9.17 Active imagination and finishing up definitions

At the beginning of class we started off with some "brilliant statements" to sum up what creative nonfiction is or does, and you came up with the following.

CNF has a measure of truth, is life written down; is a way to keep from passig away altogether the life we have lived; has standards for reliability; makes stories that put readers in an active role (works the reader); places one's sef in relation to the subject at hand.  Nice - and I appreciate the strategic references to the readings for this week.

Active imagination.  We spent the next chunk of classtime working on another technique for indirect brainstorming.  For this practice, you closed your eyes and got to the "watching" state like last week, only once you got there you intentionally called up a dream place and interacted with what came up.  You seemed to make good use of this approach - and it was only your first time!   In our discussion afterwards you came up with the following list of reasons for why you might want to resort to this practice.

• to access the past (supplement what you remember in your more conscious mind)
• to see how you feel => going there & watvching
• to look at differnt points of view + details
• to more fully understand/relate to characters=maybe people from life look differently in your dreams
• to open up to things you wouldn't otherwise think about
• to gain a more focused & directed look into your "unconscious" than you get from the "just being there" meditation
• to connects to nonverbal thought

Long Essay Assignment (posted to the right).At the beginning of the second half of class we looked at the assignment sheet.  I'm hoping this gives you enough direction so so you can get started on your first long essay.  If you still have questions - don't worry, we will come back to this sheet as we work through the drafting process.

Brainstorming.  After going over the assignment you spent some time looking for an idea.  I suggested that you go through your journal, or develop a list of possible topics through some other process - and then evaluated the possibilities in terms of which ones would give you both: a concept/focus, and some good stories to develop that focus.  As we talked through some of the examples you came up with we noticed how this part of the invention process involves moving back and forth between the stories and the concept to see how the materials work together.  It also involves looking for "natural" connections between the subject material in the stories and the concepts associated with your central idea.  For example, Melissa's story about going to the grand canyon with her family and the differet family members having different interests (associated with age/identity) seemed a good match for the Grand Canyon's layers of stone from different time periods, next to on another but distinct = each embodying a different system.

Lott & Gutkind.  You did an amazing job summing up these two readings in the 15 minutes we left for them.  Clearly you read and understood them.  You pulled out important points from each.  We will definitely be returning to the discussion of "compression" and "responsibility to innocent victims" from Gutkind, and to the list of points identified by Lott. These readings were meant to put out a frame for you both to acknowledge and push against as you write.

For next class:

Read: Schwartz, p. 194, Pope,388, Kahn, p. 95 => as you read these essays, notice how the authors use segments: their purpose, and how the structures effect those purposes.

Blog 3: invention writing for Long essay 1.  This post should include writing to dig into both the concept and the stories you will use to develop that concept; this writing does not need to be in "polished form" - rather it should provide a bases for opening a conversation where you work with your classmates to further refine your essay's central idea & to explore & identify stories that will open up that idea.  If  you get stuck - do some writing about what you want to do, why you are stuck, and if possible pose some questions.