week of 11/13/12

11/15/12

Goal: "Flesh out" our characters more.

First Step: Say congratulations to Charlie, Jackie, and Gabe! We are so proud of you!

Intro: What Time O'Brien does with a character.

Next: Character Mapping:

1. Review the character you've been developing for two or three classes now.
2. On a note card, come up with one adjective to describe your overall impression of the character. Use your phones for a thesaurus if you need to.
3. Now, map your character as depicted on the board!

HW:

Come in after break with two possible plans for a plot. Include the following in two brief outlines:

1. Character/s
2. Setting
3. Goal, conflict or problem
4. Major events (4 or 5)
5. Ending/Resolution
6. Theme



11/13/12

Tuesday:

First Step: Slam is tonight. Who wants extra credit????

Warm-up:

More with your character:

Pair-Share on your character.

Writing time: more with your character

Choose four and write from your character's point of view. Try to get a well-developed paragraph for each:

1. When are you most content?
2. Are you an expert at anything?
3. What do you believe in?
4. Speak about darkness
5. Describe your vision of the future.
6. What do want to be remembered for?
7. Do you have theories about things?

HW: Finish this assignment for Thursday and post on your blog.

Week of 11/6

11/8/12

Goal: Build a more developed character--a new one!

First Step: Any more slam poems? 

More on characterization.

Thought: Character-driven fiction is more sophisticated than plot/formula-driven fiction.

Complete this sentence: 

Sentence 1. (Name) is (age).

Example: "Bob is 14."

Note. You must write from the persepctive of the opposite gender, and the person may not be a teenager. 0-10 and >20 is okay.

Sentence 2: He/she (verb) (object) today. 

Example: "He stole a car today. "

Then, free write the rest in 3rd person. Probably best to do it on your blog, or at least in google docs so you can post it.

HW: On your blog, describe this character's face and body in as much detail as you can. Then, have the character describe his or her own face and body in 1st person. Post both pieces.

11/6/12

Goal: Plug the poetry slam, which is one week from today!

First step: Posters. Where should they go for maximum impact?

Also: "After I was Thrown in the River..." Anything stick with you from last week?

Writing and sharing topics (choose one)

From the perspective of one of the characters you've already created, create a performance (slam) piece using one of the following topics:

If you prefer to write from your own perspective, that's fine. 

1. Write a sarcastic love letter to something/someone you hate. No real names, please.
2. What would you do if you woke up tomorrow and you had wings?
3. What lies in the basement of your mother's heart?
4. Describe yourself from your pet's perspective. 
5. Cloudy with a chance of meatballs prompt: What would the world look like if it were made up of your favorite things? For example, what would the rain, trees, grass, etc. be made of?
5. How do you medicate a heartbreak?
6. DYT

Let's write these on paper so we can get up and perform them.

HW: Post your slam poem to your blog. 

Week of 10/30/12

11/1/12

Goal: Continue work on characterization

First Step: Phil Kaye

Persona: How different can you be? How far can you get from autobiography?

Dave Eggers: "After I was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned"

Eggers Prompts:

1. Write about something you do that makes you "in love with all this" (127)

2. Write about the "squirrels" in your life (131).

3. Write about a scar (like Victoria's - pp. 135 and 136).

4. Write about a "Franklin" moment (136 & 138).

5. Who are the "cranky" people in your life (140). Why are they like this?

6. DYT

List: What are the 2 characters that you are least like? (Make a list with a partner). Come up brief descriptions using these traits:

Physical Description
Personality
Relationships
Speech/(how they talk)
Actions
Motivations
Conflict
Capacity for change

more description of these elements of character at the below link.

http://msansbach.edublogs.org/the-study-of-english/8-elements-of-character/

HW: None! 

10/30/12: 

Sub Day: Blog sharing. Begin work on your character conflict post.

week of 10/23/12

10/25/12

Goal: Look at the effects of dialogue on character development. 

First Step: Any character sketches to look at first?

Now, let's try the exercise we were going to do on Tuesday before the computers got crazy.

HW (for next Tuesday): Dialogue Sketch. Two characters. Allow them to be characterized predominately through dialogue. Think about the below characteristics of effective dialogue.

10/23/12

Goal: Revisit Character Sketches, talk about dialogue.

First Step: Grab a laptop. Make sure everyone has a blog. There are still some to set up. Post your blog address on Edmodo. 

I want you to post fiction on your blog so it is easier for me to read. 

HW For Thursday:

Post the following on your blog:

1. Character sketch (already done). More than a list. Using the answers to your questions, pretend that you're writing a description of a character for a novel or story.


Example of Dialogue:

A Clean Well-Lighted Place


Listening for Dialogue:

Watch for how Hemingway does the following: 

The following tips come from "Top 8 Tips for writing dialogue"

1. Really listening to speech: notice how people basically communicate. Do they have to explain a lot, or is much understood? Do they talk in complete sentences or fragments? How does rhythm come into play in everyday speech? Also pay attention to how little it takes for you to understand what they're talking about.

2.  Not exactly like real speech: Alfred Hitchcock said that a good story was "life, with the dull parts taken out." This very much applies to dialogue. A transcription of a conversation would be completely boring to read. Edit out the filler words and unessential dialogue

3. Not too much info!  It should not be obvious to the reader that they're being fed important facts. Let the story unfold naturally. You don't have to tell the reader everything up front

4. Break it up with action. Remind your reader that your characters are physical human beings by grounding their dialogue in the physical world. Physical details help break the monotony of dialogue.

5. Don't overdo the dialogue tags. Veering too much beyond "he said/she said" only draws attention to the tags — and you want the reader's attention centered on your brilliant dialogue, not your ability to think of synonyms for "said."

6-8: Read widely, avoid stereotypes, and punctuate properly. 

week of 10/16/12

10/16/12 (only class this week)

Goal: Do something besides poetry!

Announcement: Come see Jovan for extra credit! Today!

First Step: Character Sketch Intro.

Character Sketch Questions.

HW (Start now): Invent a character. Go to Edmodo and open up the list of questions posted there. Begin to form your character by answering at least 20 of the questions.

For next class, post a character sketch of at least 250 words on Edmodo. It can be longer if you need it to.

Week of 10/9/12

10/11/12

Goal: Wrap up papers. 

Any more honest poems to share?

First Step: First Afghan female rapper!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Gwi7SNiTx0 (Youtube)

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/female-rapper-history-afghanistan-article-1.1178182 (Article)

Next: Find a partner. go through the paper and help each other improve. I will come around to answer questions and check drafts. With any remaining time that you have, begin completing you paper. 

HW: Turn in a polished copy of your paper on Tuesday!


10/9/12

Goal: One more great poem, continue working on paper.

First Step: Rudy Francisco Poem. Just listen.

Template is on Edmodo. Make a copy or print it. Freewrite time. 

Share some of them. 

If time: Work on papers as I check to see who has done the intro/outline.

HW: Paper Due one week from today (mostly because I don't want them over the weekend! :). 

week of 10/2/12

10/4/12

Goal: Consider the connections between Man on Wire and unit themes. Synthesize ideas from the first 6 weeks. Begin drafting an essay.

HW (see below) 

First Step: Read the following poem and respond to the questions below it. 

WHEN I MET MY MUSE

(Definition of muse: A guiding spirit; a source of inspiration.)


I glanced at her and took my glasses
off — they were still singing. They buzzed
like a locust on the coffee table and then
ceased. Her voice belled forth, and the
sunlight bent. I felt the ceiling arch, and
knew that nails up there took a new grip
on whatever they touched. “I am your own
way of looking at things,” she said. “When
you allow me to live with you, every
glance at the world around you will be
a sort of salvation.” And I took her hand.
~ William Stafford (1914-1993)

1. Why is the muse female?
2. Why are the glasses singing and buzzing?
3. Why does the ceiling arch?

Brief Discussion

6-week assignment: Hand out and explain. Assignment and rubric.

Look at my example of the assignment.

Edmodo Small Groups: Quick Intro.

Task: 
1. Find your group on the lefthand side of the page. It's the name of the poet right under the poetry tab.
2. On your own, choose one "class event" from the list. On your small group page, write down a connection between that event and a theme in Man on Wire.

Example:
Taylor Mali's poem on conviction relates to Man on Wire because Mali says, "You must speak with conviction" and Philipe says that you must "live your life on a tightrope." These ideas are related because they are both about living the life YOU want to live.

3. Once everyone has posted, meet with your small group. Work together to put together an intro paragraph that pulls together at least a couple of these connections. Post your paragraph on the main page.


HW: Complete your intro paragraph and outline for your 6-week paper. (Similar to my example).







10/2/12

Goal: Finish "Man on Wire"

First Step: What are some connections you've already seen between Philipe and the poetry class so far.

Watch the last 40  minutes of Man on Wire. 
Questions:

There is no 'why.'" Why does Philipe say 

this?


Why are his friends so emotional?



The cop is moved by the scene to the point 

of getting out of character. Why?