Oral Interpretation & Poetry Drafts

Period 3:

Let's share 1 of the 2 essay drafts you wrote. Performance Reminder: Good speakers:

• Make eye contact
• Speak clearly and loudly
• Use gestures
• Have energy
• Change tone
• Perform with sincerity

Class: do your best to be supportive of each speaker. At the very least, be courteous. Selfish and self-centered people lose friends. You don't have to be a jerk. Keep an open mind. Listen. Learn. Appreciate art and support each other's creative work.

Period 4:

Literally, or denotatively, a poem is a piece of writing, often having figurative language and lines, that suggest rhythm and a visual image. We use figurative language when our writing goes beyond the "actual meanings of words (denotation) so that the reader gains new insights into the objects or subjects" in our draft.

Poems should utilize imagery (an appeal to the senses by using a metaphor, simile, assonance/consonance, alliteration, symbol, personification, onomatopoeia, specific nouns/active verbs, figurative language); poems do not need to rhyme. They should create a specific picture or image in the mind of the reader or listener. Usually, there is a turning point or volta near the end of the poem (or the last line)--usually to surprise the reader. 

All poem drafts should have a meaning, a theme. There are 4 themes found in poems (sometimes more than one of these 4 themes is found in a single poem!)

Poems are always about:

• Human life
• Death 
• Nature
• Love

POEM TASK #2: In your journal make a list of subject matter that you might write a poem about. Get a good list going. Then select one of your ideas and turn it into a poem draft. Take 5-10 minutes to complete your draft. Try to write relatively quickly, but focus on a single IMAGE or impression or emotion you are trying to describe. Consider the 4 different themes. For PART 2 of the draft, rewrite the same poem, but focus on one of the different themes. Consider how this changes a poem.

Poems should have a structure. They look different sitting on a page. They are not written like prose is written. They are special. However, they should be written using punctuation. Paragraphs in poems are called stanzas. When we change the topic or scene, we can start a new stanza. 

Poems are written using line breaks. Line breaks are important--because they mean something in a poem. A long line slows the pace of your poem. A short line speeds up the pace of your poem.

Structure: Dice poem exercise... Get ready to write. Follow these rules:

• Select a subject from your journal list. Or, since you're going to use dice, choose one of these themes: chance or fate, gambling, randomness, something unpredictable, games, probability, etc.
• Select 2 dice from the pile.
• Roll both dice to determine the # of lines for your poem.
• As you write each line, roll both dice to determine the number of words in each line of the poem.
• Write that poem in your journal for participation credit.

Take 10 minutes to do this. If you like your drafts from your journal, type up your work and print the file next door. Turn it in to me to read and I'll place the draft in your writing portfolio.

If you finish early, watch this video about advice writing poetry and jot down advice you want to remember in your journal (this is participation credit for your journal--and you may learn something!):

• What Makes a Poem (5 min.)

HOMEWORK: If you have completed your baseline poem draft, your baseline non-fiction draft, and your "Who's Writing This" draft, you have no homework. By now, you should have several pages written in your journal. If you did not complete these assignments, please do so for homework and turn them in late. [Late penalty applies]. Feel free to continue to write in your journal. Each page you write gains you more credit.

EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY: The Rochester Fringe Festival opened this week. Take a catalog and go see a performance this week (the festival runs through next Saturday, Sept. 21--take a friend or family member with you because it's more fun to see a show with someone!) My own original play "The Fighting Girl's Guide to Politics" is opening this weekend on Saturday and Sunday at the School of the Arts during the Fringe. Ms. Gamzon is directing an original play written by one of her friends and colleagues called "Colma". Ms. Accorso also has a play that she wrote in the Fringe. Go see our work, or go see any other show. 

HOW TO GET EXTRA CREDIT: Write up a short summary of the show you saw. Then, comment on the performance. What did you learn about PERFORMING (acting, directing, viewing, etc.) from watching the show. What did you (or your friends) think of the show? Turn in your "review" and gain extra participation credit for this marking period. You may repeat this option as many times as you like. Go see 30 plays, get 30 points of extra credit! Etc.

"Who's Writing This" & Baseline Non-fiction Draft Due!

Today, let's start with a couple short motivational videos, then we'll return to our homework assignment(s) for today. As you watch the two videos below, please take notes in your journal on anything you think is important. We'll check to see what the class thought right after viewing.

• The Evolution of a Writer (2 min.)
• What it takes to be a writer (8 min.)
• Literary Nonfiction (2 minutes)
• Take a look at Shmoop's explanation of what a poem is all about. Your homework is to write a draft of a baseline poem. See below for details. 
• How To Get Motivated to Write (1 minute)
• How Do I Keep Motivated (1 minute)

Today, during period 3, please complete (or revise) your draft "Who's Writing This" if you didn't complete it as homework as requested. Then, when you are satisfied with your draft, please upload a copy of it to our Google Classroom.

Throughout the period, please complete both drafts. If you finish early, you may write anything you'd like in your journal (or complete Ms. Gamzon's work from yesterday, or complete your homework for me (the poetry draft(s))...see below). You may, if you like, also try a second or third non-fiction essay from the prompts provided to you in Google Classroom if you finish before we read our work out loud to the class.

Complete a draft of the Baseline Non-Fiction assignment that is also on the Google Classroom. We will be sharing and reading our own work out loud to the class. Once you submit your two pieces, choose 1 to read out loud to the class. This assignment is for practice, but also participation credit.

Period 4ish:

Let's share 1 of the 2 essay drafts you wrote. Performance Reminder: Good speakers:

• Make eye contact
• Speak clearly and loudly
• Use gestures
• Have energy
• Change tone
• Perform with sincerity

Class: do your best to be supportive of each speaker. At the very least, be courteous. Selfish and self-centered people lose friends. You don't have to be a jerk. Keep an open mind. Listen. Learn. Appreciate art.

HOMEWORK: If you finish before the majority of the class is finished writing the drafts of the two non-fiction pieces ("Who's Writing This" & The Baseline Non-Fiction draft), please read the poems in the packet handout and then move on to writing your own baseline poem draft.

POEM TASK #1: Start with an exercise:

A poem is...

In your journal write what a poem is in a poetic way. Use specific nouns and active verbs to get at the "feeling" or "meaning" or "sense of" poetry and what it means to YOU. Try using figurative language or metaphors or similes. Take a few minutes and write your draft in your journal. You might start your poem with the line: "A poem is..."

For example: "Poetry is..." by Emilio Villa

Literally, or denotatively, a poem is a piece of writing, often having figurative language and lines, that suggest rhythm and a visual image. We use figurative language when our writing goes beyond the "actual meanings of words (denotation) so that the reader gains new insights into the objects or subjects" in our draft.

Poems should utilize imagery (an appeal to the senses by using a metaphor, simile, assonance/consonance, alliteration, symbol, personification, onomatopoeia, specific nouns/active verbs, figurative language); poems do not need to rhyme. They should create a specific picture or image in the mind of the reader or listener. Usually, there is a turning point or volta near the end of the poem (or the last line)--usually to surprise the reader. 

All poem drafts should have a meaning, a theme. There are 4 themes found in poems (sometimes more than one of these 4 themes is found in a single poem!)

Poems are always about:

• Human life
• Death 
• Nature
• Love

POEM TASK #2: In your journal make a list of subject matter that you might write a poem about. Get a good list going. Then select one of your ideas and turn it into a poem draft. Complete your poem draft as homework (along with the "A Poem Is..." poem draft above.) Type up BOTH drafts and prepare to print them out next class (on Friday).

EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY: The Rochester Fringe Festival opened yesterday. Take a catalog and go see a performance this week (the festival runs through next Saturday, Sept. 21--take a friend or family member with you because it's more fun to see a show with someone!) My own original play "The Fighting Girl's Guide to Politics" is opening this weekend on Saturday and Sunday at the School of the Arts during the Fringe. Ms. Gamzon is directing an original play written by one of her friends and colleagues called "Colma". Ms. Accorso also has a play that she wrote in the Fringe. Go see our work, or go see any other show. 

HOW TO GET EXTRA CREDIT: Write up a short summary of the show you saw. Then, comment on the performance. What did you learn about PERFORMING (acting, directing, viewing, etc.) from watching the show. What did you (or your friends) think of the show? Turn in your "review" and gain extra participation credit for this marking period. You may repeat this option as many times as you like. Go see 30 plays, get 30 points of extra credit! Etc.

Baseline Writing Assignments: Who's Writing This?

We will pick up where we left off last class. We have 3 more students to give their speech: Kelly, Katyria, and... Kanene (?)

On your index card, jot down any of the following answers to these personal questions:

• What is one thing you want other people to know about you?
• What do you want to do after you graduate?
• What is one event that happened to you that changed your personality/outlook on life forever?
• What is one thing you're proud of that you never told anyone?
• What single event in your life has made you a better person?
• If you could accomplish one thing in your life, what would you like it to be?

Answer some of these questions (at least one) and jot down at least 3 main points you would want to share with the class about your answers. When you are called, come up to the front of the room and share your answers in a short introductory speech. 

Start with an introduction: who are you? (what's your name, etc.) then hit your 3 main points. Try to sustain your short speech with some details. End your speech after your details...you can thank us for listening, or leave us with something to remember, or inspire us with an image or detail that helps summarize your main points. 

Congratulations! Everyone has now delivered their first public speech in this class. No one died. Phew!

A few classroom details:

Rules You Would Like Us to Follow:

• Participate in this course/class
• Support each other creatively & respect each other (no bullying or judging!)
• Provide constructive criticism positively & speak up! 
• Collaborate
• Stay on task (no procrastination! see above!)
• Be quiet (and on task) during writing time!
• Be creative!

Google Classroom instructions: We will be using Google Classroom for this course. Assignments that can be turned in digitally will be posted in Google Classroom. Go there and enter this code: du25wr2 to join our class.

Make sure that when you are in this class you bring your Chromebooks. Each day you should:

• Log in. 
• Open a TAB and go to our classroom BLOG: wordandtextsota.blogspot.com
• Open a SECOND TAB and go to GOOGLE CLASSROOM: classroom.google, etc.
• Keep both TABS open during class or as instructed. It's also a good idea to open a THIRD TAB in Google to take class notes (or write class notes by hand if you prefer...) 

If you're absent or missed something in class, please check the blog to get caught up. As indicated above, each new class period usually includes a new post. If you have a question about an assignment and are too embarrassed to speak to me in public (or you have a question that you think you will forget to ask), feel free to use the comment section. It is, however, your responsibility to talk to me about your needs. This is your education. Make it worthwhile.

Classroom expectations (from your manifesto):

Two Writing Assignments today:

#1: Who's Writing This? Let's read a short essay by the Argentine writer Jorge Borges. Borges writes of himself as a writer and person as an objective observer. I'd like you to write about your own personality and your own self as a writer from an objective observer's POV. What does your writer self think about the world? About your friends, family, or school? What does your writer self think about writing? What does your writer self choose to write about? Who's writing this? Tell me. In writing. 

[See other authors try their hand at this sort of objective biography in the handout given to you. Use these short essays as a model for your own objective biography. It's a good idea to use your Google drive & Chromebook to write this assignment. When you're done with a draft, please upload it to our Google Classroom today. i.e., I expect your draft completed by the end of class today. Let's get writing!]

#2: In Google Classroom, please complete the "baseline writing activity". This draft is due Wednesday (next class), but I'd like you to get it started. Use the time in our class today to write your draft. Add to it or revise and polish the draft between today and next class when the draft is due.

HOMEWORK: Make sure you complete both writing assignments. Writing assignment #1 was due today by the end of class. If you finish, you should start writing assignment #2 (the baseline). Complete the baseline writing assignment for homework. A draft should be completed by the next class. See Google Classroom for further details. 

Welcome!

Welcome Class of 2023!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Check this blog each class period for agendas, deadlines, educational information, advice, and a whole lot of links to enhance your education. All you have to do is read and click. You are responsible for reading and interacting with the material I post on the blog. It is a useful resource for the course (since we don't have a specific textbook)--so please use it. You can even see it on your cell phones (which you shouldn't have with you during class...)

We will be using a Google Classroom. Assignments that can be turned in digitally will be posted in the Google Classroom. When we are in the lab today, go there and enter this code: du25wr2

Make sure that when you are in class you bring your Chromebooks when you receive them. Each day you should:

• Log in. 
• Open a TAB and go to our classroom BLOG: wordandtextsota.blogspot.com
• Open a SECOND TAB and go to GOOGLE CLASSROOM: classroom.google, etc.
• Keep both TABS open during class or as instructed. It's also a good idea to open a THIRD TAB in Google to take class notes (or write class notes by hand if you prefer...) 

If you're absent or missed something in class, please check the blog to get caught up. As indicated above, each new class period usually includes a new post. If you have a question about an assignment and are too embarrassed to speak to me in public (or you have a question that you think you will forget to ask), feel free to use the comment section. It is, however, your responsibility to talk to me about your needs. This is your education. Make it worthwhile.

This morning, after covering our course criteria and writing your "manifesto", complete this in-class activity: 

With a partner, discuss and write in your journal: 

A. list ways in which humans communicate (humans communicate through...) 

B. Reasons why humans communicate

This begins our first step as creative writing majors. It is important for us to examine how and why (and when), as human beings, we decide to communicate. Of course, communicating through writing is only one way we, as humans, communicate with one another. This course will cover areas of communication, the communication process, techniques of effective communication, along with performance skills, public speaking, and various writing projects (fiction, poetry, scripts, personal narrative, essays, etc.) If you go on to study the arts, literature, political science, divinity, history, business, advertising, marketing, teaching, law, journalism, communication, or media, you will definitely need a basic understanding of these concepts.

Our first speech will be rather short. On your index card, jot down any of the following answers to these personal questions:

• What is one thing you want other people to know about you?
• What do you want to do after you graduate?
• What is one event that happened to you that changed your personality/outlook on life forever?
• What is one thing you're proud of that you never told anyone?
• What single event in your life has made you a better person?
• If you could accomplish one thing in your life, what would you like it to be?

Answer some of these questions (at least one) and jot down at least 3 main points you would want to share with the class about your answers. When you are called, come up to the front of the room and share your answers in a short introductory speech. 

Start with an introduction: who are you? (what's your name, etc.) then hit your 3 main points. Try to sustain your short speech with some details. End your speech after your details...you can thank us for listening, or leave us with something to remember, or inspire us with an image or detail that helps summarize your main points. 

With time remaining, we will begin our baseline non-fiction assignment in Google classrooms in the lab next door.

HOMEWORK: Complete a draft of your baseline assignment and submit your work from the system (Google Classrooms).

Wrapping Up; Portfolio & Workshopping/Revision

Use the time in the lab today to work on your portfolios. Get together in small groups to complete any workshop and feedback with peers today. Additionally, check this for what's due Friday:

• Complete the handout on the Book Industry. This assignment begins/introduces you to our course for next year in Media Studies (Creative Journalism). Please read the chapter and answer the 5 questions for Friday, June 14.
• Your writing journal.
• All blog posts for your 2018-2019 blog.
• Your final portfolio (worth 20% of your final grade for this course)
• Any late or missing work. 

EXTRA CREDIT: Write a review on YOUR blog for The Martian Chronicles. Remember you may submit your extra credit science fiction/fantasy story Friday for extra credit for the marking period. Our last class is Friday.

Please return all textbooks to the library.

HOMEWORK: See above. Final portfolios are due Friday, along with your physical writing journal and all missing blog posts or missing assignments. Extra credit is due as well. 

Portfolio & Workshopping

We will read the short story "There Will Come Soft Rains" from The Martian Chronicles book. Please complete your reading of the book with the story "The Million Year Picnic". Bring your texts back with you to Wednesday's class.

After reading the short story, we will continue working on our portfolios. Feel free to get into small groups of 2-4 people and read and get feedback on your writing so that you can revise your work and prepare your final essay for your freshman portfolio.

Our last homework assignment and major assignments due for credit will occur on Friday. Here's what is due and when:

• Complete The Martian Chronicles; Wednesday, June 12.
• Complete the handout on the Book Industry. This assignment begins/introduces you to our course for next year in Media Studies (Creative Journalism). Please read the chapter and answer the 5 questions for Friday, June 14.
• Your writing journal.
• All blog posts for your 2018-2019 blog.
• Your final portfolio (worth 20% of your final grade for this course)
• Any late or missing work. 

Please return all textbooks to the library or bring them back with you to class so that you can drop them off at the library!

HOMEWORK: See above. Final portfolios are due Friday, along with your physical writing journal and all missing blog posts or missing assignments. 

Martian Chronicles: Usher II; Portfolio & Revision Work

This morning let's take a look at the short story "Usher II" from the Martian Chronicles. The story alludes to Edgar Allan Poe's short stories "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", among others. Check the links for details about the alluded stories and, if you wish to learn more, you can read those two stories here:

• The Fall of the House of Usher
• Murders in the Rue Morgue (the first detective story!)

After reading, please use your time in the lab/class to revise and prepare your portfolio. To revise:

• Get together with a classmate or two for feedback.
• Read your poem/short story/essay/play together.
• Look for typos and grammar mistakes as you read. 
• Improve your setting and characterization through additional details (add diction)
• Get inside the mind of your narrator when you can (stream of consciousness)
• Improve your imagery by using metaphors, allusions, or similes. 
• Improve your story by turning vague or inactive verbs and nouns into specific and active ones.
• Include specific details to create tone and evoke a sense of mood in the reader.
• Consider structure and flow of action in your poetry and fiction. Answer: does your story have a beginning, middle, and appropriate or interesting ending?
• Improve your sentence structure by reducing wordiness and awkward sentences.
• Rewrite important scenes to include necessary details (or complete a hastily written ending or scene in your story/poem).
• Cut scenes or paragraphs or sentences that are redundant or do not progress the story forward.
• Cut dialogue that is obvious or unnecessary.

HOMEWORK: Please read the short stories through "The Long Years" (pg. 166). Look for effective story telling and writing techniques that we have covered this year. Read as a writer reads. 

Martian Chronicles; Portfolio & Revision

Your humorous story drafts are due today. Please make sure you upload them to our Google classroom.

We'll start off class today reading "And the Moon Be Still & Bright" from the Martian Chronicles. The poem that is alluded to in this story is from Lord Byron: "So We'll Go No More A-Roving" 

At the 4th period bell, please move to the lab to work on your final portfolios, your humorous story draft (due today!), or gather in small groups to share/revise your portfolio work.

HOMEWORK: Complete "And the Moon Be Still & Bright" (if we did not complete the story in class), "The Settlers", "The Green Morning", "The Locusts", "Night Meeting", "The Shore", "Interim", "The Musicians", "Way in the Middle of the Air", and "The Naming of Names" (2001-2005). Complete and turn in any missing work from this marking period--including your humorous draft (which is due today!)

Final Portfolio

There are two (2) parts to your final portfolio.

A. A 4-6 page, double-spaced, typed self evaluation essay
B. 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 20% of your final grade.

Part A. Self Evaluation Essay

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?

We read the following books/novels/plays in creative writing this year: Montana 1948, The First Part Last, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Zoo Story, Fences, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Stephen King "On Writing", The Glass Menagerie, Streetcar Named Desire, The Martian Chronicles, Without Feathers, And Then There Were None, Snows on Kilimanjaro, Sudden Fiction collection, The Snow Child, Madonna's of Leningrad, American War, The Enchanted, The House on Mango Street, Things Not Seen, etc. What did you think of the book and short stories we read? Comments?

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 6-8 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 4-5 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 2-3 of your best non-fiction pieces. 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 2-3 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 3-4 of your special projects (newsletter, slideshow*, brochure, literary magazine, web design, 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.

Rubric

_____ Table of Contents 10 points
_____ Reflective Essay (4-6 pages) 30 points
_____ Poetry (5-7 poems) 10 points
_____ Fiction (3-4 short stories) 10 points
_____ Non Fiction (1-2 creative essays) 10 points
_____ Special Projects (1-2 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)

The final portfolio is due Friday, June 14.

Without Feathers Review; Humorous Writing; The Martian Chronicles (Sci-Fi/Fantasy)

Period 3:

This morning, please take the first 5-10 minutes to review the book Without Feathers on YOUR blog.

Then, it's off to the library to pick up our last book for the year: Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury.

When we return, we'll read the first story or two in that collection, until period 4.

Period 4:

During period 4, please complete any of the following task(s):

1. Finish your humorous story draft. Your draft will be due Tuesday, June 4 by end of day. Once you complete your draft, please upload and submit it to our Google Classroom. You may include this draft in your final writing portfolio/final exam for this course (see above).
2. EXTRA CREDIT: write a science fiction story draft or a fantasy (swords & sorcery only!) draft. See below for tips, tricks, and ideas or prompts. This assignment (if completed) will count as extra credit writing for this marking period. It may also be included in your final portfolio.
3. Work on your final portfolio. Select the pieces that you will be revising and writing about in your evaluation/final portfolio reflection. You will be able to work on this project for the next two weeks in both Ms. Gamzon's and my class periods.

Science Fiction/Fantasy Writing Themes/Tips/Prompts:

Start here:

• How to Build a Fictional World (video, 5 minutes)
• Science Fiction Genre Characteristics (video, 18 minutes)
• BRAINSTORMING (it's good idea to think a bit before you dive in; brainstorming is the first step in the writing process--we've got to come up with an idea first! Follow these steps to help you do that): 
• select sci-fi or fantasy (or a combination of both...?) as your genre. Are you working in the past or future? Consider: how far past? how far in the future?
• Go deeper with your choice. Is your story going to be soft or hard sci-fi, swords & sorcery, science fantasy, or perhaps cyberpunk, steampunk, dystopian sci-fi, space opera, colonization (like The Martian Chronicles), dying planet genre, time travel, apocalyptic science fiction, superhero, or lost worlds? See the video on "science fiction genre characteristics" for details!  
• Create a timeline of important events that helped to shape your imaginary world. Is this after a cataclysmic event, just after the creation of the world, after the death of a king or queen, after the galactic enslavement by the empire, before or after a war, or just before a tribe is threatened by an outside force or roving band of barbarians? Draw your timeline in your journal. 
• What rules are in place in this fictional world? What has changed from the world we know and the physical laws of our Earth? Are there spells, telepathy, space travel, hyperspace travel, laser guns, teleportation, dragons, alien races, etc.? How is the society in your fictional world similar or different from our own reality? Is this culture a monarchy? Are androids hunted down as a threat to society or are the robots hunting humans down as a threat? Is there an ancient evil that threatens the innocent farmers of your land? Is there a terrible disease or plague sweeping the nation or the world? Consider and write down some ideas about the environment of your setting in which you are creating. Who has power and who doesn't? Can everyone cast spells, or only special mutants or people who risk their mortal souls for these powers? What is the technology level of the society you are creating? Can everyone fly a spaceship or colonize a planet? Or are corporations (big business) calling all the shots? What do the people believe or value most in the world? Freedom? Power? Love? Wealth? Knowledge or science? Use your notes to help create a setting. 
• Create and design a protagonist who lives in this imaginary world. Give them a goal to accomplish and then start writing!
• Or take one of these 13 speculative ideas and run with it...(the first item is sci-fi; the second fantasy...):
• All citizens are temporarily neutered at birth. Would-be parents must prove to the government that they’ll be suitable caretakers and providers before they are allowed to procreate; citizens of a kingdom that does not allow magic are marked at birth. When the protagonist reaches a certain age he/she begins to realize he/she has magical powers which must remain hidden to keep his/her family (or self) safe from persecution.
• The government, which analyzes massive amounts of data to predict the success of a person's ability in a competitive field or useful skills, cracks down on a protagonist who is either unskilled or too skilled that he/she poses a threat to the status quo; a knight or wizard's apprentice is challenged to save a village or family or kingdom, but his/her skills have an ancient curse that causes further complications or problems for the society. 
• Global warming prompts rapid mutations in the human species; a dark force threatens the mystical realm, stealing all the magic from the land. A small band of heroes (or at least the protagonist) must face this dark force and defeat it.
• The world’s leaders broker a deal with the alien invaders that many see as unfair; a princess/prince has to accept a marriage proposal from a neighboring kingdom, but there is one big problem...
• Humans have discovered a way to communicate directly with animals, and then the animals start expecting equal rights; a village girl or boy can communicate with animals or a mystical creature (like a unicorn or wyvern, etc.)--then he/she finds out a dark secret....
• Extreme elective surgery is the societal norm, and humans undergo creative modifications that include extra limbs, cartoon-like features, and so on, but then there's a problem with that sort of lifestyle...; wizards alter the physical/emotional or mental capacity of people in the kingdom until they go too far, creating an angry sub-race of beings that threaten to revolt.
• Breeding modern humans with large amounts of Neanderthal DNA leads to interesting results; a princess is betrothed to a barbarian king who is less than perfect husband material...
• People can time travel as an option for a vacation. One family decides to picnic during prehistoric times and there are complications.; At a joust or festival one knight is bested by a mysterious knight who we later find out is actually...
• An alien from a planet where no one else experiences empathy comes to live on Earth, believing they will fit in better there. Do they?; An evil wizard casts a dark spell over a medieval city. Only one hero has the courage to find a cure and break the spell.
• A drug that makes people docile or non-confrontational has been added to the public water supply and to all beverages sold by major corporations. We must find out why the corporations want this to happen...; a plague of some unknown source is threatening the land. A cure must be found. 
• A low-level employee in a bureaucratic government office realizes the paperwork he/she files every day contains codes that determine others’ fates. What does he/she do with this information?
• A human and alien fall in love, causing an interplanetary crisis; a human and a demi-human or monster fall in love (woman & centaur, woman & dragon, boy & unicorn, boy & elf & ghost, etc.) causing a problem for a repressed kingdom.
• Humans colonize an alien planet, thinking that they are alone--but then they find out otherwise; a kingdom goes to war to obtain some magical treasure (which turns out not to be what they expected.)

HOMEWORK: Please read through "The Third Expedition" (complete "Ylla", "The Summer Night", "The Earthmen", "The Taxpayer", and "The Third Expedition" in The Martian Chronicles.

Without Feathers: Day 3

Writing Time: Try one of these humor prompts:

Comedy Techniques to Try: Use incongruity, hyperbole (exaggeration, overstatement, innuendo, or understatement), and ridiculous situations, settings, or characters. 

Some idea prompts include:

1. Your writer's journal has been lost and buried for 100 years. When it is uncovered, what do scientists (or scholars or clergy or the common person) think of you? Do they consider your writing insightful, prophetic, scandalous, inspired, dangerous, etc.? 

2. Like Gorey's "The Unstrung Harp" tell the story of yourself as a famous author. Feel free to include photos or drawings.

3. Pick a favorite or hated non-fiction type of book and write a parody of that form. For example, a game manual, a how-to book, a cookbook, advice about how to raise children, a self-help manual, astrology, a bestiary, a history of some alien or forgotten race, a textbook, an advice column, etc.

4. Write the performance companion notes for a play or opera or musical or the liner notes of an album that should never have been made.

5. Rewrite a well-known scene from a Shakespeare play (perhaps a lost scene from Romeo & Juliet, for example) or rewrite a well-known fairy tale or Bible story with annotations.

6. Write a silly rhyming poem or children's book, like Shel Silverstein or Dr. Seuss. Take a look at these links for inspiration. Silverstein. Dr. Seuss.
7. Rewrite your detective or horror story draft as a comedy. Use comedic writing techniques to change your horror/mystery draft into something ridiculous.
8. Choose an author you hated or loved in school. Write about the "secret life" or the "hidden manuscript" from this author (with writing samples that echo the author's style).
9. Write a short scene or play (or film) in play script format from a one-word title that overdramatizes itself. Ex. LIFE or SICKNESS or ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT or FLOOD or CHAOS or LOVE or MISERY or WORK or BOOK or CAPITALISM or ART or YODEL or PLESIOSAUR. You get the PICTURE. The play can be about anything as long as it's funny (or attempting to be) and uses some of those comedy techniques...
10. We all know what a vampire or tyrannosaurus is, but what about a googledigoo or a parthenogenisaurus or a whatchamacallitopotomus? Make up a few ridiculous monsters or animals or "beasts" and describe them as new cryptozoology specimens.

When time is called, let's return to finish the play "Death" by Woody Allen. With time remaining in class, we'll continue reading the collection. Here's the guide...

• "Fabulous Tales and Mythical Beasts": Bestiaries were an old fashion (Medieval) form of the nature guide. They were all the rage in the 1500’s.
• "But Soft, Real Soft": There is a scholarly debate over who really wrote Shakespeare’s plays. Many critics say that Marlowe (another Elizabethan playwright) wrote Shakespeare’s work. Others say Queen Elizabeth or Francis Bacon wrote the plays. Probably, odd as it may seem, Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare’s plays. The title refers to a line from Romeo and Juliet.
• "If the Impressionists Had Been Dentists": The Impressionist painter Van Gogh kept close correspondence with his brother Theo. Later a song and a movie were made from Van Gogh’s private letters. The title tells the rest of the joke.
• "No Kaddish for Weinstein": Kaddish is a Hebrew prayer of mourning usually recited at a person’s grave. Woody Allen often jokes about Freudian Psychoanalysis or therapy. He is using a comic technique of the non-sequitur (or surprising a reader by saying something unrelated to its subject or something that makes no sense or is nonsensical.)
• "Fine Times: An Oral Memoir": Another parody of a book review and autobiography of a fictional character. This one is about Flo Guinness, a speakeasy owner in the 1920’s. Alcohol was prohibited (illegal) in the early 1920’s and later repealed. Guinness is the name of a popular beer. Allen references many famous 1920’s musicians and people.
• "Slang Origins": The English language has so many weird expressions and sayings. Allen pokes fun at them in this “essay.”

HOMEWORK: Finish the collection in Without Feathers. Bring your books back with you to our next class. Continue to write your humorous draft. These will be due soon.