Gender/Feminism continued; The Stone Gods: Discussion & Take Home Test

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MP3: Welcome!
  • Remember: you will have a portfolio due by the end of the marking period (in April). Portfolios should include a reflection of your progress throughout the marking period/semester.
  • While 1/2 your academic year is over, you are not through the woods yet.
  • No matter what your attitude towards the School of the Arts is, what you are learning here is more important than you think...
  • Plan to participate more this semester. Stop putting off your writing, reading, and growth...
Period 1:
  • Brainstorm problems women face. Or complete this statement: "The biggest challenge women face is..." or "one small overlooked issue women face is..."; if you need help thinking of something, check online where all the information is...Ms. and The Odyssey online (for large ideas) and then other smaller issues here: Bustle.
3 international short stories:

Italy: 'The Falling Girl" by Dino Buzzati

Antigua: "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid

France: "The Other Wife" by Colette

And an article: "How Puberty Kills Confidence in Girls" (The Atlantic)

Tips:
  • All stories have a beginning, middle, and end.
  • Don't attack an issue head-on. Attack from the side or through a metaphor. See "The Falling Girl" as a good example of this.
  • Write about what you SEE, or experience, or care about--stop writing solely because you are told to...(that's not art, that's conscription!)
  • All stories start when a character encounters a problem that interrupts the status quo of the story's setting. A story is about how the protagonist handles that problem.
  • Tell us something we need to know but in a way that we haven't heard yet.
  • Research (see below as examples of what you might discover...)
Period 2:

Jeanette Winterson is a contemporary novelist. She is a lesbian writer who dabbles in science fiction, literary and poetic prose. She was born in Manchester, England, and adopted by Pentecostal parents who brought her up in the nearby mill-town. She attended Oxford, and currently writes for various UK newspapers (she is a journalist, as well as a literary novelist and poet).

Her novels include:
  • Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (complete audiobook)
  • Sexing the Cherry
  • Lighthousekeeping (play adaptation)
  • Weight
  • Gut Symmetries 
  • Art & Lies
  • The Stone Gods
  • Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal
  • The Daylight Gate
  • The Gap of Time: Winter's Tale Retold
  • Christmas Days: Stories

Food for thought: GJ1132b (synthesis), Sophia, & Easter Island & another current article on Easter Island 

Discussion and Socratic Seminar on The Stone Gods (see handout)

With time remaining, please work on your take-home test for The Stone Gods.

HOMEWORK: #1: Complete the take-home test for The Stone Gods. 

#2. Write a short story draft centering around a female issue relevant to our society or popular culture. See the short stories we have read today as models for your own ideas. Genre is completely up to you. See the following pictures for prompts/ideas...or research and pick your own!

Image result for girls in crisisImage result for girls being meanRelated imageImage result for fat female horrorImage result for girl fantasy action

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