Transcript not the same old, same old

not the same old, same old
rethinking writing style
in the composition
classroom
introduction
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Questions about the teaching and learning of writing..
--How do people learn to write?
--What is the most effective way to teach writing?
--How do the processes of expert writers differ from the
processes of novice writers?
--What do people write, for whom, and to what end?
--How do we recognize good writing?
--What effects does writing have on thinking?
--If we are all individuals, why must we all write the same
way?
introduction
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Place of narrative in writing...
--We learn in the form of stories. Stories fit all ages, places,
times, and circumstances. Children are natural
storytellers. Combining children's natural storytelling abilities
with quality multicultural literature enlarges and enriches
students' language skills and appreciation of cultural
differences. Storytelling enables children's creativity, language
enrichment, and experimentation.
--When children share stories about their home/family lives, it
helps others learn about them, strengthening social ties. This
also connects curriculum to students' lives, showing that
educational experiences are meaningful and relevant.
example story
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Once upon a time, ________ [insert name of
big, brawny, manly man hero here] went on
an adventure.
Event A occurred.
Event B occurred.
Event C occurred.
In conclusion, ________ got the girl/won the
prize/etc… and he lived happily ever after.
example essay
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Introduction with explicit thesis.
Body paragraph with reasons, explanations.
Body paragraph with reasons, explanations.
Body paragraph with reasons, explanations.
Conclusion with summary of main points and
restated thesis.
traditional writing style
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only one correct way to write
beginning, middle, end
linear, predetermined manner
explicit thesis
clearly-defined thesis, topic-driven paragraphs, review of main
points
moves from page to page, chapter to chapter
goes towards an end where the plot is finally resolved
scientific, logical, objective
proposes an argument, presents the facts, interprets those facts
writer is disconnected from the material
writer never uses the words "feel" or "I think"
dominated by males, English-speakers, power, & politics
silences voices of "others"
traditional writing process
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linear
prewrite, rough draft, edit, revise, final draft,
publish
non-traditional writing style
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expressive
flows
fragmentary
indirection
circuitness
recursive
• unclear transitions
• focus on themes
• implicit thesis
• deferred closure
• spirals of storytelling & meanin
• process of writing
• qualification
• figurative language
non-traditional writing style, cont.
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reflects on the author's marginal experiences
challenges stereotypes
explains oneself
makes the invisible visible
contributes a voice
writing as a learned form of art
private experiences and emotions
emphasizes and engages reader/audience
leads to a transactional experience
community of readers makes & communicates the meaning behind
the work, makes connections between ideas and understands context
makes BOTH reader & writer discover/explore/ponder/
personalize/raise questions
used by females, but by any 'outsider', be it by gender,class,culture
non-traditional writing process
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Cyclical
inspire, explore, incubate, illuminate
compose, reformulate, edit, share
task
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Create a reflective portfolio to show your progress throughout
the course & how your views (self,writing,society) have
changed
--No single voice can represent an entire culture or ethnicity.
--Students will produce better writing simply because they are
not struggling to fit a formulaic model.
--Use writing as a tool for thinking.
--Write about your experiences because self-discovery is
enlightening in positive, therapeutic ways.
task components
introductory autobiography
-- 11 pieces exploring self & others
-- 6 pieces discovering non-traditional writing
styles
-- final reflective autobiography
task overview
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Each entry should include evidence of all
parts of the writing/thinking process. Include
a reflective statement at the end of each
piece showing what you learned about the
topic, the writing style/type, and yourself.
beginnings & endings
stories of self & others
i’m just expressin’ my style
assessment
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Your reflective portfolio should include…
-- introductory autobiography
-- 11 pieces exploring self & others
-- 6 pieces discovering non-traditional writing styles
-- final reflective autobiography (counts as 2)
Each of the 20 pieces will be graded as its own homework
assignment, but then will be included in a final portfolio
grade based on a rubric.
assessment rubric
Each of the ten categories is rated on a scale of
[needs improvement], [satisfactory], [exceeds expectations]
 Shows evidence of use of cyclical writing process
 Includes reflective statement
 Focuses on the topic
 Focuses on the writing style/type
 Is developed and descriptive
 Includes pieces of YOU & your LIFE
 Uses writing conventions well
 Uses creativity & imagination
 Shows movement from a traditional style to a non-traditional
style
 Final reflective autobiography is written in a totally nontraditional style, employing at least five of the characteristics of
such style
conclusion
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People are individuals with their own quirks, their own
stories to tell, and their own way of expressing those
experiences.
We cannot expect them all to fit their unique lives into
one cookie-cutter format. Various writing styles must
be used and accepted.
However, we cannot make the non-traditional style the
new standard. We have to continue to value
differences, while still having standards to reach.
Writing in a style that shows who you are is a way to
reflect on your life and shape your identity, as well as a
way to connect with others and learn from their stories.
We may all be different, but we are all still connected.
beginnings & endings
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introductory autobiography – write at the
beginning of unit/course
final reflective autobiography – write at the
end of unit/course
introductory autobiography
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Write the story of your life. However, write it
from the perspective of someone/something
that is not you – ex. your shoe, your little
brother, your car, your worst enemy. Don’t
just list the events in your life – explain them.
Remember, this is just an introductory activity
to get you thinking about your life and get
you used to sharing your experiences.
final reflective autobiography
Write the story of your life – using aspects of non-traditional
writing styles. Include at least two of the experiences
mentioned used in the exercises about self & others.
Include at least two experiences you used in the
exercises about style. Include at least two experiences
you have not written about yet.
*vignette
*written in a circular writing style that begins and ends at
the same point
*use of imagery and figurative language
*lack of traditional summative ending
*lack of conjunctive adverb transitions – use of
fragmentary writing
stories of self & others
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i wanna talk about me
how embarrassing
hot spot
gossip
annoying repetition
e-m-o-t-i-o-n
the ties that bind
those who don’t
crossing the abyss
opposites attract
ego trippin’
i wanna talk about me
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“My Name”
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http://www.humboldt.edu/~engl406/2002a/myname.html
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“I Wanna Talk About Me”
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http://www.lyricsondemand.com/t/tobykeithlyrics/iwannatalkaboutmelyrics.html
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The vignette and the song both deal with the
self, the individual, what makes one who one
really is, one’s identity.
Write a poem that focuses on your identity
and your name, tying the two together.
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how embarrassing!
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Pulitzer prize winning poet Henry Taylor suggests
this exercise for loosening yourself: "Remember how
it feels to suddenly think of one of the most
embarrassing moments in your life: how it surfaces
without being invited and makes your skin crawl, and
you may have to pull over on the shoulder for a
second and compose yourself, but you mash the
thing back down into the subconscious where it
belongs, and get on with the day. Okay. This time,
write it down. Make sure you linger lovingly over the
painful details."
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http://www.cortlandreview.com/features/99/readings/
hot spot
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Novelist and short story writer Merrill Joan Gerber
suggests inspiring your story by thinking of a "hot
spot," something that happened in the past that still
compels your attention, something that attracts your
thoughts over and over, an incident, a fright, an
argument, an insult, some mystery in a relationship
that hasn't been solved or is still exciting over time.
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http://www.its.caltech.edu/~mjgerber/lostairman.html
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~mjgerber/oldmother.html
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gossip
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A loosening exercise used by novelist Nora
Okja Keller (Comfort Woman) with her
students is to begin with a family story, or
some gossip you have heard. Write another
version of it, from behind the scenes. Or write
out a dream you had, then pare it down and
shape it.
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http://www.penguinputnam.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,0_0142001961,00.html
?sym=EXC
opposites attract
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Write something almost diametrically opposed to
what you've been comfortable writing up to now.
"The idea," says Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, author
of Sister of My Heart and Mistress of Spices, "is not
necessarily, don't write what you know, but try to look
at it from a whole other angle. Write about someone
who is absolutely not yourself."
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http://www.chitradivakaruni.com/books/mistress_of_spices/excerpt/
http://www.chitradivakaruni.com/books/sister_of_my_heart/excerpt/
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annoying repetition
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Memoirist and fiction writer Bernard Cooper finds
this one useful: Write down the story you've been
telling people over and over, a story that irritates or
amuses or has gotten into your craw in some way, a
story that is so strange or so outrageous that you
have to keep telling it to kind of corroborate what's
happening with yourself. Such an exercise tends to
get you writing very loosely and quickly.
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http://www.kcrw.org/dialabook/Guess_Again.htm
e-m-o-t-i-o-n
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Rage, fury, and revenge are huge emotions
you can use to loosen up your writing,
according to novelist Margot Livesey
(Criminals). Write a character description (or
a poem) from the point of view of one
character detesting another.
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http://www.henryholt.com/holt/banishingveronaexcerpt.htm
the ties that bind
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An anthology edited by Nikki Giovanni, Grand Mothers contains
short stories, poems, and memories of grandmothers by people
of various ages, genders, geographic locations, ethnic and
cultural backgrounds.
Read “A Conspiracy of Grace” by Ethel Morgan Smith and
“Roofwalker” by Susan Power.
Discuss... How did the writer develop and present her
characters in such away that the reader had a vested interest in
their well-being? Did the characters seem to be three
dimensional (real)? Why?
Write... about the things and people closest to you. Select
someone in your family that you want to write about. Select a
memory and use it to write a short story about the family
member you had selected.
http://www.da.wvu.edu/archives/003011/news/003011,01,02.html
those who don’t
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Sandra Cisneros’ book The House on Mango Street is a collection of
short stories about growing up female, Hispanic, in the Hispanic
quarter of Chicago in a house on Mango Street. It is also about the
neighborhood -- the people who inhabit it -- their hopes, dreams,
heartaches, disappointments and lives.
In "those who don't" Cisneros considers the way her neighborhood
appears outsiders as opposed to its inhabitants:
Discuss appearances, formulating assumptions, and walking a mile in
another person's shoes. Discuss making judgments based on personal
values and experiences as opposed to considering another
perspective.
Read Nikki Giovanni’s "Nikki Rosa" to reinforce these themes.
Write about being in an unfamiliar place or situation (i.e. a strange
neighborhood in a strange city; meeting new people) and how you
reacted to it. Describe how your neighborhood feels to you and how it
would appear to an outsider (perhaps someone from another part of
town, an different city, an other country, or even another planet).
http://wonders.eburg.wednet.edu/Morgan/ThoseWhoDont.htm
crossing the abyss
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From editor Ray Gonzalez's Dancing River: Contemporary Latino
Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry , read “Kitchens” by Aurora Levins
Morales. Explore her status as an immigrant as Morales recalls the
cooking lesson she received in her mother’s kitchen. In so doing she
discusses the dishes they cooked and the methods of preparation that
they applied.
Read a poem by Juan Felipe Herrera, “Notes on Other Chicana &
Chicano Inventions.”
Read "Ending Poem” Rosario Morales and Aurora Levins Morales, in
which the poets compare the ways they are alike with the ways they
are different. Write a poem in which you discuss the similarities and
differences you have with another person.
http://english.cla.umn.edu/creativewriting/dislocate/fall04/Herrera_interview.html
ego trippin’
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Define the term "ego trippin'".
Read Nikki Giovanni’s poem “Ego Trippin”, in which
Giovanni gives Africa a feminine persona, a voice
and an extremely well developed ego. Discuss the
images she has presented in this piece and the
manner in which she has transformed the continent
of Africa into a woman with extraordinary powers. I
Write an “Ego Trippin” poem about yourself. You
may claim any super-human traits or powers that
you desire.
http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/poetry/giovanni_nikki.html#ego%20tripping
i’m just expressin’ my style
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vignettes
this is the song that never ends
reader as worker
circles, cycles, & spirals, oh my!
paint me a picture
language is like blood
paint me a picture
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Paint a picture with words.
Let the reader see what you write.
Write an imagery poem by using the
website:
http://www.bsu.edu/web/kmewers/docs/imagery.html
language is like blood
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Play with language, figurative language,
that is.
Write a figurative language poem using
metaphors, similes, and personification
with the website:
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http://www.bsu.edu/web/kmewers/docs/figurative%20language.html
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reader as worker
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The reader actually has to work to figure out the
meanings and to connect ideas, at least according to
many Asian and feminist authors.
Transitions are not as important as they are in
traditional Western writing. Ideas are fragmentary.
Write a short story about an experience you had
when you felt as if you didn’t fit it. Jump from
emotions and images, but the theme behind it all
should be one, large, interconnected idea.
http://www.nyu.edu/clubs/generasian/fall03/Features/story.htm
this is the song that never ends
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Realism
Many writings in the feminist vein do not attempt to have a neat & tidy
conclusion.
They recognize that life goes on, even after the story is supposedly
finished.
Everything we do feeds into something else.
This shows the inherent need for self-growth and self-discovery.
It leaves room for the reader to make meaning & to create
interpretations.
Write a short story about an obstacle that had to be overcome.
However, do not end it in a tried-&-true fashion. Leave it open, yet not
unfinished.
http://www.english.vt.edu/~kagraham/childlit/realism.htm
http://oblog.typepad.com/oblog/files/endings.doc
vignette
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sketch or essay or brief narrative
characterized by great precision and delicate
accuracy of composition -- a separate whole
or a portion of a larger work.
Write a vignette in which you recapture a
moment of time. Use the website to help:
http://www.rbc.edu/Syllabus/EFloyd/Eng102vignette.html
circles, cycles, & spirals – oh my!
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Pantoum
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Write a pantoum.
rhymes with zoom
a spiral form of writing
even with repeated lines, new meaning is created
--verse form composed of stanzas of four lines
--the second and fourth lines are repeated as the first and third
lines in the following stanzas
--the first line in the poem becomes the last line in the final
stanza
--the third line in the poem becomes the second line in the final
stanza
http://dragonnet.hkis.edu.hk/ms/grade_8/grade_8_2003_4/Poetry/pantoum%20examples.
htm
circles, cycles, & spirals – oh my!
– cont.
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A kiss hello...a wave good-bye...an airplane fading in the sky.
Our lives are marked by beginnings and endings. In the things
we do every day, we look for starting and ending points. We
hold those images' sight, smell, taste, and feel. It's no wonder,
then, that writers take such care to develop strong introductions
that grab readers and conclusions that leave them feeling
satisfied.
The best leads and endings don't just happen; they are crafted.
This can be a painstaking process that, as any experienced
writer knows, becomes somewhat easier with practice.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/lessonplans/instructor/power.htm
circles, cycles, & spirals – oh my!
- cont.
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Much good fiction is written in a circular style.
The Bone People by Keri Hulme is a
wonderful example of this cyclical nature.
http://www.postcolonialweb.org/nz/kerihulme/kh13.html
http://communication.students.rmit.edu.au/media/clare_oataway/BonePeople.html
circles, cycles, & spirals – oh my!
-- cont.
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Once a first draft is completed, a circular
lead/close is easy to create. Look at your
endings and try to begin with those closing
words as well. This type of lead brings the
pieces full circle. It's a tidy way to begin and
end.
Ex. Eric Carle, The Grouchy Ladybug
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http://www.readinglady.com/wr/Fluent_Lessons/fluent_lessons.html
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circles, cycles, & spirals – oh my!
-- cont.
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Circular writing is when a writer's introduction and conclusion
solidly connect. The end comes back to the beginning
somehow. Writers can write in circles by simply repeating the
same sentence at the beginning and the end. Or--better yet-they can remind the reader how the starting and stopping
point of their writing are connected with one word or phrase
that's repeated. Linking an introduction to a conclusion is an
effective skill writers might think about when thinking about the
organization of their writing, and it's good to practice once in a
while.
Think of a funny scene or experience. Use the same word or
phrase to begin and end the story.
http://www.writingfix.com/leftbrain/start_and_end_with_phrase.htm
circles, cycles, & spirals – oh my!
-- cont.
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Unwinding a circular plot
Circular stories follow a “round” pattern—they begin
and end in the same. Like the cycle of seasons or
the life cycle, circular stories follow a predictable
series of events that returns to the starting point.
Ex. “If you give a mouse a cookie” or Louise
Erdrich’s Native American novels & poems
Follow the instructions on the website to create your
own circular story:
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=292
references
Aronson, D. (2005). Isabel Allende Loves the Writing Process. The Council Chronicle, 9, 6.
Jenkins, R.Y. (1993). The Intersection of Gender and Culture in the Teaching of Writing. College Teaching, 41, 19-24.
Luna, C. (1993). Story, Voice, and Culture: The Politics of Narrative in Multicultural Education.
Working Papers in Educational Linguistics, 9 (1), 127-142.
Perry, S. (1999). Writing in Flow: Keys to Enhanced Creativity. Writer’s Digest Books.
Reid, G. (2004). Non-linear narrative and EFL/ESL: Projects for Creative Writing. The Onestop Magazine.
Satie, S. (2001). Pre-Creating the HyperNews Classroom Community: (Not) Speaking, (Not) Writing the Subtext.
Annual Meeting of the Conference on College Composition and Communication, 3-8.
St. Amour, M.J. (2003). Connecting Children's Stories to Children's Literature: Meeting Diversity Needs.
Early Childhood Education Journal, 31 (1), 47-51.
Stewart, J. Rhythm Science. Critical Studies in Improvisation.
Surfus, B. L. (1994). Autobiography and the Ascent of Multiculturalism: A Negotiation. Viewpoints, 120, 2-5.
Tohe, L. (1993). A Native American's Perspective on the Writing Classroom.
Annual Meeting of the Conference on College Composition and Communication, 2-9.
credits
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http://www.learnnc.org/lessons/SharonMackenzie3262003584
http://www.cortlandreview.com/features/99/readings/
http://www.its.caltech.edu/~mjgerber/lostairman.html
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~mjgerber/oldmother.html
http://www.penguinputnam.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,0_0142001961,00.html?sym=
EXC
http://www.chitradivakaruni.com/books/mistress_of_spices/excerpt/
http://www.chitradivakaruni.com/books/sister_of_my_heart/excerpt/
http://www.kcrw.org/dialabook/Guess_Again.htm
http://www.henryholt.com/holt/banishingveronaexcerpt.htm
http://www.da.wvu.edu/archives/003011/news/003011,01,02.html
http://wonders.eburg.wednet.edu/Morgan/ThoseWhoDont.htm
http://english.cla.umn.edu/creativewriting/dislocate/fall04/Herrera_interview.html
http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/poetry/giovanni_nikki.html#ego%20tripping
http://www.nyu.edu/clubs/generasian/fall03/Features/story.htm
credits
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http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/lessonplans/instructor/power.htm
http://www.postcolonialweb.org/nz/kerihulme/kh13.html
http://communication.students.rmit.edu.au/media/clare_oataway/BonePeople.html
http://www.readinglady.com/wr/Fluent_Lessons/fluent_lessons.html
http://www.writingfix.com/leftbrain/start_and_end_with_phrase.htm
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=292
http://www.bsu.edu/web/kmewers/docs/imagery.html
http://www.bsu.edu/web/kmewers/docs/figurative%20language.html
http://www.english.vt.edu/~kagraham/childlit/realism.htm
http://oblog.typepad.com/oblog/files/endings.doc
http://www.rbc.edu/Syllabus/EFloyd/Eng102vignette.html
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http://dragonnet.hkis.edu.hk/ms/grade_8/grade_8_2003_4/Poetry/pantoum%20
examples.htm
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http://www.humboldt.edu/~engl406/2002a/myname.html
http://www.lyricsondemand.com/t/tobykeithlyrics/iwannatalkaboutmelyrics.html
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