9.29 Writing to the assignment and providing peer feedback

Class on Thursday, October 2, will meet in CAS 303.

Today's class was dedicated to talking a close look at the assignment sheet, and making sure that your brainstorming would produce a draft that met the requirements it sets forward.

We looked at the criteria set forward for the essay:

1.  An overarching focus on the significance or artistic importance of connections between the story’s meanings/effects and formal features of the story;

2.  A clear, well-supported presentation of the meanings or effects associated with the focus 

3.  In-depth discussion on how the story’s formal features produce the story’s meanings or effect;  

4.  Rigorous, in-depth analysis of how the the story’s formal features connect to/produce the meanings or effect 

5.   Use of detailed, relevant examples or illustrations from the story;

6.   Aesthetic and logical coherence;  

7.   Sentences which are relatively free from errors

I pointed out that I wouldn't be evaluating the drafts for correctness so we focused on the first six.

FOCUS:  We noted that to satisfy this assignment, the essay would need to both:

 describe a meaning or an effect created by the author AND

include an analysis of how one or more of the story's features (structure, POV, setting, etc) produced that effect. We also noted that the focus should be set up at or near the beginning of the essay, and that each section/paragraph of the essay should develop that focus in a different way.

ORGANIZATION: We listed the sequence of "moves" the essay would generally make as follows.

1. Set up the focus (state what the essay shows with respect the story's meanings/effects & how the author tells the story) in the opening.  This opening should read rather like a precis (including the name of the story + the author along with an overview).  It should identify the features you will discuss + identify the points you will make about how the author uses them.

2.  Provide any additional background about the story's meanings or features that did not fit naturally into the set up. 

3.  Begin the analysis of the points you will make about the story's meanings/structural features. This section will take multiple paragraphs.  It often helps to analyze the features/points you discuss in the same order as you introduced them in your set up.   Each point you make about what the story means should connect to a point about how the story is built in a way that connects to your overall focus.

4. Relate the overall line of your analysis back to your focus

5. Write a conclusion that draws the essay to a close.  

DEVELOPMENT:  use detailed examples, illustrations from the story to "show" how your statement about how the author uses POV, setting, or structure to create the story's meanings.

If this were a 50 point essay, you weighted the credit for these three features as follows:

FOCUS = 25

ORGANIZATION:  10

DEVELOPMENT: 15

We then used these categories as a way to identify what the author of the SampleSSEssay 1 (posted to the right under Sample Essays) needed to work on.

You suggested that this author:

Set up a focus that connected setting and pov to the meanings she discussed EARLIER (in the first paragraph.

Include a paragraph the sets up the points she will make about setting and POV (what the paper will show)

Include  more development which connects the story's meanings/effects to the setting and POV

Deepen the analysis of what this story shows about "love" 

Use the conclusion to sum up what the paper has illustrated

Your comments in class were more specific (good job!) - so this just represents an overview.

We did not score this essay.

Developing protocols for peer review groups (see previous post)

We spent the rest of class talking over how you want to do your peer review groups.

You decided you wanted the groups to include 3 or 4 people, and you wanted to form them yourself. So you did - and they are listed below.

Peer review groups:
Jayshawn, Jeen, Melannie, Krystal

Maddie, Sarah, Alycia, Melissa

Cynthia, Rute, Justin, Krysten

Julia,  Chante, Zulema, Stephanie

You decided you wanted the drafts distributed by having them available on the portfolio.

We didn't get much further than that in terms of protocols (the order that you will use to present the essay and give feedback) or the different roles, so look over the previous post on peer review groups, and we will check in on those in class on Thursday.

For next class:

Write: Post your complete draft to your portfolio => come to class prepared to participate in peer review.

Good class today, and see you Thursday in CAS 303.

Planning a writing workshop

Class on 9.29 will be in CAS 236.

Reflections on what writing workshops/peer review work is for:

A writer learns to write by writing.  And revising.  And reading.  Also by looking at other works in progress.  I see a workshop as a place in which “things” are made and/or “repaired.”  It’s a place where we plan our prose and polish and sand, stand back and admire, catch imperfections in the wood or finish or design.  A workshop is a “working” place where each item is given loving care and attention.  It’s a place where we aren’t afraid to get out hands dirty taking apart a piece, dusting it, oiling it, chiseling if needed, refitting and putting it back together.  And sometimes taking it apart more than once.  It’s a place where sometimes we can use the old Amish expression “many hands make light the work.”  In our case, it’s many minds who, with care and love for the material itself, will look for ways in which to make it “work” better, smoother, easier, more beautifully for the reader.  To help the writer re-see, rethink, review what’s on the page and what isn’t.  To question and probe and praise.

-  Ruth Moose

Things to consider:

o   Composition of group (how many.who)

o   Circulating work

o   Reading aloud: you don't have a choice on this

o   Group roles (chairperson, timekeeper, facilitator)

o   Protocols for responding to work (For example:  1. writer states what kind of feedback he/she needs.  2.  Piece read out loud.  3. Group responds)

o   Writer’s role (possible suggestions): 

•       provides copies of work (posts to portfolio, sends email with link, provides hard copies. . .)
•       states what kind of feedback s/he would like
• 
  

o   Reviewer's role (Suggestions from Peter Elbow)

§  Pointing to useful phrases 

§  Summarizing the work 

§  Telling reactions to piece - in general and to specific parts

9.25 Uncle Rock, Boys and Girls, and writing an essay on form and focus

We started class with a "meet up" for the groups prepared to present on Uncle Rock and Boys and Girls.  During this meeting you talked over your story's meanings (what it was about, how it made you feel, what happend,  "the main point" etc) and talked about how the POV, setting, and structure of your story allowed the author to communicate those meanings.  During this talk, you came up with some spectacular ideas - I was truly delighted - organized how to present it (sort of) - and then we talked about the two stories.

I was too taken in with all your were saying so I didn't take notes - but I know this discussion was more than I imagined.  You came up with many original ideas for how the first person narration of Boys and Girls, and the third person limited narration of Uncle Rock created both the feel (the effect) of the story, and worked to make the story's message available to the reader.  You talked about setting both in terms of the general place (Los Angeles and a farm in Ontario) and in terms of the different places where the different parts of the story took place.  For structure, you pointed out how the chronological sequence worked with the "growth" or "realization" the characters worked through - and how the structure of the "scenes" fit with the setting to communicate ideas/feelings that the author then did not need to state directly.  Wonderful.  What a pleasure it was to talk with you.

We then looked at the assignment sheet = Fall14shortStoryAssignment posted to the right under course assignments.  We looked at the purpose, description and the criteria (the features I will use to assign the grade).  The requirements for length and formatting are at the bottom.  I am hoping the work we have done so far in the semester has set you up with the resources to write this paper.  If you have questions - or aren't sure what to do => send me an email.

For next class:
Email me:  if you have any poetry suggestions for the next unit => be in touch.  I will be working on the specific readings and hopefully have the schedule (with your suggestions included) by next week.
Write: brainstorming for your draft essay for the short story assignment.  Try something daring!   Experiment!   But you don't need to go so far outside your comfort zone that you get paralyzed.

During class on Monday, we will talk some more about peer review, form peer review groups, and work out the protocol for providing feedback on your papers. We will also check in on your focus/main ideas/what you are using for evidence as a kind of whole class brainstorm on how to finish your drafts.

Have a great weekend - and see you on Monday!

9.22 Tenth of December

Class will meet in CAS 303 on 9.25.

Reminder: If you have not yet set your permissions for your portfolio to "anyone with a link" please do so.  If you are not sure how to do this, let me know.

Take a look at revised Calendar.  We are planning the remaining work on short stories, and setting up what we will do for the poetry unit.  The assignment sheet for the short story essay will be posted for Thursday.

Writing about structure
Your book walks you through the details of how writing about structure means looking at the "parts" of a story: the sections, scenes, shape of the plot (is it chronological? associative?), patterns (such as contrasts, repetitions, associations or connections, the sequence of ideas or images, and so on) => and then writing about the relationships between those parts and the themes/meanings the author creates through the use of those parts.

The process for writing about structure is to identify the "what happened" and the themes/meanings of a story, and then identify the structures/parts that are important to the  reader's perception of those themes and meanings.

From class discussion of 10th of December:
We worked as a whole class to identify what happened and the major themes. 

What happened
Kid saves old guy from freezing; kid (Robin) is dorky, wants to be a hero, "magnificent little dude"
Old guy who has terminal brain disease was going to kill hmself but decides he doesn't want to

Themes
Interdependence, what it means to love and be loved, connection, the fact that we learn different lessons about being human at different agesWanting to be a "hero" – wish to be valuedWanting to live but feeling guilty and afraidWanting to be viewed in a certain wayWish to have someone need you, but not wanting to have to rely on (need) others

You then worked in groups to: 1. Make some observations about the structure: identify scenes, changes in pov, setting; patterns in the way the language is used, etc.

2. Put some ideas out there for how structure contributes to/allows the author to develop the story's themes/focus theme

Important structures:- The 8 sections which alternate between Robin's and Eber's points of view.
- The sequence in settings:  walking/outdoors/in the cold , to traversing the ice(taking a risk for another), to returning to safety (indoors).
- Contrasting scenes or "thoughts" of the two characters: how they start out grounded in either fantasy/reminiscence and move to attention on real people & places.
-The differences in language between the ways Robin and Eber talk (significant of their different ages and their different issues)

For next class:
Read: Either "Boys and Girls", and "Uncle Rock" (you only need to skim the story you are not working with); be prepared to discuss how to write a paper about the story you read.  You may choose structure, pov, setting - or some other feature (characters, language) as the focus for your idea to write about.  The purpose of these presentations is to open up lots of ideas.

Boys and girls: Krysten, Justin, Cynthia, Jeen, Melanie, Rute
Uncle Rock: Stephanie, Melissa, Sarah, Zuleme, Chante, Alycia, Madeline

Write: Post your ideas/brainstorming about how you might write an essay focused on the structure/themes for Tenth of December.  This is not polished writing.  You can use your notes class work.

In class  on Thursday we will talk about the two stories and hear your ideas.  Then we will look at the assignment sheet and you will have some time to think about what in particular you want to write about for your first draft essay.

Also, this  week we are finishing up work on short stories, and moving into work on poetry.  

For short stories, after we go over the essay assignment sheet and you put up this last post = to brainstorm an essay with a focus on structure (due at the beginning of class Thursday), I  will  give you some feedback on your ideas - hopefully by the end of Friday - so you will have some comments from me in terms of writing your short story draft.  You will have time in class on Thursday to post an indication of which idea you like best (from your brainstorming so far) - or to tell me that you want to write a different paper altogether.  Well - I guess we didn't do that!   
For poetry, we will be picking out the poems we want to read. So if you have some poems that you want to include - let me know.

9.18 Setting and "Brownies"

Class on 9.22 will be in CAS 236.

At the beginning of class, if you haven't done so already, I asked you to set the "permissions and sharing" on your site to "anyone with a link".

Also, I announced that for next week, for our work on Structure, we will be reading "10th of December" (link to the right)  NOT Raymond Carver in your book.

Finishing up POV.  We started class with you shareing your ideas for how to write a story about Point of View using "Say Yes".  We came up with a number of focus ideas, including the following.

• Discuss how  Wolff uses POV to tell us a story where the narrator knows less than the reader.  (what does the narrator tell us?  what does he "miss"?  How does Wolff present the narrator's observations in a way so that the reader can get more than the narraotr?)
• Use "Say Yes" as an example of a special kind of "unreliable" narrator: a narrator who does not distort or misrepresent what happens - but rather simply fails to interpret it fully
• Discuss how or whether the main character's POV changes throughout the story.  What (if anything) allows him to see his relationship to his wife differently?  When his POV shifts - how does the information he conveys to the reader change?

Setting as a focus for writing about Stories.  At that point we segued to talk about Setting.  We did a very brief review of the distinctions your chapter makes between Setting as a place, and Atmosphere, the emotions, impressions, or feelings associated with that place/scene in a story.

Setting for Brownies = kids camp = 7-9 year lod girls

Atmosphere= the “feelings’ from the kid culture = sneaky, snooty, jealous, herd mentality, bullying, racism,

Leaders = the most ignorant, meanest , loudest

Priviledge

Racist standards for beauty (operate from outside the immediate setting = from the culture at large

Another part of the setting is the events in the characters lives that make them feel behave the way they do, the way they saw tropp 909, what they thought was “pretty” (long straight hair etc.

Packer closes with Laurel (the main character) relating part of that “setting” => telling it diretly and reflecting on it

List (sequence) of "local" settings in "Brownies"
1. camp

2. flashback to school\

[As we talked about the move from 1 to 2, we though there were interesting similarities and contrasts between these two settings.  While they were very different places, they were similar in that the same kids were on top, and they used the same ways to instill fear/control the kids who they had power over.]

3. Suburbs of Atlanta

4. Troop 909 at camp, getting off bus

5. Bathroom - Arnetta makes her accusation about Troop 909 

6. Flashback (tells us who Daphne is - winning the poetry contest)

7. Stream = watching Troop 909

8. Bathroom Daphne cleans up + the our Troop makes a Plan

9. Singing scene = backstory on Octavia - showing something about familes and where these girls come from

10.  Bathroom confrontation

11. Camp leader - craziness "they will apologize"

12. Bus going home

13. Flashback - Laurel’s story=> denoument

As we talked about these settings we noted which were "inside/confined=> places where people had to deal with eachother, and which were "outside" - where people could watch from a distance, and there was no need to "work things out" because there was an option to leave.  We also noticed instances where Packer gave us clues about the identities of Troop 909, but the "setting" (and the sequence of settings - what those settings set us up to "see" ) caused us to read right past those clues. 

You also pointed out that the flashbacks and the girls assumptions and values reached out the larger cultural setting: where the dominant standards of "beauty" and behavior in many ways were "against" our troup.  

The approache we took to brainstorming ideas about setting for this story was a little different than the approach taken in your book.  The book, as with its approach to POV, asked a series of questions and prompted you to do some writing about features related to setting. This is a great approach, but I figured you can read, so we took a different direction. 

In our class discussion, you  said many more things that I didn't write down but that would make really great papers!

For next class:

Read:  Chapter 7: Structure, p. 112; 10^th of December, George Saunders

Write:  Brainstorming for a paper on setting.  We used "Brownies" for our discussion, but your brainstorming can refer to any of the stories we have read so far.  Post your brainstorming to Drafts/Invention, sub-page Short Stories.  Name your document: YourLastNameSetting.

Great class today!   See you next week.

9.15 Writing about Point of View

Class on 9.18 will be in CAS 303.

Invention writing:  We started class by making sure you all got feedback to your brainstorming on Eveline.  Overall, you did a great job on both the assignments.  In general, I'd say the most important things for you to continue to work on would be:
1) to continue work on developing a specific, critical focus (in light of your brainstorming) before you begin to write.  Write 5 ( or as many as it takes) approximations of your focus - keep on it!);
2) to go back to the text (one more time) in light of that revised focus to make sure you have relevant/the "best" points/support for your focus;
3) to check in one more time to make sure you are writing to the assignment.

As I said in class, if you don't work out all the details of your essay during the invention/prewriting stage = it is not the end of the world.  You can revise your drafts until you get it right.  I am suggesting that you spend the time in the pre-writing/invention/planning phase => because it is easier, and even though it might not feel like it=> it is often faster.

Point of View.  We started by reviewing what the text said about point of view.  We noted the key terms defined in the text: omniscient, limited onmiscient, first-person, unreliable, and objective narration, and observed that these categories were complex and sometimes overlapping.

We then spent some time thinking about what kind of brainstorming you would have to do to write an essay for a "point of view" assignment.  We noted that in order to write about point of view for a short story,  writers would have to:

• analyze the "what happened"/themes etc of the story; 
• analzye the point of view; 
• and then brainstorm a focus that makes a point about the relationship between what the story does, says, or shows in terms of point of view.  

Very good.

Say Yes.  We then spent the rest of class looking at Wolff's story as a way to think about how point of view shapes what a story does.

We started by identifying that the story was in 3rd person/limited omniscience.  It is "limited to the thoughts and observations of a single character."  At the same time, this character "misses" a lot of the subtler meanings in what the other character, his wife, has to say.  He is not exactly unreliable (mentally disturbed or intentionally distorting or misrepresenting facts), he is just "not getting" a lot of what happens - even though he represents what happens accurately.  I named this story as written in 3rd person clueless - though that isn't really quite fair.

In terms of the "what happened" - because the story is presented through the husband's report, and because he fails to interpret or comprehend some of what is implied in his wife's words - n many ways it is up to the reader to construct the "what happened" from a partial report.  We spend most of the rest of class, section by section, pointing out what he said, what she said, what he noticed (knew correctly) about his wife => and what he missed/didn't get.   There is lots of room for interpretation here, and this is not a story where there is one "answer" to what happened => only representations that can be "supported" by the evidence in the story.

We spent some time on the last two scenes = where the "what happened" (realization?) all comes together.  Especially that last scene where he perceives her as a "stranger."

Thanks for your good talk about this story!  As I said in class - I can't "tell" you what it is about, but I think we had a really good talk about some of the things it does, and how the narrator's limited perspective contributes to what it does.  Good class!

For next class:
Write:  Jot down your notes about POV and Say Yes.  Put down what ever would be useful for you in terms of helping you write a paper on POV.  You will probably want to include some writing about  what the pov was, what happened, how the author used point of view to make it happen. If, as you work on these notes, you hit blindspots or encounter questions about what to do next = jot those down too and bring them up in class.  I'm going to start class with questions about how the POV writing went.

Read: Chapter 10, Writing about setting + Brownies (posted under readings)

I'm looking forward to hearing your ideas about what to write about Say Yes, and to talking about Brownies!

9.11 More on brainstorming

Class on 9.15 will meet in CAS 236.

As I said in class, I've quickly "clicked through" your precis brainstorming - and I will give each of you some short, written feedback by email by Monday.  This weekend is a little hectic - right after class I drove to the airport and am now in Detroit - so I won't have time to sit down with your individual writing until Sunday when I return.  Here is some general feedback (pretty much what I said in class) so you I don't keep you in suspense.

Each of you did something a little different, and some of you are still working on how to post materials to the Portfolio.  That's OK!  If you made a good faith effort to explore the assignment, we are working together, and I will give you some feedback on how you are doing in terms of using the invention/brainstorming process I was suggesting.  As I said in class, what I outlined was a fairly standard form for brainstorming.  In class, we did something along the lines of your assignment together.

Brainstorming for precis:First we went back and made a random list of things we noticed about the story - not just plot but also the structure (we noticed that the story had two sections and that the stories of the two sections had similar dramtic arcs with a realization at the end);  language (we noticed that most of the emphatic language was at the end of each of the two sections, and we noticed that the language portrayed E. as reflective in the first section and as active - and frozen in inaction! - in the second); point of view (actually we didn't say much about this - but now that I think of it = she is more "aware" /in her head = and more in her body/feelings in the second section), and so on.

Then we did some talking about what we might use as a focus - so that we knew what points in the story we would refer to as we summed it up.  We did most of this process through a kind of conversation (and me talking out loud).  When you are doing your brainstormning process - it is good to talk to a group/a partner - and it is also good to write.

After we had a focus  - we kind of bailed on the exercise => but what would have come next is to list the parts of the story you would summarize (so that your point about what the story is about will make sense) and then to do some thinking about organization (make an outline, a list, tree diagram).

Once you have your brainstorming done, that does not mean the content and structure of your paper is locked in stone.  What it does is put out a possibility so you can "see" what your paper will look like/ how it will work.  That way, you can "revise" (make your organization & content stronger) more easily.

Writing process.  We didn't spend much time on the writing process chapter you read for homework.  I am hoping it was fairly straightforward for you.  I didn't give you much time for questions.  If there were parts that were confusing, or that you would like to spend time on, let me know, and I will plan some in-class writing to work on whatever you are interested in as we work through the different genres.

Brainstorming for the Writing about Short Stories assignment
We spent the rest of class working on brainstorming a paper on "Eveline" that would meet the requirement of the Writing about Short Stories assignment where you are supposed to write about "realization" (posted under Assignments on the right).  "Eveline" presents an interesting problem for this assignment - because her "realization" is complicated => she seems both to know and not know what she has realized.  And there is lots of material in this story to support a wide range of  thesis statements abot what the story shows with respect to realization.  So have some fun with this.

This assignment is a little more complicated that the precis assignment - since you actually need to both set up what you will say (which is what the precis does) AND develop the argument the precis proposes.

Below are the steps I would suggest.

1) do some writing to dig into the reading ensure you have rich a understanding of the many things that are going on in this story;
2) do some freewriting, listing, talking, clustering, association to find a focus;
3) choose your focus - write it out a couple of times (you don't have to get the language exactly right, but make sure you open up the ideas)
4) identify the points you will make to support your focus (this could be some listing, more freewriting or talking) & go back to the text and pull out the evidence you will use to support your focus
5) check back with the assignment sheet to make sure you cover all you are supposed to do & do some more brainstorming if necessary;
6) map out the order of your points.

As I talked with you in class - you seemed to be coming up with great ideas!   As we said, the important thing is to hold back on "deciding" what you will write about until you have done some extensive digging around in the story.  That way you will come up with an idea that you are really excited about writing about.

Good class today!

For next week:

Read: Chapter 9: Point of View; Say Yes, by Tobias Wolff (pdf ) (posted to the right).
Write:  Finish the brainstorming for a paper on "Eveline".

9.8 Eveline, working in groups + brainstorming!

We will meet in CAS 303 on 9.10.

We used Ch 1 from LatWp as a frame for talking about how to plan to write a paper about a short story.  The chapter emphasizes the importance of scoping out your audience (who you are writing your paper for) and purpose (what are you supposed to do in this paper?) as elements in your planning process - so we conducted our discussion of Eveline in two parts.

Focusing on the text.  First - you talked in groups to think about what was "in" the story: what happened (plot), setting, characters, structure, point of view, tone, the way language is used, themes, symbols, turning points, how the story felt - and so on.  This kind of exploration focuses on what is "there" - and provides you with a grounding in the story itself so you can move to the next step where you interpret or infer what these elements of the story say - and then begin to make connections among the different elements (plot, setting, structure etc) so that you can develop a focus for an essay.

As you shared your observations about what you saw in the story - we noticed that you were moving toward interpretations - what those features of the story meant, and working toward synthesis = pulling a set of interpreations together to say what the story is about as a whole.  Clearly analysis of the story (what you were working on) is not separate from interpretation, synthesis and evaluation (terms from the book).  At the same time, the challenge is to make sure to stay grounded in what is actually there in the text long enough to provide yourself with enough information so that you can write  rich, complex interpretations that lead to full, complex essays which do not reduce these works of literature to platitudes and chiches.

Focusing on the assignment.  Next we talked about how to write an essay for a particular assignment.  Clearly, what you choose to focus on in a text will depend on the demands of the particular writing task or assignment.  To give you some practice, we looked at an assignment to write a precis - a sort of summary/response essay.  The assignment shee is posted to the right.  As we observed in class the precise has five elements, though when you write a precis, you do not necessarily present those elements in the order they are listed on the assignment sheet.

We looked back through the list of observations about what we saw going on in Eveline and talked through the planning process for writing a precis.

Planning process for writing a precis.
1.  Brainstorming to find a focus:  doing some writing to identify a focus for your essay.  This writing might include: freewriting about what in the story interests you; listing what is in the story (this is the exercise we did together in class); clustering (as a way to think about relationships/connections among elements in the text); associating to some of the symbols, themes, events, characters and then doing some clustering, and so on (other invention strategies are listed in your book).

2. Going back to the text to pick out the particular passages, language, or features of the text you might use to write about your focus.

For example, one of the ideas that came up in class was how the story portrays the difference between deciding something with your head and "feeling" something.  The story has two sections - one where E is reflecting (thinking) and one where she is acting/doing/being in the moment.  Joyce portrays E standing and watching in the first section and as standing and being jostled by the crowd in the second section.  In one section she is passive, in the other active => and although she is ambivalent/conflicted in both sections, she comes to different decisions/conclusions about what she "wants" to do in these two sections. Also, in the first section she thinks of her father, of her mother, of her work,  In the second she feels "all the waters of all the oceans tumbling inside her" (that's from memory so it's not quite right - but you get the idea).  Some selection of these features might be used to "summarize" what happens so I could make the point that Joyce illustrates the very human situation of wanting two different things from two different parts of your "self".

3.  Finally, do some writing  about how you will organize your material.  Make a tentative map, for the order in which you will present the required elements for the precis AND for the order you will present the elements from the text.  If you are unsure - you might put question marks, or maybe indicate more than one order.

This is brainstorming!  The idea is to make a plan and try it out before you do the hard work of crafting your sentences in just the right words.

From what I gathered from talking to you in your groups you have lots of great ideas for planning a precis for this piece.

For next class:  
Read: LatWP, Chapters 1 & 2

Write:  Post your brainstorming for writing a precis for Eveline to your brainstomring page for Short stories.  Use the description of listed under "planning process for writing a precis" for direction (above).

This is NOT polished writing.  It should include the ideas you will use - as well as ideas you have decided not to use - just mark your preferences!   The purpose of this assignment is to give you practice planning papers - and to give you an experience getting (and giving) some feedback on your plans. 

Good class today!  If you have questions - send me an email.  See you Thursday. 

9.4 Course overview, introductions + portfolio

Class will meet in CAS 236 on 9.8.

Today was the getting to know you class.  We talked through the course syllabus - pointed out the address for the course blog and talked about how we would use the blog throughout the term, and introduced the course textbook and an overview of the assignments (see the calendar).

Then - the most important part of the class - you introduced yourselves to eachother.  It seems many of you are transfer students (many from Middlesex), most of you (but not all) are English majors, and you seemed to have lots to say to each other!   As I said in class, you are going to be brainstorming together, talking about the readings, and giving each other feedback on your writing - so it is important that you know one another well enough to feel comfortable talking to eachother.

During the last third of class, you created your portfolios.  As pointed out in talk about the course - you will turn all of your work in electronically, either as an attachment to the email sent to the course address (ENG2000WritingAboutLit@gmail.com) or as a file browsed up to the correct page of your portfolio.

Something important I forgot to say in class:
Because all your work will be turned in electronically, and because we will be doing lots of brainstorming and workshopping in class - if you have a laptop => bring it to class.  This will allow you to create your work in class and post it directly to your portfolio - rather than re-writing from notes.

For next class:

Read: Review the syllabus & calendar; if you have any questions - bring them up in class.

Read LatWP, Ch 1, pp 1-6. Spend some time with Eveline, James Joyce’s story.  Read it more than once.  Jot down some notes.

Write: Create your portfolio in your Kean account at google.sites, and send the address to the course email.

Thanks for the great first class!   See you next week.

First Day of Class

Welcome to ENG 2000: Writing about LIterature.

As it says on the course syllabus & calendar (posted under course documents to the right), we will use this blog as a hub for course communications.  After each class I will post an update of what we did - and the assignment for what to do for the next class. To do well in this class - you will want to check the blog after every class. If it is more than 24 hours after class and I have not yet posted the update - I am hoping one of you will do me the favor of sending me a reminder!  

So we will see how this goes. . .