Monday, November 24

Today's discussion was about revising and writing about writing. Even if revising is not part of your composing process - as you begin to send your work out to different publication venues, it becomes increasingly important to have an effective process for revisions. Sometimes the first venue you submit to may not accept your work - and you will need to re-cast your essay so that it is a better fit for a different venue. Or you might get a new idea - that opens up your essay and makes it a more resonant, more compelling work. The suggestions in Thiel are a wonderful place to start - but the real discoveries you make about revising will be through your own experimentation with re-thinking, re-arranging and re-constituting your work.

The reading/blog assignment for Monday should take you deeper into the contemplation of your revising process.

Read: Stanton, “Zion,” and “On Writing ‘Zion’,”
I will distribute Stanton's essays via email by this evening (11/25).
Blog 20: How did your relationship to your material affect your composing process? Describe / compare the composing processes you used as you revised one of your essays.

On Monday you will have an open workshop to work on your presentation. I will also be available for conferences on the essay of your choice.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 19

Today we worked on creating a list of links (now posted here) for publication venues.
You spent the rest of class working on either your presentations or on your draft for essay 4.

For Monday:
Read: Thiel, "Creating Scenes: A Revision Narrative," 88-94. (reading the Atwood piece is now optional).

Blog 19: Post draft essay 4 (if nothing will get you in trouble with the law)
Send completed draft Essay 4 as an attachment. ENG3017@gmail.com

In class on Monday we will discuss revising + writing about writing.

Monday, November 17

At the beginning of class you did some writing about your draft for essay 3. you identified your story, your concept and the vehicle for telling your story (description of a person/place/object etc). You then wrote a little about what you think you need to work on, and how you plan to go about revising (working on whatever you need to work on). After class - take a look at your essay and mark it up - do some thinking about how/what you want to revise - and bring your notes/a marked up copy to your conference. I passed around the sign-up sheet for confernces - if you don't have a time - or if you need to change your time, send me an email.

We also talked about what to include in your portfolio (handout posted on this site).

The rest of class was devoted to work on essay 4. Some of you brainstormed your ideas with the class, and you spent the rest of class providing feedback to one another's blogs.

For Wednesday:
Do some writing on Essay 4 and come to class with questions/requests for help so you are ready to do the rest of your writing over the weekend (Draft Essay 4 due on Monday, Nov. 24).

Blog 18: Reflections on comments from classmates regarding Essay 4= more writing for Essay 4.

Also, in class we will do some more talking about publication venues. Come to class with at least one possibile venue for the essay you hope to send out. We will spend some group time getting started on the publication venue project (to make sure you know what you are looking for) and the rest of class will be devoted to work on essay 4.

Groups for Publication Venue Assignment:

Jose, Angela, Nicole, Liz, Tim

Meghan, Angel, Lauren, Sue, Shannon, Camille

Edgar, Diana, Jennifer, Matt, Dan Jenna

Wednesday, November 12

Today you did some journal writing to help with finding a focus/concept - and we looked at the requirements for the publication venue assignment (now posted on the site). You are going to work in your blog-commenting groups. Each member of the group needs to give a presentation on a DIFFERENT venue,but you will have each other as resources for ideas and support.

We spent the remaining time in class conferencing + working on your drafts for essay 3 + following up on any questions about feedback on the final for Essay 1/2.

For class Monday, finish Draft 3 + post your idea writing/messy draft for Essay 4 on your blog. For the Essay 4 post - make sure to include particular requests for feedback or help. Send your Draft 3 to the ENG3017 address as an attachment. In class you will brainstorm with one another for essay 4 and set up conferences with me to talk over the Essay 3 drafts (just like we did for Essay 1 & 2).

In class Monday we will also take a look at the portolio requirements (the portfolio chec)so you can get started on collecting/reflecting on your work (if you are they type who likes to get things done ahead of time).

Good class today and have a great weekend.

Monday, November 10

You did some descriptive writing to use place as part of story-telling - and we looked at how John McPhee did the same. His piece uses description that moves back and forth from the game of Monopoly to Atlantic City - the place that the game is was based on - to develop a complex discussion of economics (how strategies of play/development -quick-kill vs games that go on for days - connect to outcomes )and the place of the middle class. We got most of the way through this discussion - but as usual I didn't leave quite enough time.

We took a look at the new calendar (posted) and will go over the revised requirements for the portfolo (also posted) in class on Monday, Nov 17.

For Wednesday: work on your Draft for Essay 3 (no blog assignment!)

In class on Wednesday you can work on either Essay 3 or brainstorm a topic for Essay 4. Also, I will go over the requirements for the presentation on finding publication venues for your work.

The due date for Essay 3 is now Monday, Nov 17.

Wednesday, November 5

Today you checked out what your classmates are writing about and did some thinking about how you are going to turn your ideas into an essay. You all sound like you are writing into some good ideas - and I am looking forward to another set of exciting drafts.

For Monday:
Finish Draft 3 => date extended, now due Nov 12.

Blog 15: list some places that have been important in your life - if possible - go to one of them and write in your writing journal about what you see => use this writing to create a blog entry. [For those of you who cannot go to a place from your past - you may use the alternatives discussed in class.]

Read: McPhee “The Search for Marvin Gardens” (check your email)

In class we will take a close look at how John McPhee develops his discussion of playing Monopoly and Atlantic City as a way to make his point. As you read - watch how he develops his concept.

Great class today and I will see you on Monday.

Monday, Novermber 3

We spent a great amount of time and attention on description as story telling.

For class Wednesday:

Blog 14: post what ever writing you have so far for your essay. You might write into an idea/focus and then brainstorm the objects/places/personal descriptions you would use to develop that focus; or you might go the other way and write a series of descriptions of related objects, or the same object at different points in time (etc) and then do some brainstorming about what focus works for that writing. In any case - your post should pose but a focus for your essay - and the "vehicle" for your story (the objects, places, persons you will describe to develop/explore your focus).

In class on Wednesday we will take a minute to see where you are in gathering the materials for your portfolio, and you will spend the rest of the class working on Essay 3.