Writing Across Cultures

Step One: Create 3 characters: one historic, two fictional. Develop, research, and design your characters BEFORE you begin writing. Think of plausible ways to interconnect these 3 characters. Step Two: Write a story where you give each of these characters 2-5 mini-chapters (chapters written from each character’s subjective point of view)Each chapter should be at least 1 page (double spaced, 12 point font). Step Three: During the last chapter, somehow tie each character together through theme, motif, setting, or plot. You may tie themes together earlier, but at least during the last chapter all three must be interconnected. Step Four: Turn in your first draft Jan. 6. Test on The Hours Wednesday, Dec. 17.

Check out the blog One-Minute Writer. You may wish to use these prompts to get started writing.

Your portfolio is due today. Please make sure you label each draft with a new number and include your name and the title of the work. New drafts should be on top of the old one. Portfolio (2nd marking period) 4 = Exemplary 3= Accomplished 2= Developing 1=Beginning Exemplary: Thoroughly developed characters, plot, structure, conflict, theme, and setting. Uses vivid description, effective diction and word choice, tone or voice, POV, imagery, and compelling dialogue throughout portfolio. Uses a variety of effective literary devices. Writing can be considered “art,” effectively communicating issues central to the human condition. Has few errors in spelling punctuation, syntax, and usage. Work includes evidence of several revised drafts. Work included in portfolio reflects a wide range of styles and genres. There is more than fifteen full typed pages of new work. Uses lab and class time to full extent. Participates consistently and insightfully in class discussions. Accomplished: Well d...

Please respond here for the second part of your test:

1. Read Bloodsucking Fiends (test next Tuesday, Nov. 17). 2. Complete revision (3rd draft)/or 2nd draft (past due) of POV story. 3. Work on draft #1 of your folklore assignment (see below) To research ideas for your folklore project, see the following website: http://www.americanfolklore.net

Please read the following news article: "CHICAGO, Illinois - At 9:58 PM CST, Barack Obama unexpectedly took the state of Virginia. This turn of events put his total projected electoral votes to 284. This total was above the 270 needed to win the nomination, and so Barack Obama has been projected as the next President of the United States. As of 11:40 PM, the total number of electoral votes were set at 338 Obama, 156 McCain. Shortly after the winner was announced, Republican Presidential Nominee John McCain placed a call to congratulate Obama. He then gave a very gracious speech to a crowd of fellow Republicans in Phoenix. In his speech, McCain again congratulated Obama to his followers, to which they responded with with boos and negative tones. McCain spoke graciously of the importance of the election and how history has been made today. Barack Obama gave his speech to his audience less than an hour after McCain, where he thanked his family, running mate, and all those involve...

Folklore is: Folklore is writing that emerges from expressive culture, including tales, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs, and so forth within a particular population (culture, subculture, or group). Your task: Research an area of folklore. Use the library and the internet to help you find an idea. Once you have an idea, take notes on your subject. You will need to complete a 1 page outline about how you plan to use the information you found. More on this later. After you have researched an area of folklore, chosen a topic, created an outline, you will need to decide what kind of genre your presentation will take. Some ideas are listed below: Ideas: • Write a story/poem cycle/play about superstitions, folklore and/or a significant tradition in a culture outside of America. • Write a story/poem cycle/play about vampires or some other culturally created "monster." • Write a personal essay about Halloween, Vampires, Horror Films, Dra...

Currently, we are working on the following: 1. The second draft of your 2nd Person - POV story. This draft should be anywhere between 3-7 pages in length, typed, double-spaced, etc. Due Nov. 5. 2. The first draft of your personal essay from Dyer's essay "Dracula and Desire." Due Nov. 3. 3. Post from Oct. 30 - Writing project ideas. Select any one of these AND #4, the folklore research. #4 is required of all students in the class. See post above for detailed instructions. Due date TBA.

As you watch the film, make a list of taboos, social mores, and folkways that the characters break in both London society and in Transylvania. Writing Ideas: 1. Write a vampire story. You know you want to. 2. Write about the breaking of a Christian folkway, or perhaps a taboo. 3. Write a movie script involving a stranger who breaks a social more. 4. Research an area of folklore. Gather notes about your subject. We will use this material later. Happy Halloween!

Basic information about Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula Director: Francis Ford Coppola Writers: Bram Stoker (novel) and James V. Hart (screenplay) Awards:Won 3 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 12 nominations Cast (major only): Gary Oldman... Dracula Winona Ryder... Mina Murray Anthony Hopkins... Professor Abraham Van Helsing Keanu Reeves... Jonathan Harker Richard E. Grant...Dr. Jack Seward Cary Elwes... Lord Arthur Holmwood Bill Campbell...Quincey P. Morris Sadie Frost... Lucy Westenra Tom Waits... R.M. Renfield Jay Robinson... Mr. Hawkins I.M. Hobson... Hobbs

Post to this website with your comments about the novel A Prayer for the Dying by Stewart O'Nan. To help you comment, consider the following questions (you may answer as many as you like, or choose your own topics to comment on): a. What was your reaction as a reader to the character you "played"? How were you manipulated by the author, the story, or the prose style? b. Why do you think O'Nan chose 2nd person for this novel? What does the novel gain/lose by being written in 2nd person; what might it lose if it was written in 1st or 3rd person? c. What was your reaction to the violence in the novel? How does O'Nan use tone effectively to support the actions and events of the novel? d. What was your reaction as a reader to the novel? What pop cultural references did you think of, or did this story remind you of...and how did that alter your reading experience? e. In your opinion, which character (besides Jake) is most interesting and well developed in the novel? Why...

After you have completed your 1-page summary, write draft #2. Your story should include a taboo, more, or folkway, but it does not necessarily have to be the focus of the story (like the cannibalism and necrophilia in A Prayer for the Dying ). Your second draft should be anywhere between 3-7 pages, double spaced, include a title, and be written in second person POV. 2nd Person POV: Main character is the reader . The story is told through an objective and omniscient "I" narrator. In other words, there is an unidentified speaker/narrator who sees and tells all, particularly what YOU see. The narrator acts like the eyes, ears, nose, and fingers for the reader. Problems with 2nd person: difficult to maintain for a long time, reader must be willing to play the part, difficult to reach into reader's mind.

Cultural focus: Taboo, Mores, Folkways Social Mores are folkways. Folkways are patterns of conventional behavior in a society, norms that apply to everyday matters. They are the conventions and habits learned from childhood. Social Mores are considered important to the welfare of society. Through practice or observance by people, as well as through the force of law, Mores often become part of a formal legal code. Mores, specifically, refer to a type of norm . (Folkways, social mores, and taboos are all types of norms.) Violating of a taboo evokes feelings of disgust because a taboo is such a strongly held norm. For example: Picking your nose or wiping your hands on a tablecloth is a violation of a folkway, not a taboo. It might be gross, but it's not important enough to bring society’s law down on you. On the other hand, incest and cannibalism violate taboos (although not in all societies, these taboos are common). If you have sexual intercourse with your sister, eat her body, then...

4 = Exemplary 3= Accomplished 2= Developing 1=Beginning Exemplary: Thoroughly developed characters, plot, structure, conflict, theme, and setting. Uses vivid description, effective diction and word choice, tone or voice, POV, imagery, and compelling dialogue throughout portfolio. Uses a variety of effective literary devices. Writing can be considered “art,” effectively communicating issues central to the human condition. Has few errors in spelling punctuation, syntax, and usage. Work includes evidence of several revised drafts. Work included in portfolio reflects a wide range of styles and genres. There is more than ten full typed pages of new work. Uses lab and class time to full extent. Participates consistently and insightfully in class discussions. Accomplished: Well developed characters, plot, conflict, theme, and setting. Uses good description, diction, dialogue, voice, POV, imagery, etc. but work may not be as insightful or artfully constructed. Uses some literary devices, ...

Me Talk Pretty One Day – David Sedaris Writing Project(s) (part 1) Memoir is growing in popularity. In the last decade, creative non-fiction (memoir, mostly) has increased sales and readership. Creative non-fiction works exactly like fiction. There is very little difference, except that the plot, characters, setting, etc. are based on real people, places, and events. A writer of non-fiction must tell a story. There is usually dialogue, a rise of action to a climax, an epiphany, and attention to imagery, characterization, and other literary devices. Lack of memory is not an excuse for lack of detail. If a writer doesn’t remember the details exactly, she must provide these details from her imagination. The goal is to tell an interesting story. Part 1: Please read the first five essays in the book. As you read, pay attention to how Sedaris brings his reader into his private confidence. Examine how he surprises us with a turn of phrase or an issue that we didn’t expect. Draft 1: pick a mom...

Culture Scientists and Anthropologists define culture as learned behavior acquired by individuals as members of a social group. According to Edward Tyler in 1871: culture includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and other capabilities or habits acquired by a group. Culture is a learned behavior. Culture is also used to refer to a highly cultivated person versed in art, philosophy, etc. Culture includes insignificant behavior such as behavior traits, etiquette, food habits, as well as refined arts of a society. Culture can also be considered as the sum total of human knowledge and acquired behavior of humankind. Habits or behavior is generally transmitted from members to the young or outsiders until the outsider is also an insider, part of the group. Language: common way of communication Taboos: strict mores or behavior that is looked down upon in a culture (usually sexual) Regardless of culture, all cultures include: a primary means of subsistence, a primary fa...

The Culture Debate in the U.S.: Whose Culture Is This, Anyway? By Eric Miraglia, Dr. Richard law, Peg Collins (Washington State University) & [Mr. Craddock] Part of the debate about culture revolves around issues of perspective and ownership. Within a nation such as the United States -- a nation whose cultural heritage includes elements from every corner of the world -- there are a great many perspectives coexisting and intertwining in the cultural fabric. [Our art often uses this fabric as a starting point, or point of inspiration.] When we [as writers] ask ourselves as individuals, "what belongs to me, to my culture?" we are rewarded with a spectacular variety of responses; in this way, different perspectives and ownership of different cultural traditions enriches everyone. But when we ask "what belongs to us, to our culture?" we ask a much harder question. Do the people of the United States, or of any culturally complex human society, necessarily share common...

1. Make a list of cultural ideas. Cultural ideas are usually based on beliefs, fashion, food, environmental issues, entertainment or leisure activities, taboos, traditions, holidays, education, and several other broad-based categories. 2. Try to break up your general or broad-based category into smaller, more manageable ideas: beliefs can be turned into: concept of life after death, the concept of evil, the concept of freedom, the concept of God, etc. 3. As a small group, share your cultural ideas. Taking turns, go around your “circle” and name an idea. When someone names an idea you also have listed as one of your options, circle it or identify it in some way. 4. Break up into pairs when you and another student agree upon a topic for your cultural project. You should have only one partner. If we have odd students, one group may have 3 people in the group. 5. Gather research information: books, magazines, articles, web sites, etc. on your topic. Record the publishing info for your bibl...