Writing Across Cultures

While we will meet in the lab to prepare our portfolios, once you have completed your printing and turn in your portfolio, come down to the classroom to join us in our viewing of Smoke Signals   (1998) directed by Chris Eyre; screenplay by Sherman Alexie. Remember to attach old drafts (particularly the ones I (or your peer group) marked up) to new drafts (new drafts on top!)  It is better to turn in what drafts you have now, than turn in your entire portfolio later. But remember that late work is only one small part of your portfolio grade. The rubric is a general overall average based on class participation, behavior, writing quality, creativity, growth, and skill. Portfolios are due March 28. If you turn in your work after class (still on March 28 by 2:30--end of day) your work is not late. Print out copies of your drafts on your own--don't expect to email me and have me do your prep work. Take responsibility for your own work. Refer to the rubric for how your portf...

Period 1: Please work on your finishing touches for your portfolio. These are due March 28. What you need in your portfolio: Writing reflection response (avoid vague pandering about the course and discuss YOUR writing)--what's missing from your curriculum, what is still giving you trouble in your writing, how have you grown or what's going on in your writing? Revised work A Brechtian play draft A piece about race Period 2:  Please continue reading the short stories in The Lone Ranger & Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Aim to complete the collection over the April break.  At 8:30, Aspenleiter requests your attendance in the Ensemble theater to measure your caps/gowns for graduation. HOMEWORK: Keep reading the collection of short stories. Aim to complete the book by or during Spring Break.

A morning with mythology: This morning please take a look at the following videos. As you view, consider how all stories use mythology as their primal basis--can you think of tv shows/characters, movies, stories, books, or plays that echo some of the character types found in these myth cycles? For example: many stories we tell to each other as humans have to do with men creating, influencing, or shaping their world--and the problems that arise because of their use of power.  Alternatively, many myths set up a conflict between opposite forces: male/female, gay/straight, fat/thin, short/tall, young/old, day/night, good/evil, father/mother, parent/child, etc. How might we interpret our dual nature as humans? How is this dualism found in our culture/traditions/identity? How are women and men drawn into conflict in these myths? What assumptions about gender do we notice in these myths? How does the myth cycle support the status quo or challenge our thinking about how we, as human...

LAB: If you missed it the first few times around, take a look at this video to prepare you for today's class. A Conversation with Native Americans on Race (short video) TASK: In the COMMENT section of the blog, please post a comparative/contrasting critique of the plays and graphic novel American Born Chinese . Consider what we've learned about race--how does cultural heritage, identity, and the issues of race infuse these plays and graphic novel with significance for a contemporary audience?  Your post on the topic will be due by the end of first period (lab) Tuesday, March 20.  No late responses will be given credit.  When you have completed your post, please use the time to workshop or work on your upcoming portfolio (due next week!) See previous posts for details. At the end of period 1, please go to the library to pick up the short story collection The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven  by Sherman Alexie . This unit will move us into our uni...

Period 1: Lab Please read the short story "From the Roaches' Perspective". Inspired by the story, choose an insect, object, or animal and write a story from this perspective. Like the story, allow the animal/object to witness something it shouldn't have seen. See: Garden Party (animated short, trailer; winner of best animated short film, 2018) Use your time in the lab to work on your portfolio. Workshop your pieces. Read American Born Chinese (see homework below) or look at the links bulleted below. Portfolios are due March 28. A revision of a previous piece of writing A Brechtian play draft A piece about race Period 2: What does the Word Asian Mean to You? How You See Me (Asian) Let's read the short stories/poems from China, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Korea. Then read the short Brechtian play "Los Vendidos" by  Luis Valdez  and the one-act play "My Beatles" by  Satoh Makoto . TASK: In the COMMENT section of the blog, please ...

Lab: Period 1: Please get together in your reading groups and continue reading, discussing, and completing your discussion questions. Turn in your group's responses/answers by the end of period 2. If your group finishes before the end of period 1, please continue to work on your portfolios or begin reading your homework. See below. Trevor Noah: Clip from the Daily Show (racist facial recognition),  stand up sample , and Trevor Noah on Race, Comedy, & Politics (interview), interview on the Ellen show , and pop culture Lupita Nyong'o on The Daily Show . Period 2: In between our writing exercises, we will read the short stories "Terminal" by Nadine Gordimer , "Arrest Me" by Denis Hirson , "By the Creek" by Barry Yourgrau , the poem "Up Late" by Arthur Nortje , and the essay by Gcina Mhlope . Other South African writers we've read include: Bessie Head Athol Fugard Writing Tips for Fiction: Successful writers...

Lab: Some information about South Africa , Apartheid , and Athol Fugard . Please read the short stories: "Snapshots of a Wedding", "The Interpreter for the Tribunal" and "Not Far From the Tree". Choose one of the prompts & write: Think of a celebration (a wedding, birthday, graduation, holiday, a March Madness party, retirement, funeral, etc.) and use Bessie Head's structure to write various "snapshots" of the celebration. Use the information about South Africa or Apartheid and set a short story there. Move outside of your comfort zone as a writer. Write from the perspective of a character from a different race, gender, sexual orientation, or country (culture) Use time in the lab to work on your portfolio or workshop your pieces. Remember to put drafts in your group workshop folder! Members of your group should give you feedback. Period 2:  We will continue reading Master Harold and the Boys.  Get into reading groups of...

Lab: Complete the test on your chosen novel on race. You may use your notes/book, but you only have 1 period to complete the essay. Period 2: Please get in your book groups and discuss the novel. Complete the socratic seminar sheet for a member of your group. Please record the questions/topics your group discusses on the back of your seminar paper. Turn the form in by the end of class today for participation credit. During the last 15-20 minutes of class, we will stop and begin reading Master Harold and the Boys together. HOMEWORK: None.

Because of our snow day, this lesson will be given on Tuesday, March 6. Lab: (until 8:00) Read the handout of poems and the article "The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration." Use your creativity to write a poem or essay draft inspired by one of these poems or what the article sparks during the shortened lab time. Portfolios are due March 28. Suggestions: Write a poem about a nickname (or racial slur) you or someone you know earned in school.  Write about a time you had to declare your racial heritage. Write about your parents (or a parent/relative, etc.) that had to assimilate or taught you something about your culture. Write about a relative or neighbor that you know in prison. Write a fictional story from the perspective of an inmate in a State or local prison or from a family member or law enforcement officer affected by crime or our prison system. To help you see the following sites: Race & Homicide in America  (US World News Report, 2016)...