Writing Across Cultures

Period 1: "More Than Skin Deep" "In Living Color" "Grey Matter" "Color Lines" Junot Diaz Period 1 or 2: Now, let's turn our attention to the play The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht.  Question/Prompt: Should someone who owns a thing have possession of it? Or should someone who uses a thing best hold possession? Relate this to problems of race in our society. Should students, for example, be given every opportunity, even if they do not take advantage of that opportunity? Or should only those who use the opportunity gain benefits from it? Should, for example, immigrants get jobs if the indigenous people lack the skills or interest to hold these jobs? Or vise versa: should immigrants be given privileges (jobs, education, economic stability) that American citizens might lack? Respond in writing. Some background on Brecht: Bertolt Brecht  influenced modern theatre throughout the 20th century. His  brief bio  can ...

Period 1:  Set goals for your writing portfolio, Marking Period 3: Write at least 1 goal that you want to accomplish in your portfolio Check your old goals and see if you met them. If not, why not? What need you do this marking period to be more "on the ball"? Read the portfolio advice (or see below) Choose 1 piece to revise this morning from your portfolio. Call it a new "draft" or Draft #2, #3, #4, etc. Keep your original as reference. Then follow these steps: 1. Identify the climax of your story/essay/poem  2. Move this climactic scene to the beginning of your story 3. Use some of your original beginning as backstory later in the scene. Only use your backstory as suspense or as a delay when you need to transition from one scene to the next 4. Cut anything extraneous or unimportant from this draft Also, during the lab please read the short article: "When Pop Culture Sells Dangerous Myths About Romance." Try a writing prompt: Choose ...

NOTES ON GENRE/PROGRESS: Good job. Thank you for writing. Many good first drafts with much potential.  Variation in genre and samples (range); consider other writing projects you enjoy (short films, Podcasts, comic/graphic novel scripts, tv scripts, Youtube video memes, blogging, songwriting, genre fiction, speeches, Crash Course knock-offs, etc.) Many of you commented that you were surprised how well the Gothic story went Many of you commented on your improvement and progress Some issues you revisited with this portfolio: Lack of motivation (some of you have been dealing with this problem for years) Asking what is the focus of this class? Fleshing out ideas from the prompt writing(s) NOTES ON STYLE: Contemporary writing is more journalistic. Short declarative sentences. Fragments.  Dialogue (in general) goes on too long. In a few cases you still don't know how to punctuate dialogue. OMG. Pick up any fiction book and check it when you are PROOFREADING and pre...

Period 1: A moment of silence for Ursula LeGuin . We will continue our Pop Culture presentations today. We left off with Karina's "Mothman" presentation. What to consider/how to use these presentations: Part of the use for popular culture in writing is to reference it. Alluding to pop culture in our stories, poems, plays, essays, can help stress similarities and connotative symbols/semiotics by way of compare/contrast and analogy. To do this, reference pop culture by: stating the reference directly by mentioning the source (a reference to McDonald's, for example) stating the reference to the topic through a well-known line or quote (a quote from Shakespeare, a quote from a Beatles song) Compare/contrast or parody a character or setting from the original source (Zak Effron's character from High School Musical, or taking a setting from the show--naming your school after East High School, for example) Using/parodying plot events/tropes from a popular so...

Lab: please prepare and complete your portfolios. These will be collected today (or tomorrow). At the end of our lab, (8:05) please go to the library to pick up the required memoir "The Distance Between Us" by Reyna Grande. The author will be visiting us in early March for "If All of Rochester Read the Same Book" program. See homework for details on the book. Period 2: We will view your pop culture presentations. We'll go in order. Please make sure your links work before beginning your presentation. If someone is absent or isn't listed, we'll skip them. Our goal is to identify what the popular culture topic is, its history (where did it come from?), and how it has influenced our culture? The term: convergence, cross-platform, narrative and high/low culutre  may be helpful (from your handout articles). Convergence : the changes and merging that has occurred in media content over time. One meaning refers to technology and another to business. Thus, ...

4 = Exemplary 3= Accomplished 2= Promising 1=Beginning 0=Failing Exemplary : Thoroughly and artistically developed and crafted characters, plot, structure, conflict, theme, and setting. Uses vivid description, effective diction and word choice, tone, voice, POV, imagery, and compelling characterization and/or dialogue throughout the portfolio. Uses a variety of effective literary devices (both poetic and rhetorical) that enhance the artistic quality of the work. Writing can be considered “art,” effectively communicating issues central to the human condition in a compelling and creative way. Titles are creative and compelling. Has very few errors in spelling punctuation, syntax, and usage. Sentence structure, syntax, and the overall effect of the work is artistic. The format is effective, carefully and correctly followed. Work includes evidence of several revised drafts that improve on earlier drafts, strengthening the quality of the writing. Work included in portfolio...

Period 1: Work on your portfolio during the lab.  Please send me the shared link to your presentation!  The pop culture presentations I have links for so far: Alexander   Emily Azana Jocelyn Bella Karina Deja Alexis Tamaron Kyra Liana Sara Period 2: We will summarize the article we read on Dracula and take notes or form questions based on what we hear. These comments/questions will be used to conduct a Socratic seminar on the book. "Kiss Me With Those Red Lips: Gender and Inversion" (gender criticism) The Occidental Tourist: Dracula and the Anxiety of Reverse Colonization (postcolonial criticism/cultural studies) "A Wilde Desire Took Me: The Homoerotic History of Dracula" (queer criticism/gender criticism) HOMEWORK: None. Portfolios are due January 18.

Period 1: Please complete the test on Dracula . If you finish early (before period 2) please use the time to work on your portfolio. Portfolios are due next week (Thursday/Friday). Please send me the shared link to your presentation! The pop culture presentations I have links for so far: Alexander   Emily Azana Jocelyn Bella Karina Deja Alexis Tamaron Kyra Period 2: We will summarize the article we read on Dracula and take notes or form questions based on what we hear. These comments/questions will be used to conduct a Socratic seminar on the book. "His Hour Upon the Stage": Theatrical Adaptations of Dracula (theatrical criticism) Vampires in the Light (film criticism) Suddenly Sexual Women in Bram Stoker's Dracula (feminist criticism) Dracula: The Unseen Face in the Mirror (literary criticism/psychological criticism) A Capital Dracula (Marxist criticism) "Kiss Me With Those Red Lips: Gender and Inversion" (gender criticism) The Occident...

LAB: (Until 8:00)  Portfolios are due January 18 (or January 19*); please use your time in the lab to work on your portfolios. Requirements include: 1. Reflection of your writing progress (not a critique of the class...) 2. A gothic inspired story 3. An epistolary (multiple perspective) story or a television script or a short story or essay regarding pop culture (including gun violence, allusion to pop culture references or fads, a type of essay, previously discussed stream of consciousness, various pieces created from in-class prompts and prompts from the blog, etc.) 4. A revision  A note about the required Gothic Story : Gothic stories deal with the gradual corruption of an otherwise innocent character.  They use recognizable tropes; for a list see: the glossary of literary gothic terms See previous posts regarding Gothic literature; use Dracula as a model as well... All stories have a beginning, middle, and end; a draft is not really complete u...

Enjoy your snow day. We'll resume class on Tuesday, Jan. 9. Just a few reminders: MP2 Portfolios are due 1/18. Very little time will be given in the lab due to testing . You'll have to largely work on your portfolio outside of class. Requirements include: 1. Reflection of your writing progress (not a critique of the class...) 2. A gothic inspired story 3. Multiple perspective or stream of consciousness story (inspired by Dracula or psychology unit) Pop culture presentations will be due next class (we'll perform them, though, after our discussion of Dracula ). Complete Dracula . Test on Dracula & discussion will be Thursday, Jan. 11. Dracula Assistance: Chapters 17 - 25 Chapter 16 concludes the second part of the novel. Lucy, the vampire, has been defeated, but the foreign threat to decent English culture has yet to be stopped. Our protagonists need to defeat the big boss! Chapter 17: Seward invites Mina and Jonathan to the asylum, where Mina ...

Lab: Please use the lab time to complete your pop culture presentations (or work on your portfolio): Popular Culture Presentation Project Your topic should  not  be a FAD.  Your Prezi should include a title slide, a few slides detailing the most important history of the topic, and a short clip of music, video, or other text that identifies the impact of the subject on our culture. Keep your presentation slides visual --very little text should appear on your slides. The text you would normally read to us during your presentation should be practiced and delivered orally as if you learned or know the information (you can have notes if you need them...) Video/music material should be used to hook our attention or to introduce the topic. It may also be used to conclude, but this is a weaker choice. It should not be a replacement for your brief explanation about what the topic is and why it is important. Keep your clips very short if you use them--I'll ...