Hey, Kids.
If you haven't done so already, check your NHPS email for an invite to Google Classroom. Along with this website, Google classroom is where you will find what you need to continue your education while schools are closed.
Email me at [email protected] if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Mr. B
If you haven't done so already, check your NHPS email for an invite to Google Classroom. Along with this website, Google classroom is where you will find what you need to continue your education while schools are closed.
Email me at [email protected] if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Mr. B
Your sophomore year in Creative Writing is not only a time to improve your writing skills; it is also an opportunity to expand your minds. After all, good writing comes from breadth of experience, observation, and deep thought . . . not from staring at your phone all day.
If you want to stare at something for a bit, try reading the course description . . . or the grading guidelines.
Sir Isaac Newton is quoted as saying, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” If you want to be a great writer . . . or even just a better, smarter, more capable human being than you currently are . . . then it is time you started climbing up to the shoulders of those giants. Let’s hope they are BFGs.
Definitions and Examples of Literary Devices
Assignments
Short Story Reading and Writing Assignment
Stories Can Be Found Here
Short Story Analysis Sheet
Sample Analysis of a Short Story
Elements of a Story
Short Story Rubric
Poetry Reading and Writing Assignment
Jack Agüeros E. E. Cummings Nikki Giovanni
Maya Angelou Emily Dickinson Langston Hughes
Amiri Baraka Stephen Dobyns Dorothy Parker
Billy Collins Robert Frost Shel Silverstein
Sample Analysis for Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken"
Punctuating Dialogue Assessment
The following are pieces are by former students,
and though they have been edited (sometimes extensively),
they all began as journal entries:
"Slug Life"
"Blur"
"A Teacher's Monologue"
"Bitter Sweets"
"Phantom Heartbreak"
"Ramblings"
"Smokey's Day Off"
"Matchstick Moment"
A Couple of Examples to Help with Revising Your Work
For the first project, we will pick and work on a subject together. Once everyone is familiar with how the process works, you will be free to explore topics of your own choosing (from the list to the right at first, but later you may explore any subject you like.)
For each topic you choose, you will read a selection of items from the texts/links provided and respond to your reading in a simultaneously creative and intellectual fashion (we'll explain what that means later). After you have read a variety of pieces and submitted three suitable responses, you will then search for an appropriate text on the subject to be included among those already listed. Once you have properly submitted and explained your choice, and your submission has been accepted, you will work on a final creative piece that captures something important and/or interesting that you research into the topic inspired. The you will repeat the process. Your grade will be a combination of how much you get done and how deeply/creatively you explore each topic. |
This year we will be seeing what some giants have already seen and then discussing some questions that matter not nearly so much as what's on TV . . . they are:Who are we and why are we here?
What is love? Why do we fight? Why do we have to go to school? Why does my brain sometimes seem like more trouble than it's worth? How should we treat animals? What the heck are you eating? How does technology shape, improve and wreck our lives? Why do sports play such an important role in our lives? Why do some people have so much while others have so little? Why does music play such an important role in our lives? Why isn't the world fair and what can be done about it? And many more . . . In the fourth quarter, you will get to choose the question we discuss.And you will find the giants that will help us discuss it.
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Journals You will be writing in your journals every day for approximately 20 minutes. You are expected to write a minimum of two pages during that time. Sometimes there will be a prompt, sometimes it will be optional, sometimes you will be free to ignore it, sometimes you will be on your own to decide what to write. Journals will be collected and graded on page count at the end of every week. e-Portfolio Your e-Portfolio should be updated (created?) during the year to reflect your growth as a writer. We will meet to discuss ways to improve it near the end of each semester. It will be graded at the end of each semester. For guidelines, please visit the e-Portfolio page. If you need further assistance, please ask. Extra Credit Submission of your writing to any contest/publication (approved by the teacher) will earn you extra credit. Submission of any item that speaks to the fundamental questions listed above in such an eloquent and insightful way that it compels me to post it also earns you extra credit. Reading at the Metamorphosis showcase will also earn you extra credit. |
Should you need to contact Mr. Brenner or send him any work, this is the email address to use:
[email protected]
[email protected]