syllabus for February 16, 2015

LAST WEEK WE WORKSHOPPED the setting essays on the NT Cafeteria. We will finish these early this week. Revisions will be due next Monday. Last week, we read "Shapinsky's Karma," and this week we will read "Tales of the Tyrant." 

Monday

• No school today for Presidents' Day.
• HW: As soon as your essay has been workshopped, revise. New draft due Monday, one week from today. Staple three copies of your first draft below it: the one with my notes, and two particularly useful notes from peers.

Tuesday

• Journal on Shapinsky's painting. Workshop on cafeteria essays. 
• HW: Read "Tales of the Tyrant" tonight, up through and including page 283. Be prepared to discuss how Bowden creates character and to give examples. 

Wednesday

•  Continuing our workshop notes on the cafeteria essays. Discussion: How does Bowden create character?
• HW: Revise your cafeteria essays. 

Thursday

• Finishing the workshop on cafeteria essays. Timer permitting, we will discuss the Bowden essay.
• HW: Bring your copy of Short Takes to class on Friday. 

Friday

• Short Takes day. We will read all four essays in chapter six, "On Using Division and Classification."
• HW: Complete the OTIS questions for one of the four essays in chapter six. Your revision of cafeteria essay is due Monday. 

First Syllabus for Semester Two

LAST WEEK WE EXAMINED more closely how author's create meaning using language. We looked at an introduction to Estabrook's Tomatoland. We also reviewed the results from the finals and talked about how your journal can be a better resource if you add ideas to it on a regular basis, not just for the assigned in-and-out of class assignments.

Monday

• No school today for snow day.
• HW: Remember to bring Short Takes to class.

Tuesday

• Today we will put into practice some of the skills we've learned first semester. For our journal, you will go to the cafeteria and record your observations. Pay attention to sensory detail: what do you see, specifically? What do you smell? What do people say? What are some of the larger themes you observe? Take down as much detail as possible. We'll then discuss the tomato essay.
• HW: Create a reverse outline for the tomato essay. How is it structured, or organized? Add these notes to your journal.

Wednesday

•  Reading two short takes essays today: "Who's Watching Reality TV and Sports" by Frank Deford and Leight's "Playing House." You will choose one and answer the OTIS questions for class tomorrow.
• HW: Finish your OTIS questions.

Thursday

• We will start by collecting OTIS questions and then discussion the organizing principle in the tomato essay. We will read Safransky's "Many Alarm Clocks." Then, you will return to the cafeteria to observe again. Head to exactly the same place and record additional material for an essay on the cafeteria. You will  have to develop an implied thesis, a specific tone, and establish an overt sensory image and thoughtful dialogue.
• HW: Write a first draft of your cafeteria essay. Due tomorrow. 

Friday

• Small group workshop of first drafts. Bring five copies of your draft for class tomorrow. We will also begin reading another longer, non-fiction essay in the third-person.
• HW: Finish reading the essay, "Shapinsky's Dream."

Tomato

Directions: Examine the following fifteen sentences. What does Estabrook do, as a writer, to emphasize meaning, influence his reader, create tone, establish his _______? Answer that question in 250 words, give or take 10 words, and post it as a comment to the tomato blog entry. Due Friday.

1. My obituary’s headline would have read “Food Writer Killed by Flying Tomato.”
2. But as I drew closer, I saw that the tractor trailer was top heavy with what seemed to be Granny Smith apples.
3. A few had cracks in their skins. Not one was smashed.
4. Beauty, in this case, is only skin deep.
5. No one will ever be able to duplicate the flavor of garden-grown fruits and vegetables at the supermarket (or even the farmers’ market), but there’s a reason you don’t hear consumers bemoaning the taste of supermarket cabbages, onions, or potatoes.
6. It contains fourteen times as much sodium.
7. Little wonder that tomatoes are by far the most popular vegetable for home gardeners, found in nearly nine out of ten backyard plots.
8. But we all have an alternative to the sad offerings of commercial agriculture.
9. Florida’s tomato fields provide a stark example of what a food system looks like when all elements of sustainability are violated.
10. The cartel-like Committee exercises Orwellian control over tomato exports from the state, and it decrees that slicing tomatoes shipped from South Florida in the winter must be flawlessly smooth, evenly round, and of a certain size.
11. Taste is not a consideration.
12. Hordes of voracious hoppers, beetles, and worms chomp on their roots, stems, leaves, and fruit.
13. And why can’t it grow one with a similar nutritional profile to the tomatoes available to any housewife during the Kennedy administration?
14. Regulations actually prohibit growers in the southern part of Florida from exporting many of the older tasty tomato varieties because their coloration and shape don’t conform to what the all-powerful Florida Tomato Committee says  a tomato should look like.
15. But it isn’t. 

The Final Portfolio

Requirements for the final portfolio are listed here. Remember to include titles for your writer essay, your essay of choice, and your memoir. Assignment is here.

Final Syllabus for First Semester, January 5 2015

THE FINAL PORTFOLIO is due no later than Wednesday, January 21st at 2:00 pm in room 330, stairwell Q. If turned in earlier, your portfolio should be handed directly to Mr. Easton, in person. 

Monday

• Reviewing the contents of the final portfolio, due two weeks from this Wednesday. Contents include: writer essay, independent memoir project, essay of choice, and 10 pages of memoir. 
• HW: Working on independent memoir project. Remember, it should include the following: cover page with synopsis, reviews, and cover illustration (already completed by Mr. Easton); representative excerpt; stylistic analysis of your author; annotated memoir.

Tuesday

• Journal day. Reading and reflecting on your journal. How has this tool functioned for you as a writer? What kind of entry has been most typical? What type has been most rare? Evaluate your journal based on these criteria: recording of potential material, generation of idea(s), exploration of topic(s), development of specific writing skill, revision of written material. 
• HW: Working on independent memoir project. Tonight, mark on passage of annotations that reflect what you've learned from this writer. Use the small binder clip to mark that section.

Wednesday

• Workshop day. Bring in a selection from your memoir that you would  like to share in small group to work upon. 
• HW: Revising your memoir. 

Thursday

• Workshop day. Bring in a selection from your memoir that you would  like to share in small group to work upon. 
• HW: Revising your memoir.

Friday

• Writer essay. This short essay, approx. 400 words in length, should both describe and illustrate who you are as a writer--prior to the class, currently, and heading into the future. Remember to say more about less. Create an experience that your audience can draw conclusions from. 
• HW: Work on your portfolio.
•  

Syllabus for week of December 15

WE ARE NOW in the midst of independently reading selected memoirs and drafting copies of writers' memoirs. As a target, students should try to compete ten pages of their memoir. As has been discussed in class, everyone should have finished reading your selected memoir by Friday. In this way, break will be an actual break, without any homework over break.

Monday

• In-class review of writing more about less.
• HW: Finish reading the "House on Loon Lake" story. Remember to bring your independent memoirs to class this week. 

Tuesday

• Journal: What story does the photo tell (woman working skate rental counter)? Silent reading of independent memoirs. 
• HW: You should have finished reading these books by next Friday. Revisit the calendar you created, revising this plan for completion as needed. 

Wednesday

• Journal: What story does the photo tell (federal express box)? Everyone is to produce one page of their working memoir by the end of period, typed and emailed as an attachment to me at: eastonp@newtrier.k12.il.us  Please be certain to type your name on the document you create.
• HW: R & W--continuing to read your independent memoir, and writing your memoir. 

Thursday

• Journal: select one technique that your author returns to again and again, providing examples of the technique and explaining why the technique works. Reading day...SSR of independent memoir. 
• HW: More reading and writing of memoirs. 

Friday

• If we were to create a textbook along the lines of Short Takes--one that excerpted your memoir, and thus provided insight into your author's work and life--what pages would you choose? Is there a section? A passage? A series of encounters? What would that passage be? Identifying one for your memoir, and looking at a passage from my chosen memoir...
• HW: Plan on having your memoir finished by class on Friday.

2014 Memoirs

Link here.

Syllabus for week of December 8

LAST WEEK we examined the issue of race relations in America. Our readings should have provided you with some sense of how writers explore one topic in a myriad of ways, so that when you are drafting your memoir, you can think a bit outside of the box, relative to what and how you write about yourself.

Monday

• In-class SSR of a lovely, detailed memoir-based narrative about an abandoned house that teenagers ransack. 
• HW: Finish reading the "House on Loon Lake" story. Remember to bring your independent memoirs to class this week. 

Tuesday

• Journal: What story does the photo tell (woman working skate rental counter)? Silent reading of independent memoirs. 
• HW: You should have finished reading these books by next Friday. Revisit the calendar you created, revising this plan for completion as needed. 

Wednesday

• Journal: What story does the photo tell (federal express box)? Everyone is to produce one page of their working memoir by the end of period, typed and emailed as an attachment to me at: eastonp@newtrier.k12.il.us  Please be certain to type your name on the document you create.
• HW: R & W--continuing to read your independent memoir, and writing your memoir. 

Thursday

• Journal: select one technique that your author returns to again and again, providing examples of the technique and explaining why the technique works. Reading day...SSR of independent memoir. 
• HW: More reading and writing of memoirs. 

Friday

• If we were to create a textbook along the lines of Short Takes--one that excerpted your memoir, and thus provided insight into your author's work and life--what pages would you choose? Is there a section? A passage? A series of encounters? What would that passage be? Identifying one for your memoir, and looking at a passage from my chosen memoir...
• HW: Plan on having your memoir finished by class on Friday.

House on Loon Lake

Chris Rock on CBS Sunday

The interview is located here.

Syllabus for Week of December 1

THIS WEEK students should meet for a short conference to discuss your plans for your memoir. Be prepared to describe either the theme or the time period you will be developing over the coming weeks. You should have three possibilities that you are sketching into outline format. Keep these in your journals...

View fullsize

Monday

• We'll start with a journal on the above cartoon. The general subject of the cartoon is differences between people. What other subjects does this cartoon suggest? What does it immediately suggest? What more subtle subjects does it suggest? Which are most powerful, and which are most subtle? Large group discussion of questions 1 through 3 on pages 124 and 125 of Short Takes.
• HW: Reading your independent memoir; writing your own memoir.

Tuesday

• Journal. Working backwards in Short Takes, we will look and discuss "Crippled by their Culture" by Thomas Sowell. Is New Trier crippled by its culture? Hmmmm. After reading the essay aloud, we'll discuss the OTIS questions. While discussing, I will continue meeting with students for memoir conferences out in the hallway. 
• HW: Reading your independent memoir; writing your own memoir.

Wednesday

• Journal. Today's essay is "The Handicap of Definition." Large group discussion of essay and OTIS questions. During, memoir conferences in hallway. 
• HW:  Reading your independent memoir; writing your own memoir.

Thursday

• "Getting Angry Can Be a Good Thing," discussing OTIS questions, and then listening to a radio piece on the topic of race from On The Media, and news program dedicated to journalism and reporting.
• HW:  Reading your independent memoir; writing your own memoir.

Friday

•  "I Was a Member of the Kung Fu Crew," discussing OTIS questions, and then returning to questions #4 and #5 on page 125.
• HW:  Read "Chocolate = Love" on 102-4, and write essay #2 for Monday. Reading your independent memoir; writing your own memoir.

Ferguson Documents: Officer Darren Wilson's Testimony

Ferguson Documents: What The Witnesses Saw

The big question in this case is whether police Officer Darren Wilson felt threatened and whether Michael Brown had his hands up. Witnesses differ on what they say they saw.

Read this story

This photo, provided by the St. Louis County Prosecutor's Office, shows Ferguson, Mo., police Officer Darren Wilson shortly after his encounter with Michael Brown. A grand jury declined Monday to charge Wilson with killing 18-year-old Brown.

To read the grand jury testimony transcripts, go here.

Your Author

This is Gerald Durrell, the author of the memoir I am reading, My Family and Other Animals. As this photograph suggests, he has lead a very interesting life. Just as we did with Tobias Wolff's This Boy's Life, I want you to spend some time finding about your author as a person. Aim for the more scholarly and well-respected sources of information. Use our library's database as a leaping off point, and go from there. The end game involves a paragraph on your writer's significance that includes direct and indirect citation from three sources, and a biography of at least seven sources, due Tuesday at the end of period. 

And please include an interview, both positive and negative book reviews, and an oeuvre. 

Mark Rudman's "Walking"

Each pair should post a comment detailing three stylistic techniques that Rudman uses to create voice--include examples for each. 

Syllabus for Week of November 17

THIS WEEK I would like students to report out on what you've read so far in your independent memoir. We will have an SSR sometime soon, so please bring your book to class, carrying it with you. 

Monday

• Starting with discussion about the Literature Festival, what you saw that you liked, thought could have been better, think that students would like next year. We'll begin sharing out on what you're discovering in your memoirs. Returning to Short Takes, reading "Have Fun" on pages 79-81,
• HW: Complete the OTIS questions for this essay, due tomorrow. 

Tuesday

• Journal: Describe the cold. Today, we will brainstorm the third part of the "Write Your Own Story" guide, this time looking at adolescence. 
• HW: Reading your independent memoir. If you didn't finish the brainstorming in class, finish that tonight. 

Wednesday

• Journal: Describe your nemesis. We will then look at two, student-selected memoir essays chosen by the NT Class of 2006, one on siblings with fragile X syndrome, the other on drug use in the 1980s.
• HW:  Finish reading Geiger's "Users, Like Me" annotating for voice. 

Thursday

• Reading two more essays, looking at voice.
• HW:  Gather together your brainstorming materials, all three packets together. 

Friday

•  Two additional essays, looking at voice. We will also talk about the artifact and interview aspects to the three brainstorming packets.
• HW:  Drafting time. I want you to sketch out a working outline for three possible memoirs. These are to be working outlines for what expect might eventually become a 20 page memoir on either a specific time in your life or an aspect of your life. But for now, general ideas--who, what, when, where, and how. We will worry about the why--how this essay reveals your character--later. For now focus on the narrative basics of all three story ideas. 

Syllabus for week fo November 10

YOU ARE TO CONTINUE reading your independent memoir, analyzing it for stylistic technique, organization plan, the writer's thumbprint overall. Keep notes in your margins, as I will collect books and grade annotations. We will continue studying narrative as it relates to memoir

Monday

• Returning to Short Takes, reading "Footprints on the Flag" by Achee Min.
• HW: In your journal, please complete essay assignment #1, on page 66.

Tuesday

• Reading selections from Hemmingway's In Our Time, as well as the short story, "On the Rainy River." 
• HW: Finish reading the O'Brien essay for class on Wednesday. You should also read "Shell-Shocked, and After" for class discussion.

Wednesday

• Discussion: How do these three writers (and soldiers) re-create their memories? What does Hemmingway do? O'Brien? And Herbert Hayden? Discuss their stylistic approaches, as writers. When finished, select one technique and write about a memory from earlier in the week, using that technique (in class journal--number it!)
• HW: Continue reading your memoir. 

Thursday

• Read "Sweatin' for Nothin'" on pages 75-77, and discuss the OTIS questions in small group.
• HW: Type your responses to the OTIS questions, due Friday. 

Friday

•  Read "Have Fun" on pages 79-81,  and discuss the OTIS questions in small group.
• HW: Finish OTIS questions, due Monday. Also, continue reading your individual memoir. 

Syllabus for week of October 27

WE HAVE NOW FINISHED revisions of two major essays, your college application essay and a descriptive essay. Starting this week, you will begin brainstorming notes for your own memoir, and will also begin reading a published memoir, analyzing the later for stylistic technique, organization plan, the writer's thumbprint overall. Keep notes in your margins, as I will collect your books, grading these annotations. 

Monday

• Lecture on memory and memoir. Journal: Describe a childhood lunchroom memory. 
• HW: Finish your memoir reading calendar, and begin reading your memoir. 

Tuesday

• Beginning to brainstorm about childhood. Turning in reading calendars for your independent memoir reading.
• HW: Finish reading the story for class on Wednesday. How does Vonnegut create character?

Wednesday

• In lab 377N to work on college essays. Bring flash drives, memory cards, hard copies of your work for revision. This lab time is to be used collaboratively for writing essays and short responses to college application prompts, NOT for filling out application forms. You should focus your activities upon revision and peer editing, not the writing of first drafts. 
• HW: Brainstorming activities on your childhood, due Monday. Also, continue reading your memoir. 

Thursday

• In lab 377N to work on college essays. Bring flash drives, memory cards, hard copies of your work for revision.
• HW: Brainstorming activities on your childhood, due Monday. Also, continue reading your memoir. 

Friday

•  In lab 377N to work on college essays. Bring flash drives, memory cards, hard copies of your work for revision. Also, I will need to collect your writer's notebooks today. Please have it with you.
• HW: Finish brainstorming activities on your childhood, due Monday. Also, continue reading your memoir. 

The Boy Kings of Texas

Here's a chapter from the memoir I read. What follows are two additional chapters from Domingo Martinez' excellent memoir, which has been occasionally featured on This American Life:

Syllabus for week of October 20

OVER THE LAST TWO WEEKS we completed our first workshop of the entire class. Our discussions focused on the descriptive object essay. For this workshop, I tracked students' oral participation on a daily basis. I asked that students provide feedback on their peers' written feedback via the google-doc spreadsheet. The deadline for submitting those evaluations is this Wednesday. All revisions should be submitted by Wednesday as well. Over the next few weeks, we will return to Short Takes, looking at narrative essays more closely. 

Monday

• Journal: tell a story about a surprise. Collecting OTIS questions on  the peahen narrative. Read the pointers for using narration (exploring the topic) on pages 44-45. We will use these to review "A Foul Trick to Play on a Lawn Tractor." We will then do the same for the next essay, "The Night of Oranges" which we have previously read. 
• HW: Read and complete the OTIS questions for "Learning, then College."

Tuesday

• In class journal: tell a story about being proud. Reading "The Lie" by Kurt Vonnegut, and then reviewing the "Drafting the Paper" pointers for narration. 
• HW: Finish reading the story for class on Wednesday. How does Vonnegut create character?

Wednesday

• In class journal: tell the story of your most important lesson (since August, 2014). Examining Vonnegut's characterization. We will then write a letter to yourself via the FM website...sometime in 2020?
• HW: As soon as your memoir has been approved, you will want to obtain a copy of the book, one that you can write in. You should plan on having the book completed by the start of Winter Break. Create a reading calendar for yourself, due Friday.

Thursday

• In class journal: What is the purpose of education? Writing your life: brainstorming activity for your personal memoir essay. We will then look briefly at selected scenes from The Graduate, a film based on Charles Webb's novel.
• HW: Work on brainstorming on your early life. 

Friday

•  TBD
• HW: Finish brainstorming activities on your early life, due Monday. Also, continue reading your memoir. 

Workshop Notes Feedback

So you will want to enter your symbols on this Excel spreadsheet. Enter them once and only once, and do not change them once they've been entered. I will copy and paste them into my own gradebook once I see they have all been entered, so any changes you make will NOT be reflected in my copy. Give your absent classmates 2 full class days after the workshop to get their notes to you. On the third day, if they have not provided you with the notes, you should enter a goose egg (that is, a zero) for their notes.