writing together
purpose: anything is possible; nothing is fixed. these little group scavenger/treasure hunts help us focus on Writing Process, the details, joyful cretion, prolbme solving, while praciticng accountability & transparency as we navigate the semester together. we are here to write all the tenThousand ways to write (about) a thing. it will be ongoing, & it will force us into some really good thinking.
writing task: quest(ion)s will be given on the Thursdays each week, unless otherwise noted. each small group (our way of practicing Fractals) we will be completing them. the purpose is to problem-solve together toward a rich discussion. this way, we are seeing how each person, & each group, adds to each week's conversation, staying out in the open together, relying on each other, asking for & offering support, learning to call-in if we need to, learning to ask for others' experiences in interpersonal conflict if we need to, etc.
the audience will be Each Other.
we will be writing in Community. i will ask questions to get the conversations going, & sometimes there will be "writing disciplines" involved, too, to keep us self-aware & practicing intention & agency in our writing. we will explore our writing in our in-class discussions.
requirements: when you receive instructions for each of the quest(ion)s on Thursdays, engage your small group & problem-solve together toward completing the tasks there by the time Tuesday class comes around. everything is intended to be joyful & aimed to complexity, absurdity, critique, logical analysis, reasonable doubt, & so on. i ask only that we Earn our sentences. how did we get here, from there?
will you use class time to cast a vision & then meet later in the week to check in? lean on each other to finish the assignments; work together & support each other through the class. it's worthwhile; you'll get to know how each other thinks, the quiet between their sentences. being in an ongoing workshop is an act of real friendship; i hope you can find your way to it.
first & foremost, if ever possible write something that you are proud of, that facilitates deep, inquisitive thought, or joy, or curiosity, or or or... just something you Want to express truly. rules aren't as important as content, effect. let it be joyful. as always, you can lean on your professor & peers for guidance...don’t forget that. use them as a resource to bring your ideas to fruition.
timeline: this semester, Thursday to Tuesday, each time.
QUEST(ION)S #1 — due by the beginning of class, Tuesday 9 September. each individual will submit their own form, even as you'll work together to finish.
your group appears on the Gradebook (Section 64500 & Section 64635); you're grouped alphabetically in 3s; your group matches the color of the column where your name & email appear.
QUEST(ION)S #2 — due by the beginning of class, Tuesday 16 September. each individual will submit their own form; please choose just ONE individual in your group to submit the link to your Google Slides presentation.
QUEST(ION)S #3 — next week we will NOT be meeting in class. instead, we will be meeting over Zoom for 15-30 minutes, based on when you sign up (either one slot or two, your choice), at THIS CALENDLY LINK.
QUEST(ION)S #4 — this Google Form serves as both (1) a makeup FEEDBACK form for Can We Please Love This Problem, Please? as well as (2) an updated REVISION for [this] [means] [that]. DUE THURSDAY 13 NOVEMBER.
QUEST(ION)S #5 — this will count as a workshop. it is intended to make you look at your own work, measure what's there & reflect on what might NOT be there yet, to force you to consider HOW to revise. i hope it gets you thinkng in terms of POSSIBILITY, not in terms of OR ELSE.