Alexie Tweet of the Day

 "Sherman_Alexie: About basketball and aging: I haven't touched the rim since the first Bush was President."

Writing Fiction to Understand Fiction

    We read too much as readers and as students.  We need to start reading as writers, true writers.  And to accomplish that we need to write.  We need to write fiction to understand fiction.

FICTION!!!! NOOOO!!!!!!

     So you're going to write a personal narrative, similar to Alexie's Absolutely True Diary.  A personal narrative is distinguished by a strong first person voice and action centered around one character's thoughts and emotions. TODAY YOU ARE  GOING TO SPEND TWENTY OF THE HARDEST MINUTES OF YOUR LIFE TO WRITE FICTION!!!

      Technique-wise, think about two things.  First, I'd like you to start with a line from True Diary.  Here are a few to begin: 

I was born with ____________ on the brain.

Traveling between ___________and _________, between the little white town and the reservation, I always felt like a stranger.  

Nobody knew the truth.  

I almost didn’t try out for the team.  

I was a joyous freak.  

She was trying to live out her dream.  

I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my _________ are like lifeboats.  

Second, think about the strategy of show, don't tell. Show the reader ideas, don't just spoon-feed them where you want them to go. Here's a good explanation of show, don't tell from @GrammarGirl on twitter.

Your writing will act as a first draft for your third blog assignment.

     

Semicolons, Colons, Elipses, and the Like

Other Punctuation

Semicolons
Can be used:
           to correct a “comma splice”
        I went to the football game, it was fun. ← Wrong
I went to the football game; it was fun.  ← Right

           to separate two independent clauses without a fanboy
          Mr. Hartle teaches Math; Mr. Thompson teaches History.

to replace a period

Mr. Hartle teaches Math.  Mr. Thompson teaches History.

           

to link two independent clauses with an independent clause marker.

Many corals grow very gradually; in fact, the creation of a coral reef can take centuries.

           

to separate items in a series containing internal punctuation.

Delbarton’s most experienced teachers are Mr. Thompson, who teaches AP Euro; Mr. Hartle, who teaches AP Stats; and Mr. Devine, who teaches AP Physics.

Colons
Can be used:
           After an independent clause to direct attention to a list, an appositive or a quotation.

A typical routine includes the a number of exercises: twenty knee bends, fifty sit-ups, fifteen leg lifts, and five minutes of running in place.

Exception: If the list follows the main verb of the sentence.

Delbarton’s most experienced teachers are Mr. Thompson, Mr. Hartle, and Mr. Devine.

         

 Between independent clauses ONLY IF THE SECOND ONE EXPLAINS OR SUMMARIZES THE FIRST

                       Faith is like love: it cannot be forced.
                       There is something great about sports: they reveal character.
           

Style Project

Style Portfolio Project--50 points
On your blog, write a personal narrative (as a reference, Absolutely True Diary is a personal narrative.  This doesn’t mean you have to copy Alexie’s style; in fact, I’d like you to find a unique style.)  The piece must follow the following criteria:

YOU MUST:
1. Begin with a sentence from Absolutely True Diary.  From there, make it your own story.

2. Use the following types of sentences in your piece:
ITALICIZE THE EXAMPLE SENTENCES.  
-Simple Sentence
-Compound Sentence
-Complex Sentence
-Sentence with non-essential phrase
-A sentence with a semicolon
-A sentence with a colon
-An appositive
-A group (2 or more) of non-coordinating or coordinating adjectives
(See my writing tips section for all the handouts concerning punctuation and structure)

3. Take a selection from Alexie (it can be one sentence or a group of sentences).  Create a sentence in your piece that copies the structure of the sentence, both in terms of punctuation and parts of speech use.   

  For example:
Sample sentence: Home, where she longed to be, where she and her mother could be warm together, was far behind.
(Noun/non-essential phrase/non-essential phrase/verb phrase)  <--you don’t need to write this out, but it might help)
My sentence: The game, where I became a man, where I learned how to lose, was never far from my mind.
COMMENT ON YOUR OWN POST AND GIVE THE ORIGINAL ALEXIE SENTENCE WITH A PAGE NUMBER.

Close Reading Strategies

Types of close reading

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago - never mind how long precisely - having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off - then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.