SOKOL; Gannon; Portfolio & Journal

Your journal and portfolio is due today. Please use the blog post below this one to set up your portfolio. You may use your journal (to get those extra pages in) for your brainstorming for SOKOL or Gannon exercises (see instructions below!)

Your next book is a "If All of Rochester Read the Same Book program" selection. We will be working with Writers & Books for this project. Let's go get that book from our library today. Please read the book over the next week or two.

The deadline for submitting to SOKOL (poetry, creative non-fiction, fiction/prose) and Gannon University's poetry contest (poetry only) is next week (Jan. 30 and Feb. 1). If you'd like to kill two rocs with one writing stone, consider these prompts:

A. Write a "Where I'm From" poem, but instead of YOU as the subject, choose a real person you know, a historical figure, or a fictional person you make up and write about THIER life.
ex. You are from the hills of Santa Fe...; You come from hard labor and log cabins...; I called you grandma, but you were born an orphan girl...; etc. The traditional "Where I'm From" poem was written by George Ella Lyons. Schools have taken her poem and made it a bit of a cliche (i.e., you might have had to write one of these before). Making the subject someone else is more original.

B. Make a list of technical terms and use this list to describe a person or a common event.
Science technical terms: check here for some ideas...
Here's a list of poetry terminology...
Medical terminology sample poems...

C. Billy Collins wrote this poem: Shoveling Snow With Buddha. Take an historical figure (or a well-known fictional character) and describe that person doing something mundane or common: cutting the grass, making their bed, cooking pasta, etc.

These poems tend to win contests because they are:
1. Universal.
2. Creative.
3. Not about the teenage writer specifically.
4. Show a broader interest than just teenage interests...
5. Show that a poet is specific and knows something more than the average student submitting...
6. Tend to show humans overcoming adversity, not complaining or being negative about the subject...

D. Write a story about a character trying to change his/her life or a complicated situation, but write it in present tense or in second person. Start your story with a statement that shocks the reader--a secret or bit of truth that your protagonist has just realized.

Fiction advice:
1. Winners of fiction often have a story that is at least 1,000 words (about 3 pages) with the better ones being more like 3,000-5,000 words (5-7 pages).
2. Include a theme about common human experience (usually overcoming adversity)
3. Tend to be realistic, as opposed to Sci-fi/fantasy or other sub-genres
4. Use a variety of sentence structures and fiction conventions (includes a little dialogue, but not too much...includes a turning point in the plot, ends with a specific and memorable image, centers around an interesting voice or character.)

HOMEWORK: No classes next week until Friday. Please work on your Sokol or Gannon entries. Read: The Age of Miracles for Ms. Gamzon.

Portfolio

Semester Portfolio - Final "Exam"

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). You may print anything out you have written in either Ms. Gamzon or my class.

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)--use metaphor and simile in your writing to strengthen abstraction and turn it into concrete and specific writing! 

 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.  Since you did one of these last quarter, feel free to update it. 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: what are you still doing well? what do you still need help or assistance with in regards to your writing?

 Talk about the reading we did and your skill at being a reader. What pieces did you most enjoy/which pieces or texts 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 for the sake of complaining, but actively examine what you felt you did and learned in these classes in the past semester. 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 next class. The portfolio & Journal is due Friday, Jan. 23.

HOMEWORK: None. You may work on preparing your journals and/or your portfolio. 

Fences Project; Portfolio

In the lab today: 

Choose one of the following:

• write an ode in the voice of a character from Fences. What would Troy, for example, praise about his son? What would Gabriel praise about his trumpet? What would Rose praise about Lyons or Troy?
• write an ode in your own voice for one of the characters in this play, or praise August Wilson's writing. 
• write a short scene between two of the characters in the play years later. 
• write a short scene between two of the characters that takes place during or before the action of the play. What were the scenes between the years that Wilson presents to us in this play? Write one of them.

When you have attended to the task above, you may begin working on compiling your semester portfolio. Follow the instructions below to get your portfolio ready. It is due (along with your journals) next Friday, Jan. 23.

Semester Portfolio - Final "Exam"

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). You may print anything out you have written in either Ms. Gamzon or my class.

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)--use metaphor and simile in your writing to strengthen abstraction and turn it into concrete and specific writing! 

 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.  Since you did one of these last quarter, feel free to update it. 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: what are you still doing well? what do you still need help or assistance with in regards to your writing?

 Talk about the reading we did and your skill at being a reader. What pieces did you most enjoy/which pieces or texts 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 for the sake of complaining, but actively examine what you felt you did and learned in these classes in the past semester. 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 next class.

HOMEWORK: None. You may work on preparing your journals and/or your portfolio. 

Fences: Act 2

When an author develops a character, he/she relies on characterization. Characterization is based on four distinct things:

• What a character says or thinks about him/herself
• What another character says or thinks about the character
• What the character does (the actions the character does and the choices he/she makes)
• The details or physical description the author or narrator gives us. In this case, what is revealed in the STAGE DIRECTIONS of the play script. 

Let's take the first 10-15 minutes of today's class please take a look at these scenes from Fences. In the first clip, we'll see two different versions played first by James Earl Jones and then by Denzel Washington. Compare/contrast the two versions. Note the reaction by the audience as well as the performance.

• Act One, Scene Three
• Act Two, Scene One
• Fighting Death (Act One) & Mr. Death & the fence (Act Two)

1. With a partner, compare what you're seeing with the image you had of the play from reading the script. What are some differences you note? Discuss these differences. Talk to each other please.

2. How do plays like Fences increase the dramatic tension of a situation? What are some things you learned about writing plays from watching these clips? Please discuss, then write brief comments on the index card provided to you in class. You and your partner may turn in one card for both of you.

3. Let's continue our class reading of the play. Please follow along as we read Act Two.

4. HOMEWORK: working alone:

• Finish reading the play, if we have not finished in class.
• Choose one of the characters in the play Fences: Troy, Bono, Rose, Gabriel, Cory, Raynell, or Lyons.
• Draw a character sketch of that character on a index card. (You may also find an appropriate picture on-line, if you'd like.) 
• Print the picture out, cut the picture out, and paste on the paper; or draw your own interpretation of your chosen character. (You may decide to draw a symbol of that character instead, if you'd prefer.) Feel free to be creative with this depiction. 
• You should be able to explain your choices to others in the class. 
• On the other side as the "picture" of your character, please describe the character's characterization (see notes above for details). Indicate lines and words (with page #'s) from the play's text that helps describe and characterize the character you chose.
• Finally, choose one of the following:
• write an ode in the voice of a character from Fences. What would Troy, for example, praise about his son? What would Gabriel praise about his trumpet? What would Rose praise about Lyons or Troy?
• write an ode in your own voice for one of the characters in this play, or praise August Wilson's writing. 

HOMEWORK: See above. Homework is due Friday, January 16. 

Fences: Act 1, Scenes 2-?

Please turn in your homework (see previous post for details)!

Please continue to read (and perhaps finish) Fences today reading as a whole class. We left off on Act 1, Scene 2.

HOMEWORK: None.

Setting Research; Fences Act 1, Scene 1

RESEARCH: Start class off today by researching the following items. In your journal, write down your answers. You should be able to relate the research to Fences.

Please research and find information about:

In 1918 when Troy Maxson is your age (about 14), he leaves the South for Pittsburgh. His father was a sharecropper. What is a sharecropper? What was life like for a sharecropper in the South? How did the system of sharecropping entrap people? How could a person escape that life? Read about sharecropping here.

Troy also was involved with the Negro League when he was younger. What is that? Look here to find out! Then also, find out who Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige were. Why might they be important role models for us today?

• The Negro League
• Jackie Robinson & Satchel Paige

The setting of this play is 1957. Please research and find some information about this time period. Some questions to help guide your research are:

• What were the social, economic, political and educational expectations and opportunities for African Americans at this time?
• What advances had been made in civil rights?
• What significant changes will occur in America during the years between 1957 and 1965?

Some links to help you answer this question are posted here:

Images of the civil rights movement
Images of “the children’s crusade" of the civil rights movement
Timeline of the civil rights movement

After 20-25 minutes of research online and taking notes in your journal, please join up with the partners you chose last class and discuss what you found out about:
1. The Negro League
2. Sharecroppers
3. 1957 and the civil rights movement.

THEN: After discussing what you found with your group, please continue reading Act 1, Scene 1 today in class. When you have completed this scene together in your reading groups, please stop and do the following activities:
A. Before you sketch, discuss with your group what you learned about the SETTING of this play (the research you did today), and some of the important events that might shape the characters in this play. Which characters seem most affected?
B.  Then alone (but with the support and help of your group members), complete this task in class:

1. Choose one of the characters in scene one: Troy, Bono, Rose, or Lyons.
2. Sketch a character portrait or character sketch of your chosen character on one of the index cards given to you today.
3. Indicate lines and words from scene one that help describe and characterize the character you chose. Your peers can help you find examples of this in the script, if you need assistance.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT FOR WRITERS? 
When an author develops a character, he/she relies on characterization. Characterization is based on four distinct things:

• What a character says or thinks about him/herself
• What another character says or thinks about the character
• What the character does (the actions the character does and the choices he/she makes)
• The details or physical description the author or narrator gives us. In this case, what is revealed in the STAGE DIRECTIONS of the play script. 

On your picture, please make sure you have found words/description/lines from the text that support your examination of characterization. Please turn in your portrait by the end of class for participation credit OR complete as homework.

HOMEWORK: If your group did not finish reading Act 1, Scene 1 or you did not complete the character sketch assignment, please complete these tasks as homework and turn in next class. 

Dealing with Family Problems: Extemporaneous Speech; Fences by August Wilson

Warm-up Activity: 3rd period:

Part one: 5 minutes
In your journal, make a list of 10 common problems that people or families often face. You can draw from your own experience, from books, or films that you have seen for ideas. You may also use your imagination (which is what it's for...) Come up with 10 common problems and list these problems in your journal.

Part two: 15 minutes.
Choose one of the problems from your list. Write a very short speech about this problem (2-3 paragraphs in length is fine). Identify what the problem is, where it occurs or why it happens, use examples to help you explain what it is or how the problem affects families, then come up with at least 1-2 ways a person might be able to overcome this problem. End your very short speech with this advice. Your speech should have a nice hook to grab our attention, enough detail to identify and answer the questions posed above, and conclude with some advice about how to solve this common problem. End your speech with something for us to think about.

Part three: 10-15 minutes
Deliver your short extemporaneous speech to a small group of 2-4 peers. Take turns listening to each other's speeches. Conclude by giving some advice to each speaker about how they might improve their speech or public speaking skills.

Then, during period 4, or when you have completed your speech:

1. Please check out the link below on August Wilson.
2. In your journal take a few notes about how he got started writing plays and what he was attempting to do. What are his plays generally about?

Information about August Wilson can be found here. In the next room after we pick up the play, we will view this interview as well: August Wilson interview

3. We will be picking up the play Fences by August Wilson and beginning it today. When we return from the library, please get into the same groups you had while delivering your extemporaneous speeches. Please select parts and begin reading out loud in your groups today.

4. Read at least Act One, Scene One by the end of class today. If you do not complete this scene today, please complete your reading for next class. Bring your play scripts with you to next class.

HOMEWORK: Complete Act 1, scene 1 if you have not already done so during class. Turn in your extemporaneous speech note cards for participation credit.