C&L Executive Summary IV: ZoSo

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Bryan

(10 point assignment)

First, look at your data. Read your log entries, looking for patterns, connections, holes or missed opportunities.

Write about a two page summary, using the guiding questions below as a springboard. Remember: every claim must be supported by evidence, specific details are always stronger than generalities, and honest self-reflection is valued. Vagueness and grade-grubbing will make me feel like we’re all wasting our time here.

You know what else might really help? If you tied your learning to the Furunessay on reading that you read at the start of the semester.

Formatting and narrative design is largely up to you; my only request is that this summary has at least two separate sections: one for contribution and one for learning.

: : :

Some guiding questions about learning:

What have you learned in this last unit? Did you make any breakthroughs? What was your best moment?

Did you run up against any brick walls? What did you do about it?

What kind of progress have you made toward the goals you outlined in your reading autobiography? What kind of progress have you made toward the goals you outlined in your last C&L summary?

What have you learned about what stories are, and what stories can do?

Some guiding questions about contribution: 

A seminar is an ongoing project, built and powered by students. Describe your contributions to our ongoing project.

What will you do differently in the future? In terms of contribution and learning, what are your goals for the next unit?

: : :

Bring a hard copy to class on Friday.

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750: Process-Writing Prompts for “Fatso”

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Bryan

For this class, we’ll break into small groups for RPG (role-playing game) conversation.  Here are the roles that you can choose from:

Discussion director:  develops a list of discussion questions and facilitates the group discussion, keeping everyone on topic and on track.

Reporter: takes notes on the group’s responses on paper, edits what the group has written, then shares the group’s thinking with the whole class.

Encourager:  the encourager makes sure that all the members in the group are participating and invites reluctant members to contribute.

The Questioner: drives discussion forward by posing open-ended questions

The Contrarian: takes the opposite position

Mr. Alternative: Have you considered another possibility, such as . . .

Step 1: Go to this link here to sign up for your role.  It’s first-come, first-served, so you probably want to do it now.

Step 2: Look at the prompts below, then do your process-writing with your role in mind.

“Fatso”

This is a story of/This is a story about . . .

Does the main guy change during the course of the story?  How so?  What factors cause the change?

What’s the arc, or movement of this story?  From what to what?

“I love you” appears in the second paragraph.  The story ends with another claim of love.  Do you believe him the first time?  The second time?  Support your answers with evidence from the text.

Fiction is “the lie that tells the truth.”  That is, it can speak truth or illuminate human behavior even if it’s not “realistic.”  Where’s the truth in this story?  How does it illuminate real human behavior and relationships?

 

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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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750: Process-Writing Prompts for “Price of Pain”

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Bryan

Okay, we’ve got some prompts for McNally’s “Price of Pain.” The first two, marked with an asterisk, are mandatory. We’ll definitely use these in class. The final three questions are optional. You can address them to fill out your 750, or if you like this story and want to generate more material for your upcoming essay.

* Timeline

Make a timeline of the turning points in the story. For each point in your timeline, write about why it’s a turning point (what changes? why is it important?).

*Trace the pain

List all the different kinds of pain in this story. Categorize them (physical, emotional, etc.). Do any of Hank’s pains change or evolve through the course of the story?

Optional Prompts

“Nobody said or did anything, and I saw that whatever was going to happen hinged on my next move” (48). Why does Hank choose to do what he does? What does it say about him? Does it represent a change in his character?

” . . . because suddenly I was the one who felt like crying.” Hank may not know why he felt like crying, but why do you think he did? Support your opinion with evidence from the text.

How are Hank and Roark similar? What unites them?

 

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750: Process Writing Prompts for “Sea Oak”

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Bryan

A quick tip:  in class, we’ll start off by sharing our power spectrums in small groups, so you’ll want to focus on that in your process writing.  Then feel free to pick & choose among the other prompts–or to follow your own original ideas about the story–to flesh out your process writing to 750 words.

Content: Looking at the story through the lens of power

Create a power spectrum with the most powerful character at the top, and the least powerful character at the bottom.  Write a reason for each character’s placement (i.e. say why you’ve put him/her in that spot), then back up your rationale with specific evidence from the text. Note that this is the same movement as thesis:reason:textual evidence that you’ll use in your essay.

What’s associated with power in this story?  What are the sources of power?

Where would the story’s criminals fit on your spectrum?

Connections to Class Themes

Is this satire?  Why or why not?

If so, what are the targets?  What’s the point?  What should be changed?

Character Shift

How would you describe the main character at the beginning of the story?  How would you describe him at the end?  Point to specific examples in the text to back up your claims.

What accounts for that change?  Why does it happen? If there’s a tipping point, where is it?

 

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