750: Process-Writing Prompts for “Super Goat Man”

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Bryan

First, a quick note: in the past, some students have considered this to be one of the more difficult stories we read in here. If you find this to be the case for you as well, I’ll expect you to challenge yourself, and to engage even more deeply with the story to make meaning with it (instead of saying I don’t get it and just powering down). Real learning happens when you’re working right at the edge of your capability. Real learning happens when you struggle, not when you shrug.

 

In class, we’re going to start off by talking about our shift charts in small groups before sharing them with the whole group—so you’ll want to make the shift chart your top priority here.

Shift chart (mandatory)

In this chart, you’ll track the changes to Everett’s personality throughout the story. You’ll start with a claim, back it up with a quote, and finish it off with an interpretation of the quote. Here’s how I’d like it to look.

This is a really important exercise, because it will guide you through the fundamental moves you’ll be making in your essay: setting up a quote, delivering a quote, then finishing it off. In the newspaper world, this move is known as: “Tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em, then tell ’em, then tell ’em what you just told ’em.”

For your chart, you’ll start by describing Everett—his personality, what kind of character he is—early in the story. Then track how he changes through the story.  Give each change-point its own row on your chart.

Other (Optional) Questions

This is a story of ________/This is a story about __________

Narrator

How reliable is he as a narrator?  What do you believe, and what, if anything, do you distrust (and why)?

Other Characters

Is SGM a Christ figure in some ways?  How so?  And where does the comparison break down?

Touchstones

The narrator keeps touching on phrases like “vanished youth” and “lost potential” and “lost career.”  Why?  How does this connect with the larger meaning of the story?

The story is filled with sexual imagery.  Find some, then figure out how it all connects to the story’s larger meaning.

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62 Responses to 750: Process-Writing Prompts for “Super Goat Man”

  23. Cameron Fleming says:
    January 31, 2011 at 1:36 am

    http://750words.com/entries/share/532764

    I will explain this to you in person what happend with my post

    Reply

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