Click for Course Description for Prospective CPH Students
Metamorphosis Project:
Our first assignment will give you a chance to read and be inspired by the work of the writers who came before you last year. 1. Taking time to read and be inspired: Take some time to read through Metamorphosis. Read it slowly and savor it. Read things you would ordinarily skip over. Enjoy reading the words of your esteemed peers. Put a sticky note on pieces you particularly like. 2. Read like a writer (using PUFT): Choose your favorite piece of writing. Make a few notes that answer the following questions: * What do you PICTURE as you read the piece? * What did the piece help you to UNDERSTAND? * What did you FEEL while reading the piece? * What do you THINK now that you didn't know before you read the work? 3. Deciding what makes a piece of writing "good" (literary elements): * What is one thing that makes this piece a "good" piece of writing. * Why do you think, of all the work you read, this particular piece spoke to you? * How do you feel about the writer of this piece? 4. Emulation: The highest form of flattery: Take your favorite piece(s) and use it as an influence/a model/a template. Write your own piece that uses something you liked and make it your own. 5. Acknowledging and praising your literary influences: Now, find three pieces you like best. Answer the questions from #2 and #3 for each, and use those answers to write "Fan Letters" to the authors, letting them know why you liked their work. The more specific the better! |
On Self Directed Learning / Mastery Based Learning: POTENTIAL READINGS:
Intellectually Challenging Texts, as assigned: Fill out the "Template for Responding to Texts" form. 1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights 2. Works by Nicholas Kristof 3. Nightshade Chronicles by Diamante Maldonado 4. In the Memory Mines by Diane Ackerman 5. Between the World and Me by Ta'nehisi Coates 6. The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron 7. Writing to Change the World by Mary Pipher 8. Black, White, and Jewish by Rebecca Walker 9. Sandra Cisneros 10. Walden by Henry David Thoreau 11. Woodswoman by Anne LaBastille 12. A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman 13. Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama 14. Lottery Tickets by Elizabeth Alexander 15. Resignation Letter acknowledging criminal behavior 16. Girl in the Window by Lane DeGregory Local authors: Mark Oppenheimer Paul Bass Laura Pappano Melinda Tuhus Rachel Kauder Nalebuff Lucy Gellman Josiah Brown Anne Fadiman Full credit (long form) 1. Behind "The Red Wheelbarrow" 2. "My Writing Education: A Timeline" George Saunders 3.2015 Calhoun College Conversation with new Yale students 4. What the 1% Don't Want Us To Know Half credit (short form) 1. Can a novelist be too productive? 2. I Don't Want To Be an Excuse for Racist Violence Anymore 3. Things Women Could Not Do Before the 1970s 4. Being a Good Audience Member 5. Lecture me, Really 6. Why the US and Connecticut should do our share to welcome refugees 7. Why What We Learned in Preschool Will Help Us at Work 8. Buy Experiences Not Things Quarter Credit (thought-provoking texts made easy to absorb). Learned Helplessness Embracing Opposing Ideas Daily Skimm 10 Magazines Every Writer Should Read Live Life Wisely Comic Illustrating What Consent and Non Consent Look Like Jorge Ramos and Donald Trump How Long It Takes Things To Break Down |