Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Final Portfolio

There are two (2) parts to your final portfolio.
  1. A 4-6 page, double-spaced, typed self evaluation essay
  2. A variety of your best work chosen from all your CW classes
Your final portfolio will count for both 9th grade creative writing classes and will be reviewed by Mr. Craddock & Ms. Gamzon. It will constitute 25% of your final grade.

Part A. Self Evaluation Essay

Part B. Portfolio

Select work that you created this year in Ms. Gamzon or Mr. Craddock’s classes. All work should be copies of original work. No journals will be accepted. Follow the guideline below.

Table of contents. Your table of contents should order your portfolio into the following parts:
a. Poetry
b. Fiction
c. Non-fiction
d. Scripts
e. Special projects

Poetry. Choose 5-7 of your best poems. Select work that shows your understanding and growth in the field of poetry. Each poem’s title should be listed on the table of contents.

Fiction. Choose 3-4 of your best fiction pieces. Select work that shows your understanding and growth in the field of fiction. Each fiction piece’s title should be listed on the table of contents.

Non-fiction. Choose 1-3 of your best non-fiction pieces (including text of speeches, etc.) Select work that shows your understanding and growth in the field of non-fiction. Each non-fiction piece’s title should be listed on the table of contents.

Scripts: Choose 1-2 of your best scripts. Select work that shows your understanding and growth in the field of script writing. Each script’s title should be listed on the table of contents.

Special Projects: Choose 2-3 of your special projects (newsletter, slideshow, brochure, literary magazine, house on mango street booklet, blog, etc.) which show your growth and creative ability. Each project should be listed on the table of contents. If you have been working on a project not assigned in class, you may include this work in your special projects. (Example: I am working on a novel, and I haven’t told my teachers or I have written a musical, etc.) Please do NOT print your special project, unless you already have an extra copy. Instead, please talk about these projects in your reflection.

Self Reflection Non Fiction - Creative Essay:

During the entire freshman year, we have thrown quite a bit of information, projects, and assignments your way. We did not do this to be cruel, but to see how you react to pressure, deadlines, writing & reading skills, and so that you had the opportunity to grow as a writer and a student. It is true that the most important qualification for writers is that they write. Apart from this, reading is also the most important way to improve your writing at this stage. These introductory courses are designed to get you to know yourself as a student and writer a little better. Part of this is the need to self-reflect. Examine the writing rubrics and the material in your portfolio. Reflect on your work this year.

Reflective piece: 4-6 pages, double-spaced. Write about how you’ve grown as a writer this year, what has been easy/hard for you, what areas you feel you need more work in; reflect on your progress as a writer, a reader, and as a student. Write about each selected piece you have chosen to include in your portfolio (per genre): why did you include these pieces in your portfolio? How does the piece show your growth and development as a writer in this particular genre? What did you learn about yourself concerning writing from this assignment or project? Discuss the writing process you used to create the work, where you got your ideas, what you learned about the form or genre of the work as you wrote and revised it, what you learned about yourself as a writer, etc. Discuss special projects and reading that had an impact on you. What did you learn about writing and about yourself through these assignments this year?

Rubric

_____ Table of Contents 10 points
_____ Reflective Essay (4-6 pages) 30 points
_____ Poetry (6-8 poems) 10 points
_____ Fiction (4-5 short stories) 10 points
_____ Non Fiction (2-3 creative essays/speeches) 10 points
_____ Special Projects (3-4 special projects) 10 points
_____ Grammar (Work is clean, copy-edited, free of errors) 10 points
Penalty: (-1/2 point for each grammar error. Up to -10 points)
_____ Portfolio turned in complete and on time 10 points

Penalties:
• Late portfolios (-10 points per day late)
• Handwritten work (-1 for each handwritten page)
• Grammar errors (see above)

Day of Writing & Reading

See portfolio instructions on Ms. Gamzon's blog or just above this post.

Today, please work on your fantasy stories. When instructed, please go outside to the Art Walk Memorial Art Museum's sculpture garden and find a quiet place to read "A Wizard of Earthsea". This is a reading assignment. No students should be sitting next to each other and there should be no talking. This is your time to read and enjoy the nice weather. Please honor that, or we will not try this again.

Any questions?

HOMEWORK: Keep reading "A Wizard of Earthsea". Your fantasy short story draft is due this Friday. Portfolios are due either Friday, June 10 or Monday, June 13.

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Wizard of Earthsea (Chapter 3 & Beyond); Fantasy Story Draft

This morning, after our pop quiz on chapter 2, please follow along as we read chapter 3 together.

We will visit the lab today to continue writing our fantasy short stories. You will want to start aiming for an ending to your story draft.

Again, there's a wealth of advice and help out there if you dare to learn it. Here's a few helpful tips and writing advice to use (watching them all would take about 30 min.):


HOMEWORK: None. If you haven't been watching these video clips, go back a few posts and do so. What you learn may be invaluable. Teaching doesn't happen if you don't learn. Open your mind and the world will follow...

During the long weekend break, please complete any missing work you need to complete for our classes. Get those drafts written and done!

Also, there's a coffeehouse tonight. We'd love to see you there. 

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Fantasy Story Draft Project; A Wizard of Earthsea (chapter one)

After your quiz on fantasy short stories, please go next door and work on your fantasy story draft.

If you need assistance or help, check the videos posted below (or in previous posts concerning writer's block, motivation, and beginning a story). Today is mainly about the middle of a story.

How to make a story: the middle
Writing the Mushy Middle
Tips from Stephen King

Now get writing!

During period 4, we will stop and pick up the last book for the year: A Wizard of Earthsea. Today, we will listen to the first chapter.

The author is Ursula K. LeGuin. She was popular before J.K. Rowling and inspired many fantasy writers with her excellent world building, compelling stories, and just good writing talent.

HOMEWORK: None. If you did not get much written today, please continue working on your fantasy drafts. Bring your Earthsea books back with you Wednesday.

Monday, May 16, 2016

Fantasy Story Project: Beginnings

During period 3, please write an opening to your fantasy story. It should be based or set in your fantasy setting created from last class. You can add details to your previous idea, but you cannot change it.

To begin, follow these steps in order:
1. Determine your audience. Are you writing for young children just learning to read? Or other teenagers? Or adults? Are you writing for girls or boys? Make a decision. This answer will affect your tone, diction, and voice in your story. Write who your intended audience is in your heading!
2. Look over your notes from last class. Who is likely to be your protagonist?
3. Decide on a moment in this character's life when the status quo changes. It's a normal day in this world for this character when suddenly something happens. What is that something?
4. Write only your first scene of your story. If you finish early check out these videos (or any of the videos you did not watch from last class!) NOTE: I will assume you are done with your first scene if I see you playing these videos:

How to Write Science Fiction/Fantasy (4.5 min.)
The importance of Setting (3 min.)
Writing with Jane: Point of View (5 min.)
How to dominate writer's block (3 min.)
Why I Write About Elves (Terry Brooks) (Ted Talk, 13 min.)

By the end of 3rd period, we will stop where we are and go next door to start the film Legend (1985) directed by Ridley Scott. Here is some information:

Writer: William Hjorstberg
Cinematography: Alex Thomson
Sound/Music: Jerry Goldsmith (director's cut) or Tangerine Dream (theatrical release)
Special Effects Supervisor: Nick Allder & crew

Characters:
Jack (Tom Cruise)
Lili (Mia Sara)
Darkness (Tim Curry)
Honeythorn Gump (David Bennent)
Screwball (Billy Barty)
Brown Tom (Cork Hubbert)
Oona (Annabelle Lanyon)
Blix (Alice Playten)
Pox (Peter O'Farrell)
Blunder (Kiran Shaw)
Meg Mucklebones (Robert Picardo)
Nell (Tina Martin)

As we watch, examine the film's Heroic journey. Identify the moments for Jack & Lili's heroic journeys and fantasy archetypes (such as the quest, adventure, romance, transformation, or metamorphosis)

HOMEWORK: None. If you did not complete scene #1 of your fantasy story project, please complete it before next class.

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

World Creation & Writing Advice

Today, please use the questionnaire handout from last class to design and flesh out a fictional fantasy world of your own imagination.

RESOURCES/MODELS: Take a look at any of these sites or videos to help if you get stuck! The main idea here is to play and be creative.

Interactive Tolkien map. (website)
Create a Fantasy World: An Imp's Journey (16 min.)
Writing Fantasy: An Imp's Journey (14 min.)
5 Tips for Writing Fantasy (8 min.)
How to World Build (10 min.)
Curing Writers Block (5 min.)
Coming Up with Story Ideas (3 min.)
Six Creative Ways to Brainstorm Ideas (3.5 min.)
How to Overcome Creative Blocks (35 minutes...this one's long...watch it at home!)

And for Oprah fans...if you are finding yourself stuck by reality, take 2 minutes to watch this advice. It might help you regain your creative vision.

Use your time in class to complete your world building design. Please turn in your world building notes so I know you are ready for our next class.

HOMEWORK: None. You should have completed and turned in your world building notes. If you did not, please complete your work this weekend. We can't wait forever for you. Get the work done in class. Also, if you have missing or late work--please complete this weekend. Make sure you have read the short stories we have been reading. A test on these stories will occur NEXT class.

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Legend; The Heroes Journey

Please turn in your homework for "Lila the Werewolf" (see previous post for details). After our writing prompts, we will view a few videos about our subject.
Last class we talked about the heroes' journey. Today, we will examine that archetype in the film Legend (1985) by director Ridley Scott.

To recap, the heroes journey looks like this:
1. Status quo/call to adventure
2. Assistance
3. Departure
4. Trials
5. Approach
6. Crisis
7. Treasure
8. Result
9. Return
10. New Life
11. Resolution
12. Status quo

All heroes journeys start off in the "normal" world and move through a "special" world. While not all authors will use the heroes journey in the same way, usually, it can be argued, that most stories follow some of the major plot points pretty closely.

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Fantasy Stories; Bildungsroman, Transformation/Metamorphosis Archetypes

Last class, you should have made a list of Fantasy Tropes in The Tower of the Elephant & Troll Bridge: (common tropes in fantasy)
  • Mythical creatures or monsters (usually metaphors of our fears, weaknesses, or problems...)
  • Personification or allegory of objects, ideas, or events (death as a person, for example...)
  • Medieval settings (technology is replaced by magic)
  • Magic, wizards, sorcerers, witches, necromancers, etc.
  • Quests and adventures--journeys (usually a hero is seeking something...)
  • Knights, armor, swords, bows and arrows...
  • Good vs. evil (often worlds or kingdoms hang in the balance)
  • Talking animals or companions
  • Heroes (& antiheroes)
  • Thieves and scoundrels or rogues or jesters/fools or wenches or servants...these contrast with the royalty (princes, princesses, kings, queens, dukes, counts, barons, lords, ladies, etc.)
  • Barbarians and primitive cultures
  • Treasure (often rare and wonderful items of great power...)
  • Divine beings
  • Transformations
  • Battles, wars, hunts, etc.
  • Descent into caves (dungeons), penetrating castles (towers, fortresses), wild and untamed forests (these are all metaphors for sex...)
  • Riddles, puzzles, traps
  • Economic disparity (very rich and very poor)
Add to your list in the next few days. Can you think of other things found in fantasy stories? You will use some of these in your upcoming story project.


To begin class, please take notes viewing these sources. We will stop occasionally for writing prompts. Use your journal to collect these things.
We have discussed the quest, adventure, chase, survival, and rescue archetypes. These archetypes can be used in various ways to tell effective stories. Here are a few more, central to the fantasy genre:

When an author uses archetype, he is patterning his character(s) or plot after other types of that kind. For example: character archetype might include: 1. The hero 2. the protective mother 3. the prostitute with a heart of gold 4. the trickster or 5. the evil or cruel master. Plot archetype might include: 1. the Rags to Riches plot 2. the Quest 3. Transformation or 4. traditional love story: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back.

There are many, many more. And yes, archetype used too often, can create stereotype.

Plots, too, can be archetypical.

Transformation/Coming of Age:
·      The protagonist changes internally more than externally
·      The focus of the plot is on the change itself; how it happens and how the protagonist reacts to it
·      The protagonist moves from one period of their life to another.  Example:  Adolescence to Adulthood
·      The protagonist must learn to understand and cope with this change; conflict arises when the protagonist cannot cope or fails to understand what is happening
·      The change or transformation is often gradual
As a result of the change, usually the protagonist learns something valuable about himself;  there is a gain of wisdom but usually at the price of a certain sadness. One major subtype of the archetypical plot of transformation is the young adult novel/story, also called: The Bildungsroman.

The Bildungsroman is a type of story that focuses on the psychological, moral, and social formation of the protagonist (usually a young person) as he or she grows to adulthood.

This type of story was made popular during the period of the German Enlightenment, or during the seventeenth century through the eighteenth (usually ending at the Napoleonic Wars or early nineteenth century). It is still with us today, as most children's literature writers use the pattern somewhere within their stories.

The pattern is as follows:
1. The protagonist grows from child to adult.

Note: this does not always mean growing to legal or mature age--it refers mostly to the psychological state of the child (whose world centers around him/herself) to that of the mature adult (whose world centers around others). Of course, not everyone reaches this state of being just by growing older.

2. The protagonist must have a reason to embark upon his or her "journey of self discovery." A loss or discontent must, at an early stage, jar him or her away from their home or family setting. In literature, we usually call this the INCITING INCIDENT. It is the event that gets the plot moving along.

3. The process of maturation is long, arduous and usually gradual, involving repeated clashes between the hero's needs and desires and the views and judgments enforced by an unbending social order. Note: this is similar to Sigmund Freud's concept of the pleasure principle versus the reality principle- meaning that a character wants what is desired immediately or will give the greatest satisfaction, but must deal with the concept that "you don't always get what you want." Wise words for any growing or maturing person today.

4. Eventually, the spirit and values of the social order become manifest in the protagonist, who is ultimately accommodated into the society. In other words, the character grows up to become a model character -- one accepted into a specific culture or society.

5. The novel or story ends with the protagonist's self discovery or awareness of his/her growth and understanding his/her new place or role in society. In other words, there is a realization by the character that he/she has grown up.

An example of the bildungsroman archetype would be:
  • Holden in A Catcher in the Rye
  • Harry Potter in the Harry Potter and the ... series
  • David in Montana 1948
  • Huckleberry Finn in Huckleberry Finn
  • Charlie Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
There are, of course, thousands of other characters you may be familiar with in books and movies you have read or seen. In your journal make a list of other books you have read that may have been bildungsroman novels.
Metamorphosis: This archetype is similar to transformation archetypes, but differs slightly...)
·      The protagonist changes physically (usually as a result of a curse or the character’s hamartia)
·      Much of the plot deals with the protagonist adjusting to the change
·      The point of the plot is to show the process of transformation back to humanity
·      The antagonist is the catalyst that propels the protagonist toward release
·      The protagonist is usually released at the end of the plot
·      The reader learns the reasons for the curse and its root causes

 Of course, all archetypes can be combined in a variety of ways. Keep a look out for them in films, plays, novels, stories, even some poems!

HOMEWORK: Read the short story: "Lila the Werewolf" by Peter S. Beagle. Identify elements of the transformation/metamorphosis archetypes within the story. Explain how Beagle plays creatively with this archetype (you may also refer to the Romance archetype--see post below!) Annotate the draft and write your examples as to how this story uses archetype in your journal.

Monday, May 2, 2016

Fantasy Stories

Today, please turn in your drafts of your adventure story if you have not yet done so. Some students still have not completed their Stephen King revision. Time has come to put that to rest. Turn in what you have (if you have anything written) and let's move on please. To facilitate this, I'm not accepting any Stephen King revisions past Thursday's class.

With Ms. Sloane, please gather in room 238 to read the short stories: "The Very Old Man With Enormous Wings" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "Johanna" by Jane Yolen, and "The Erl King" by Angela Carter. You can learn more about these famous authors at their links.

Carter uses the famous poem by Johann Wolfgang Goethe (itself a poem about a legend) to inspire her story. Put to music, the Erlking is one of the muscian Shubert's famous short pieces. Here is a short video of it. What influences might Yolen and Marquez have for their stories?

Use your journals to complete the writing prompts and exercises today.

If you do not complete the reading today in class, please complete it as homework.

HOMEWORK: If you did not read the short stories: "The Tower of the Elephant", "Troll Bridge", "The Very Old Man With Enormous Wings", "Johanna", or "The Erl King" please do so. There will be a test at the end of this unit on these stories. Annotate and take notes on stories to help you remember the premise, plot, setting, characters, themes, and the author.

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...