Writing Across Cultures

Please use your time in the lab today to read about Colombia (from the previous posts), as well as the material posted below. It is important to actually read this information concerning the book, as it will help clarify some key problems students often have when approaching this text. After reading and checking out these links, you may spend your lab time reading, working on your comic book script or completing some work for your portfolio. Use your time in the lab effectively. Authors often use a well designed or imagined fictional setting for many of their stories. A writer who writes a series of work in a specific place is called a "regional writer." Stephen King's Castlerock, Ray Bradbury's Green Bluff, Illinois, and Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha county are examples. Like Dorothy, you don't need to look beyond your back door for an interesting setting--but you may want to. Macondo is draws from García Márquez's childhood town, Aracataca . Aracata...

Today, let's examine and chat about Borges' work, do a few quick writing exercises, pick up our next novel from the library, and go up to the lab to research and take notes on Colombia & Argentina, and write creatively in our portfolios. Colombia (basic information) A unique culture of Spanish culture and other mixed cultures, Colombia is bordered by the Pacific Ocean were their traditions are diverse, with a broad group that have unique customs, accents, social patterns, and cultural adaptations. These groups are classified into three cultures: those in the interior, the countryside, and the coastal regions. Modern Colombian music is a mixture of African, native Indigenous and European (Spanish) influences, as well as more modern American and Caribbean musical forms, such as Trinidadian, Cuban, and Jamaican. The official language is Spanish, which was imposed during the colonial period. All Colombians speak it except some of the indigenous populations ...

Argentina Argentina Argentina This video will lead you to a series of short "travel" videos for the country. You may use them as inspiration for settings. In the lab later today, please view, read, and take notes on these three areas linked below: Argentina Overview Argentina history . Argentina provinces . Argentina Culture Argentina News (current newspaper in English) The poet Alfonsina Storni , a pioneer for equal rights for women, wrote eight books of poetry. Her poetry takes a natural and feminist stance, with sexual metaphors and nature imagery. Here are a few of her poems. WRITING IDEA: Make a list of natural items: grapes, trees, horses, etc. and/or cultural ideas from Argentina: the Tango, gauchos, cuisine, soccer teams, etc. and combine them with startling metaphors. To do this, first make a list of non-related verbs and nouns. Then juxtapose them in surprising ways in the style of Storni's poetry. You may also tap into more sexual imagery, if you...

Today we will start our exploration of other cultures and voices starting with the continent of South America (students overall voted S. America as one of their top 3 choices on the survey). Let's start with a little knowledge. Take the map test on the countries in South America. How did you do? Do you know, for example, where Bolivia is, or Brazil, or Peru? Today we will start our world tour with Argentina. After the quiz (this is not graded), please take a moment or two and read the notes handed out to you with a partner. Find at least one item on these notes that you find interesting or valuable. Consider what you know about the life and culture in Argentina, if anything. Share your ideas or opinions. Then let's get cracking reading some contemporary Argentinian writers. We will read these stories and collection of poems out loud together as a class. After each story or collection of poems, please respond to what you have read. Your response should be a creative one. ...

We are entering the 3rd marking period. Careful, this one's short. You will need to continue writing a portfolio. Any of the previous exercises can still be tried. Don't forget that you want to pace yourself to write at least 1-2 pages per week. This is not a lot of writing, if you pace yourself. Your comic book script (and other assignments) will be included in this next portfolio. Remember, also, that you can revise and rewrite any work for which you have already created a draft. Please complete the simple survey for our upcoming World Literature unit and hand in by end of class today.  IN THE LAB : Please write your script today in the lab. If you get stuck, call me over. Otherwise, advice about the finer points of writing comic books can be found in the articles below. Take a gander. Writing a comic book script (advice from experts) More advice about writing a comic script. Advice about writing Superhero comics (from experts, Superhero Nation ) Five Minute Grap...

Please view this short animated lecture from RSA animate on Education . After a moment to reflect and respond to the video, please move to the 3rd floor lab. Today in the lab, before you move back to your comic book project (see below), please complete the survey linked here concerning the educational project we undertook during the 2nd marking period. Please take the following survey from the CCTE program (Problems in Education Forum Project). https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CraddockFall2012 . After completing the survey, please meet with your partner (or work alone) and continue your comic-book script project. You should have chosen a suitable genre, created a protagonist (if you haven't turned this in yet, please complete and turn in by end of class today). On your character sketch, write words, phrases, descriptions of what other people say about this character, what the character says about him/herself, and any specific details about the character. Give your character a l...

After our quiz on Maus , we will take some time to discuss the book in small groups. By the end of period 1, we will retire to the lab to work on the following project: 1. Alone or in groups of two, brainstorm some ideas about a short comic book you would like to write. Consider genre . 2. What genre would you like to work with? Fantasy, science-fiction, action, comedy, romance, super-hero, drama, how-to, parody, satire, mystery, horror, western, multi-genre, or some other idea. Brainstorm some ideas. Then select one that suits you. 3. Together or on your own, create a protagonist. You may have more than one protagonist, as in Maus or X-Men, but usually one will suffice. You may find this program helpful in creating a concept for a character. HeroMachine 3 4. Flesh out your protagonist a bit. Consider who this person is, give the character a name, an occupation, special traits, consider a personality, and give the protagonist a few details concerning a background. By the end of...