Friday, January 31, 2014

Semester Portfolio: Gathering Ye Rosebuds

Semester Portfolio

1. Examine your work collected in your portfolio. (You may print out anything you haven't yet printed out and place a copy in your portfolio).

2. Revise:
• Nouns: Nouns should be specific and concrete; avoid blatant abstract or vague nouns always in your writing.
 One way to make an abstract concept (like love or death or pain or sadness) concrete is by creating a metaphor or simile. (Ex. Love is a blind dove fluttering at your window) 
 If you can’t hold it in your hand, touch it, smell it, taste it, hear it, then it’s not concrete. If you can’t see it or touch it, it’s not specific.
• Verbs: Verbs should be active.
 Do not write in the passive voice – let your subject do the action.
 Avoid excessive use of the verb TO BE. Instead, use strong active verbs
 Do not shift tense. Make sure all your verbs are either in the past or present. Try not to switch between tenses.
• Modifiers: Adjectives, prepositions, adverbs, conjunctions, interjections. These parts of speech help describe your characters, settings, and plot events.
 The thing to remember about modifiers is that they are not necessary. Overusing them is a great mistake in writing! Be concise!
 Make sure your stories and poems describe the images you expect the reader to see. Don’t forget about WHERE your characters are or WHAT they are doing while they are talking or acting.
 Adverbs should be used sparingly.
 Try to avoid overusing conjunctions. This is a sure sign of a run-on sentence.
• Plot, character, setting, conflict, theme, dialogue, form: Find places in your stories and poems to expand your ideas. Complicate your plots, make them longer, more character driven, more descriptive. Use dialogue to develop your characters histories and backgrounds. Choose your words with care. Try to make a point. Remember your reader!
• Spell check and proofread your work! Reading your work out loud can help!
• It is sometimes helpful to get feedback from friends, teacher, or enemies about your writing.

Remember: this is a writing portfolio (and you have taken Grammar and Style), so you should check and correct any grammar or formatting errors in your work.

3. After you review and revise your portfolio, write a 1-3 page typed reflection essay about your progress this far in your creative writing courses. Answer the seven questions below somewhere in your reflective response. In your essay, you should:
 Talk about the work you include in your portfolio:
What pieces did you most enjoy, which were difficult for you and why? Which pieces show off your talent? What did writing these pieces help you understand in writing? 
 Talk about your strengths and weaknesses as a writer 
 Talk about the reading we did and your skill at being a reader. What pieces did you most enjoy/which pieces were difficult for you? Why? 
 Talk about specific writing problems you have faced (and overcome) 
 Talk about Ms. Gamzon’s and Mr. Craddock’s class – what parts did you most enjoy, which parts did you least enjoy? What might we be able to do to provide a better learning environment for you? 
NOTE: do not complain, but actively examine what you felt you did and learned in these classes. Complain to your family and friends, not in your self-evaluation. 
 Make a goal. What would you like to work on in the next semester?
Finally, grade yourself. What grade would you give YOURSELF as a writer this semester? Why? Defend your answer.

Use the lab today to complete this work. If you do not finish today in class, please complete as homework. You should have a reflective response turned in by next class (Feb. 3).

HOMEWORK: If you did not finish your reflective response, please do so for homework and turn in by Feb. 4 for participation credit.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Final Exam

Please complete the final exam. When you return to the lab, please study for your other mid-terms/finals and/or complete any missing work for this class.

Please make sure you turn in your scene drafts.

HOMEWORK: None. Good luck on your midterms/finals!

Monday, January 20, 2014

Final Exam Review; Colored Museum Project

Please print out your completed scenes. Meet with your partners for the play script project and together decide on the order of scenes for your plays (there should be between 3-5 scenes for your play...each member should have written one scene).
Together, decide on:
1. A title for your play.
2. Create a complete cast list and break down for each scene. This information should be recorded on a title page. Print out your title page and put the script together in the order that you want it to appear.
3. Hand in your project. It is due today.
On Thursday I will be collecting your journals. Please bring them to class.

Also on Thursday, Jan. 23, we will take our final exam for Performance, Word & Text. You should refer to the following list of terms, vocabulary, and writing materials to study for the exam. You will also be asked to write a short scene, poem, or story for the exam. Prompts will be given to you on the test materials.

You should know the following terms/concepts for your final exam:

  • Communication (speech, intrapersonal, interpersonal, public, mass, verbal, nonverbal) (chapter one & two: the communication process/How communication affects your life handouts; blog posts: 9/4, 9/8, 9/19, 9/22; unit exam)
  • Conversation (one-to-one communication) (chapter one handout; blog posts: 9/4, 9/8, 9/22; unit exam)
  • Connotation (chapter two handout; unit exam)
  • Denotation (chapter two handout; unit exam)
  • The communication process (idea, encode, sending a message, decode, etc.) (chapter two handout; blog posts: 9/19, 10/6; unit exam)
  • Sender/Receiver (chapter two handout; blog posts: 10/6; unit exam)
  • Memory & Recall (chapter two handout; unit exam)
  • Reasoning & Thinking (chapter two handout; unit exam)
  • Fields of experience (chapter two handout; unit exam)
  • Symbols (verbal, nonverbal) (chapter two handout; blog posts: 12/18, 1/5; unit exam)
  • Kinesics (chapter two handout; unit exam)
  • Proxemics (chapter two handout; unit exam)
  • Paralanguage (volume, pitch, rate, stress, voice quality, etc.) (chapter two handout; unit exam)
  • Vocalization (diaphragm, trachea, vocal cords, larynx, resonators, pharynx, nasal cavities, articulators) (chapter two handout; public speaking tips from blog: 9/26, 10/1; unit exam)
  • Reception & feedback (chapter three handout; unit exam)
  • Listening vs. Hearing (chapter three handout; blog posts: 9/4, 9/8, 10/16; unit exam)
  • How to Avoid Misunderstandings (chapter three handout; blog posts: 10/16; unit exam)
  • Barriers to listening (chapter three handout; blog posts 10/16; unit exam)
  • Central idea (chapter three handout; unit exam)
  • Logical fallacies (name calling, card stacking, bandwagon technique, etc.) (chapter three handout; unit exam)
  • Propaganda (chapter three handout; unit exam)
  • The hook (delivering speech chapter handout; blog posts: 9/4, 9/8; unit exam)

  • Difference between speech and writing (blog: 9/4, 9/8)
  • Ways in which humans communicate and reasons why humans communicate (blog 9/4, 9/8)
  • Effective speech writing & delivery (9/22, 9/25, 9/26, 10/1; coffeehouse preparation; handouts)
  • Speaker (persona), 1st person, 3rd person POV, internal monologue 
  • Effective elements of a speech (blog: 9/8, 9/10)
  • MLA format and headings (blog: 9/19, 9/22, 9/25)
  • Informational speech (blog: 9/22, 9/25, 9/26)
  • Subject/Predicate (blog: 9/25; grammar & style)
  • Brainstorming techniques (blog: 10/9, 10/10)
  • Writing techniques to start a poem (blog: 10/15)
  • Literary genres: (realism, chick lit, non-fiction/memoir, fantasy, sci-fi, horror/suspense, romance, western, historical fiction, mysteries, etc. (blog: 10/18, brochures)
  • Types of Readers: Fantacists, Realists, Pragmatists (blog: 10/21)
  • Protagonist (blog: 11/25)
  • Confessional poetry (blog: 12/5)
  • Conflict types (blog: 12/16)
  • Drama vocabulary: symbol, allegory, character motivation, characterization, essential question, reversal of fortune, dark moment, enlightenment, etc. (blog: 12/18, 1/5)
Novels/plays/Major Works Read:
  • Love That Dog; Sharon Creech (blog: 10/6, 10/9)
  • The Thief of Always; Clive Barker (blog: 10/23, 10/27, 10/29, 11/1, 11/4)
  • 12 Angry Men (blog: 11/11, 11/14, 11/17)
  • Spoon River & Edgar Lee Masters (blog: 12/2, 12/5)
  • The Zoo Story; Edward Albee (blog: 12/16)
  • August Wilson: The Piano Lesson (blog: 12/18, 1/5)
  • The Colored Museum; George C. Wolfe (blog: 1/8, 1/10, 1/14)
  • The Civil Rights Movement (black history poem project; August Wilson's Piano Lesson; The Colored Museum, etc.)
USE YOUR TIME TODAY IN CLASS (after you have completed the assignment above) TO STUDY FOR YOUR FINAL EXAM!

HOMEWORK: STUDY FOR YOUR EXAM! Journals are also due next class.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Collaborative Play Project

Please get into your chosen groups (groups of 3-5 from last class).

Last class you should have free written a list of themes you would like to work with for this project.
As a GROUP, select one theme that members of the group can agree on.

Alone in the lab today, write a scene for a play using this theme. You may use The Colored Museum as a model for your structure and script format. Your scene can be a monologue, include a song (if you'd like), and/or be a scene with no more than 5 characters. Use stage directions for your scene when it is necessary to show setting details or character actions THAT ARE IMPORTANT. Avoid "directing" your script by bothering with too many stage directions.

Give your scene a title (and put your name after it...by...STUDENT'S NAME).
Your scenes should be about 2-4 pages and drafts are due at the end of today's class.

ATTENTION: some of you have not turned in your Black History poem draft. Please make sure you do that. It is late.

HOMEWORK: None. You should have completed The Colored Museum.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Colored Museum (Conclusion) & Collaborative Play Project

The Colored Museum Scenes:

Symbiosis
Last Mama on the Couch
Permutations
The Party

When we have completed our reading, please gather in groups of 3-5 for a play project. Details will be discussed in class.

HOMEWORK: None.

Friday, January 10, 2014

The Colored Museum

Today we will read the play. If we finish, please complete the writing exercise given to you in class.

HOMEWORK: Complete The Colored Museum if we didn't complete it in class for some reason.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

The Colored Museum

The Colored Museum is a collection of monologue and short sketch scenes revolving around the theme of African American culture and how old traditions and identity in the African American community needs both to be respected and honored, but also overcome when it keeps people from moving on and forming new identities.

This is an important theme in African American literature and the play deals with the themes of identity, race, and tradition through a series of short 1-5 minute plays or scenes.

The author George C. Wolfe directed and wrote these scenes (we'll watch a few and read a few today):

Git on Board & Cookin' With Aunt Ethel
Aunt Ethel (part two), Photo Shoot, & Soldier With a Secret
Miss Roj, etc.

Then, let's read a little of the play on our own.

After we read some of the scenes, we will watch them performed. As we watch, identify some of the differences between how a scene is staged and how it looks on the page. Collect your notes in your journal.

HOMEWORK: None. Please bring your scripts back with you next class.

Black History Poem Project

The Creative Writing department has been commissioned to participate in the SOTA Black History month performance. The music department (Mr. Gabriel) is looking for UPLIFTING, POSITIVE, and G-Rated original poems celebrating Black History. You might write about an important historical character/person, or overcoming obstacles successfully in a difficult world, or about the importance of hope and freedom and achieving your dreams. Before you write anything, spend some time today reading some examples of the form.

BEFORE WRITING: Please read this essay firstJazz as Communication (essay by Langston Hughes). The poems selected will be accompanied by jazz music. You may also spend a moment to read about some Black heroes and role models here.

Here are a few examples of poems. Please read them and consider the style. You may model your own poem on one of these, or use these as a template/idea generator:
WRITING A POEM: Start with an idea. What do you want to communicate as a human truth? Write down your message in your journal. If you could say something important to people who need to hear something important about succeeding in life or dealing with daily problems or social issues, what would it be? Write down as many messages as you can think of. You will be able to pick from these after you brainstorm a little.

Choose one message and consider WHO might speak this message, what the persona of your poem might SAY, and to whom is the persona speaking to? (likely our Black History month celebration audience).

The tone of your work should be positive. We are interested in your positive message. We get enough negative messages from our peers, the media, society, and our families. You may find more help and inspiration here.

You may write more than one draft. All drafts should be turned in to my inbox for participation credit.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Black History Poem Project

Please complete the blog post assignment below: The Piano Lesson Analysis. Once you have completed the questions there, please move on to the Black History poem project assignment:

The Creative Writing department has been commissioned to participate in the SOTA Black History month performance. The music department (Mr. Gabriel) is looking for UPLIFTING, POSITIVE, and G-Rated original poems celebrating Black History. You might write about an important historical character/person, or overcoming obstacles successfully in a difficult world, or about the importance of hope and freedom and achieving your dreams. Before you write anything, spend some time today reading some examples of the form.

BEFORE WRITING: Please read this essay firstJazz as Communication (essay by Langston Hughes). The poems selected will be accompanied by jazz music. You may also spend a moment to read about some Black heroes and role models here.

Here are a few examples of poems. Please read them and consider the style. You may model your own poem on one of these, or use these as a template/idea generator:
WRITING A POEM: Start with an idea. What do you want to communicate as a human truth? Write down your message in your journal. If you could say something important to people who need to hear something important about succeeding in life or dealing with daily problems or social issues, what would it be? Write down as many messages as you can think of. You will be able to pick from these after you brainstorm a little.

Choose one message and consider WHO might speak this message, what the persona of your poem might SAY, and to whom is the persona speaking to? (likely our Black History month celebration audience).

The tone of your work should be positive. We are interested in your positive message. We get enough negative messages from our peers, the media, society, and our families. You may find more help and inspiration here.

You may write more than one draft. All drafts should be turned in to my inbox for participation credit.

HOMEWORK: None. Please turn in your analysis of The Piano Lesson (see below).

The Piano Lesson Analysis

You may work with another student on the following. All work is due at the end of class. If you finish early, you may move on to the post above.

QUESTION ONE: Select two characters from the cast list. As you read, identify the motivation of each of your chosen characters. Be aware of how motivation creates complicationsconflict, and characterization. Select from:
• Doaker
• Boy Willie
• Berniece
• Lymon
• Maretha
• Avery
• Wining Boy
• Grace
QUESTION TWO: Acts usually end at a high point (or crisis: a crucial or decisive turning point or situation in a plot).
  • How does Wilson end his first act? 
  • How does an essential question linger in the minds of the audience? i.e. what will bring the audience back from the intermission ready for more? 
  • What questions have been left unanswered?
QUESTION THREE: In a second act, characters are generally developed even more through characterization. Additionally, in contemporary plays there is usually a reversal of fortune (someone who is about to win his/her motive suddenly meets opposition that we might not have considered before…although clues to such an event can be found in the first act).
  • Can you find examples of a reversal of fortune in the second act. What clues were we given in Act I that suggests that this reversal was coming?
  • What is your chosen characters' dark moment? A dark moment for a character is their lowest end--when things look their worst for that character.
  • What is the character's enlightenment? An enlightenment is the sudden understanding of how to get up from the character's dark moment. How does your character's enlightenment lead to the climax?
  • And then, finally, do you consider the ending pleasing, satisfactory, acceptable? 
  • How might you change the ending if you were writing the play?

The Graveyard Book - Discussion Questions

  In your discussion groups, please answer 5 of the 10 discussion questions. Choose a member of your group to record your answers. Make sure...