Paying it Forward
Kindly post your writing or life advice here for the Class of 2017.
The Pizza Dude
We know them. We depend on them. We call them out on cold, rainy nights. Now, NPR listener Sarah Adams tells us why her life philosophy is built around being cool to the pizza delivery dude.
How do you use your enemies?
Post your favorite aphorism from Baltasar Gracian's "How to Use Your Enemies" as a comment to this posting. Do include a page number, and sufficient context so that your readers can check their notes.
Also add a brief (less than one paragraph) statement of why the passage interests you. We will begin discussing this reading in class Tuesday.
Week 2 and 3 Syllabus, 4/4/16
LAST WEEK WE FOCUSED UPON OUR JOURNALS and developing your ideas in greater depth, both in the in-class assignments and at home, individual-choice entries (which were assigned this week). Besides journals, we began reading Shakespeare's Hamlet, and for a few journals students reflected on favorite passages. We also began work on our next project: an alternative art exercise and essay.
Monday
- Reading 1.4 and 1.5 of Hamlet in pairs. We will not be outside.
- HW: Read act two for class tomorrow.
Tuesday
- Journal literary response. Word exercise related to Hamlet's "to be or not to be" soliloquy.
- HW: Read act three for class tomorrow.
Wednesday
- Journal literary response. Memorization assignment, and then reading act four in class.
- HW: Finish act four for class tomorrow.
Thursday
- Blocking of assigned scenes/roles.
- HW: Finish Hamlet for class tomorrow.
Friday
- Today we will begin watching a classic of black and white cinema, Lawrence Olivier in Hamlet.
- HW: Record the audio for your assigned scene.
Art
Post, as a comment, the list of your top five art forms.
Week 1 Syllabus, 3/14/16
WE HAVE BEEN HAMMERING OUT DRAFTS of the "consider" essay and examining non-fiction essays at the same time. Three reminders: on the day of your workshop, you should send me an email listing the students who have NOT submitted their written notes. That list should include absent students. Secondly, you will have one week from the date of your workshop to complete a revision. Finally, I will collect the notebooks in class on Thursday. As we did with first quarter, I will have students write reflectively about how you have used your journal before I collect it.
Monday
- Workshop on the consider essay continues.
- HW: Finish your notes on everyone's essays. We will close our workshop on Thursday.
Tuesday
- Today I will pass back journals, grades, and lecture on our use of the journals and a shift in our workshop protocols. Journal: In five minutes, craft as many "X, but Y," sentences as you can. We will also finish Henry's workshop on gladiators.
- HW: Complete your first independent choice entry (ICE) in your journal. Tonight, use the structure of the sentences we practiced in class (X, but Y) to write an extended version of one sentence. The first half of your journal, in about one page, write about X. Then, in the second half, also about a page in length, explore the Y as it stands in contrast to X.
Wednesday
- In class journal: describe an aroma, an odor, or a smell. Workshop.
- HW: You should, by Friday, complete your second ICE journal. The specifics on that entry were handed out in class, and it focuses on alternative ways of organizing memoir.
Thursday
- Workshop on the last two essays.
- HW:
Friday
- Workshop. If we finish early, we will turn to sentence diagramming!
- HW: Reading and providing feedback to Ali, Zoe, and Mary Kate's essays.
Week 10 Syllabus, 3/8/16
WE HAVE BEEN HAMMERING OUT DRAFTS of the "consider" essay and examining non-fiction essays at the same time. Three reminders: on the day of your workshop, you should send me an email listing the students who have NOT submitted their written notes. That list should include absent students. Secondly, you will have one week from the date of your workshop to complete a revision. Finally, I will collect the notebooks in class on Thursday. As we did with first quarter, I will have students write reflectively about how you have used your journal before I collect it.
Monday
- No students at school because of late start day.
- HW: Writing your notes to Becca and Michelle.
Tuesday
- Workshop on aforementioned essays. Today we will also write a journal, #21: What emoji would you be?
- HW: Reviewing your journals, making sure all entries are labeled and complete.
Wednesday
- Reading and workshopping Sammy and Madi's essays.
- HW: Reading and providing feedback to Flower and Haley.
Thursday
- Workshop on Flower and Haley's essays.
- HW: Reading and providing feedback to Clabby and Tommy's essays.
Friday
- Workshop. If we finish early, we will turn to sentence diagramming!
- HW: Reading and providing feedback to Ali, Zoe, and Mary Kate's essays.
Action, Reflection, Stakes (What's the larger connection?)
NPR This American Life producer Brain Reed talks about three tools he uses in crafting his storytelling. This was recorded at The Conference on "The Craft of Storytelling":
You've Got to Be Ruthless
Here, Ira Glass provides some insight into two structural techniques he uses in writing stories for the radio: anecdote and reflection. He calls these "building blocks" for his journalistic style, describing them in brief.
Questions on Style, Organization, Technique, and Ideas: "Shapinsky's Karma"
Please post your observations and questions about the essay as a comment to this blog post. We will use these questions as the basis for our discussion of the essay.
Shapinsky's Painting
Thursday's journal will be on this painting. It is the topic for your journal entry. What you write is entirely up to you. The topic is simply this painting:
The House on Loon Lake
This is the audio essay that you should listen to Thursday night for homework. Listen to it at night, by yourself, with the lights off!
Consider the __________ Assignments
The assigned groups are as follows, in color code:
Week 7 Syllabus, 2/16
YOU WILL HAMMER OUT YOUR DRAFTS on the Consider the _________ essay. By Thursday, you will want a working bibliography and a first, short draft of your essay, 3-5 pages in length, the bibliography with a poem, newspaper article, short story, and art work upon it. On Thursday and Friday, you will meet and workshop in small group format your initial drafts. Writing over the weekend and on Monday Tuesday will result in a first draft what I will collect on Wednesday, a week from tomorrow. We will start our workshop then, and complete two essays each day from then until the end of the quarter.
Monday
- No students at school today for professional development day.
- HW: Writing your first draft of the "Consider the __________," essay.
Tuesday
- Journal entry: What literature--if any--should be read as part of the human experience? Discussion around reading Shakespeare, Sophocles, and other great literary works.
- HW: Completing your research for your project bibliography. Begin writing your first draft.
Wednesday
- In Library for research on topic and drafting of essay. Today you expected to work individually, not in groups. You will have the opportunity to workshop rough drafts in class tomorrow and Friday.
- HW: Writing your essay.
Thursday
- Small group workshops on the "Consider the ________" essay. You should plan on working through two essays today, and another two tomorrow.
- HW: Final draft due Wednesday.
Friday
- Small group workshops on the "Consider the ________" essay. You should finish the final two essays today.
- HW: Final draft due Wednesday. You should read chapter ten of BGS in preparation for sentence diagramming Monday!
Week 6 Syllabus, 2/8/16
YOUR BRAINSTORMING WILL BEGIN by researching what other writers and artists have done with your topic. Once you have a working topic, you will want to find several examples of what different writers and artists have done with it, in various genres and mediums. For "the lobster," besides looking at a creative non-fiction essay, we also reviewed a poem, a newspaper article, a short story, and an artwork. You will want to gather examples for your own use. Include a poem, an visual artwork, a song, a short story, and a creative non-fiction essay. Besides reading and studying these, you will want to put together a packet that starts with a bibliography.
Monday
- Journal" "As if..." and "As though..." exercise. And then...rock lobster! Brainstorming ideas, researching materials. While students are working on creating a bank of topics they might write on, and then beginning to look for examples of writing on your topic. While doing that, I will meet with and discuss options with students. I will want to approve any topics before they become final. Fair warning!
- HW: Those who missed Friday's quiz should make it up in my office tomorrow. Set a time with me after class. For Friday, you should have read chapter 9 in BGS, "The Riddle of Prose Rhythm."
Tuesday
- In Library room B for research on your topic.
- HW: OTIS questions to Munoz's "Getting Angry Can Be a Good Thing."
Wednesday
- In Library room B for second day or research on your topic.
- HW: Write an answer to Essay question #1 on page 113 of Short Takes.
"Acrobat" by Jeff Koons
Thursday
- Journal: choose one of the following emotions, and explain how it effects your personal (fear, shork, despair, anger). Exploring your topic in visual art and music.
- HW: A first, partial draft of your "Consider the ________" essay will be due Monday. You will want to have 3-5 pages written. Remember that you should have finished chapter 9 in BGS tomorrow.
Friday
- Sentence diagramming Friday! Sharpen your pencils...
- HW: Come in with a hard copy of your first, partial draft on Monday.
Questions on DFW's "Consider the Lobster"
Please post your questions about the essay--whether about content, style, organization--here. Please do refer to page number and paragraph number, when appropriate. These are due by 2 pm on Wednesday so we can use them in class discussion. Please do NOT read other questions until after you have posted your own.
Week 5 Syllabus, 2/1/16
FOR YOUR NEXT ESSAY, YOU WILL WRITE on a given topic in a style similar to that of Wallace. Consider the ________. You are to identify a topic and then illuminate it using non-fiction prose. This week we will analyze Wallace's techniques and sources of evidence. From where does he gather information on his topic? How does he stylistically create interest in the subject matter? What can you emulate and make your own?
Monday
- We will finish our workshop on the verb essays. Ending class with a journal based upon the opening sequence from American Cheeseburger. The video is here.
- HW: Finish reading chapter eight of BGS, " Prompts of Comparison and Speculation." If you haven't completed your revision of the verb essay, do so. Finish the Joan Dideon essay, located here.
Tuesday
- Discussing Joan Dideon's essay, "On Keeping a Notebook." Have you been able to implement any of her advice to date? What are her essential ideas about notebooks? How can you practice what she preaches?
- HW: Tonight, implement some of Dideon's advice.
Wednesday
- Discussion of "Consider the Lobster," by David Foster Wallace.
- HW: You will want to have written and posted your stylistic analysis by the start of class on Thursday.
Thursday
- Second discussion day on "Consider the Lobster." We will look at different examples of lobster from different parts of society.
- HW:
Friday
- Journal: Sentence diagramming David Foster Wallace! We will also look at another exercise from the Guru of Sentence diagramming.
- HW: Have a rough outline for your, "Consider the _______" essay on Monday.
Week 4 Syllabus, 1/25/16
HOW DOES A WRITER MAKE HIMSELF UNIQUE, stand out from the crowd and provide the reader not just with information, but with insight? We are starting to shift from first-person prose into some of the nuances of non-fiction prose, and will begin reading an excellent essay by David Foster Wallace, while at the same time finish our workshop on the verb essays.
Monday
- Starting class with a journal based upon footage from the opening of Woody Allen's Manhattan. Describe the opening. From there, we will continue the verb workshop.
- HW: No homework.
Tuesday
- Starting class with a journal based upon footage from the opening of Woody Allen's Manhattan. Describe the opening. From there, we will continue the verb workshop.
- HW: Finish reading and writing feedback on the verb essays for workshop.
Wednesday
- Journal: What is this place, this New Trier? Write this in the 3rd person. We will continue the verb workshop.
- HW: Read the essay, "Consider the Lobster," by David Foster Wallace. His is an excellent example of a non-fiction essay which drips with style and voice, in addition to the rich, carefully organized and complex information he provides. Pay attention to his style and techniques as you read, annotating for that. Due Monday.
Thursday
- Continuing with the verb workshop. We're focusing upon the conversation that happens when a workshop is firing on all cylinders. We don't want to endure four months of polite observations and timid suggestions. Join in the conversation! How would you revise the essay?
- HW: Finish reading the last three verb essays that I passed out in class today. Revise and turn in your verb revisions one week from your workshop date!
Friday
- Journal: Describe "New Trier" using the figurative language of metaphor and similes. Reading through chapter eight of Building Great Sentences by Prof. Landon.
- HW: Finish reading "Considering the Lobster," by David Foster Wallace. Also finish the Didion essay for Tuesday.
Stylistic Analysis of "Tales of a Tyrant"
Post your analysis as a comment to this thread. Please make certain it's proofread both before and after you copy and paste your answer into the dialog box.