Week 4: Greatest Hits

Hello class,

Welcome back from what was hopefully a very nice weekend. :-)

Last week presented two particularly advanced writing assignments... both were meant to stretch you as writers, prompting you to explore new ways of writing, even if that meant your end result would be imperfect. Different students will feel "stretched" by different assignments... the important thing is that you give yourselves the room to explore new subject matter, new forms, and new styles of writing. (When in doubt, keep your writing and subject matter simple. There's nothing wrong with that!)

Your class continues to do a great job with these writing assignments.

Let's look at a few of the Greatest Hits from last week...


Matt's post, "Angelo: The Refuse Messiah"
http://oneguytwodeserts.blogspot.com/2011/02/9-angelo-refuse-messiah.html

Those of you who are in Matt's Peer Group know as well as I do that all of Matt's writing is impactful, wonderfully written, and worth a read. In this particular piece, though, I think Matt achieves an extraordinary feat in giving life to a barebones news article. In it, Matt imagines the psychological state of a real-life character named Angelo, about whom a news story was written. I don't want to ruin the subject matter for readers, because the surprise of it is part of the pleasure of reading. As writers, we can learn from Matt's use of inner dialogue and back story. For Angelo, the inner voice is of utmost consequence. This is true for most human characters, and yet, as writers, we often neglect to describe the inner landscape of how main characters are feeling, what they're thinking, and what memories rumble loudest as the present and future approach. Matt's writing is also descriptive, clear, and efficient - he reminds us of the power details have in bringing stories to life.


Nynn's post, "A Night to Remember"
http://lafraser.blogspot.com/2011/02/prompt-8-night-to-remember.html

"A Night to Remember" is Nynn's response to the challenge of writing in a lyric style that corresponds to a particular song. What's most interesting about this post, for me, is the form: Nynn chose to write in sections with headings that resemble a soundtrack, or a Mix CD playlist. The song titles themselves evoke the odd type of DJing that's reserved for wedding receptions only - where else do you hear everything from Lil Jon to Dirty Dancing? Nynn's story works to, eventually, profile an acquaintance named Brian, who drinks too much, starts dancing, and eventually picks her up only to crash them both onto the floor. It's a great moment to write about, and feels to be connected to a larger piece of storytelling that readers would love to read. Nynn's voice and style are authentic; we get a great sense about who the narrator is. She also does an amazing job developing setting at the outset of the essay.


John's post, "My man Charlie Sheen"
http://jasmit8.blogspot.com/2011/02/prompt-9-my-man-charlie-sheen.html

Speaking of authentic voice and style, I'd like for everyone to take a look at "My man Charlie Sheen". In this post, John's storytelling is voice-driven. This is a mode of storytelling that can work great for anyone who has a highly developed personal style and voice. His writing conveys an original perspective, argument, and style. His train of thought is associative... as readers, we are able to see the connections between his topics and thoughts, and find interest in them, because to many of us, the topics and thoughts are unusual and surprising. There's also an odd, delightful humor to this... a reader can't be sure whether the writer has written this argument satirically or not, but it sure does seem satirical. Best of all, the humor in this piece doesn't undermine the heart in it. For all the news that's been circulating about Charlie Sheen, this is the best (and funniest) account I've read yet.


Chelsee's post, "I am... the spitting image of my father..."
http://chelsee926.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-amthe-spitting-image-of-my-father-and.html

I love this post for the subject matter; Chelsee decided to tell a highly personal story in a wonderfully honest way. Throughout the writing, Chelsee describes her experience of having two fathers: one, who raised her, and another biological father whom she just met recently. Typically, this type of subject matter is discussed, by writers, in more dramatic ways. In contrast, Chelsee is forthright, and conveys a tone of gratitude and appreciation. In truth, this story is a book's worth, briefly outlined in a short blog post; I could imagine this same subject being fleshed out to thirty pages or more. My favorite line: "I always knew I never really looked like any one in my family so the first time I met my father's side of the family, it was an amazing feeling to actually see people that looked like me." This detail is so intimate, honest, and tender, as other descriptions in the story also are.


Great work Matt, Nynn, John, and Chelsee! Thanks for contributing some wonderful writing to our class blogs!

Writing Tip of the Week
Many peer reviewers find themselves pointing out what they like and admire in student posts, while avoiding sharing messages about problematic aspects of the writing. The reason you do your Peer Group a service by sharing BOTH praise and constructive criticism is because you help writers differentiate their best from their least best, and steer them towards their strengths. You also make writers aware of choices they make that are, unbeknownst to them, pleasurable or unpleasurable to certain readers. This will help your peer group members become even better writers, get even better grades, and maybe even get published some day... don't you want to be a part of that? :-)

If you find yourself shirking away from constructive criticism in your peer reviews, I have a suggestion for you. Why not use a particular method for ALL peer review posts, so that your group members see you are offering feedback impartially? Two great methods are:

1) Talk about 2 good aspects of the writing for every 1 bad aspect when you peer review. In this way, a 6 sentence peer review paragraph would contain at least two messages of constructive criticism.

2) For each writer, divide your critique into "Strengths" and "Weaknesses", offering some feedback for each category.

Your Peer Group will be grateful for the honest response!