Monday 12/10

Freewrite:  Respond to the quote below:


"...the individual is defined only by his relationship to the world and to other individuals; he exists only by transcending himself, and his freedom can be achieved only through the freedom of others. He justifies his existence by a movement which, like freedom, springs from his heart but which leads outside of himself."
     ~ Simone de Beauvoir, 1948, The Ethics Of Ambiguity, p. 156

1.  Discuss freewrite

2.  Draft Check:  Peer Review/Share

**Final Copy due Thursday.  

3.  Discuss Audition Process.  **Portfolios/Interviews

**Preview:  "The Briefcase"

This story takes place at an unknown time, in an unknown place, with an unnamed protagonist who simply has the will to survive. At one time he was a chef, but because of talking politics, he became a political prisoner to an unknown country. He becomes one of 200 criminals sent to an unknown location, but thanks to his starvation along the journey he is able to free himself of his bonds. Sadly, when his guards see that he is missing, they take a nearby physics professor and command him to join the group of captives. The professor leaves behind his briefcase, which the protagonist uses to take the identity of the guards’ new victim. With the briefcase in tow, the nameless chef takes on the persona of the professor. Over time he sees parts of his his life through the lens of the professor which I thought was quite entertaining. Even to the point of mulling over an assignment found in the professor’s briefcase which instructed his students to construct a proof that the Sun revolves around the Earth. If you want to read it, you can find it in The Best American Short Stories 2009.

Tuesday 12/4

Activity:  Read the quote below:

“About once or twice every month I engage in public debates with those whose pressing need it is to woo and to win the approval of supernatural beings. Very often, when I give my view that there is no supernatural dimension, and certainly not one that is only or especially available to the faithful, and that the natural world is wonderful enough—and even miraculous enough if you insist—I attract pitying looks and anxious questions. How, in that case, I am asked, do I find meaning and purpose in life? How does a mere and gross materialist, with no expectation of a life to come, decide what, if anything, is worth caring about?

Depending on my mood, I sometimes but not always refrain from pointing out what a breathtakingly insulting and patronizing question this is. (It is on a par with the equally subtle inquiry: Since you don't believe in our god, what stops you from stealing and lying and raping and killing to your heart's content?) Just as the answer to the latter question is: self-respect and the desire for the respect of others—while in the meantime it is precisely those who think they have divine permission who are truly capable of any atrocity—so the answer to the first question falls into two parts. A life that partakes even a little of friendship, love, irony, humor, parenthood, literature, and music, and the chance to take part in battles for the liberation of others cannot be called 'meaningless' except if the person living it is also an existentialist and elects to call it so. It could be that all existence is a pointless joke, but it is not in fact possible to live one's everyday life as if this were so. Whereas if one sought to define meaninglessness and futility, the idea that a human life should be expended in the guilty, fearful, self-obsessed propitiation of supernatural nonentities… but there, there. Enough.”
― Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22: A Memoir

1.  Summarize Hitchens' main points.  Which do you agree/disagree with most?  Why?

2.  Consider the role of decision-making in Hitchen's perspective.

3.  Read/Workshop drafts of short term fiction:  "Rubiaux Rising"

--Identify conflicts (internal/external)

--Consider how the role of setting affects character

Freewrite:  Analyze the quote below:

You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.
Albert Camus


1.  Discuss freewrite.

2.  Consider how this might relate to Rubiaux in the short story.

3.  Review End of "Rubiaux Rising" (Symoblism/Diction)

4.  Activity:  Extend the short story by one paragraph.  10 mins:  Share

5.  Workshop/Draft check:  Short fiction:  Protagonist amidst a disaster; Generation of internal/external conflicts  

Wednesday 11/28

Complete Reading "Rubiaux Rising"

1.  Consider blend of "disaster and tragedy"...  internal/external conflicts

2.  Explore related themes:  "orphan brothers"

3.  Analyze character of Rubiaux

4.  Discuss:  Realm of fiction; Narrative Credibility

5.  Assignment:  Craft short fiction (2pgs) depicting a protagonist amidst a disaster
**See previous blog post for notes.    Begin Rough Draft.

Tuesday 11/27

Read the following excerpt from "Rubiaux Rising".

Rubiaux awakes out of time. In pitch darkness. He scratches his leg where it isn't with his hand that is not there. The water level is now up over the stacked supports, soaking him a good inch. But it has stopped. Prayer has worked, if only partly. But there is something new in the darkness now — breathing, movement. Others. He keeps his own breath steady, feigning slumber, waiting for light to grow in the east.

When he slowly opens his eyes again an hour later he sees them — the unholy menagerie. All down the ledge, crowded near him in awkward proximity, are: a large king snake; two smaller water snakes; four fat nutria; a half-drowned feral cat and two shivering kittens; three pitiful brown rabbits; a soggy raccoon; a dozen Norwegian rats; a clot of huddled mice; along with a teeming mess of spiders, beetles, centipedes, and such. His eyes dart. Theirs do too. All seem to breathe in some strange unison. Waiting a move. Nobody is eating anybody this morning. They share the same fear and confusion — orphan brothers in the storm. 

5 min Write:  Consider how Rubiaux is "orphan brothers in the storm" with all of the insects and animals.  Examine what themes De Jarnatt might be exploring here.  **Whole Class Discussion.

1.  Complete reading short story.

2.  Write a character portrait of Rubiaux.

3.  With a partner, discuss how two  tragedies (War and Hurricane) dominate the narrative.  5 min:  Share

4.  Activity:  Select any passage.  Read to class.  Explain why you chose it and the respective significance.

5.  Discuss:  What can we learn about characterization and setting from this story?

Short Term:  Craft a narrative that focuses on one protagonist amidst a disaster.  Be sure to incorporate internal and external conflict.  

**Begin Draft.  

Monday 11/26

Freewrite:  Respond to the quote below:  **(Consider  a time you may have fought "in a very personal, down-dirty way" to find redemption)

“Redemption is something you have to fight for in a very personal, down-dirty way. Some of our characters lose that, some stray from that, and some regain it.”
― Joss Whedon

1.  Discuss Write.

2.  Introduce:  Steve De Jarnatt's "Rubiaux Rising".

**Activity:  Read beginning.  With a partner, list details of setting.  Evaluate how description of character

unfolds.  10 mins:  Discuss.

3.  Complete reading Short Story.  

**Small group discussion:  Analysis of theme; Relation of character and setting.  

Wednesday 11/21

Freewrite:  Respond to the following Thanksgiving quote:

"Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many--not on your past misfortunes, 
of which all men have some."  
[Charles Dickens]

1.  Discuss Journal

2.  Short Story Workshop:  Brainstorm, Mapping, Narrative Outline for 2nd Quarter 

Drafts due:  11/30

               Freewrite:  Respond to the quote below

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
― Albert Einstein

 

 

1.  Discuss freewrite

 

2.  Read/ Discuss Political Pieces.

 

3.  Workshop:  Short Story Process.   

Monday 11/19

Freewrite:  Respond to the quote below:

“Seven Deadly Sins

Wealth without work
Pleasure without conscience
Science without humanity
Knowledge without character
Politics without principle
Commerce without morality
Worship without sacrifice.” 
― Mahatma Gandhi

1.  Discuss Freewrite.

2.  Review "Yurt"

Compare/Contrast Ms. Duffy and Ms. Hemple

Consider "lives" of teachers.... fulfilling?

Themes generated?

Read end.  5 minute write:  Analyze what themes are generated.

3.  Workshop:  Political pieces.

Wednesday 11/14

Best American Short Stories  2009.  Read introduction by Alice Sebold.  10 minute freewrite in response.    Share.


1.  "Yurt" by Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum   The New Yorker

Class reads pgs. 15-19.  Activity:  Compare and contrast Ms. Duffy and Ms. Hempel.

2.  Read pgs. 20-21.  Examine the dialogue exchange:

What do we learn in terms of plot?
What is revealed about the characters?

3.  Consider the nature of "affairs" and "flings" on pg 23 and how this may contribute to the generation
of theme.

Activity:  Finish reading "Yurt".  1 page reflection due.  Be sure to focus on:

--the character portraits of Ms. Duffy and Ms. Hemple

--the depiction of teachers' lives and life in general

--desire and regrets

--analyis of last scene as it relates to overall theme.   Due:  Friday:  11/16.

Tuesday 11/13

Freewrite:  Respond to the quote below:

Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.                     ~Anton Chekho

1.  Discuss Quote:  

Can you think of an instance in which you failed to employ this advice in one of your narratives?  Discuss.

2.  Read/Share Political pieces of fiction.  

3.  Short Story Preview:  Select an excerpt from your narrative.  Prepare to read to class.
Relate the respective significance.  

4.  Activity:  Make a class "inventory" of plot lines.  Consider what storylines reflect about class.  

Wednesday 11/7

10 minute write:  Respond to the quote below:

“I love short stories because I believe they are the way we live. They are what our friends tell us, in their pain and joy, their passion and rage, their yearning and their cry against injustice.” 
― Andre Dubus

1.  Discuss freewrite.

2.  Activity:  Write a "promo" blog that captures the essence of your short story.  Relate plot, theme, and character.  ***Share.

3.  Short fiction:  Political vignette.  Discuss w/ partner ideas:  Articulate to class.

4.  Short Story Drafts:  Volunteers to read:  Constructive Criticism Workshop.

Final Copy:  5-10 pgs due Tuesday, 11/13.

Monday 11/5

Freewrite:  Respond to the quote below:

“Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all around us. In the end, writers will write not to be outlaw heroes of some underculture but mainly to save themselves, to survive as individuals.”

Don Delillo

1.  Read 1 pg. Trevor fiction

2.  Activity:  Write a "promotional summary" of your short story.  Relate to readers what they can expect in your narrative.

3.  Short Story Focus:  Volunteers to read from drafts

4.  Compose a 1 page "political" piece of fiction.  Consider the 
presidential election, the respective candidates, the issues, etc.

15 mins w/ partner:  Share with class

H.W.  Work on short story  5-10 pgs  Due:  11/13.  

Wednesday 10/31

Freewrite:

Joseph Conrad
: There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable mystery.

1.  Discuss Freewrite

2.  Read/Share 1 page fictions (Trevor)

3.  Workshop:  Tom's "Faith and Trust"

4.  Short Story Review:  Share plot lines.  

Wednesday 10/31

Freewrite:

Joseph Conrad
: There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable mystery.

1.  Discuss Freewrite

2.  Read/Share 1 page fictions (Trevor)

3.  Workshop:  Tom's "Faith and Trust"

4.  Short Story Review:  Share plot lines.  

Wednesday 10/24

Respond to the following passage from William Trevor's "After Rain".

“They didn't mention the jealousy their love of each other had bred in him, that had flourished into deviousness and cruelty. The pain the day had brought would not easily pass, both were aware of that. And yet it had to be, since it was part of what there was.”
― William Trevor, After Rain 

 

1.  Analyze "Dressmaker's Child"

 

Focus:  **Religious Symbolism

 

**Character of Mother

 

**Cahal's Guilt

 

***End:  Read/Analyze

 

 

2.  Activity:  Write a short 1 page narrative using the first few lines of "After Rain"  15 mins:  Share.  

 

 

Monday 10/22

                                                    William Trevor -  "The Dressmaker's Child"

Respond to the following quote of Trevor's:

“As a writer one doesn’t belong anywhere. Fiction writers, I think, are even more outside the pale, necessarily on the edge of society. Because society and people are our meat, one really doesn’t belong in the midst of society. The great challenge in writing is always to find the universal in the local, the parochial. And to do that, one needs distance.” 
― William Trevor

1.  Discuss Freewrite.

2. The Dressmaker's Child:  Activity:  With a parner, craft a plot line.
 Is there a climax?  How does this affect Cahal?

3.  Identify an excerpt to read to the class.  Explain the literary significance of it as it reltates to the respective narrative elements of the story.

4.  Activity:  With a partner, consider the "symbolism" in this story.  Give examples.

5.  Discussion:  Exploration of religious tension.

6.  Analyze the narration of the passage below.  Consider if there are any thematic correlations.

"The Dressmaker's Child"
Thirteen years ago, the then bishop and two parish priests had put an end to the cult of the wayside statue at Pouldearg. None of those three men, and no priest or nun who had ever visited the crossroads at Pouldearg, had sensed anything special about the statue; none had witnessed the tears that were said to slip out of the downcast eyes when pardon for sins was beseeched by penitents. The statue became the subject of attention in pulpits and in religious publications, the claims made for it fulminated against as a foolishness. And then a curate of that time demonstrated that what had been noticed by two or three local people who regularly passed by the statue—a certain dampness beneath the eyes—was no more than raindrops trapped in two overdefined hollows. There the matter ended. Those who had so certainly believed in what they had never actually seen, those who had not noticed the drenched leaves of overhanging boughs high above the statue, felt as foolish as their spiritual masters had predicted they one day would. Almost overnight the Weeping Virgin of Pouldearg became again the painted image it had always been. Our Lady of the Wayside, it had been called for a while.
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/10/04/041004fi_fiction

Tuesday 10/16

Consider:  What is the most important aspect of short story writing?  The most challegning?
5 min. discussion w/ partner:  Share

1.  Philadelphia Stories:  "Basket Stories"  Read (link on previous post)
**Activity: Write reflection:  Share.  Turn in 1 pg for HW on Friday.

2.  Workshop:  Tom's  "Faith & Trust"

3.  Focus story for week:  "Dress Maker's Daughter"  3 page analysis due Wed. 10/ 24
HW:  Read.  Be prepared for discussion.

10/15 Monday Freewrite

Respond to the quote below:

I was in enough to get along with people. I was never socially inarticulate. Not a loner. And that saved my life, saved my sanity. That and the writing. But to this day I distrust anybody who thought school was a good time. Anybody.
Stephen King 

1.  Discuss Journal

2.  Short Story Workshop  

3.  Read:  "Basket Case"  H.W.  1 page reflection.  

http://www.philadelphiastories.org/basket-case

Short Story Workshop 10/10

Activity:  Craft a plot line for your short story that marks the main action.

**Identify a climax or turning point in the narrative:  Be prepared to discuss.  15 mins:  Share
***Consider how this important event affects your protagonist.

Workshop:  Read Bethany Parks' story on line.  

Constructive Criticism:  Participation points offered.

Tuesday 10/9

Respond the the quote below:


I would hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to tell, to march, to fight, to create a sense of hunger for life that gnaws in us all.  ~Richard Wright, American Hunger, 1977


Goals:

1.  Discuss Freewrite

2.  Read:  Point of View assignments from "Igloo"

3.  Short Story Workshop:

Identify:  --Protagonist
                 --Conflict
          

Activity:  Add one more sentence to your ending.  Does it affect resolution?  Explain.

**Final Copy due Wed.  10/10.

Igloo

1.  Finish reading end of

"Igloo".

10 minute Write:  Examine the narrator's relationship with David:  before and after he dies.  Be specific.


2.  Class Discussion:  Consider significance of the tile, "Igloo".  How might this title relate to David's character?

3.  Activity:  With a partner, Record short answers in preparation for class discussion:

--Describe the mother's relationship with Bill.

--What do you think is "wrong" with David?

--Why does David kill himself?

--How do you think his death has affected the family?

--Are there any elements of surrealism regarding Shelly's talking to David after his death?  Explain.

15 mins:  Share

4.  Short Term:  1 page   **Assume the first person voice of any character in the story.  Describe how you were affected by David's death (if you choose David, explain yourself) and how you manage to cope.  Due:  Friday:  Oct. 5th in lieu of an analysis. http://www.philadelphiastories.org/igloo-0

Monday, October 1st

Respond to the below quote:

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in 

retrospect.” 

― Anaïs Nin

1.  Discuss Journal.

2.  Personify "October"

3.  Read:  Igloo  (Philadelphia Stories)

4.  With partner:  Discuss:  Characters, Conflict, Narration.  http://www.philadelphiastories.org/igloo-0

Garden City 9/24

Examine the role of the Christian Lady's in Frances Hwang's "Garden City".  Explain how this
character affects the narrative.

1.  Describe the Chen's marriage.
2.  How does setting illuminate characters?
3.  Consider how details of setting take on new meaning  in the story.
4.  What themes are generated in this short story?

**See notes.

Wednesday 9/19

10 minute Write:  Respond to the quote below:

"And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. "
 ~Sylvia Plath


1.  Discuss freewrite
2.  Read/Share Fiction:  Details of setting illuminating character

**Activity:  Map action of your current short story.  Examine w/ partner if there is a climatic scene.  10 mins:  Share

3.  Read Short Story Drafts

**To do:  Garden City

Monday 9/10

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”   Ernest Hemingway

5 min write:  How does Hemingway's view of writing make you feel?  Can you relate?  Explain.

1.  Discuss

2.  Share excerpts of favorite literature

3.  With a partner, identify a conflict you recently had.  Examine:

--What the source of the problem was
--Varying perspectives
--"Bruised Feelings"
--Resolution?               10 mins:  Share experiences.


****Consider how could these personal narratives be turned into "fictional" stories.    Analyze the process.  

Activity:  Write  a one page fictional narrative about the conflict you described.  Begin now:  Due:  Wednesday  9/12

9/6/12 Welcome!!

First Day of School!!!


Some questions to ponder:

Is today the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday?

How will you continue to be inspired?

What expectations do you have for this year?

Are you satisfied with your writing life?

What college plans are on the horizon?

Imagine what our first writing assignment should be?

Are you in any way like the characters you create?  Explain.

Oh yeah....  How was your summer?


***Homework:  For Monday, be prepared to read an excerpt from one of your favorite pieces of
literature.  And.... get started on a short story draft!!