Week 4

Last week I looked at your writer's notebooks and found a number of you who wrote and poured your heart and soul into the writing.  I saw poetry, drawings, stories of struggle and difficulty, and attempts of all sorts to write something down.  This made me quite happy.  Thank you!  We often think that the teacher forms the student, but when we say this, we sometimes forget that this learning endeavor we are all in is all about the relationship we create with one another and that the student also forms the teacher.  You depend on me, but I also depend on you in more ways than you can ever imagine.  I hope you realize the power you have.

With that said,  I want to point out that too many of you were wallflowers rather than the wildflowers I expected.  Instead of letting go of the bad habit of waiting for the right moment and running to the dance floor to get your groove on, you held back and did not do the work I asked.  I was left dancing with myself in a zombie land of non-writing.    I'm always dreadfully disappointed by this. It's no fun!

Here are some of the numbers you should know regarding the first notebook check.  The one class that had the greatest number of people with notebooks that met my expectations was my TR 3:30pm class. Even there, however, the numbers were not that great.  Only 67% of the class had their work ready.  In some of the other classes, fewer than 50% were prepared.

It's a strange thing to be putting on these skits that deal with the very issue of alienation and then seeing that a good many of you are falling by the wayside, not engaging,  even with this class requirement that should not be that difficult to fulfill.  Please understand that I'm not trying to berate you;  instead, I want you to think about this and ask yourself, if you were one of the ones who was not prepared, what you want for yourself and what you are working toward in this class.  Don't forget that what you do affects you and also affects the rest of us.  I hope you can make a commitment to lighten the load for everyone and take up the challenge of doing the best you can!

We switch gears a bit this week and remember that creating community is hard but good work.  This weekend we took a step toward deepening the connections amongst us and a lot of us showed up and had a great time.

Beach BBQ this Past Weekend

During this fourth week, we move closer toward our first essay by attempting to answer the question "Who are you?"   By now you should have collected all sorts of writing in your notebook around this theme.  The idea is that you are living and loving your life and writing some of it down.  This week and the next you should start thinking how some of these snippets of writing you already have, of attempts at capturing the mystery and wonder and absolute impossibility of defining yourself, can be of use to you as you start crafting an essay of no less than 800 words by the week of October 1.

I suggest you look carefully at the arch of your life and ask yourself what version of your holy self you want to invite to play on paper.  Please read on the effect of telling one's story in the first and third person perspective.  As usual, aim to learn something from this reading and respond to it in your writer's notebook.  We will be sharing what you picked up from this reading with one another.

As part of the buildup toward the writing of the essay, I want you to watch Ira Glass, a favorite storyteller of mine, describe how he puts together narratives for his radio show, This American Life.

What two elements does he use for his stories?  Write about the two elements he mentions in your notebook.  Come to class the second part of the week ready to share what you learned from the video and to pose any questions you may have.  Don't forget that asking questions is the fuel for all learning.

I'm very excited about the upcoming essays.  It's a writing birth of sorts we will experience and witness.  I want you to have as much support as possible. As I have said in class, the question is not an easy one, so please read and respond to "Writing Is Not a MacDonald's Hamburger" in Writing Down the Bones (36-37).  I think this short passage has much to offer.


If you have any questions, please post them here under comments.