Week 1: Build Skills
Me Talk Pretty One Day: After reading David Sedaris's personal narrative, "Me Talk Pretty One Day," please complete the "Language Exercises." Also, please focus in on the first "Discussion Question" (Ignore Discussion Questions 2 & 3):
|
Big Trouble (approx. 1 or 2 pgs./30 mins.)
Please tell the story of why you missed your curfew. Be down-to-Earth and convincing, or spin a tall tale and make it wild and unbelievable.
|
Lies, Lies, Lies! (approx. 1 or 2 pgs./1 class pd.)
Write down three brief stories about yourself. Two should be true, and one should be false. Be prepared to read all three in front of the class, and your classmates will try to guess which story is the lie. (Each story can be a paragraph long).
|
Seas of Change
Dolphins and whales are smarter than we thought. Much smarter. Aquatic mammals have begun to band together and form their own societal infrastructures and technology. Pretty impressive for creatures without thumbs. Now they are fighting back against human encroachment and claiming the resources of the oceans as their own. Some humans advocate all out battle to take back the seas. Others advocate communication and diplomacy. What are the ethical dilemmas in determining who "owns" the ocean's resources? Does might make right in the fight for oceanic dominance? Were whales and dolphins always this smart, or does the change indicate a strange, new, outside influence? (Taken from 100 Prompts for Science Fiction Writers by Leslie and Jarod Anderson)
|
Correspondence
Epistolary pieces can take the form of a series of diary or journal entries written by one person, or they can show a correspondence between two (or more) people. For this journal entry, please compose a fictional correspondence between two people. The correspondence can be through letters, e-mails, text or recorded audio messages, notes, phone conversation transcripts or any other means by which two people might communicate, which can be recorded on the page. Be creative. (Approx. two pages) |
Week 2: Pre-write & Rough Draft
I'm Not Self-Absorbed, I'm Just Very Interesting: After reading Theo Pauline Nestor's blog post, "How to write about yourself without being a jerk," please brainstorm as many potential personal narrative essay topics as you can.
Please list and provide details for at least five potential personal narrative stories for your upcoming assignment. Describe:
|
|
"Make Me Care"
First, watch Andrew Stanton's TED Talk, "The Clues to a Great Story." Then, respond to the following prompts:
|
|
Shape of Your Story & Graphic Organizer
1. Please map your story in the very serious way Kurt Vonnegut does.
2. Create a graphic organizer or outline for your fictional narrative. |
Narrative Outline: Please create an outline for your narrative writing assignment. You may create a structured MLA style outline, or you may use a less formal outlining method. You may even choose to use a graphic organizer, such as a flow chart. Please include the following
|
Week 3: Edit, Revise & Polish
Active Voice Self-Edit
1. Read "Chapter 8: The Active Voice" from Bruce Ross-Larson's book Edit Yourself: A Manual for Everyone Who Works With Words. 2. Choose two sentences in your essay that are written in passive voice, and write them in your journal. Then, rewrite them in active voice. Does it improve the sentence? If so change the sentence in your essay. |
|
Reflection:
Step 1: Please view the TED Talk: "Why storytelling matters" Step 2: Identify an element of storytelling discussed in the TED Talk that you could improve upon in your own Narrative essay. Step 3: Describe the improvements you plan to make in your writing in a reflective paragraph or two in your journal. Be sure you address the following things: Summarize the element of storytelling that was addressed. Explain what needs improvement in your essay. Explain what you need to do to strengthen your essay. Step 4: Revise your essay according to plan! |
"How to Write with Style": After reading Kurt Vonnegut's "How to write with style" please respond to the prompt in your journal:
|