11.28 Presentations on CNF publication venues, short projects, and portfolio.

NOTE:  If you have not sent your final long essay to the course email as an attachment => please do so.  It makes it easier for me to comment.

Presentations on CNF publication venues.  I reviewed the criteria for the presentations on your publication venues.  The assignment sheet (posted to the right) was originally developed for group work - but we didn't do the project that way. Feel free to network with your classmates (to see how they are doing their presentation and talk over what you want to do for yours) but there is no group component for your class.  Some sample presentations (created for publication venues by students in last year's class) are Creative Nonfiction, The Kenyon Review, and The Fourth Genre.  If you click on these links you can see some of the different ways students chose to meet the requirements for this assignment.

Short projects.  You talked through your ideas/brainstorming for your short projects.  You came up with a wide range of formats for this project including: a thematic series of scenes/vignettes; images (moving or still) with scrolling text or voiceover; a thematic, a sharply focused, short narrative or reflective essay (like "Some things about that night"); a multimedia presentation (lyrics with images with music; i-movie with voiceover/scrolling text); and letters + reflections.  Any of these approaches or a combination will work for this project.  The readings posted for last week provide a range of examples for this kind of writing.  After talking through your ideas we decided on the criteria for the assignment.

LENGTH:
The piece should be from 300-750 words (5-7 minutes)

FOCUS:
Your piece should have a clear conceptual/thematic focus

DEVELOPMENT:
1) It should develop a complex presentation of that focus through the use of scenes/stories or other device that develops or allows for multiple perspectives on your focus.
2) The presentation and ideas should exhibit creativity and originality (with nontrivial reflective potential and fresh representations).
3) Because this piece is short, it is essential that every word/phrase/image works to open up your central focus; this requires economy, cohesion, and sharpness in your writing.

ORGANIZATION
The structure of this piece should reflect the audience and purpose for your composition.

You were requested to post brainstorming/drafty writing for one piece as Blog 9 and brainstory/drafty writing for a second piece for Blog .  This writing does not need to be elaborate, but it should provide enough information for you to network with your classmates so you can develop your writing and ideas.

The revised, final draft for the short project is due December 11.

Portfolio
A sample portfolio presented in the format required for the final presentation of your work is posted at Sample portfolio.   It uses google.sites (available through your Kean email) and models the page structure with  a list of what to include on each page.  The Reflective essay posted on the first page, sets up your portfolio and serves as a place for you to consider your identity as a CNF writer and how the work from this semester illustrates (or not) that identity.  Requirements for the introductory reflective essay are posted to the right.

For next week.

Blog 11:  Drafty writing/brainstorming for Short essay 2

Blog 12: Publication venue handout

We will spend nest week's class creating the portfolios, working on the introductory essays, and listening to and talking about your presentations on the different CNF publication venues.  

Have a great week and see you soon!

11.21

As you can see - I have reserved space for our end of term performance.  You are welcome to bring guests.  We will talk more about our plans in class.

I am looking forward to reading your final Long essays!   See you in class on 11.28 and have a good Thanksgiving!

11.21 Venue for end of term reading

Event Name:	CREATIVE NONFICTION READING
Event Type:	Student Social Activity
Reference:	2012-AACZXF
State:	Draft
Organization:	English
Cabinet:	(none)
Requestor:	Chandler, Sarah
Scheduler:	Chandler, Sarah
Head Count:	35 expected ; 20 registered
Creation Date:	Wed Nov 21 2012

11.14 Revised calendar, rhetorical analysis of publication venue, and short projects,

Revised calendar.  The revised calendar is posted to the right.  It is mostly correct - though as you pointed out in class there are a few misleading headings/due dates left over from the old draft (which I used as a template).  To confirm what is due when, as usual, you will need to check the blog.

Rhetorical analysis of publication venues.   The assignment sheet for this project is also posted to the right.  We talked through the purpose and the requirements during class.  Here are some sample handouts by students from last year's class:  Creative Nonfiction, The Kenyon Review, and The Fourth Genre (be sure to scroll down to read all of this one).  The handout will be your visual aid for your presentation to the class. It will be on the screen while you talk - and you can click through the links to show your classmates the journal's site, sample CNF essays, and other relevant information.

Short projects 1& 2.  During the second part of class we talked over expectations for the "short essays" that use emerging forms (or not).  We left a lot of room for choosing what kind of format/media you wanted to use. I suggested that you might do "essays" similar to any of the examples on the calendar. Readings listed on the calendar include regular "short" essays (less than 750 words), blog entries with and without hyperlinks, videos with voice over, hypertext (text with links) essays with images and animation, and etc.  You may create a project that is like any of the examples - or that is your own creation.  Keep in mind that you are writing this piece for an audience associated with a publication - so you might want to look through the publication list to see if any journals publish "essays" similar to yours.

We decided to create the assignment sheet for these projects (particularly the criteria for grades)  in response to the kinds of projects you post for your first drafts.  We will look over the kinds of drafts you have come up with and identify important features and criteria for describing and evaluating those features.  I will post the resulting assignment sheet after class on 11.28.

For the next couple of weeks:
Read:  Lord, "I met a man," p. 115; Braner, "Soundtrack," p. 29;  McNight, "Mother's Day," p 120;  look around Mike Steinberg's blog http://www.mjsteinberg.net/blog.htm (don't forget to read the comments), Bresland, "Les Cruel Shoes," p. 31 (read it first in your book - and then check out http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v4n1/gallery/bresland/shoes.htm  you will need realplayer - free downolad) .  What is Multimodal Composing? by Sonya Huber http://www.sonyahuber.com/project/Huber/projindex.html

Blog 9 : Post Brainstorming/ideas for Short essay 14

Blog 10 :  Due: final draft long essay 

Both of these blogs are officially due on 11.28.  If you post your final long essay on or by 11.28, I will return it the following week with a grade and comments.  If you post it by 11.21, I will return it by class 11. 28. 

In class on 11.28 we will look at/respond to your drafts for tShort Essay 1 and develop the assignment sheet.  You will also do some brainstorming for Short Essay 2 (due the following week, 12.4, as a blog post). During the second part of class, I will talk through the requirements for the reflective essay and for the portfolio (the format/requirements for the portfolio are posted to the right). You will also do some journaling on descriptive writing that makes a point without stating what the point is.   

Have a great Thanksgiving - have fun with your short projects - and see you in a couple of weeks!

Choices for Publication venues

Allyson  High Desert
Andre  Pank Magazine
Andrea  Grist Lit Journal
Arlette  Splinter Generation
Ashley  Devil's Lake
Claudia  Sonora Review
Heather  Brevity
Jameelah  Sun Magazine
Jay  Sweet
Laurelle Pleides
Lewis  Memoir
Luis  The Pinch
Madiyna  Upstreet
Maria  Fuge
Paris  Alaska Quarterly Review
Roshell  Bellingham Review
Sara  Hunger Mountain

Other journals

Alison Fourth Genre
Amanda Silk Road?
Ashley Fugue
Aydin Collision
Brian Word Riot
Catherine Brevity
James Splinter Generation
Jen The Kenyon Review
Josh The Big Ugly Review
Kathryn Hunger Mountain
Lauren Tiny Lights
Nicole Creative Nonfiction
Neiha Upstreet
Sam The Whistling Fire
Will Narrative

11.7 Optional workshop class

I have already heard from enough of you that you won't be able to attend class that I am feeling guilty about not cancelling - so this is what I've decided to do.  

I will be in the classroom, and we can have one-on-one conferences, or work on any final revising any of you want to do for your "best essay."  This may be especially useful since we missed all of the conferences on your second essay.  This way at least some of you can move through that part of the course work.  

I will not be moving forward with material for a regular "class" since it is not looking like there will be enough people there for us to have a regular class.

So this is the deal= you are welcome to come to class, I will be there as long as any students are present, first in the computer class, and then in our other classroom, just like usual.  We will be conferencing and talking about writing.  You can check off your conference and work on your revisions = but we will not be doing what is on the syllabus.

 If you cannot come tonight = I will look for you during the time you scheduled your last conference, only two weeks later.  

Monday, November 12
 3:45 Lewis

Tuesday, November 13
1:00 Sara, 1:15 Heather, 1:30 Andrea, 1:45 Maria, 2:00 Luis

Wednesday November 14
1:15 Ashley, 1:45 Paris, 3:30 Jay,  5:45 Laurelle,  7:30 Arlette

Be safe and keep warm and see you next week for sure.

Final drafts for the long essay will be due November 21.

11.5 Wow. Life is full of surprises

I hope all of you are safe and well.  I feel pretty lucky my house didn't get crunched by a tree or flooded so that's good.  I don't have power or internet.  I am here at an internet cafe so this is going to be a short post, but I wanted to give you a heads up - and let you know your CNF course will be here waiting for you when you get back.

When we meet (this Wednesday or next - depending on Kean and whether or not you can get to campus) we will talk over how to put things together for the rest of the term.  

I wanted to ask  whether you wanted to write your last piece (another long piece?) about Sandy - or whether you want to work through a shortened version of the calender we have set up.  I am good either way.  In any case, I wanted to spend our first class together with some talk about what it is like to be in a hurricane  -and being glad to be  back together.  We will still do the rhetorical analysis project and we will have the final performance reading - for the rest of the particulars=> will can work things out to be responsive to the remarkable, annoying, excellent fact that life doesn't always go the way we plan. 

I will be on campus as soon as the school opens (especially because Kean will probably have power before I do). .  If you can't attend class and you let me know  I will try to be in touch with you.  

I am sending  all my thoughts and nonsectarian prayers your way.  Take care and be safe..