ANNOUNCEMENT: There are new readings for the last four classes. Disregard the schedule I gave you with the syllabus. Download the new schedule here. Note that we're done with the Flash Fiction Reading Packet now, and moving on to the Great American Prose Poems anthology.
We began today's class with a small workshop of the story due today. I asked everybody to write short letters to their colleagues identifying favorite moments and moments that could use revision.
Then we talked about the "Metafiction" stories we read for today, focusing primarily on "Borges and I." For an interesting perspective on this story, check out John Perry's lecture.
IN-CLASS WRITING: Write the story of writing one of the stories for this class. What is the story based on? Who is it based on? When did you write it? Why? What choices did you make? What choices were most difficult? What do you regret?
HOMEWORK:
1) Read the "Investigating the Moment" prose poems from the Lehman anthology & write a Reading Response.
2) Write a flash story that uses techniques of metafiction discussed in class. Possibilities include: Writing the story of writing a story for this class (as we did for the in-class prompt); writing a story where you, as a writer, are a main character; writing a story about the usage of language in storytelling.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
I'm Reading Tonight!
I'll be reading some of my fiction tonight at 7 p.m. at the FGCU Bookstore. It's the kick-off reading of the Sam Pepys Reading Series, and I hope to see you all there!
My reading will be followed by an open-mic, so please do bring some writing you'd like to share.
My reading will be followed by an open-mic, so please do bring some writing you'd like to share.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Class 9
We began today talking about your creative responses, about which myths you worked with and the strategies you employed to write about them.
We then did a short writing exercise designed to get you writing more in images & detail rather than abstraction. Here's the exercise: Draw an alien. Now describe the alien in words so that someone else could draw the same thing you did. The idea is that you have to describe something so closely and accurately that someone else can see what you see.
We then talked about this weeks' readings, looking closely at how each author works with irony. We also discussed the different kinds of irony:
Situational Irony: When the outcome of an action is the opposite of what was expected and/or desired.
Dramatic Irony: When the audience or reader is aware of something that the character is not.
Verbal Irony: When what is said is the opposite of what is meant. Or when the message is undermined by the presentation.
Ultimately, irony is about discordance, tension, and discrepency. Each of the stories we read this week uses irony to achieve its effect.
Finally, we broke up into groups to discuss two important questions:
1) Why were this week's stories told using the Flash Fiction form?
2) What are the advantages and disadvantages of the Flash Fiction form?
HOMEWORK
1) Next week we'll discuss the answers you came up with to those two questions. Please post your answers as comments in the posts below.
2) Write a Flash Fiction piece that uses juxtaposition and irony.
3) Read the stories for "Metafiction: Stories About Storytelling" & write a Critical Response
We then did a short writing exercise designed to get you writing more in images & detail rather than abstraction. Here's the exercise: Draw an alien. Now describe the alien in words so that someone else could draw the same thing you did. The idea is that you have to describe something so closely and accurately that someone else can see what you see.
We then talked about this weeks' readings, looking closely at how each author works with irony. We also discussed the different kinds of irony:
Situational Irony: When the outcome of an action is the opposite of what was expected and/or desired.
Dramatic Irony: When the audience or reader is aware of something that the character is not.
Verbal Irony: When what is said is the opposite of what is meant. Or when the message is undermined by the presentation.
Ultimately, irony is about discordance, tension, and discrepency. Each of the stories we read this week uses irony to achieve its effect.
Finally, we broke up into groups to discuss two important questions:
1) Why were this week's stories told using the Flash Fiction form?
2) What are the advantages and disadvantages of the Flash Fiction form?
HOMEWORK
1) Next week we'll discuss the answers you came up with to those two questions. Please post your answers as comments in the posts below.
2) Write a Flash Fiction piece that uses juxtaposition and irony.
3) Read the stories for "Metafiction: Stories About Storytelling" & write a Critical Response
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Class 8
We began today's class with a mid-term assessment. Kind of like the course evaluations you do at the end of the semester, except this one's at the halfway point.
We talked about mimetic forms a great deal, and then about the utility of myth.
HOMEWORK
Write a flash fiction piece based on myth, fable, legend, or folk tale. Use one of the two strategies discussed in class: 1) Allowing an Old Myth New Life, or 2) Defamiliarizing a Common Myth. Both these strategies are discussed in the handout I gave you in class, which can be downloaded here.
We talked about mimetic forms a great deal, and then about the utility of myth.
HOMEWORK
Write a flash fiction piece based on myth, fable, legend, or folk tale. Use one of the two strategies discussed in class: 1) Allowing an Old Myth New Life, or 2) Defamiliarizing a Common Myth. Both these strategies are discussed in the handout I gave you in class, which can be downloaded here.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Class 7
We began today's class looking at a few great sentences from your homework assignments. Then looked at a couple things to remember for your future writing.
1) Keep verb tenses consistent. I'm seeing this a lot, this switching from present tense to past tense (or vice versa) in the middle of a sentence, paragraph, or story. This tells me you're not copy-editing thoroughly enough. Pick a verb tense and stay consistent!
2) Avoiding cliches. Two phrases I'm banning for the rest of the term: "We looked deeply into each other's eyes" (or variations thereof) and "Tears streamed down her face" (or variations thereof). I'm banning them not only because I see them too often, but also because they're inaccurate. Think about the last time you actually stared into someone's eyes. People don't really do that. It's creepy. Or think about what someone who's crying actually looks like--the tears aren't really "streaming." We did an in-class exercise regarding these two cliches, rewriting them to be more accurate.
Then we talked about this week's reading for the rest of the class.
Interesting link: "The Cruxifiction Written as an Uphill Bicycle Race" (hat tip to Connor). This was the story referenced in J.G. Ballard's piece.
HOMEWORK
Creative Assignment: Write a story that takes the form of another kind of text. It's important that the form being mimicked is not usually a vehicle for dramatic narrative. Some possible forms suggested by our readings include:
A formal letter, such as a customer complaint letter, letter to the editor, etc.
A How-To article, instruction manual, or "For Dummies" book
An article from the sports page in a newspaper
A tour, such as an audio tour in a museum
A class reunion brochure
An anthropology or history report
An academic essay
A school test or quiz, an SAT exam
A biography
A list
Critical Assignment: Read the stories for next week. The theme is "Myth & Fable." Write a Reading Response & try to bring to class a few myths & fables that you're familiar with.
1) Keep verb tenses consistent. I'm seeing this a lot, this switching from present tense to past tense (or vice versa) in the middle of a sentence, paragraph, or story. This tells me you're not copy-editing thoroughly enough. Pick a verb tense and stay consistent!
2) Avoiding cliches. Two phrases I'm banning for the rest of the term: "We looked deeply into each other's eyes" (or variations thereof) and "Tears streamed down her face" (or variations thereof). I'm banning them not only because I see them too often, but also because they're inaccurate. Think about the last time you actually stared into someone's eyes. People don't really do that. It's creepy. Or think about what someone who's crying actually looks like--the tears aren't really "streaming." We did an in-class exercise regarding these two cliches, rewriting them to be more accurate.
Then we talked about this week's reading for the rest of the class.
Interesting link: "The Cruxifiction Written as an Uphill Bicycle Race" (hat tip to Connor). This was the story referenced in J.G. Ballard's piece.
HOMEWORK
Creative Assignment: Write a story that takes the form of another kind of text. It's important that the form being mimicked is not usually a vehicle for dramatic narrative. Some possible forms suggested by our readings include:
A formal letter, such as a customer complaint letter, letter to the editor, etc.
A How-To article, instruction manual, or "For Dummies" book
An article from the sports page in a newspaper
A tour, such as an audio tour in a museum
A class reunion brochure
An anthropology or history report
An academic essay
A school test or quiz, an SAT exam
A biography
A list
Critical Assignment: Read the stories for next week. The theme is "Myth & Fable." Write a Reading Response & try to bring to class a few myths & fables that you're familiar with.
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