.

CHARACTER: [comment] Dialogue that carries over from one balloon, or from one panel to another is indicated by double dashes at the end of the first dialogue section --

OTHER CHARACTER: [response] -- and another set at the beginning of the next. Interestingly, long dashes and semi- colons are not used in comics punctuation. Colons are used only on rare occasions.

CHARACTER: [counter-response] Double dashes can also be used to indicate a speech that is cut-off by events in the story --

Panel 5. For non-action scenes, you can have more panels per page, but keep in mind how many characters and props are necessary in a scene as you’re writing. The more panels on a page, the smaller each of them will have to be. Trying to cram too much information into small panels will result in a comic that’s difficult to read and visually uninteresting.

CAP/CHARACTER “-- a caption can be used to carry over dialogue from a previous scene to a new setting by placing the speech in quotation marks.”

NEW CHARACTER: underline words that you want to emphasize. Ellipses (three periods) indicate a pause between ... sections of a speech, or a speech that trails off.