Autobiography homework schedule

Mon: The autobiography: the whole you
HW: 30 minute free write

Wed in-class: read a few selections from autobiographies. Peer review. Drafting.
HW: Work on 3-page autobiography. Due at the end of Friday's class.

Fri in-class: Meet in Founders. Autobiography DUE AT END OF CLASS.
HW: Work on Autobiography Step 2. Step 2 due at the end of Tuesday's class.

AND THREE BECOMES ONE!

Tue in-class: Work on Autobiography Step 2: Make those three pages ONE PAGE. DUE AT END OF CLASS.
HW: Work on Autobiography Step 3. FORTY six-word memoirs due at the end of Thursday's class. Favorite goes a the top of the page in bold.

AND THREE BECOMES SIX

Thu in-class: Meet in Founders computer lab. Work on autobiography Step 3. DUE AT END OF CLASS. A fond farewell as you head off into the sunset of senior spring. =-(

** a note if you read this far: no more weekly posts. We'll cruise into the final few classes without them. I know, you're sad.

What to evaluate

Why reinvent the wheel, when a Stanford prof already said it? All great stuff, but ignore the bottom part about the speech. Ok, read it if you like as it's quite interesting.

Here's our timeline for the evaluation essay:

Wednesday — computer lab — work on essay
Friday — computer lab — peer review with 2 people; work on essay
Tuesday — computer lab — peer review with 2 people; work on essay; due at end of class.

Happy Thanksgiving! No homework, but get ready for your autobiography!!

Week 13

What amazing sentence, phrase, moment pops out? Since you know the writer well — I hope — try to find something new. Wow us with your selection and tell us why you think your selection is wow inducing — good, bad or ugly.

How to Evaluate

Stephen King

The Muscle Car

Andre Agassi

Precious

NBA Video Games

What needs to happen when writing an evaluation:
1. Choose a subject
2. Assert an overall judgment
3. Gives reasons and support
4. Counter-argue
5. Establish credibility

Possible topics:
Movie, music, book, game, club, activity, political movement/statement, yourself, law, noteworthy person, artist, brand of clothing, type of car, an essay

Week 12

You have been writing your own essays for quite some time. What patterns have emerged in your own work? Do you love the semi-colon? Secretly or not-so-secretly over-use the simple sentence? Think about what stylistic devices you rely on most often, what traps you fall into, what tricks you'd still like to use. Go ahead, give yourself a little praise.

Week 11

You have been reading your writer/essay/column for quite some time. You should know the writer's tendencies and voice quite well. What patterns have emerged? Does your writer love the colon? Secretly or not-so-secretly over-use the simple sentence? Think about what stands out most, what pattern is present only to the seasoned professional reader like you. Share, comment, keep up the great work!

Week 10

Let's get back to vocabulary! I was reading a piece in Newsweek and a fabulous word popped out of an article: shoal. Shoal is a shallow patch of water or a large number of people/fish, and a favorite word of mine that Macbeth uses in one of this great soliloquies. It's an older word, one used less often these days, but it's presence in the article made me keep reading. So, look for some awesome vocabulary, a word or two or three that really zing from the page.

Awesomeness from Example writing

1. I turn towards the driver of the Golden Gate Transit Route 23 bus; she is a complete stranger, but I trust her with my life almost every day.

2. He is that man in the gym wearing a sleeveless shirt, yelling, grunting, clanging the weights whenever he is done using them.

3. I used to fantasize about the bus crashing, me saving him from the accident and then him falling in love with me. Typical. Not that he would have ever saved me if he were in my position.

4. Estoy escribiendo en Espanol. Did you get that?

5. You're in the dark, expecting the teacher to lead you to the light, and the Distant Genius only reminds you that you're looking for something bright.

6. The student's actions are masked by the darkness, allowing them to do things that they normally wouldn't do in public spaces.

7. Contrary to other types of people, the good-looking people of the French Republic are not sexy, but they are truly beautiful: cute little noses, voluptuous lips, golden soft hair, and bodies that would look good even in a trash bag.

8. The literary soil is no longer arable as the invasive species of "like" and "um" grow rampant.

9. That's why it came as quite a shock when one day I met a boy. A real one. Who liked me. Granted, I "met" said boy on the phone, but our telephonic divide had not stopped the pre-pubescent feelings of "like-like."

10. She looked at me apologetically, but I just smiled and said I wasn't hungry. Jane Doe didn't need to eat; she needed to begin studying for her performance.

11. No, I don't mean CatDog, the creepy cartoon from old school Nickelodeon, nor a catdog, a bizarre new mixed breed that only I have heard of. I mean catdog: the rare cat that has been blessed with the friendly disposition of a dog.

12. It gives us even more uniqueness and, in some ways, it creates a community: the word is totally ours.

13. But this year I realized that someone (in fact, many people) had stolen my thunder, pulled the rug ut from under me, ripped on my riff, jacked my jive and busted my move. Everyone else's dad is goofy too.

14. I can remember a time when our bathroom counter and shelves were lined with products, products we never really used, make-up I love in the store but wouldn't actually wear.

15. I have taken colleges off of my application list because, in the same flyer, they put a space before a dash in one instance and no space before it in another.

16. To my horror, my father responded, "you're welcome." Did he no know the he should have said, "thank you, too"? Did he not realize that he' done nothing deserving thanks?

17. I hate buff guys at the gym.

Week 9

Try to find a moment or a phrase or something that didn't work. I know this is quite subjective, but that just means you need to argue your point well. Being a good writer means knowing when something doesn't flow or fit with the rest of the piece. Good writing also comes from good editing. So, what piece would you edit out of this week's reading?

College Essays to check out

Connecticut College

Johns Hopkins

What did college presidents writer about? A great article passed on my Kearney.

Tips from Carleton College

Some other hot tips from a Stanford lady

Week 8

Let's move the opposite end of the essay and look for awesome closing (or near the end) lines. How does the author tie everything together? share an a-ha moment? conclude? make a call to action? Does the author come back to something mentioned at the start? Or maybe the author ends with a completely new idea? Share what works and what did not.

Week 7

We've looked at crafty words, high powered sentences, now let's focus on opening lines. Post the opening line to your selection and comment on its success or failures.

Keep up the good work!

A great read

Phantonyms ..... scary and avoidable.

Awesomeness from Narrative Essays

1. We were laughing and carrying on, playing music and telling jokes, and trying to write a song.

2. I feel like the bad guy for putting pointed questions in there, like "Is everything alright?" and then signing with a big "I love you, Sebastian" or maybe with a cute nickname that I can't even write right now because it pisses me off.

3. Being new, he drifted around the lunch tables, not knowing where to sit.

4. He towered above me. His thick black combat boots, tan military pants and matching shirt supported his life thesis: To put his work before his family in order to become a higher ranking Navy officer than his father.

5. Racquel had always been a bad influence on me, from the time she convinced me to take all the chocolates out of my advent calendar on the first day of December to the time she forced me to climb the oak tree when she knew I wouldn't be able to get down.

6. Picture this, two eight-year-old girls in flannel nightgowns standing too close to a stove with a flame that is probably turned up too high.

7. I want to walk through Central Park in the snow, wearing boots, a trench coat, leather gloves, a fuzzy scarf and a warm hat over my leotard and tights.

8. I remember feeling invincible, like the hottest chick on Earth; I was Brittney Spears walking the red carpet while all the paparazzi attempted to get their million dollar shot of me. Girls wanted to be me — guys wanted to have me.

9. All I wanted was to run away, to scamper off stage, to no longer see the glaring red lights signaling the recording of hundreds of video cameras in the theater.

10. My father has always colored my life with the strangeness of his words.

11. Right before I reached the bathroom I saw her: Kate Mazzera. Five foot nine, blond, and as beautiful as a sunset on the horizon of an ocean.

12. He was almost like an older brother to me. In fact, that day I was wearing my treasured pink vans that were once his.

13. But the candy was right there on the counter, open to the public, and I didn't mean any harm; our intentions were precocious, mischievous at most, but not criminal.

14. I came from behind him and whispered, "I'll help you."

15. Pillars of multicolored balloons hung off every meter, mailbox, and street lamp.

16. What I was really apologizing for was that I had caused controversy, and my apologies were an attempt to blend back into the woodwork.

17. I failed to notice the slimy red liquid dribbling down my face, spreading onto my fuzzy footed onesie, and pooling on the floor.

18. Six boys and one more gathered in the musk of the Middle School boys' bathroom, the six lathering their serums of peer pressure upon the odd member of the group.

19. Awesome sentence NYT.

20. Awesome example essay.

Week 6

Week 5

Excellent posts last week. Loved the words you found in your pieces.

This week try to focus on how the writer involves the reader. Good narrative pieces (this is not to say all of your readings are narrative pieces) engage the reader on some level. How do your writers do it?

Amazingness from Descriptive Essays

1. He had left his hat behind. He had left his hat behind along with me.

2. From her perspective the excitement of the trip was tempered by the challenge of sheparding two young children swiftly and safely through the large and potentially unsafe environment that was the San Francisco International Airport; ...

3. Once I step into the cold air that's rarely circulated, my eyes immediately puff up, my skin becomes purplish-white, and without fail, whatever I'm wearing make me look like a dork.

4. With my brain bursting at the seams, only held together by the thin thread of will, I saw down next to her.

5. A tree, a towering red fir, has also been unable to resist the downpour. Our tent had broken its fall.

6. Time seemed obnoxiously slow as I sat on my knees, hacking away at the roots of the thistles.

7. And because I had five hours all to myself, I was fully able to discover the details of airport anxiety.

8. It is so empty, so vacant, so barren.

9. After learning face after face in my exchange school where every small child or young girl wanted to hear me speak my English, here was a pristine face just gazing out of its frame, allowing me silent contemplation.

10. A tree to my right, bright green and fresh, reached to welcome the approaching storm.

11. At times like these, I would trudge up to my room, struggling to lift my lead feet up each step (it's hard to walk when the world is ending), and fling myself on my bed and shut my eyes. Sob sob. Sniffle. Sob sob.

12. Regal pillars guided us toward a relatively small concert hall.

13. I'm worn out and staggering along to make it to the gate.

14. Across the bridge was the city, sparkling as if it knew we were watching.

15. Mike exhales: it seems as though he's been holding his breath since the sun started setting.

16. It was a long, hot September afternoon at the Marin Ballet school, and the air smelled of lemon, begonias and the sweet perspiration of about thirty teenage girls.

17. I had gone to New York City (yes, "The Big Apple" or "The City That Never Sleeps") with just the slightest bit of trepidation; I was a youngling who had grown too attached to her nest, my family and group of friends more like security blankets than comfort.

18. Many fight limbo by stuffing themselves in a book; some arm themselves with decibels and try their luck with an iPod or a phone. Then there are those that have abandoned themselves to defeat and now are lost victims to the eerie urgency of the airport: the kind that look as though they live here in their suits, locked into a laptop, scurrying their fingers over the keyboard; the kind of people that use bodywash instead of soap.

Week 4

Ok, we looked at some sentences, now find some something in the diction that stands out. Maybe it's a word combination, the use of simple words, a word bomb that makes you reach for the dictionary.

Keep sharing your great ideas. LOVE the posts so far. Excellent work.

Week 3

You all posted some awesome lines and some great comments on why those lines stood out. Now, I want you to focus on sentence structure. Look for a sentence that moves beyond, way beyond, the subject-verb creation and dazzles you with either a fun piece of punctuation or an interesting structure. Then again, maybe your writer has a case of subject-verb-itis and repeats the same pattern so many times it makes you want to scream. Share and amaze .... and remember to post by Sunday.

In other news -- here's a good read about the precision of words. Maybe you're a little obsessed with the English language, too, and would like to learn more. After Deadline, a NYTimes blog, is a great place to start.

Week 2

What amazing sentence, phrase, moment would you like to share from your writer/blog? Wow us with your selection and tell us why you think your selection is wow inducing. And, wow inducing can be good, bad or ugly.

Week one

What writer are you following? Tell us a little about your writer.