10.27 Description and schedule for the next 2 weeks

Today you wrote descriptions - and we identified features of description (the moves you made that made them work).

• sensual representations :  that visual features are most frequently referenced.  Many writers have long noted this as a fact, and have suggested that resort to other sensual features - smell, touch, sound => can often be more intensely evocative.
• comparisons/metaphors = often used to connect to a more vivid or familiar object that will evoke what you describe.  
• cultural references often function to identify an audience (place readers as insiders or outsiders with respect to the author's perspective on the object)
• personifications/animations like comparisons/metaphors, often evoke more intense, fully realized connections from readers
• close-in versus far-back perspectives demand differing amounts of interpretive "work" from the reader; such "description" is accompanied by clear or explicit interpretation (close-in - as in Final Cut and Neiha's description of Alyson's boots = where we are told the "point" of the description) or left for the reader to figure out and apply (as in Marvin Gardens + Ashley's description= lots of detail but the reader needs to do more work to put the details together to create an interpretation)

Class for next week.  

On Tuesday, November 1, you may schedule (optional) conferences on the essay of your choice.  

We will meet on November 3 to workshop Essay 3, brainstorm for Essay 4 and otherwise discuss how your writing is going.

Blog 15 (for Tuesday): Description.  Write a far-back description (without explicit references to what the description is meant to "show".  A perfect example would be James description of his I-phone.  It contrasted the sleek, highly engineered "beauty" of the phone with the real-world evidence of what happens to our machines in use.

Blog 16 (for Thursday):  Post draft essay 3.

On Thursday you will sign up for conferences for essay 3, and we will use class November 8 as part of the available conference time (we will not meet in the classroom).

Have a good weekend.

10.25 "Objective" representations

We went over the dates for turning in drafts for Revised Essay 1/2, and for the Drafts & Revisions for Essays 3/4.  We decided to (for now) stick with the dates on the calendar.  

We then talked about John McPhee's "Search for Marvin Gardens." We talked about the "facts" McPhee included - and gradually figured out the "message" - or one message - he set us up to read into those facts. We thought about why he might write his essay in the form he wrote it - the audience he was writing to - and how that strategy (engaging the reader in "solving" the essay as opposed to simply reading it) might be useful to you as a writer.

I closed class by suggesting (pleading?) that you might use your blogs as an opportunity to explore relationships to audience = to put your work out there, "listen" to how it is received - and to be a reader for your classmates.  This is an important part of what you can "get" out of this class.

For Thursday:

Read: Gawande, 245.

Blog 14: Post any writing you have for essay any requests for comments that work for you

Practice for Day of Writing Open Mic

You worked in groups to practice your readings for the Open Mic while I had conferences on Essay 2.  So far - it looks to me like you are doing great work - each of you moving forward at your own pace.  I will continue with the conferences this week and by Tuesday - everyone will have had a chance to talk through their work & make a choice about which "I" essay to revise.


We will have a whole class discussion on Tuesday to decide the due date for revised Essay 1/2.


Day of Writing Open Mic:  please get to the Cougar's Den as close to 1:45 as you are able - and we will go from there.  From what I have overheard, and from talking to you - it sounds like it should be great!


No homework for Thrusday other than to make sure your reading comes in at around 7 minutes.  Break a leg!


For Tuesday:  We will talk over Graham (assigned last week but we didn't talk about it), and McPhee as examples of "eye" essays.
Read: McPhee, 117
Blog 13: More brainstorming for Project II

Telling the World "Why I Write"

Publish an essay with the National Writing Project!


Submit student essays to Figment.com: Figment will be accepting submissions through October 29. A curated anthology of selected submissions will be available as an e-book later this winter. Submit to Figment ›

10.16 Conference List

Monday, 10.17
1:00  Josh Spear
2:00  Jen Theesfeld
2:20  Amanda Levie
3:00  Neiha Bhandari

Tuesday  10.18
2:00  Catherine Rothweiler
2:20  Brian DeJoy
2:40  Sam Haimann
3:00  Ashley Sgro

Wednesday  10.19
2:00  Kathrym Jackson
2:15  Aydin Reyhan
2:30  Lauren Frisoli

Thursday, 10.20
12:30  Will Barbieri
12:50  Alison DiGiacomo
1:10    James Pompeo

Lauren Frisoli = send me an email with some times that work for you.

10.13: Feedback for Essay 2 (second "I" essay)

We spent some time following through with our discussion of "truth" and expanded our discussion to think about how we felt about the ethics of writing about others in fiction - as well as in CNF.  The discussion indicated that it depends both on the material, the genre - and your relationship to the person you are writing about - and it led us into some more discussion of who owns writing . . . .  I don't think this is going to sort out easily.

You then spent some time commenting on group members essays AND on three random essays.  You were asked to make a post that gave your readers some direction for the kind of feedback you are looking for - and I encouraged you to give classmates a heads up if you thought their draft had possibilities for a good "reading" (looking forward to next Thursday.

We finished class by taking a look at the assignment for the "eye" essay - and doing some writing to set you up for this genre.

For next class:
Come to class with the text of the material you expect to read on the National Day of Writing.  You will practice with your group (get the time down) and have a chance to try out your reading "personae".

Read:  Graham, 314

Blog 12: Brainstorming topics for Project II

10/1. Lies, Lies, Lies

We identified, classified and ranked lies associated with James Frey's book A Million Little Pieces.  Lots of good things to think about in this discussion.  I am hoping it served as a place for you to begin thinking about your personal relationship to "truth" in your own writing - whether it is fiction or nonfiction.

In a later conversation, another student brought up the point that writing into the cultural stereotypes (corrupt, fat police; the possibility that "willpower" can overcome all obstacles, the vulerable, suicidal lover, the bad guy with a heart of gold; etc) - even if it is in fiction - works toward oversimplifying the world - which is a kind of a lie.  This is a complicated consideration - and I am hoping you continue to think about it.

In general - lies that affected others - seemed to hit the top of the list - and there are reasons for that.  And our in-class conversation raised the point that while some lies affect the lives of others more directly than others - in some sense any lie ends up contributing to an imagined world - the world of stories we use to make sense of experiences - and that in itself will always affect others.  So - yeah - that's pretty philosophic.   Thanks for the passion in this discussion.  I was left with a lot to think about.

For next class, 

I said the blog was to write about truths you are connected to - but I was wrong = it has to be a post of Essay 2.  So. . . 

Blog 9:  Draft Essay 2

In class Thursday I will go over the assignment for Essays 3 & 4, and set up conference times  for Essay 2.  You will also spend some in-class time journaling + getting feedback on your second draft.  Over the weekend you can catch up on the readings for "eye" essays - and we will be back on schedule.

Great class today.  Thanks.   

More about Frey

Current exploits

Class October 6

Today's class was focused on  thinking about ideas for your next essay.  Your first essays were awesome.  You have a lot of good material, and you are definitely writing into the features that define the genre.  Keep going!  The draft for the second "I" essay is due next Thursday.  I am looking forward to reading your next piece.

We also took a look at the sign up list for the Open Mic reading and it was finalized as follows:

1:45  Will Barbieri

152   Jen Theesfield

2:00 Nicole Dreste

2:07  Catherine Rothweiler

2:14  Josh Spear

2:21 Kathryn Jackson

2:28  Ashley Sgro

2:35  James Pompeo

2:42  Sam Haimann

2:49 Aydin Reyhan

2:56  Brian DeJoy

3:03  Amanda Levie

3:10  Neiha Bhandari

3:17  Alison DiGiaacomo

3:24  Lauren Frisoli

For next class: We will begin a discussion of "truth" in CNF.  

Read: Smoking gun expose of A Million Little Pieces
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/million-little-lies
Winfrey backlash
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/27/books/27oprah.html?ex=1296018000&en=ddd9b3b2c1f92c9a&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Blog 9: What went well in your first essay?  What would you work on if you were going to revise it?  What do you want to explore – in terms of craft or content - in your next essay? 

10/5

For Thursday - no assignment - but work on developing ideas/writing for Essay 2.