Writing Across Cultures

Why is Chile the Land of Poets? (Article) 8 Chilean Female Poets You Need to be Reading (article) Nicanor Parra & Antipoetry Anti poetry is an art movement that rejects the "mystical" aspect of poetry--the poet as seer or prophet, for example. Anti poetry also rejects the idea of the "love poem". Nicanor Parra's style is meant to be prose-like and involves irreverent subject matter. Punctuation is minimal. Made up words or grammar mistakes are used as an effect. The poetic form, traditional formatting or line breaking and capitalization is also examined. The subject matter might be comical or simple or taken from normal everyday life. The subject matter involves the banal or common or ordinary: kitchen sinks, bathtubs, light bulbs, a coffee stain or broken pencil--all common items are fair game. Serious subjects are dealt with humorously or irreverently, or even matter-of-factly. The speaker of the poem often lies or presents misinformation or leaves...

Period 1: Please complete your poeyry project and submit it to our Google Classroom. You may use the lab next door if you need it. Part 1: Select one of the 20 "love" poems in the collection and create a short poetry video that you will share with our class to celebrate Neruda's work. You should either read the poem out loud and record your vocal reading - or -  Print the poem's lines to be clearly read along with your poetry video. Your poem presentation should, like the examples above, show images and photography that visually enhance the experience of reading the poem. Part 2: Neruda reminds us that a poet's responsibility is to speak out against injustice. Fight for the ordinary moments of human life worth fighting for! To this end, create a poem of your own (this can be included in your visual poetry project, but by no means has to...) in which you speak out against injustice by writing about an ordinary object, describe a natural landscape, or exa...

Pablo Neruda: Romance & Revolution  (5 min.) Indeed, as the video mentions, Neruda's poetry focuses on the simple, ordinary overlooked objects of our lives, natural landscapes, the supernatural, the human problem of longing, solitude, and political strife. He spent a good portion of his life in exile, returning to Chile in 1952. He ran for President in 1970, later agreeing to be Allende's advisor. For more information about Pablo Neruda, you may find this documentary helpful... Pablo Neruda documentary  (part one, you can find the other parts online as well.) OUR TASK (Poetry Film): Part 1: Select one of the 20 "love" poems in the collection and create a short poetry video that you will share with our class to celebrate Neruda's work. You should either read the poem out loud and record your vocal reading - or -  Print the poem's lines to be clearly read along with your poetry video. Your poem presentation should, like the examples above, show ...

Please take the short quiz on "The Overcoat" in our Google Classroom this morning. Our next unit will discover Central and South American writers. Today, we'll delve into Chile with the poetry master Pablo Neruda . Brainstorming! (5 minutes) Alone, write down what YOU know about Chile.  Then working with a partner, take a couple minutes to find out what you both know about Chile.  If you run out of things to jot down, join another group of 2, until you all run out of things you know, then join another group, etc. until there are no other options left.  Let's go to the library to pick up his book 20 Love Songs and a Song of Despair , then return, learn about Chile and read some of Neruda's poems. Please also pick up The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson while we're at the library. You may begin reading this book if you have time this week. More info on the book will follow... First, let's learn a little about Chile ( 15 Things You Di...

I will be using the following rubric when assessing your portfolios. A portfolio is due each quarter and comprises the major part of your quarter grade (along with attendance, participation/homework, reading, quizzes/tests, presentations and class activities). Please note that you will be expected to conduct some revision each marking period, along with a short 1-3 page reflection. Reflection pages  do not count for the # of pages indicated below.  Please also note that your portfolio grade is a combination of  quantity  AND  quality . Scores are determined by an average score based on the holistic rubric. Some papers/assignments are also required and should be included in your marking period portfolio. This marking period your identity drafts should be included in your portfolio. 4 = Exemplary 3= Accomplished 2= Promising 1=Beginning 0=Failing Exemplary : Thoroughly and artistically developed and crafted characters, plot, structure, conflic...

Period 1: Please complete T he Namesake Test this morning during period 1. This is a timed test. If you have arrived late today, you will still only have until the end of period 1 to complete your exam (8:20). Please make every effort to arrive to class on time (7:30!) Tardiness will affect your portfolio and marking period grade--as well as tests like this one. The last bus arrives at SOTA by 7:10. If you are driving yourself or being dropped off or walking, please adjust your time schedule to arrive at the beginning of class! NOTE: If you have a problem with this, please speak to Mrs. Apenleiter about it. When you have completed your test, please use any remaining time (until 8:30) to work on your portfolio. See rubric post above this one. Period 2 (8:30-8:55) We will continue reading "The Overcoat". What we don't complete please read as homework (I would suggest completing the reading today if you are attending the Senior Trip this weekend--or complete the...

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...