Weeks Four and Five: Plot and Character
Mon 2/3 (S): (Same assignment as for Friday 1/31)
Read through your freewrites and exercises for the class (you can also look at older journal entries and relevant notes/ideas you've written down before this semester).
Post FIVE possible ideas for a story
You might start with an interesting character
Or an image
Or with an opening line or ending line
Or with an interesting location
Or a plot
THEN, do a freewrite on one or more of these ideas in your journal.
Remember to follow Goldberg's guidelines for a freewrite.
Keep fingers moving; don't worry about grammar, punctuation, etc.; go for the jugular, etc.
As always, please time your freewrite and put the time it took at the beginning or end of your freewrite.
Post ideas and freewrite here: Canvas link is here (link is now active)
Total word count (for prompts and freewrite combined): 300 words or more
Weds 2/5 (L):
Read Writing Fiction, "Tower and the Net: Story Form, Plot, and Structure," pp. 124-151 (you can skip the short stories)
Note: this is CHAPTER 6 so we are not going chronologically through the book.
Thurs 2/6--Block E OR Fri 2/7--Block D (L):
Short story reading: "One of These Days" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (157-159) in reader.
Short story exercise: Write a short story in 100 words. Notice that if you're going to manage a conflict, crisis, and resolution in this small space, you'll have to introduce the conflict immediately.
Please use the word "(word to be announced)" in your story.
Please write on a word doc that you'll bring to class (it will be shared and posted in Google Classroom).
Block D: please use the word "marble" in your story.
Block E: please use the word "jaws" in your story.
Continue to think about/generate ideas for your first story, which is due Weds 2/12 (E) or Thurs 2/13 (D). Word count: 900 words.
Monday 2/10 (S):
Read Chapter 3 of Burroway, pp. 44-72
Go to a cafe (or some other place where people are talking) and listen to people's dialogue.
Try to write down snippets of their speech.
Make notes on the way people talk (intonation, word choice, rhythm, speed, pacing)
Also, observe the gestures, movement, and facial expressions that accompany the way people converse.
Please be subtle and respectful!
Note: if you're not comfortable observing strangers, ask family members or friends if they mind if you observe and take notes on their conversation.
Note:if you write about a person I might know (in this or other journal entries), please change the name and a key characteristic of the person so I won't recognize them, if at all possible.
Note: Do NOT record or videotape anyone without their express permission! Very important!
Total word count: 300 words (or more)
Put how long it took you at the beg. or end of your assignment
Please post on Canvas here.
Tues 2/11 (S): No class today (I have chaperoning duty!), but please do the following for homework:
Read "Hills Like White Elephants" in your reader.
Pay attention to how Hemingway uses dialogue to craft his story. How does literary dialogue different from the actual dialogue you overhear?
Assignment purposely short b/c story submission #1 due Weds (E) or Thurs (D)--also because the assignment for Monday was long.
Weds 2/12 (Block E) or Thurs 2/13 (Block D)--L: Story submission #1 due
Block D: optional--put the word "root" in your story somewhere
Block E: optional--put the word "ice" into your story somewhere....
Note: no extensions can be granted on this assignment because we can't postpone workshopping the stories.
Note 2: If you think your story might be triggering for some reason, please put a little note at the top to let your classmates know.
Bring three copies to class to share with classmates
Note: this story will only be read by the three classmates in your workshopping group--not the whole class.
Workshopping groups are posted below
Block D:
Group 1: Olga, Lily, Garrett, Chris
Group 2: Maxwell, Olivia, Emma, Pablo
Group 3: Hamed, Isaac, Lucia, Ruby
Group 4: Mannat, Max, Nicole, Megan
Block E:
Group 1: Ali, Archa, Adin, Om
Group 2: Kabir, Cole, Stephanie, Isaac
Group 3: Andrew, Annika, Manu, Skyler
Group 4: Emma, Natalie, Natu, Yasmeen
Important: no extensions on this assignment
If you have any questions about your story you want feedback on, I'd suggest you put them at the end of your story, rather than the beginning.
It's often a good idea to write down specific questions you have for your peers!
Note: Please don't leave your classmates' stories lying around. Remember that these stories are confidential.
Fri 2/14 (S): Workshopping:
Read student stories (workshopping during class time)
In the margins and at the end of the story, please do the following:
Comment on something you appreciate about the piece.
Consider what's meaningful, evocative, interesting, exciting, and/or striking about the piece*
Comment on neutral questions you have--what you'd like clarification on, etc.
Questions are neutral when they do not have an opinion couched in them.*
Suggest corrections for mechanical errors respectfully.
Very important: Remember to be encouraging, not harsh--these are early drafts!
Authors: print out and bring a copy of your own story (so you can refer to it when your classmates comment on it)
* These phrases are from Liz Lerman's website: https://lizlerman.com/