First Day Writing Questions
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Interest in writing is a strength, along with decent spelling and grammar. As for weaknesses, I am terrible at planning a piece of writing and I don't really like to edit it either. Sometimes my word choice sucks and sentences are structured in weird ways.
What types of writing do you most enjoy?
I really like science fiction or short fiction stories. Boigraphies are also sometimes interesting, but mainly I like short stories. Ray Bradbury is one of my favourites and I also really like Kurt Vonnegut. Hunter S. Thompson is the man though.
What do teachers say about your writing?
Most teachers tell me it's good and advanced, but if you ask Kim she'll say I'm not trying as hard as I could be. Usually teachers seem to like it a fair bit though, more than I ever do.
What do you know about satire? What are your thoughts about boundaries and humor--esp. in a public school?
I didn't really know what satire was but I guess it's to make fun of something by ridiculing it. I think it's an effective way to make a joke about something because it's usually pointing out some truths in a non-offensive way since it's a joke. It's fine in school as long as pepole aren't being personally attacked and the jokes are actually funny.
What makes you laugh?
I haven't been laughing as much as I should be but generally I like it when people who feel all high and mighty are proven wrong. It's only a little bit funny to watch people get hurt unless it's a friend and it's not too serious... When I'm nervous I laugh, when I want to be a bitch and not actually have a valid argument I'll laugh at their points... An over-confident person with stupid jokes will make me laugh if they're not taking themselves too seriously.
To what extent do you follow current events? In what areas? (Possibilities: inter/national or local politics, sports, pop culture, school events) How do you follow? (on-line, newspapers, magazines, radio, TV)
Half the time I feel like I'm living under a rock because of how unaware of local/world issues I am. When something huge happens (such as the shootings in Conneticut) I am bound to hear about it simply because word of mouth. Of all the issues I am aware of, the one I am most involved with/see most has to deal with Boulder cops and rights of the people. I'm always hearing about camping rights, homeless rights, etc. and that's the only thing I really feel strongly about since so many friends are being directly affected. I follow by face to face interaction or personal experience. Ocassionally I'll open a magazine or a newspaper, but fuck all the publicity that gets twisted by power-hungry government officials. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in 1984. (The book, not the year mind you.)
What are your goals for this class?
I want to get some credit so I can get out of this burning purgatory they call High School. I also want to see how a newspaper runs and am looking forward to reading other people's articles.
Warm-ups
A Tissue Craze Sweeping NVHS!
On Friday afternoon, a handfull of weepy New Vista students made their way through a blur of snot and tears to Cheryl's desk. Our beloved school coordinator was overwhelmed with this group of kids who were all complaining in one way or another about the recent absence of tissues. "How could you do this to us Cheryl," one anonmyous student moaned, "All we needed was a couple tissues to make us feel secure and safe at school and you couldn't even do that?! HOW! HOW???!?!?! HOOOOWW?!!" This student was then taken to Centennial Peaks in hopes of "finding tissues." Ivette Visbal and Kirk Quitter have taken this as a serious sign to get more tissues. At the following community gathering, they pledged to never run out of tissues again.
CYWTB
1/9
Rephrase the following sentence. Try to write this actively. Have an actor and an action; make sure your subjects do something.
Examples:
Young writers should try...
Newspaper articles use active verbs.
Writing actively makes a difference in news writing.
There are many things that are important for young writers to keep in mind when writing newspaper articles, the most crucial is to make sure their writing is active.
When young writers are writing newspaper articles, they should be sure to use active verbs and remember to write actively.
1/11
The main reason I was happy was the fact that it was Friday.
I was happy it was Friday.
The upcoming weekend made me happy.
I smiled when I realized it was Friday.
Mainly, the reason for my happiness was because it was Friday.
1/15
See if you can eliminate the highlighted phrases:
It is important to note that there are so many ways to rephrase sentences.
For whom is it important? Give this sentence a subject.
Since so many ways to rephrase sentences exist, is an important thing to note.
1/18
State this actively:
There was an awkward silence in the office when Kirk was asked did you order the Hoo Flung Poo.
Kirk asked, "Did you order the Hoo Flung Poo?" which was followed by an awkward silence.
1/22
Punctuate the dialogue correctly.
"You can be proud of your name". Lin turned her back on him before she could say something she might regret.
"You can be proud of your name." Lin turned her back on him before she could say something she might regret.
"Let's proceed, shall we," Roberta coughed, shuffling her papers.
"Let's proceed, shall we," Roberta coughed and shuffled her papers.
1/23
My second argument why humans tend to be allured by the criminals is humans are appealed by danger.
Humans are appealed by danger which supports my second argument about why humans tend to be allured by the criminals.
NEWSHEETS