Portfolios Due! Luis Valdez & Mexican Scripts

Period 1:

This morning please prepare and upload or print out your 2nd marking period portfolio. Some things to note:

1. You need a reflection. Reflect on the work/writing you have included in your MP2 portfolio. How have you improved? What problems still exist with your writing or writing process? What have you learned from rewriting, revision, or the literature we read in MP2 about your own style/voice, or writing projects? What are your goals for MP3? What would you like to see more or less of in class? What kind of specific feedback do you need on your writing drafts?
2. Please proofread your drafts before submitting them. Remember to include evidence of previous drafts if you want credit for revision. See rubrics above this post. You should use Grammarly as a proofreading tool and view VERSION HISTORY in your Google Docs if you need evidence of revision.
3. Make sure you provide titles for your work and indicate the DRAFT # in your headings. 
4. If you placed your drafts in your group's workshop folder, make sure you read my comments. I am not required to provide line editing notes for drafts that are revisions or have not taken my advice in previous drafts.
5. If for some reason you cannot send me your writing digitally, please make sure you print out copies. Keep all old copies for this course until June.

If you have uploaded/finished your portfolio, please turn it in. If you finish before the end of period:

1. you may continue writing or working on your new portfolio or complete old projects, or...

2. Read your chosen novel: All the Pretty Horses or Out of the Beautiful North. Consider and take notes on the book of the following:

• How does the book begin? Read the first line together and discuss how this line attempts to intrigue or hook you. Does it? Then read the first paragraph together. Does the hook continue? How do chapters end and where do new chapters begin? How does your author keep you interested?
• What inciting incident is introduced in the first few pages? Find this section and re-read it together. The inciting incident is a conflict that gets the protagonist into the story and gives this character a reason to act. How does this inciting incident change the setting, character, and plot of the book so far? How is this inciting incident repeated or developed in the first 20-50 pages? As you move into the middle of the book, how do these conflicts continue or are reflected in later conflicts?
• Consider which character or scene is most compelling or well written in the book so far. Has your loyalty switched to a different character? Examine the writing style and why the passage works for you. Perhaps it is the imagery or the poetry or beauty of the language; perhaps it is the dialogue or use of suspense or a clever turn of phrase. 

Period 2:

Luis Valdez & El Teatro Campesino. "Los Vendidos"

• Choose an ethnic or cultural group that is marginalized and present a satire or commentary on the danger of stereotyping. Consider the play as a political message along with entertainment. Political plays veer toward the style of Agitation Propaganda plays. See the links for more details.

Film Studies:

3 Mexican film directors to know...

Alfonso Cuaron:

• Roma (2018, trailer)
• Gravity (2013, trailer)
• Children of Men (2006, trailer)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004, trailer)
• Y Tu Mama, Tambien (2001, trailer)

Guillermo del Toro:

• The Shape of Water (2017)
• The Hobbit (2014)
• Pacific Rim (2013)
• Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
• Hellboy (2004)

Alejandro Inarritu:

• The Revenant (2015)
• Birdman (2014)
• Babel (2006)

We will be viewing, reading, examining and discussing mythic elements of some of these films in the next 2 weeks.

HOMEWORK: Please read ALL PRETTY HORSES and  INTO THE BEAUTIFUL NORTH. We will be concluding these books next week. Please prepare to read/complete them by then. Also, please read/refer to the Gravity script and handout materials. Finally, also read the handout on the survivor archetype and use it to examine the book you are reading. Hint, hint. We will also be using the information in that article as we view Gravity (2013) by Alfonso Cuaron.