Extra Credit Events/Saul Bellow/Plot Issues: Working With Tension and Conflict

Here are some dates for upcoming events you can attend for extra credit:


1. April 29, 2016: Jaymee will read her slam poem at the Academy of Medicine this Friday!


THE DETAILS  
The event is at the Academy of Medicine. Doors open at 6.
Cover Charge ($1/students, $5)


2. May 5th, 2016: Aleah will read her poem, Cornrows at the Sokol Awards Ceremony. Cameron and Asher will also read!


THE DETAILS
The event is at the Kate Gleason Auditorium at Central Library, 115 South Ave. The awards are at 4:00. With a reception to follow. Free food? This event is free!


3. May 19, 2016: Arts & Lectures event featuring Daniel Mendelsohn.


THE DETAILS
The event is at the Downtown United Presbyterian Church at  121 Fitzhugh St N, Rochester, NY 14614. Arrive no later than ___________ Read more about the author here.


4. May 27, 2016: Senior Coffee House Reading (MANDATORY)


THE DETAILS
The event starts at 7. Be there by 6:45. Ensemble Theatre. :)




HOMEWORK
Read Saul Bellow's story, Something to Remember Me By on page 511 of your Oxford Books. This story is not online!


Make sure any and all Lambent work is submitted!


Didn't do your 35 word entry? Submit that too!


CLASSWORK/HOMEWORK
Write 1-2 pages of fiction. Need some ideas? Here are the suggestions given in class:


Writing Exercise 1- Phobia Writing: Write about a character with an extreme and/or irrational phobia.


Writing Exercise 2- Working With Tension and Conflict: Write a story that contains the following four elements and is told in this order:


1. A discussion of a prohibition (perhaps through advice, warning, prediction)
2. Doing the prohibited
3. Personal/immediate consequences
4. Long term/societal or group consequences


In other words, write a story in which someone is warned not to do something, does it anyway, and has to suffer the consequences. Remember to focus on tension and conflict when writing.


If this doesn't work for you, write something else! I would aim for 1-2 pages.

MCC Visit

We will attend a presentation by MCC's Creative Writing department in the Black Box Theatre! YAY!


During 1st period, I would like you to get your additional Lambent pages/photos together and spend some time planning for the coffee house... Group piece? Keep in mind that you DO NOT need to read poetry at the coffee house. Fiction is encouraged! Especially since many of you seem to prefer the genre.


While you are working today, I would like to meet individually with you to discuss your portfolios and Q3 grades.

Hint/Flash Fiction

Hint Fiction

• We are going to write some hint fiction today!
•  Check out the following links:
• http://www.robertswartwood.com/hint-fiction/
• http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2010/10/what-can-you-do-in-twenty-five-words.html
• http://www.npr.org/2010/11/13/131276783/-hint-fiction-celebrates-the-extremely-short-story

Assignment: Enter the Writer's and Books 35 word story contest.
https://wab.org/35-word-story-contest/


Deadlines


Thursday 4/21: Bring in additional pages of Lambent and the photograph you want used.


Class is in the Black box on Thursday. You will get more details tomorrow from Mr. Craddock.


Tuesday 4/26: Bring in 3-5 Hint Fiction Stories for a grade. Make sure at least one has been submitted to Writers and Books.

Literary Magazines

Please start class by finishing the writing exercises provided this week. When you are done, please explore the concept of a professional literary magazine. You should be able to answer these questions: Please type the answers to these questions and print for a grade.
What is it?

How does one get published in a lit mag?

What are the benefits to having your work published in a lit mag?

Is it important to find a magazine that is a good fit for you?

What is a query letter? A SASE?

Homework: Find three literary magazines that you would like to submit your work to. Make sure you do your research. I would like you to write an explanation about why these magazines are a good fit for your writing. How often does the magazine put out an issue? I would also like you to find the submission requirements and deadlines for each magazine. Extra credit if you get your hands on a copy of a back issue of a magazine. Extra extra credit if you subscribe to one of the magazines you choose.

This website is awesome:
http://www.newpages.com/literary-magazines/

Write a Query Letter

These links are pretty good. The third one has a sample!

http://www.agentquery.com/writer_hq.aspx
http://kathytemean.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/query-letters-and-examples/
http://www.jamesrussellpublishing.biz/queryletterbk.html

Writing Exercise #2: Potential Scenarios

Per our class discussion today, here are some potential scenarios for your scene. Please choose one or create something else that connects to our discussion about characters and their agendas. If it is possible to connect your dialogue exercise from Monday to this, please do. Remember, all writing exercise should be helping you move toward your next short story...

NOTE! These are only suggestions to get your imagination going. If you like one of them, that’s fine. If you don’t like any and have another idea, that’s fine too.

1. An engagement party. The mother of the groom-to-be is talking to the brother of the bride.

2. A grandchild has come over to help the grandparent pack up the apartment/house where the grandparent has lived for many years. The grandparent is moving far away.

3. Two roommates cooking dinner. (Their conflict/agendas could be about anything, not the dinner at all.)

4. Two strangers in a company waiting area are both interviewing for the same job (or believe they are.)

5. Two acquaintances run into each other (at a party, in the library, doing laundry.) They have only been casual acquaintances so far, but one wants to ask the other for a date.

6. A landlord/landlady telling a tenant that he/she must move.

7. A dating couple. One has just received his/her acceptance into the best graduate program in the country, but it is far away.

8. A young child wants an expensive toy.

9. Two friends are hosting a party together. During the party, one of the hosts sees something that is wrong or unsettling (or something that could be taken as wrong or unsettling but may be ambiguous) done to the other host’s guests.

10. Two old friends. One owes the other a significant amount of money.

Writing Exercise #1: Improving the Conversation: Voice and Dialogue

As we move into our final marking period, remember to keep writing. My goal for you is always about 6 hours of writing a week. I will continue to throw prompts and suggestions your way, but remember at this point, you should have ownership over your writing. Write what EXCITES YOU!




Exercise: Write a conversation between one person who is bitter and melodramatic and another person who is not. Show the non-dramatic person coming to understand the cause of the other's bitterness or drama and have them respond in a way that the other actually feels heard-- but not for what he or she is specifically saying.




Potential Extensions: Try this with a partner or start alone and bring your conversation together with a partner. See where is goes...


Exercise not speaking to you? Just try and work with realistic dialogue in some way. It might be interesting to have two very different characters being forced to have a conversation with one another.

Important End of the Marking Period Deadlines/Reminders

Please submit your bios and Lambent pages to Jaymee at jaymeepride@gmail.com by this Thursday (4/7). If you weren't in class, we chose names out of a bag and are writing about a classmate. Try to make these bios interesting and unique.


Portfolios are due next Monday, April 11, 2016. Here is what you need to do:

• Submit a polished copy of each given assignment this marking period.
• Show evidence of quality workshop and MULTIPLE workshops
• Show evidence that you workshopped with me (if you did not make this a priority, it may be too late...)
• For your two major stories, make sure they are at the ADVANCED level.
• Write a mini reflection for each major story. They should be 1/2-1 page each. Reflect on the craft of writing and the writing process. Try to be objective here. You can also write a mini reflection about the shorter writing assignments together.
• Make sure your portfolio is organized and shows that you have been writing consistently throughout the past 10 weeks.

If you have any questions, please ask them now.