December 13

Homework

• Drafts of humorous or suspense pieces (if necessary)
• Rough Draft of research report

Have a merry Christmas!  See you back in class on January 3!

December 6

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting ("You are the worst hero ever!")
• 2nd or 3rd draft of humorous essay OR suspense composition
• Research report (You ought to begin writing this week :-) )

November 29

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Great!  Now I'm stuck.)
• 2nd Draft of Humorous Essay or Suspense Composition (Your choice!)
• Notes and outline for your research report.  (Your research should be nearing completion.

*A new video is available to those who were not in class this week.  If you do not see an email link in  your inbox (or spam folder), message me.  :-) 

November 15

Homework

• Any late or missing work. (You can check the gradebook online. Let me know if I need to resend your link!)
• Humorous Essay
• Suspense Composition
• 2nd Draft of either Humorous or Suspense composition
• Research Report:  You should have most of your sources gathered, your outline organized and be taking notes!

November 8

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (What would you do with an empty town?)
• 2nd draft of EITHER your humorous essay or your suspense piece. 
• Continue working on your research report.  By next class, you should have completed or be in the process of completing the following steps:
• Choose a topic
• Ask yourself questions (In which direction do you want to explore your topic?)
• Begin gathering resources (You should have at least 2 or 3 sources, or possible sources, by now)
• Brainstorm topics
• Begin organizing your topics / Create outline
• Begin taking notes

This week in class we discussed source citation.  The links to the side will provide a helpful guide as you develop your Notes and Bibliography pages.  The Citation Generator is a helpful tool, but don't rely on it as it is not exceptionally accurate.

November 1

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (There was a flash of shiny red ribbon.)
• 2nd draft of either your humorous essay or suspense piece.  Choose whichever one you like the best.
• Begin creating an outline for your research report and collect sources.  Below is a summary of what we discussed in class this week!

Collecting Sources

The second question most students ask assigned a report is, “How many sources do I need?”  (The first question is always, “How long does it need to be?”)  A good rule of thumb is about one source for every page or two depending on the availability of information.

Sources can be divided into two main categories:  primary and secondary.  A primary source is one written or recorded by someone at the time of the event.  Historic diaries, political memoranda, and, today, YouTube videos are examples of primary sources.  Secondary sources are books, papers, movies, and articles compiled by someone not involved in the event often at a distance of time.  Both of these types of sources are useful in writing a report.

Primary sources capture the details, impressions and emotions, even, of someone who experienced, saw, or was involved in a specific event.  Pepys’ Diary is an invaluable primary source for a paper about the fire of London.  An interview of a WWII pilot’s contribution to Guadalcanal would be a primary source about Guadalcanal.  A collection of an author’s letters, or drafts of their work are also primary sources.  Letters from an ambassador to his country’s leader describing a particular event or exchange are all primary sources.  

However primary sources do have their limitations.  First, a primary source has a limited view of an event.  A soldier’s account of the Battle of Gettysburg will be limited to the part(s) of the battle in which he was involved.  Second, a primary source is often biased .  For example, the Spanish ambassador to Henry VIII’s court  gives a flattering report of Queen Katherine and a disparaging account of Anne Boleyn.  Obviously, the man wants to keep his job!

Secondary sources are information collected by someone not directly involved in a particular event.  Secondary sources include books, magazines, journals, and documentaries.  Stephen Hawking’s discussion of the beginning of the world would be a secondary source, as he was not present when the world was formed :-), and David Bloom’s criticisms of Shakespeare  are secondary sources.  He never spoke directly with Shakespeare about the meaning of certain passages, or the imagery in Macbeth.   Since the authors of secondary sources were not part of the event they are discussing, they are often able to present a broader point of view.  A scholar of Ancient Rome is able to more fully explain Julius Caesar’s campaign in Gaul than one of his legionnaires.  Likewise, a modern literary critic is more fully able to explain the impact of Darwinism on Jack London than London may have been able to himself.

Secondary sources also have their weaknesses.  Many secondary sources are written to prove a particular point.  Once you are aware of a source’s bias, you can accurately interpret the information.  Secondary sources are dependent upon the scholarship of the author.  Auntie Murial may have an opinion about everything, but since she’s never left Hoboken, NJ, she hasn’t read a book in 20 years, doesn’t listen to the news or watch television, and dropped out of school in the third grade, she’s probably not the best source of information about Ramses III.     

So, how do I know what is a good source?

• Look at the author.  Is the author of the book or article a recognized expert in his field?  By what institution are they employed?  (A Harvard professor is a better source than a teacher at a community college.)  If you don’t know off hand, the author’s biographical information  on the back cover, back flap or at the end of the article is helpful as is a quick Google search!)

• Look at the publisher.  Is it published by a recognized academic institution?  Oxford University Press or Eardmans are usually a better choice than, say, We Publish Anything Press. 

• Look at the date.  This is especially important for scientific information.  Newer secondary sources are often considered more accurate than older ones.  The same does not necessarily hold true for historical or literary sources.

What about internet sources?

The same criteria for books applies to internet sources as well.  However, also keep in mind…

• The website.  Aunt Murial’s Homepage is a less credible source than the Smithsonian Institute’s Website.

• The URL ending.  A .com site can be any old site.  A .edu site is an educational (usually a college or university) site.  If you don’t know anything else about the credibility of the host of the site, you can more safely guess that an educational site is a good source!

October 25

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (NASA receives a mysterious message from an astronaut that got separated from his spacecraft and flew off into space twenty years earlier.  He says he's at the edge of the universe.)

Due to the number of people absent this week, there was no new instruction.  Continue with last week's assignments.

• Humorous essay and suspense composition drafts (if necessary).
• Begin planning for your research report.
• Choose a subject:  Your subject will need to be an event within living memory, as you will have to conduct an interview as part of your research.
• Ask yourself questions:  What aspects of your subject interest you personally?
• Begin brainstorming topics:  The questions you ask yourself are helpful in this process.  Also, remember to brainstorm more topics than you will need just in case you cannot find information about one of your first-choice topics.
• Begin finding sources:  We will talk about this in more detail next week.

October 18

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (The creatures had always been there.  it just took her a few years to realize she was the only one who could see them.)
• Humorous essay and suspense composition drafts (if necessary).
• Begin planning for your research report.
• Choose a subject:  Your subject will need to be an event within living memory, as you will have to conduct an interview as part of your research.
• Ask yourself questions:  What aspects of your subject interest you personally?
• Begin brainstorming topics:  The questions you ask yourself are helpful in this process.  Also, remember to brainstorm more topics than you will need just in case you cannot find information about one of your first-choice topics.
• Begin finding sources:  We will talk about this in more detail next week.

October 11

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting ("I wouldn't do that if I was you. Dwarfs don't like McDonald's.)
• Finish your suspense essay.

This week we talked about choosing words which increase the feeling of suspense.  We read

The Tell Tale Heart and The Raven as examples.

October 4

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (The narrator was running late and just showed up to a story already in progress.  S/he doesn't know who the heroes and villains are or even what genre the story is.)
• Continue working on your suspense piece.  (This can be either a non-fiction essay or a short fiction story.)  We will cover one more element of suspense next week.  Your rough draft is due Oct. 19.

Class Review

   Suspense occurs when there are two possible and equally (or nearly equally) outcomes in a narrative.  However, just because the ending is in doubt doesn't mean that an audience will feel suspense; there are some things that a writer can do to help create a feeling of suspense in their readers.

1. Put sympathetic characters in peril.  Peril can be as extreme as life and death or it can be less intense, like having a dream or desire thwarted.  What's at stake isn't as important as how much an audience cares for a character.  
2. Focus on what could and not necessarily what does happen.  In any situation the number of paths of action, bad and good, which can happen are innumerable and that creates anxiety.  In reality, there is only one path of action which actually occurs.  Choices create suspense.
3. Limit your narrator.  While you as a storyteller are essentially omniscient, you need to keep secrets from  your audience.  Eventually you will have to give away all the secrets in a story, but a good way to do that is to limit the perspective of the narrator and let the characters reveal secrets themselves in their own time.  
4. Don't focus on violence.  Remember, what could happen is suspense.  To much gore will alienate an audience.
5. Anticipate your audience.  What questions will your audience have at each point in your story?  Be sure they are answered or there is a clear reason why they cannot be answered at this point in the story (or ever).  Readers of suspense like to solve puzzles and find loopholes.  Puzzle your story out before your readers.  

We read An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge as an example of how a writer withholds information from the audience in order to create suspense. 

Alfred Hitchcock is the master of suspense in cinema.  If you have the inclination Rear Window, Notorious, and Vertigo are great examples of how to create suspense.

Here's a clip of Hitchcock explaining his technique.

September 27

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (We thought the employees in costume at the amusement park were only pretending.  We were wrong.)
• Brainstorm for your suspense piece.  This may be either an essay or a fiction piece.  Because suspense is built from the appearance of two equally likely but opposite endings, brainstorm your piece ending in at least two of the most likely options.

September 20

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (Green mist swirled inside the only bottle among the empty jars.  The peeling label read, "Do not touch!")
• Complete your humorous essay.  Remember to "explode" moments that are especially important or humorous.  Don't be afraid to exaggerate!

September 13

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting * (The last message from the starship was, "Let us drift.  It's for your own good."
• Begin writing your humorous essay. 
• Remember, a humorous essay is gentle in tone.  The author is laughing with the audience and characters not at them.
• Your essay may use stories (often exaggerated) to illustrate you points, or you may use incongruity to humorously address your topics.  Last week's essay used stories as illustrations.  This week's essay used incongruity (what is supposed to happen vs. what actually happens).
•  You may turn in your draft if you complete it this week.  If not, you have until the 28th before it is "officially" due!
• Here is the essay I shared in class this week. 

* Complete all other writing assignments before you begin freewriting.

September 6

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting* (Take out the book closest to you.  Open to page 55.  The second sentence on the page is your writing prompt.)
• Pre-write/Brainstorm your humorous essay. (Your pre-writing/Brainstorming does not need to be in complete sentences, nor does it need to be in an outline.  This is just a record of thoughts you might use.)

* Complete Freewriting only after you have finished the rest of your assigned writing.

A humorous essay contains elements of both fiction and essay.  While the structure is much like an essay with an introduction, body, and conclusion, and contains a topical exploration of a subject, the topics are illustrated with humorous stories.  For example in the story linked below, the subject is bad company, and the topics are the wave of excitement, the inevitable catastrophe, and the effects on a person of sensibilities.  Notice that there are two humorous examples (stories) illustrating the author's point.

So, what makes something funny?  People, who evidently have quite a bit of time on their hands, have determined that humor is produced three main ways:  superiority, incongruity, and relief.  Superiority is when the audience or a character is aware of the reality of a situation while other characters in the story do not.  "Bad Company" is full of examples of this type of humor.  Incongruity happens when elements in a story are expected to be one way but in fact turn out to be different. We laugh at Wallace and Gromit because the pet is more "together" than his master.  Incongruity is only funny, however, if the outcome is benign, and not all incongruity is humorous. Relief is rarely used in humorous essays, and we often call it comic relief.  When a story or event is becoming too tense then something unexpected and unrelated occurs, it often produces humor because it breaks the tension. There is quite a bit of information on humor theory, if you want to Google it, and other ways of making people laugh, but understanding these basic concepts may help you enhance what you already know is funny!

"Bad Company"

August 30

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Freewriting (It was then that I knew peanut butter was the solution to all my problems.) *
• Write for 100 minutes on any topic in any form.  (If you're stuck, you may use the Freewriting prompt above!)

*Complete Freewriting after your writing assignment if you still need something to work on to complete your 100 Writing Minutes.

April 26

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Literary Criticism

Note: Our last class will be May 17th.  Please have the rough draft of your criticism turned in no later than May 10th.  The earlier you finish your rough draft, the earlier you will finish your writing work for the year. :-)

April 12

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Continue working on your literary criticism.  Bring what you've completed to our next class!

April 5

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Determine your thesis statement, if you haven't already done so.
• Continue gathering sources.  Remember Marvel! is an excellent resource.

March 29

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Finish reading if necessary
• Reflection papers (You should have three total)
• Develop a workable thesis statement and begin research for your 5 page criticism.

March 22

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Finish That Hideous Strength (if necessary)
• Final reflection paper (You should have a total of three)
• Begin gathering sources and determining the direction of your criticism

March 8

Homework

• Writing Minutes (There is a link to the file off to the right)
• Read through Chapter 13
• Write a second one-page reflection/reaction paper

Here's an interesting contemporary review of That Hideous Strength by George Orwell:  https://apilgriminnarnia.com/2015/08/17/orwellonths/

March 1

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Read through Chapter 10 of That Hideous Strength
• Write a one-page reflection paper
• Look here for some good information about Arthurian legends!

This week's weather report shows the potential for ANOTHER storm on Thursday.  If SEEDS is canceled this week, you do not get a week off.  Instead check the website and your email for next week's assignment and any information you may need to complete it.  I will post the class's assignment here, and email individuals as necessary.

February 15

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Read to chapter 6 of That Hideous Strength
• Write a one-page reflection paper about what you read.

February 8

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Persuasive Essay Draft (Ethan & Seth, I will get your edited draft to you as soon as I can!)
• Read chapters 1-6 of That Hideous Strength
• Read "The Weight of Glory" (Or if you can find an audio file you may listen to it as well, as it was intended to be listened to in the first place!)  This will help to give you an understanding of Lewis' worldview.
• Place a bookmark on this site to read in the next couple of weeks.  He has some great literary insight into how our novel is a fairy tale (and it's a good source for your criticism!)

February 1

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Story Draft (if necessary)
• Persuasive Essay (if necessary)
• Use all the elements of poetry we have discussed to create a poem 

You should bring a copy of That Hideous Strength to class next week.

January 25

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Persuasive Essay 
• Sound poem
• Create a poem (or prose poem) with emphasis on the sound of the words in conjunction with the meaning of the poem.

January 18

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Persuasive Essay (if possible)
• Write at least one poem with emphasis on the meter reflecting the content of your poem.
• Gather a copy of That Hideous Strength

January 11

Homework

• Writing Minutes
• Story Draft (if necessary)
• Persuasive essay---add notes

Let's decide which book we want to study this spring!

January 4th

Due to the impending storm, there will be no class tomorrow, January 4.  Please use your time this week to work on a second draft of your persuasive essay and/or a final draft of your story (if necessary).

See you all on the 11th!