Assignment One: Significant Event 15%

Core Points for Assignment One:
Tone, Theme, Plot, Point of View, Setting. Creating scenes with dialogue. Figurative Language, Reader response essays.

Autobiographical narrative w/significance  A note before you start: You may not write about high school sports, cheerleading, Greek Life, your first year of college, your senior year of high school. The purpose of the essay is to write about an event, and reflect upon its significance. To reflect, one needs time and distance, and this assignment requires it. Think of this when you submit your “events” on line. I would go far back, think of grade school, junior high, some sports activity, some hobby, some relationship.

The writing project

The purpose of this project is to tell us about something significant in your life, something that helped mold you into who you are today, something that impacted you in a positive way-that is, something important to who you are now, today. As authors Ramage and Bean note, "the spine of most autobiographical writing is a key moment or event, or a series of key moments or events, that shape or reveal the author's emerging character or growth in understanding" ( Ramage, 144). So consider a time when, in one or more of the four worlds in which humans exist (academic, professional, personal, and civic), you

· · Learned something about yourself

· · Learned something about yourself that you wish you had not learned

· · Had to make a major decision

· · Made a major decision that went against what others thought you ought to do

· · Faced a moment of crisis or critical choice

· · Found yourself in a situation where one of your major beliefs was challenged and/or modified

· · Faced an unexpected problem that--once you solved it--gave you a new insight about you or the world and people around you

· · Did something in school that surprised you, and the people around you

· · Acted differently than you and your family (or teacher, or employer) expected you to

Choose an event or series of events that will be engaging to your readers and that will, at the same time, show them something about you and who you are as a person. Tell your story dramatically and vividly, giving your readers a clear indication of its autobiographical significance. Remember that a significant event or events doesn't mean something that was traumatic for you--it's something that influenced how you act today, who you are today--something that happened that had a positive effect on your life and on the person you are right now. This does not necessarily mean the event had to appear to be positive, but that it ended by having a positive effect on you.

It's not enough to just say, "well, this happened and it made a difference to who I am." Rather, it's critical that you show the significance by indicating

· · What you learned from the event or series of events

· · What you're doing now because of the way you were influenced

· · How you act now, or think now, or deal with others now because of the way(s) you've changed

Put another way, we all have stories that we could relate with good detail, stories that are interesting to tell and to hear . . . but which really didn't change who we are or how we act now, today. That kind of a story will not fulfill the requirements of this writing project.

For example, you might tell in good detail about a relationship you were in, and how everything went along nicely, but one day something happened and one thing led to another until finally there was this big blowup . . . but unless you also show what you've learned from this experience, how you deal with new relationships in different, perhaps better ways, then what happened wasn't really significant, was it? In other words, unless you learned something from the experience and that learning affected the ways you act or think now, then perhaps the event or series of events really wasn't significant.

Here's another example: perhaps your older brother was a real academic "star" back in high school and then again as he went through college--excellent grades, Honor Society, the Dean's List, many scholarship offers, and so on. At the same time, you worked hard in school but had a hard time "getting it," and your grades always were pretty mediocre: you struggled through grammar and middle school, and barely passed some of your high school classes. You pretty much figured that college was out of the picture for you.

Then one day, you overheard your brother on the phone saying that, no, he couldn't go to the early show because he had a paper due the next day, and later, when your brother walked by your room, where you sat trying (pretty unsuccessfully) to read the text for your sophomore sociology class, you stopped him. "What's the deal with skipping the show?" you asked.

"No big deal," he told you. "I just got myself into the habit of working before I started to play--to get my homework done before I went out. Hey," he asked, "how is school for you this year?"

You were honest and told him what a struggle school was for you, how hard you always had to work. "School's always been hard for me," you told him, "and that's why I don't always go to class, don't always do the work."

"Well," your brother said, "one thing that always helped me was writing. I don't mean those papers teachers ask you to write, but personal writing, in a journal or a diary, where I could say whatever the heck I wanted to say. I could bitch and cry and complain and no one would read it but me." He smiled. "And then, once I'd gotten down how mad I was about this assignment or that school project, I found out I could do it, and everything was easier for me. The rest was just showing up and doing the work--and making sure it was done on time, of course. So I forced myself to develop good habits."

You thought about what your brother had said and now that you considered it a little, he was right: he always did get his work done before he went out; he even had some kind of calendar on his bedroom wall showing when he would study. While you weren't sure whether or not to believe your brother, you thought, why not give it a try? So you started writing in a daily diary, putting down your frustrations; you found that "yelling on paper" helped you calm down a bit and that it did make doing the work easier, more satisfying. You made a time schedule showing when you'd study and when you could "play." And you discovered that if you had your work done before you went out, you had a much better time. And going to class was easier and more fun, too, now that your work would be completed . . . so now, in college, how might you indicate that you learned from this "event"?

Well, you might be able to write about how you always do your homework before heading out to the movies . . . how you schedule each day, in advance . . . how you always hit the library every Saturday morning, for any research you need to finish . . . how you plan to spend the hour between your afternoon classes doing the reading your teachers asked you to complete . . . in other words, you've developed habits that help you succeed in school. That's what you learned from the "event," and those are the kinds of details that show significance (and consider the opposite: what you learned from your brother would not be significant to you if you'd ignored his suggestions, right?).

This is merely one mild example, to get you started. I am sure that you have all had mysterious, strange, intriguing events and relationships that have been in many ways significant. Often, one just needs to sit quietly and contemplate your life to find wonderful material for autobiographical writing.

Core points of autobiographical writing to consider when writing:

• Theme: What is the story about (big picture).
• Tone: How do you (the author) want your reader to feel?
• Plot: the series of events that “show” the story.
• Character: The people who act upon each other to move the plot along.
• Place: Where (the physical location) the events take place and how the p lace shapes not only character, but plot.
• Point of View: The vantage point from which the author presents the actions of the story. 1st Person "I saw", 3rd person "Allan saw", Omni scent, "On a warm day in 1945 while tired British troops were marching up a dusty road in Africa, Allan Stir ling standing on a Hawaiian beach, looked fearfully to the sky and saw . . ." ( Omni scent narrator can see and know everything).
•   Dialogue: Dialogue is a required element of the assignment, and a tricky one. How do people talk to each other? Begin listening to conversations, so you can make your dialogue believable. Also, remember that each speech has it's own paragraph.
  
  Dialogue Example:

“Yeah,” Tracie said grinning, bright red lipstick glistening,“ I'm going.”

“ Watch out for him," Lisa said. "He's a letch. Don't stay later than 12:30.”  Lisa, twisting her scarf in her hands, peered into the dark after Tracie.

“No fear,” Tracie said smiling at her friend. “He's not the dark and brooding type.  He's great.”  At the curb, Tracie lifted her hand and waved. The passenger door of the black, chopped and channeled Chevy swung open, and Tracie disappeared inside. Lisa couldn't see Tracie's date because the car's windows were as black as the car's shiny paint.

 
Rationale for the project
Consider for a moment how things would be if we never learned from what happens in our life: in effect we would have to "reinvent the wheel" each time we faced a problem or had to answer a difficult question or ran into a similar situation in a relationship or ran into difficulty at work . . . we just couldn't exist that way.

Thankfully, we do learn from what happens to us, so we can handle situations more effectively when something similar happens in the future: we learn from the good events and the problems, from the people we know and are involved with, from good relationships and bad, from co-workers and fellow students, from teachers and parents, and so on. In effect, we're shaped in some way by everyone and everything we come into contact with.

• This essay should be 3-5 pages long. 
• Include blackboard work and class notes ( invention work) at the end of the essay.
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Assignment Two: My Family, My Self: Essay based on interviewing family members. 15%
Core Points Assignment Two:
Interview questions, transcripts, turning facts into shaped work, extending and polishing narrative core techniques from WP1.

For this assignment you will interview several family members focusing on some event or issue within your family that you have always wanted to know more about, that has intrigued you. You must create good questions, and record the answers. The interviews must be turned in with the essay.

Your essay will examine the reasons for your interest in the subject, the person, and discuss how/why you feel now that you've found out more. See pg 179, #4.

The supporting Interviews should be dated, and located, and include the full name of the person interviewed. E.g. Interview with Ken Kesey, Pleasant Hill , Oregon. Wednesday July 18, 1995 . Turn these in with your final essay.

This essay asks you to examine an issue within your family that has interested and impacted you. Maybe you are intrigued with your great aunt who ran off and joined the circus/ roller derby/ Rockettes when she was 16 and no one heard from her for twenty years. Okay, so maybe your family doesn't have someone who joined the circus,
maybe your family has members who are soldiers, athletes, singers, bridge builders, bankers, or accountants. Maybe there is a genetic illness that affects family members. Maybe you worry that you or your children are at risk of developing the illness. Regardless of what your family has done in the world, no matter if it seems quiet or boring, it's not. Find out about someone interesting within your family, and see if/how you can relate to them. We will talk more about these issues to help you develop ideas.

• The written transcripts of the Interview must be turned in with your final essay.
• Submit all notes and peer edits with final essay.
• The essay should be at least 4 pages long (Your interview transcripts do not count as part of the page requirement. They should be attached separately).
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Assignment Three: The ? Generation; How/Where Do I Fit? 15%
Who are you and how do you fit or not fit with others of your generation? In this essay, you will explore the relationship between your own life to this point and the cultural and historical period encompassed by your life. Does your generation have a name? To what extent are you typical of your generation or peer group and in what ways do you feel different? How accurately do you think the media portrays your generation? Explore your generation, your feelings about what you all are up to, and where you fit with it. You might want to compare your generation with another, say your parents, grandparents, great grandparents. What has your generation done for humanity? What do you see for your futures? Do you feel that any particular historical event influences you personally in a different way that it influenced others? Why?

• This essay requires that you use sources, articles (at least 3) to help you expand on the above points. The articles must be at least four pages in length. (To find length, go to "page preview" if online).
• Use MLA style of citation.
• This essay should be at least 6 pages, no longer than 8.

Core points: Use of core concepts from WP 1 & 2, MLA citation, in text documentation, structure, polished reflection incorporating your private concerns with public issues/concerns.

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Assignment Four: Analysis Essay and Portfolio 15%

The portfolio should contain the major work you have done for this class including your reading journal.

In the portfolio you will discuss your progress as a writer and show your interaction with each essay you have written. In order to prepare the portfolio essay, I require that you keep a writing journal as we go along. Something like a dated log, in which you respond and analyze the readings and the work you are doing for the class, your writing problems and successes, how the peer edits help/don't help/ your interactions with your group etc. This should be a record of your writing ideas, struggles and successes. In it you should make connections between the book chapters, the essays, and what you are learning. Keep this log/journal in a separate file. I will ask you to submit these several times during the term.

At the end of the term when you are reflecting on and analyzing your writing, you will use parts of your journal as the text of an analysis paper. You can quote yourself. You will analyze your own writing process, how your process changed or didn't, and how this process worked out for you in the class. You may discuss the brilliant ideas you had for the essays, how you conceived of them, etc. You get the idea. . . and if you don't, don't worry we'll talk more about this in class.
Core concepts: Analysis, Synthesis, Objective evaluation of your own work and process.

I look forward to working with all of you,
Judith

Madds and Pete