Announcements – Storytelling and Identity

help me make the instructions better

On November 7, 2023

Thank you for putting such good energy into the workshop today. I was reflecting on my experience. I only heard bits and pieces of each group, but what struck me was that there was a paradigm at work that I didn’t realize would be so powerful: the “assignment” paradigm. It makes sense, in retrospect. Assignments by definition are not really your own idea. They may not feel much like creating art. But actually, you are making choices and putting things together in order to communicate with a reader, and that is what creative writers do.

I revised the instruction sheet so that they more explicitly situate the essay as art. I would love it if you would read these over, and give me suggestions for how to make them better! Thanks

The Art of the Essay Workshop

Goals:

to experience an essay as a work of art
receive feedback that gets at the content and the heart of your essay

Instructions:

Give your critique partner a copy of your draft essay.

Read your partner’s draft.

Imagine you have just found this essay sitting on a table in your dorm and you picked it up to read it. Notice how you react to it as a reader. Would you keep reading all the way to the end?

Write notes to respond to Step 1 and Step 3 below. Each partner should take turns in role of writer and responder, and the pair should follow these steps for discussion:

Step 1. Statements of Meaning

Responder states what was meaningful, evocative, interesting, exciting, and/or striking in the work they have just witnessed/read.

Step 2. Writer as Questioner

The writer asks questions about the work. In answering, responders stay on topic with the question and may express opinions in direct response to the artist’s questions.

Ex: Did you understand what I meant by the title?

Step 3. Neutral Questions

Responders ask neutral questions about the work, and the artist responds. Questions are neutral when they do not have an opinion couched in them.

This step is one of the most fundamental, challenging, and misunderstood steps of Critical Response Process.

Examples: Can you say more about your interpretation of _____ ?

What does your title mean to you?

Step 4. Opinion Time

Responders state opinions, given permission from the artist; the artist has the option to say no.

Please leave feedback and suggestions in the comments.

Preparing for Thursday

By Theresa Dolson

On November 1, 2023

In Announcements, Dolson, prep note

Kristine did a great job identifying a frame of the graphic novel to use as an illustration of a concept she identified. You can read her post here

I asked several of you to identify a frame to illustrate a concept you were noticing, and I thought Kristine’s example might help you see what I mean for us to do. I look forward to looking at Persepolis tomorrow with you.

announcements for Tues. Oct 24 class

By Theresa Dolson

On October 22, 2023

In Announcements, Experiential Reflections

Some of you have already been posting your photo from Thursday’s trip–Great! I went ahead and added it to the assignment for Tuesday, which means you have 2 posts to do for class that day. It doesn’t have to be a long post. Just capture your main take-aways and we’ll discuss in class. **NOTE: please categorize your trip post under “experiential reflections”.

About the planned museum: this article is a good update about what is going on, though I wonder what is happening now, a year later. Also, here is the website kept up by the organization defending the site.

Advice on reading about difficult and traumatic events

By Theresa Dolson

On September 29, 2023

In Announcements, Dolson

I have been reflecting on your excellent comments last week on Richmond’s Unhealed History, and the emotional reactions from reading the book.

Some of the stories are disturbing and, as we discussed, even though the events aren’t literally happening to you, you are picturing them when you read them and for some people the emotions they raise can be very strong. Stories are powerful.

It is important to know that you can and should tend to your emotions that arise. First, if you are upset, pause the reading. Take a walk on our beautiful campus, look at the lake and some trees…talk to a friend… write a poem or listen to music… Whatever works for you!

But maybe you are feeling “big emotions” and you find yourself really upset. Then you might need to ground yourself first to stop the adrenaline. There are some simple techniques for this. Check out this article which has some good examples.

UR CAPS has some good resources. You might like the helpful videos like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU3zmBAICGQ

I am always available to talk as well. Reach out.

Clarifying plans for Thursday

By Theresa Dolson

On September 13, 2023

In Announcements, Dolson

I am grateful to Kristine who reached out to ask for clarification. I am posting our email exchange below. Usually, if one person has a question, others have it too. I appreciate the opportunity to make the plan more clear. Communication win!

initial email:

For Thursday’s class, the weekly schedule says you should bring a “compost heap.” I have posted instructions for the assignment that the compost heap is a part of, and I want to explain what we are aiming for…

Instead of assigning a rough draft, what I am asking you to do is to really slow down your writing process. Please read the assignment page to get the big picture of the essay topic. In class today, you created the beginnings of a compost heap for a particular man’s story. For Thursday, decide what memoir story you want to focus on to write a full essay—it does NOT have to be the one you did in class today. Begin a compost heap for that essay. This might include: the page numbers of the pieces of that story; some quotes that stand out for you; a sentence or two about what you think might be interesting you about this particular memoir story.

You are not turning this in for a grade. You will be using the heap for class discussion. The goal of Thursday’s class will be to sharpen your understanding of the kind of analysis that should make up your essay.

Do not stress over this. Think about which story you want to spend more time with, and come to class having written out a few quotes and a few thoughts. It should take about the same amount of time as a regular prep note would take.

Let me know if you have questions.

From Kristine:

Hello,

I was wondering if we have to make an additional prep note along with this compost heap assignment. Also, do we post the compost heap to the blog?

Thank you,

Kristine Nguyen

Reply:

Hi Kristine,

The compost heap is in lieu of a prep note. It is basically what you need to do to prepare to engage fully in class on Thursday, and it is starting the process of writing your own essay.

I suggest that you put this compost heap into your “private space” or Google folder for the class. You do not need to post it to the blog, but make sure you have it someplace you can find again. You will continue to work with what you write in the compost heap.

td