Whacky Friday Blog Opener

I totally didn't see it! Wow, see the big picture, I guess.

Character Sketch blog

The end product of our show and tell activity will be to write character sketches portraying 3 of the presentations. One of the sketches will be written in the first person about your own presentation. The other two sketches will be written in the third person about two classmates' presentations of your choice. Be sure to show versus tell through action and dialogue. Keep in mind that all authors take creative liberties. You don't have to write dialogue exactly as spoken. Just capture the spirit.

Also, each character sketch must include an explanation how what literary techniques (remember the Walter Mosley reading?) you used to show versus tell.

So here's an example of the first person character sketch (on my catapult show and tell).

Sketch I
Smile big. When I'm in front of a crowd the fallback is always to smile because then you seem friendly, and maybe it will be infectious. I look out on the sea of blank faces and hope that my "amusing anecdote" about the whimiscal object in my had - a cardboard box containing a brown, plastic, toy catapult will make some waves (of laughter, perhaps) in that impassive body. I feel my left hand looping big circles in the air as a gesticulate. I am a very active talker as I chatter through explanations of my experiences in a Los Angeles improv class. "We got 'catapult' as a suggestion," I say, wishing my audience would reflect back the toothy grin I'm beaming at them, "so I flew onto the stage like I was launched from a catapult, and that got a big laugh." Pause for big laugh. A few chuckles. Oh well, I think as my voice trails off, at least that's done.

Explanation I
extended metaphor - sea, waves, body
action - hand looping circles in the air - shows nervousness or energy
sense words - sound of a few chuckles.

Sketch II
Kyle propped the small, goldish beanie on the desk, its legs dangling over the edge. Kyle faced the class with a playful demeanor as he affectionately caressed the bear. He held his hands behind his back and shifted weight between his feet. He introduced his "faithful companion," and concluded with a description of Bernard as his most active co-pilot. The audience applauded atKyle as he scooped up his compadre and returned to his desk.

Explanation II
active verbs - "scooped," "caressed"
detailed imagery of Bernard - legs dangling over desk
compadre - "idiomatic" language

ACCIDENTAL LESSONS BLOG ASSIGNMENT

Due Tues, Feb 22

PART I (pre-writing) - Think of 10 activities, hobbies, etc., that you participate in and think of 1 accidental lesson you've learned from each one. Create a matching quiz like mine below.

Please match the activity with the "accidental lesson" learned.

1. Tennis
2. Debate
3. Soccer
4. Band
5. Newspaper
6. Theater
7. National Honor Society
8. MC of Homecoming coronation
9. Junior Class Cabinet
10. Church Retreat

A. You learn how to be classy
B. Perception is reality / people don't read minds
C. People like me!
D. Success is at least half mental ( more like 90%)
E. I was kind of racist
F. You can't please all the people all the time
G. People respect when you stand up for yourself
H. Scouring cleans, but damages (accept imperfection)
I. You have to delegate responsibility
J. I suck at pillow fighting (be yourself)
















ANSWERS
1. d 2. g 3. a 4. h 5. i 6. c 7. f 8. e 9. b 10. j

PART II - Choose 1 of the activities from your list above and write about 5 "accidental lessons" you learned from that activity. Each lesson should have an story/explanation that is at least 1 paragraph in length (as in Sarah Vowell's "Music Lessons" piece).

Thu, Feb 10 Blog Assignment

CREATIVE NONFICTION WRITING ASSIGNMENT (Elizabeth Gilbert-inspired):
Please portray a memorable and impactful conversation you have had with someone in your family - parents, siblings, or extended relatives. Like the excerpt from "Eat, Pray, Love," this conversation should be set up with an introduction that establishes its context and concluded with related action that provides a satisfying conclusion. In other words, don't just provide a transcript of the words you said; make it a story. Even nonfiction has a narrative flow.

This assignment will be graded on the following criteria

Descriptiveness (show versus tell) 5 points
Structure (beginning, middle, and end) 5 points
Style (quality of writing, word choice, sentence variety, expressiveness) 5 points

Wed, Feb 9, 2011 Blog Assignment

Creative Nonfiction Assignment #1 - Conversation with Family Member (Elizabeth Gilbert assigment)

Step 1 - Pre-writing (this is a required element of the assignment) - Worth 10 points

This blog entry serves as pre-writing for our Elizabeth Gilbert-inspired writing assignment. Create a dialogue/conversation between yourself and your genius (which you hopefully created as part of your response to the video). Use this dialogue/conversation, as a way to generate ideas for what you will write about. Your genius should help you come up with at least 5 ideas for your important conversation. Example (my genius is named Slash).

Mr. Cheng: Hi Slash.
Slash: Hey C-man. What up?
Mr. Cheng: I need to write a creative nonfiction piece about an important conversation between myself and someone in my family.
Slash: I'm thinking your dad. He was always lecturing you about stuff.
Mr. Cheng: True. There was the time I got in trouble for sneaking out of the house. That wasn't really a conversation...
Slash: Think again.
Mr. Cheng: Right. It started out as a note, but then became a conversation later.
Slash: Now you're gettin' it. There's that heavy talk with your sister before the funeral.
Mr. Cheng: Right. That was really sad, but had a huge impact on me.

There is no length requirement for this blog entry, but its content must cover at least 5 potential subjects for your writing assignment.