Brochures (How to do this...) & Samples

The purpose of a brochure is to highlight the main points or give information that is eye-catching or attention grabbing. Effectively, you are playing around with advertising a NEW made-up religion. Ask yourself: what would someone new to this religion need to know about my fake Pantheon?

For those of you having a difficult time with the concept of this project, here's a little help.

How to Design & Layout a Brochure (info)

Sample brochures.

Use these links and the samples here to help you. Remember: brochures are eye-catching, not too wordy. If you have too much text, most people would be put off by all that reading. Just like some of you are with homework and long, long chapters. A picture is worth a thousand words, they say. Good graphic design is part of the writing process and some of you may find yourself prepared or interested in careers in graphic design, advertising, marketing, and other such endeavors. You wouldn't know until you try.

Pantheon Brochure & Cat's Cradle #2

Please continue working on your brochure project. At some point today, when you are tired of your brochure or need a break, please take a look at the following and take a few key notes about Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. You may also spend some time today reading silently if you need a break from writing.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American novelist known for works blending satire, black comedy, and science fiction, such as Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Cat's Cradle (1963), and Breakfast of Champions (1973). Read about him here.

Vonnugut’s Advice On Writing

On pages 9 and 10 of his book Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction, Vonnegut listed eight rules for writing a short story:
1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

Vonnegut qualifies the list by adding that the greatest American short story writer, Flannery O'Connor, broke all these rules except the first, and that great writers tend to do that.

In Chapter 18 of his book Palm Sunday "The Sexual Revolution," Vonnegut grades his own works. He states that the grades "do not place me in literary history" and that he is comparing "myself with myself." The grades are as follows:
• Player Piano: B
• The Sirens of Titan: A
• Mother Night: A
• Cat's Cradle: A-plus
• God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater: A
• Slaughterhouse-Five: A-plus
• Welcome to the Monkey House: B-minus
• Happy Birthday, Wanda June: D
• Breakfast of Champions: C
• Slapstick: D
• Jailbird: A
• Palm Sunday: C

Pantheon Brochure & Cat's Cradle

During third period, please begin work on the Pantheon brochure instructions.

To start: in your journal list a few "FORCES" or "POWERS" that govern your life (or society in the 21st century). Give these forces and powers or elements personalities and a name - in other words, create fake gods/goddesses for our 21st century just like the Greeks did way back then. Once you have a list of potential gods/goddesses, create a pamphlet using either Indesign or PAGES about what gods/goddesses your new religion offers.

Include graphics and text promoting your new pantheon. Give your "religion" a new name.

During 4th period we will be getting the book Cat's Cradle. Please KEEP your mythology books -- we're still using them.

Gods/Goddesses Pantheon Pamphlet

Please complete to turn in your essay from the last two classes at the end of period 3. Again, please use time to correct children's stories and poem drafts.

For those of you who finish early, in your journal list a few "FORCES" or "POWERS" that govern your life (or society in the 21st century). Give these forces and powers or elements personalities and a name - in other words, create fake gods/goddesses for our 21st century just like the Greeks did way back then. Once you have a list of potential gods/goddesses, create a pamphlet using either Indesign or PAGES about what gods/goddesses your new religion offers.

4th period - we'll work on archetypes in room a240.

Playing Catch-Up & More Archetypes

Today, please complete these various assignments:

A. Check the rubric below regarding your myth-poems. Make any changes necessary to complete a second, stronger draft of your work.

B. Read & revise your Elementary Story projects. Overall, these were very good. Nice work, class! You will want to correct grammar/punctuation/formatting errors to prepare your story for your "children's books, including illustrations."

C. Complete your short creation of the world personal essays.

During 4th period, we will be going next door to room A240 to continue discussing character archetypes.

Poetry Rubric:

4 = Exemplary: Underlying these poems there is a metaphor working, comparing the subject to a comment regarding the human condition. Free of grammar, punctation, and usage errors. Various literary devices work together to create an artistic poem. Imagery and other poetic devices combine to make this poem strong and creative.

3 = Accomplished: The poem may hint at a metaphor, but may not be as consistent as those above. The poem hints at a human theme, but may fall short. There may be a few grammar, punctuation, and usage errors. Some literary devices are used, but piece may have some gaps. Imagery is largely literal and/or abstract, but grade appropriate. Shows some accomplishment and understanding of the poetic form, but not as 4's above. Work may be exemplary but turned in late.

2 = Promising: The poem is largely literal or abstract. Many lines are repeated for no effect. Poem largely ignores human theme. Many grammar, punctuation, and usage errors make this poem difficult to read or understand, although it is possible. Poem lacks imagery, but an occasional literary device is used. Poem format is incorrect or messed up. Work may be accomplished but turned in late.

1 = Beginning: The poem lacks form and structure. The poem is abstract with little or no theme (perhaps too personal or cliche). Work is largely below grade-level. Work has many errors in grammar, punctuation, and usage that illustrate the writer doesn't understand the basic rules of the English language. Work may be promising but was turned in late.

Beginnings ... writing response

Start today by finishing your poem draft. This draft should be turned in at the end of 3rd period to the "in-box". When you finish, or if you finish early, please go on to the second part of today's assignment:

Silently, read the account of human life and how the world was created as described on pages 64-70 of your Mythology books. You should be familiar with the following gods, goddesses, titans: Gaea (Earth) & Ouranos (Uranus), Cyclops, Kronos (Chronus or Time), Rhea (Ops), Prometheus, Atlas, Hyperborians, and Epimentheus from your reading.

Then do one of two projects:
A. Write a short creative essay (you may use the pronoun "I" and reflect) about your thoughts and experience regarding Greek Mythology. Recall how you were taught or when you first came to know about these gods/goddesses/titans, stories, etc. and reflect how some of these stories are archetypal--that they remind you of other religions, stories or movies or books that have similar themes or characters. Make sense of what you are reading. Examine and expose those ideas through your creative essay. Use your own experiences to enrich and examine these issues.

B. Much of beginnings of myth deal with conflict--of one force overcoming another. From your reading, write a short creative essay examining conflict or one force fighting another in your own experience or life.

These are expository essays. In journalism you will write more of these kinds of exposes. In an expository essay, the writer examines the meaning and significance of the subject. Feel free to use your own understanding, view-point, or experience and reflect on how you are connected to or improved or illuminated by the subject matter. Most of creative non-fiction requires reflection on the part of the author. Try to reflect about your own life and how your experiences have taught you important life lessons or significant human issues as you write.

Carl Jung, The Creation of the World & Archetypes

Carl Jung, a Swiss psychologist, created the idea of what is called the Collective Consciousness. Read about Jung and his theories on archetypes here. Jung's work, along with other psychologists, philosophers, writers, and anthropologists can be used in Archetypal Literary Criticism. Read and take notes about it in your journal here. We'll chat about this next period.

Creation Myths (Cosmogony)
There are a few standard creation myth archetypes. These are:

1. Creation ex nihilo (or creation from nothing)
2. Emergence myths
3. Diver myths
4. Egg myths
5. Order from Chaos

In Jungian psychology, creation myths symbolize the dawning of self-awareness in an individual. All creation myths (says Jung) parallel childhood when we become aware of ourselves and our separation from others.

Take a look at a few common creation myths - try to identify the type of myth:

Egyptian
Christian Creation Story (in Lego form)
Big Bang Theory
Stephen Hawking & the Vatican

After dealing with this, please continue writing your draft of a myth poem (or create a new one, perhaps concerning the creation of someone's world).

During 4th period, we will reconvene in room 240.

Introduction to Mythology

To be a truly great poet (and to help you understand various writers throughout literary history) all writers should be familiar with the standard Gods, Goddesses, myths, legends and stories. There is a variety of reasons why a young writer would want to learn all this stuff. Here are a few reasons:

1. Parts of successful writing is connecting to their audience. We all have different life experiences; we all come from different cultures. Mythology levels our playing field when discussing UNIVERSAL ideas about what it means to be human.

2. Mythology is about what makes us human. These stories are referenced constantly in Western literature and culture. We see examples of mythological gods in our advertisement, television, media, music, art, science, and popular culture. By knowing the reference, you will understand more about what you're seeing.

3. Sophisticated poetry uses a technique called: ALLUSION. It is this literary device that we will mostly concern ourselves now. It deepens and enriches our work if we use it, allowing the poet to say more through metaphor (comparison) and figurative language.

To get started please take a look at these clips and jot down a few notes about the Greek gods in your journal:

Twelve Olympians
Olympian Gods

You should know the following names (Using your book or using the internet, find out who these characters/names are. Keep notes in your journal):
The Titans (Ocean, Gaia, Tethys, Hyperion, Mnemosyne, Themis, Iapetus, Atlas, Prometheus)
Cronus (Kronos)/Saturn
Zeus/Jupiter
Poseidon/Neptune
Hades/Pluto
Hestia/Vesta
Hera/Juno
Ares/Mars
Athena/Minerva
Artemis/Diana
Hephaestus/Vulcan
Apollo
Hermes/Mercury
Aphrodite/Venus
Lesser Gods: Eros/Cupid (very important to poets), Hebe, Iris, Dionysus/Bacchus, Demeter/Ceres, Pan,

The monsters: the Sileni, the Satyrs/fauns, the Dryads, the Nymphs, the Gorgons, the Graiae sisters, the Sirens, the harpies, the Minotaur, the Bacchae

Important people/gods/immortals to know:
Castor & Pollux, Leda, Heracles/Hercules, Persephone/Proserpine, Pentheus

Please read these poems:

Atlas by Lucille Clifton

i am used to the heft of it
sitting against my rib,
used to the ridges of forest,
used to the way my thumb
slips into the sea as i pull
it tight. something is sweet
in the thick odor of flesh
burning and sweating and bearing young.
i have learned to carry it
the way a poor man learns
to carry everything.

Leda by D.H. Lawrence

Come not with kisses
not with caresses
of hands and lips and murmurings;
come with a hiss of wings
and sea-touch tip of beak
and treading of wet, webbed, wave-working feet
into the marsh-soft belly.

The Death of Venus by Robert Creeley

I dreamt her sensual proportions
had suffered sea-change,

that she was a porpoise, a
sea-beast rising lucid from the mist.

The sound of waves killed speech
but there were gestures--

of my own, it was to call her closer,
of hers, she snorted and filled her lungs with water,

then sank, to the bottom,
and looking down, clear it was, like crystal,

there I saw her.

Endymion by Thomas Kinsella

At first there was nothing. Then a closed space.
Such light as there was showed him sleeping.
I stole nearer and bent down; the light grew brighter,
and I saw it came from the interplay of our two beings.
It blazed in silence as I kissed his eyelids.
I straightened up and it faded, from his pallor
and the ruddy walls with their fleshy thickenings
--great raw wings, curled--a huge owlet-stare--
as a single drop echoed in the depths.

Pentheus by George Seferis

Sleep filled him with dreams of fruit and leaves;
wakefulness kept him from picking even a mulberry.
And the two together divided his limbs among the Bacchae.

The Centaur by Theodore Roethke

The Centaur does not need a Horse;
He's part of one, as a matter of course.
'Twixt animal and man divided,
His sex-life never is one-sided.
He does what Doves and Sparrows do--
What else he does is up to you.

Now, try your own. Pick a god/goddess. Learn about them in your mythology book or from your notes. Identify for yourself what the god/goddess, being, etc. represents. This may be used as your theme. For Example: Zeus represents LAW. So write a poem about RULES or LAW or GOVERNING. You can do this backwards as well. Think about the theme or human condition you want to write about and match it with an equivalent god/goddess: For example: instead of LOVE, choose APHRODITE or EROS.

Write a short lyrical or narrative poem where you write TO the god/goddess, or FROM their POV, or to someone else ABOUT the god/goddess, etc.

Work on a draft of this poem in class today.

Speak & Mythology

1st thing: Please go to the library and check out Edith Hamilton's Mythology. Keep your SPEAK books for now. I'll collect these at the end of class and take them to the library for you, or you can do it yourself after class.

After you return, today please get into pairs and discuss the novel Speak. Recall the major and minor characters and their role in the book. How does the author use these characters to propel her novel forward? Take 10 minutes to discuss with your partner before we open the discussion to the rest of the class.

We will take a test on Speak today. You may use your books for part 2 of the exam. To do this, after completing part 1, please hand in part 1, then use your book for part 2.

After the test, we will move to room a240 to discuss mythology and archetype.

Children's Newberry/Caldecott Winners Exercise

Today, get into groups of 3-4 and discuss "Speak." What has caught your attention, what have you learned about writing from reading the book? Make a short list for your group and be prepared to share your findings with the class.

Afterwards, please travel down to the library. The handout and directions will be discussed in class.

HOMEWORK: Please complete "Speak". There will be a test on Speak next class. Things to consider while reading: how does Anderson tie up loose ends. Examine the climax and resolution of the novel.

Children's book - Elementary Reading Project due!

Please continue to work on your first draft for the elementary reader project. By the end of class today you should have printed out a copy of your first draft. We will be coming back to this assignment to include illustrations and bind the story into a "book."

But in the meantime, please complete the following, if you finish early.

1. Please turn in your homework: response about the complications in Marking Period 2 of SPEAK.
2. Please read the 3rd marking period.
3. In your journal...
a. Make a list of adolescent problems (you can get ideas from the wall wisher page).
b. Write about a time you failed at something.
c. Use one of the chapter headings in Marking Period 3 and write a poem or short story or play using the theme of the chapter.

Usually 3/4 of the way through a novel, the characters, plot, and conflict clearly established, an author will bring his protagonist to a dark moment--a point in the character's life where all odds seem to be against him/her. Usually this dark moment leads to what is called a turning point (the beginning of the climax for the novel). As you read Marking Period 3, what would you consider to be the event that is the protagonist's DARK MOMENT?

Elementary Writing Project - Speak (MP 1)

Please continue working on your draft of your Elementary writing project. Please note that your first draft may not need pictures just yet. We'll get into that soon. The first draft will be due Friday at the end of class, so please continue writing it.

By the end of today, you should be nearing or planning an "ending" to your project. Remember that it is possible to add more to ANY story simply by considering what happens next with a character. (Even a character who dies has consequences or can help continue a story, although this is not the norm.)

If you need a break or are "finished" with your draft, either continue reading "Speak" or in your journal do any of the following exercises (not to be turned in...do them in your journal).

1. Name some adults in your life. Replace their real names and identities with nicknames.
2. Recall the last verbal fight or argument you had with your friend(s). What was the issue? Who was ultimately right? Try recreating the conversation in dialogue.
3. Make a list of some things that you would change about your life if you were given the chance.
4. Make a list of the different "clans" or "cliques" in our school. How would you lump together and name particular groups? Which groups do you feel you belong to? Which groups are you most opposed to? Why might these groups form?
5. Make a top 10 list of lies that (adults, school administration/teachers, parents, religious leaders, doctors, teenagers, etc.) tell you.

HOMEWORK: Please complete Marking Period 2 in "Speak." As you read, please notice how the author is complicating the situation established in part one of the book. Authors need to establish character, setting, tone, and character in the beginning of any story or novel. How does Anderson do this effectively? Please respond in a paragraph or two about what you notice about how the author establishes and moves the plot along or develops character from part one through part two. (Due Friday).

Elementary Children's story - draft & Speak

During 3rd period, please continue writing your children's draft. This story will be due (as a draft) Friday.

During 4th period we will be checking out the novel "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson. When we come back from the library we will move to room 240.

Before we get "Speak" please go to the following website and post a short problem that most adolescents face as they grow up. You may add a picture if you'd like as well.

http://wallwisher.com/wall/speakadolescents Please include your real name so that you get credit for this assignment.

We will need this list soon for writing ideas.