Writing Across Cultures

Please take the first 15 minutes of class to work on your drafts for your portfolio. At 7:45 we will return our attention to "The Overcoat" (end of 2nd paragraph) and continue reading in class. We will stop occasionally and conduct some writing prompts. Including: Write the longest sentence you can, with grammatical correction (in other words--it has to be grammatically sound). Check out sentence structures and ideas here ... Choose one of the caricatures from Leonardo da Vinci , British Satirical Prints from the Philadelphia Museum of Art , from the National Galleries of Scotland's prints of Pier Leone Ghezzi , or Bill Plympton 's comic sketches. Create a character sketch based on one of the pictures. Then tell that character's life story. Start a character's day with a normal occurrence, then with each new paragraph introduce a problem or situation that complicates that character's life from the previous paragraph. Build your plot and complicatio...

This morning, let's workshop the three short stories you read for homework until around 8 or 8:10. Take out your "workshop" notes/handouts (or pick up a new one!) Together with 1-3 others (groups of 2-4), discuss the writing and effectiveness of the stories: "Horse" by Amy Bonnaffons "A Continuity of Parks" & "A Yellow Flower" by Julio Cortazar.  Make sure you comment on the following: Image Voice Character Plot Form Sound/Rhythm/Diction Setting Theme After the pledge, we'll begin reading "The Overcoat", a short story by the Russian author Nikolai Gogol. You may have already heard of him somewhere...Take a couple minutes to read about Gogol at the link.  Some context: Short stories were a recent, new form of writing in the early 19th century when Gogol was writing. His first collection of stories (Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka) was published in 1831. While short stories or narratives have be...

Writing Prompts from The Namesake , chapters 5-7: Chp. 5, pg. 123-124: What stories have your parents not told you about? Or that they told you about later in your life. Were they right to hide this story from you or to avoid the conversation? Chp. 6, pg. 125-127: Write about a city you visited or have lived in. OR Write about a family trip you took. Chp. 6, pg. 132-136: Write about the first time you met his or her parents. Chp. 6, pg. 141-143: Write about a time you were left alone (perhaps for the weekend or unchaperoned) Chp. 6, pg. 158: Write about a party you attended; compare/contrast that with a party you attended when you were a child. Chp. 7, pg. 169: Write about learning about the death of someone; or write about the birth of someone. How has this changed the way you live your life? "How to Tame a Wild Tongue": Start a poem with the line: "Wild tongues can't be tamed, they can only be cut out." Argue in a speech/podcast/essay: "L...

Period 1 (until 8:00): Please return to your workshops. Continue commenting and critiquing your peers in your workshop groups. When you are finished commenting, please do 1 of 3 things: Revise and develop any of your reviewed pieces for your portfolio. Read your "homework" (chp. 1-7 of the Namesake ), and the essay "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" by Gloria Anzaldua (if you did not already do so as homework!); we will be discussing these things at 8:00 today. Discussion: "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" Chapter 6, The Namesake:  Compare Gogol's relationship with Ruth and Maxine; compare Gerald & Lydia as characters. How do these scenes compare/contrast with his parent's relationship? Chapter 7, The Namesake:  Discuss Gogol's relationship with his father; writing prompts... A smattering of philosophy: Personal Identity: Crash Course #19 Questions to ponder in writing/response: Who are you? How do you know this? Do you b...

This morning we will learn a little bit about names...Let's watch: Horrible Histories: Victorian Names Rowan Atkinson: Dirty Names Black Sounding Names If you could change your name what would you change it to? If you were to make a short film, podcast, or documentary about names, what would you create? Name Generator Make a list of names. After our quick response, please read the following personal essay by Firoozeh Dumas "The F Word". Then we'll read a little poetry. Cultural Poetry Draft Exercise: Elizabeth Bishop: "In the Waiting Room" (pg. 726-728) Gwendolyn Brooks: "The Mother" (pg. 750-751) Frank O'Hara: "Autobiographia Literaria" (pg. 779) Donald Hall: "My Son, My Executioner" (pg. 794) Lucille Clifton: "Homage to my Hips" (pg. 845) Carolyn Forche: "The Memory of Elena" (pg. 880) Askold Melnyczuk: "The Enamel Box" (pg. 888) Cathy Song: "Lost Sister" (pg. ...

The Namesake: Chapters 3 & 4, discussion/comment: Jhumpa Lahiri has said of The Namesake , "America is a real presence in the book; the characters must struggle and come to terms with what it means to live here, to be brought up here, to belong and not belong here." Does  The Namesake allow you to think of America in a new way? Do you agree that America is a real presence in The Namesake ? How is India also a presence in the book? How is Gogol's sister different from Gogol? What might Lahiri be doing with her narrative in describing her differently? What is the effect on the reader? How does Gogol react to his sister in these chapters? How does the family change in these chapters? What scenes, passages, or lines do you remember that indicate this? How is Gogol's experience in school a source of conflict for him? How does his experience in school echo your own? Is "school" and growing up in America a similar rite of passage for everyone? (i.e., is ...

"How it Feels to Be Colored Me" is an essay by  Zora Neale Hurston . Take a moment to read a bit of information about Zora Neale Hurston, then we'll read the essay in class. Look closely at how the article opens (the hook, lead-in, thesis), and how it develops (the body, topic sentences, argument), and notice the sentence structure (length, diction, syntax). After studying some of these elements respond to the article in writing. ESSAY PROMPT: What defines you? What single physical, mental, emotional trait defines you? Why? What is the significance of this trait?  ESSAY PROMPT: Think about your own educational experience. How multicultural has your experience been?  ESSAY PROMPT: Is there value in having a common culture (for example stressing the idea that we are all 'Americans' over fragmenting our culture)? Why or why not? ESSAY PROMPT: Does this idea of multiculturalism need updating? Is this issue still important--and, if so, why? ESSAY, PLAY, or M...

Let's go back to examining  The Namesake , Chapter 1 this morning to continue examining the writing style going on here. Take a closer look at these passages: Pg. 3 (1st full paragraph) to 4 (end of 1st full paragraph): How is Ashima's character compared/contrasted with the American women in the hospital? What do you notice about the sentence structure of this paragraph? What does the use of dialogue in this paragraph provide for the reader? What literary devices do you notice? Can you find figurative language/metaphor/alliteration or other elements of imagery? How are the sentences similar to a contraction (the action in the scene)? Pg. 10-12: how is Ashoke's character presented? How does his story parallel or contrast with his wife's? How is Ashoke different from the other American men in the waiting room? What details do we learn about him?  Pg. 13-14: Nickolai Gogol and the short story "The Overcoat" is alluded to here. Just notice it for now. This al...

Writing prompt #1: (10 min.) Name research : write about your name. If you did not research this information as I requested, please do so now. Check out this site:  Behind the Name . This is also a good resource for writers to find names for characters. Use it throughout the course, if you'd like. Writing prompt #2: (10  min.) Cultural groups : make a list of cultural groups you belong to. Include pop cultural or non-traditional groups as well as formal ones recognized by our society. For example: you are either male or female (or identify as a different gender--that is a group to which you belong), you may be part of a cultural heritage (African American or Irish or French or Korean, etc.--that is a cultural group to which you belong...); or a religion, or a fan of a particular style or art, or you may define yourself by who you know or what activities you participate in (soccer or softball or a "gamer" or a fan of jazz or a fan of a particular media or show or film...

Rules You Would Like Us to Follow: Participate (engage) in this course/class Support each other creatively & respect each other (no bullying or judging!) Provide constructive criticism positively & speak up! (see above!) Collaborate Stay on task (no procrastination! see above!) No midterms/finals* Students bring in snacks every week* *Let's discuss/clarify this... Cultural Survey results: "Most interested" topics had a maximum score of 39 potential points (if everyone took the survey and everyone scored a topic as "most interested". A middle score of 13 indicates most people are at least "interested" in the topic. The lowest score, of course, for a topic not interested in or "least interested in" would be a 0. Here are the results from your surveys (in descending order): Culture Preference: South America/Central American Lit. (20) Middle Eastern Lit. (18) African Lit. (17) Asian Lit. (15) Australian/New Zealand/P...