Portfolio & Midterm

All due today!

HOMEWORK: None.

Portfolio; Study for Mid-term Exam; Gannon & Sokol Writing Contests

Today, please use lab time to complete the following:

1. Use the blog post below this one to study for your mid-term.
2. Use the blog post below this one to work on your reflection and setting up your portfolio. Note that you should also use time to REVISE and EDIT your writing (the 3rd and 4th steps of the writing process!)
3. The deadline for submitting to SOKOL (poetry, creative non-fiction, fiction/prose) and Gannon University's poetry contest (poetry only) is next week (Jan. 30 and Feb. 1). If you'd like to kill two rocs with one writing stone, consider these prompts:

A. Write a "Where I'm From" poem, but instead of YOU as the subject, choose a real person you know, a historical figure, or a fictional person you make up and write about THIER life.
ex. You are from the hills of Santa Fe...; You come from hard labor and log cabins...; I called you grandma, but you were born an orphan girl...; etc.

B. Make a list of technical terms and use this list to describe a person or a common event.
Science technical terms: check here for some ideas...
Here's a list of poetry terminology...
Medical terminology sample poems...

C. Choose a picture or graphic. Describe the "feeling" or sense of the portrait with diction that addresses tone. Here's an example of the form...

These poems tend to win contests because they are:
1. Universal.
2. Creative.
3. Not about the teenage writer specifically.
4. Show a broader interest than just teenage interests...
5. Show that a poet is specific and knows something more than the average student submitting...
6. Tend to show humans overcoming adversity, not complaining or being negative about the subject...

Fiction advice:
1. Winners of fiction often have a story that is at least 1,000 words (about 3 pages) with the better ones being more like 3,000-5,000 words (5-7 pages).
2. Include a theme about common human experience (usually overcoming adversity)
3. Tend to be realistic, as opposed to Sci-fi/fantasy or other sub-genres
4. Use a variety of sentence structures and fiction conventions (includes a little dialogue, but not too much...includes a turning point in the plot, ends with a specific and memorable image, centers around an interesting voice or character.)

Portfolio & Final Exam Review

In the lab, please begin to gather material you have written this semester in your portfolio. Finish writing drafts (for example, the 10-minute play script you are working on, or the collaborative script, that old poem you can't stop tinkering with, etc.)

1. Examine your work collected in your portfolio. (You may print out anything you haven't yet printed out and place a copy in your portfolio). If it's a new draft, indicate the new draft number on the copy.

2. Revise:
• Nouns: Nouns should be specific and concrete; avoid blatant abstract or vague nouns always in your writing.

 One way to make an abstract concept (like love or death or pain or sadness) concrete is by creating a metaphor or simile. (Ex. Love is a blind dove fluttering at your window)--use metaphor and simile in your writing to strengthen abstraction and turn it into concrete and specific writing! 

 If you can’t hold it in your hand, touch it, smell it, taste it, hear it, then it’s not concrete. If you can’t see it or touch it, it’s not specific.

• Verbs: Verbs should be active.

 Do not write in the passive voice – let your subject do the action.
 Avoid excessive use of the verb TO BE. Instead, use strong active verbs
 Do not shift tense. Make sure all your verbs are either in the past or present. Try not to switch between tenses.

• Modifiers: Adjectives, prepositions, adverbs, conjunctions, interjections. These parts of speech help describe your characters, settings, and plot events.

 The thing to remember about modifiers is that they are not necessary. Overusing them is a great mistake in writing! Be concise!
 Make sure your stories and poems describe the images you expect the reader to see. Don’t forget about WHERE your characters are or WHAT they are doing while they are talking or acting.
 Adverbs should be used sparingly.
 Try to avoid overusing conjunctions. This is a sure sign of a run-on sentence.

• Plot, character, setting, conflict, theme, dialogue, form: Find places in your stories, plays, and poems to expand your ideas. Complicate your plots, make them longer, more character driven, more descriptive. Use dialogue to develop your characters histories and backgrounds. Choose your words with care. Try to make a point. Remember your reader!
• Spell check and proofread your work! Reading your work out loud can help!
• It is sometimes helpful to get feedback from friends, teacher, or enemies about your writing.

Remember: this is a writing portfolio (and you have taken Grammar and Style), so you should check and correct any grammar or formatting errors in your work. I need to see your growth CRAFTING your writing. Remember the writing process includes generating ideas or prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Not everything in your portfolio needs to be publishable, but there should be a few works that you have succeeded on.

3. After you review and revise your portfolio, write a 1-3 page typed reflection essay about your progress this far in your creative writing course. Answer the questions below somewhere in your reflective response. In your essay, you should:

 Talk about the work you include in your portfolio:
What pieces did you most enjoy, which were difficult for you and why? Which pieces show off your talent? What did writing these pieces help you understand in writing? 

 Talk about your strengths and weaknesses as a writer: what are you still doing well? what do you still need help or assistance with in regards to your writing?

 Talk about the reading/viewing we did and your skill at being a reader/viewer. What pieces did you most enjoy/which pieces or texts were difficult for you? Why? 

 Talk about specific writing problems you have faced (and overcome) 

NOTE: do not complain for the sake of complaining, but actively examine what you felt you did and learned in this class in the past semester regarding fiction, poetry, play scripts, film, writing, etc. 

 Make a goal. What would you like to work on in the next semester? 

Use the lab today to complete this work. If you do not finish today in class, please complete by January 23, next Friday.

MIDTERM REVIEW

Your mid-term in The Craft of Writing will be held on Friday, next week, Jan. 23. Please study for this exam. Look over old tests/quizzes, re-read the blog and handouts on this material.

The exam will cover the following material and literary terms/vocabulary:

The complete writing process, techniques to avoid writers block, theme, the four common themes in literature, techniques and tips about writing poetry, fiction, and plays.

Poetry: verse, line breaks, stanza forms, sound devices, diction, tone, voice, caesura, enjambment, cadence groups, onomatopoeia, assonance, alliteration, consonance, euphony, cacophony, rhyme, diction, texture, imagery (visual imagery, auditory imagery, gustatory imagery, tactile imagery, kinesthetic imagery, olfactory imagery), figurative language, metaphor, simile, personification, allusion, symbol, allegory, meter, iamb (iambic), trochee (trochaic), dactyl (dactylic), anapest (anapestic), spondee (spondaic), couplet, tercet or triplet, quatrain, sestet, octave, tetrameter, pentameter, hexameter, Terza Rima, Shakespearean sonnet form, haiku, free verse, prose, persona, moral or message.

Fiction: prose; plot; plot structure: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, crisis or turning point, climax, denouement or resolution; conflict; the different types of conflict; linear versus non-linear plots; setting; setting (artificial or manufactured and natural); exterior versus interior settings; locale; functions of setting; regional writers; POV; the different types of point of view; omniscience; multiple-viewpoint; skeptical POV; objective 3rd person POV; choosing a point of view; hamartia; round versus flat characters; characterization; character types; portraying a character; persona; description (particularly using description to characterize a character); character key terms; ways to develop a character; structuring a story and techniques to structure a story; ideas for fiction; genres; Stephen King's advice to writers; narration, description, dialogue; Sherman Alexie: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, Sudden Fiction, etc.

Drama: script format; how plays differ from films and novels; the use of conflict in script writing; Loraine Hansberry; A Raisin in the Sun; David Ives; Sure Thing, Variations on the Death of Trotsky; setting: interior/exterior; plot: cause and effect; tips about what makes a play effective; premise; 10-minute play form; flat/round characters; proper play script format; tips when writing a play script; the unities; how to turn ideas into plays; advice on how to start a play; film terms: close up, long shot, medium shot, high angle, low angle, bird's-eye angle; how film makers create tone and POV in film.

• Diction: word choice. (see notes below)
• Tone: the overall effect of the diction in a piece of writing, including the choice of subject, imagery, and design or structure (humorous, pedantic, suspenseful, mysterious, melancholy, pleasant, happy, etc.)
• Voice: the agent speaking in the poem or story
• Persona: the voice or speaker of a poem
• Connotation: the attached or assumed meaning of a word, apart from its dictionary or literal meaning 
• Denotation: the literal meaning of a word 
• Negative Capability: a poet should be open with or empathetic to his/her subject.
• Lyric poem: a short, emotive poem (60 lines or fewer)
• Narrative poem: a poem that tells a story (may have fictional/narrative qualities, such as dialogue, chapter headings, etc.)
• Long poem: lengthy poems that have a central idea, digressions, and multiple perspective (longer than 60 lines)
• Prose poem: often blocky or written as a paragraph or two, this is a short, short story that has poetic language and careful word choice (diction) to create an effect
• Poetic diction: tired, stale language often found in bad poetry (ex. rhyming unnecessarily, using elision, cliché, or inversion, etc.) 
• The cliche: Overused or common idioms used instead of creative writing
• Inversion: Reversing word order in a line of poetry (ex. Yoda speak: "A poem you are reading; Inversion it is.")
• Formal or informational language: overly technical language unsuitable to poetry; usually has a cold, dispassionate, or distant tone
• Syntax: word order in a sentence. May also refer to grammar and punctuation use. In English word order is usually NOUN + VERB + DIRECT OBJECT.
• Foil: A character that contrasts or compares to the protagonist to illuminate certain traits.
• Antihero: a normal, ordinary character.
• Hero: The main character of a story, usually has qualities or traits that make this person extraordinary.
• Stereotype: characters generally recognized as a type--or unoriginal, flat characters.
• Dynamic: A character who changes significantly through the story.
• Regional writer: a writer who sets his/her stories in a specific place and time--Stephen King is a regional writer, as is Sherman Alexie, Loraine Hansberry, and August Wilson. Writers often write about their region or familiar locations.

Literary terms to know concerning fiction:

• Plot/narrative structure: linear, circular, open-ended, chronological, multiple perspective, frame, flashback/flashforward, epistolary, summary, etc.
• Plot terms: exposition, rising action, complication, crisis/turning point, climax, falling action, denouement/resolution
• Point of View: narrator, objective, subjective, reliable/unreliable narrator, stream of consciousness, 1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person limited, 3rd person omniscient, etc.
• Character: characterization, dynamic, static, stock/stereotypical character, flat versus round character, major/minor characters, antihero, foil, allegorical character, villain, hero, protagonist, antagonist, etc.
• Setting: time, locale, regional writer, mood, theme, etc.
• Tone: diction, setting, suspense, irony: verbal irony, dramatic irony, situational irony, cosmic irony or irony of fate, etc.
• Style: bildungsroman, naturalistic, symbolic, journalistic, parody, minimalistic, etc.
• Theme: message, moral, genre, meaning, etc.
• Imagery: description, verisimilitude, figurative language, symbol, allegory, representation, etc.

HOMEWORK: Study. 

A Raisin in the Sun: Acts 2 & 3

Today we will watch the rest of the film A Raisin in the Sun. If you did not already do so, please turn in your homework from two class periods ago. (see post below for details)

After the film, take a moment to reflect and critique the play. What situations/plot points, characters, etc. made the play worth watching? What important lessons about life does Hansberry provide us with? What did you learn about script writing from reading/watching this play/film?

Take 2-3 minutes and share your opinions with another student.

Any time remaining, please go to the lab and continue working on your portfolio or play script project from last class. See previous post for details.

HOMEWORK: None. 

10-minute script for Geva Contest; Portfolio; A Raisin in the Sun

Please work on your portfolio in the lab today.

1. The Geva Young Playwriting Contest is coming up soon. To submit, your play should be no longer than 10 minutes (10 pages or fewer, 6-8 is a great length). Use the plays we have read in class as inspiration.
You may find good subject matter here at this link. Take a look at these links for inspiration: Civil Rights photos, the struggles of Great Black Heroes, or Latinos in History, or American Heroes, etc.
for more ideas:

• Choose a decade or an important historical event to be the background for your play (you may have characters talk about this event as if it just happened by setting your play in the past.)
• Choose a controversial subject to use for a theme for your play. Check this link for some suggestions.

2. If you would like, please write a poem/short story. Use your time in the lab to write fiction or poetry drafts. Keep these in your portfolio. 

I will be checking your portfolios next Friday, January 16. You should have new work in your portfolio from this marking period. There is also a mid-term exam. More information about that will be forthcoming. 

Use your time in the lab today to write. Please hand in any homework or completed work to my in-box today.

HOMEWORK: None.

A Raisin in the Sun

Today's let's continue watching the film adaptation of the stage play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry.

As you watch the film, apart from paying attention to the film basics: camera work, sound effects/music, costumes, and lighting--examine how character's motivations and personal goals clash to create conflict in this play. Notice how Hansberry skillfully builds conflict in her story:

• Person v. Person
• Person v. self
• Person v. society
• Person v. nature/fate or God

Here's a  clip from Act 1, scene 1.

HOMEWORK: Read Act 1, Scene 1 of the play. Compare what you saw in the film with the way the play is written. In a paragraph explain how the film and script compare/contrast with one another. Turn in your paragraph next class. We will be spending time working on our portfolios next class. 

Collaborative Play Project; Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun

During period 7, please complete the following tasks:

1. Work on completing your collaborative play project. Try to conclude your play script if you have not already done so. Print out a copy of your group's play and turn in for credit. Keep a copy of your play script in your portfolio.

2. Research Lorraine Hansberry at this link (read the article). Be able to explain what important impact she had on American literature. What did she accomplish in her short lifetime?

3. Please read this poem by Langston Hughes: Harlem. Hansberry is using Hughes' poem as an allusion for the title of her work. As you read the play, consider why she decided to do this.

4. Research the setting of A Raisin in the Sun. The south side of Chicago in 1959. Something important happened just a year or two before Hansberry wrote her play. Look here to find out what:
1957. Please continue to research and find information about this time period. Some questions to help guide your research are:

• What were the social, economic, political and educational expectations and opportunities for African Americans at this time?
• What advances had been made in civil rights?
• What significant changes will occur in America during the years between 1950's and 1965?

Some links to help you:

Images of the civil rights movement
Images of “the children’s crusade" of the civil rights movement
Timeline of the civil rights movement

During period 8, we'll begin watching the play next door.

To help us out, we want to pay attention to some film terms:

Camera: (helps create POV, just like in fiction!)
Shots: long shot, medium shot, close-up

• Long shots are often used to establish setting
• Medium shots are used during dialogue
• Close up shots are used to show reaction/expression of an actor, or an important detail

Angles: bird's eye angle, eye-line match, high angle, low angle

Lighting: (helps create tone/mood, just like in fiction!)
High key lighting (bright, full light, often warm)
Low key lighting (low light; shadowy and dark, very cool or cold)

Music/Sound FX: (helps create tone/mood, just like in fiction!)
Diegetic (sound/music that characters can hear)
Non-diegetic (sound/music that only the audience can hear; the characters in the world of the film do not hear or react to non-diegetic sound)

Character: (creates character)
Acting (acting is the skill of portraying a character believably; good actors are convincing as their characters)
Costumes (complimentary colors show compatibility; contrasting colors show opposition/conflict)

Color film (Technicolor) had already been invented and was used in many films in the 1960's when this film was made. The choice to shoot the film in black and white, then, is a deliberate choice by the director. What does shooting the film in b&w add to the tone and mood of the film?

HOMEWORK: None.