Weeks Eight and Nine
Monday 10/24--Read Autobiography of a Face, 181-201 (20 pages).
Tuesday 10/25--Creative response on Auto. (topic to be announced on Monday).
Thursday 10/27--Finish Autobiography of a Face, 201-223 and read afterword by Ann Patchett.
Friday 10/28--NO CLASSES
Monday 10/31--NO CLASSES
Tuesday 11/1--Writing workshop day and read this brief piece by Grealy's sister: http://lisamm.wordpress.com/2008/10/28/suellen-grealy-sister-of-author-lucy-grealy-is-hijacked-by-grief/
If you don't have a topic, then, in your journal, please brainstorm a list of ten possible topics for your essay. Try to find topics which are personally meaningful to you. The topic could be a memory or an episode from your childhood, something you're thinking about/experiencing now, a subject matter you care deeply about--it doesn't matter as long as it's something you feel strongly about and upon which you would enjoy writing.
If you do have a topic, then I'd encourage you to freewrite on it as your journal entry for the week. Write quickly and don't stop to edit yourself (put that editor in a bell jar and store it in the far reaches of your closet).
Thursday 11/3--Writing workshop day.
For homework: freewrite on your personal essay topic in your journal or do some tangible work on your essay that you can post in your journal (e.g. the first page of the essay, an outline). If freewriting, then please time yourself: write for twenty minutes, take a five minute break, then write for another twenty minutes. Remember to put your internal editor away: do NOT judge yourself or the quality of your writing!
Friday 11/4--Essay due (essay topic posted on Period 3 and 4 websites under "Essay Topics").
*** Note: Your personal essay due date has been moved to Friday, November 4th. I encourage you to start thinking about what you'd like to write.