This is the Creative Writing Final

Please answer these questions in a New Post on your blog.  Number each of your answers and answer in complete sentences/paragraphs that reference the question so we can easily see which one you’re answering.  This should be a rather lengthy post to earn the entire 80 points.  Include 2 images.

1. List/discuss several of the different pieces of writing you’ve done this quarter, including posts, comments, creative pieces, journals, in-class writings, and things you’ve written on your own.
2. Name/discuss a couple of pieces you’ve read this quarter, including other classmates’ work and/or reading you’ve done in or out of class.
3. Write about setting up your blog and what you have gotten from that experience.  How did you come up with the name for your blog?  Who do you think read it or who would you want to read it?  Will you continue to use it on your own in the future?  What kinds of things will you post?
4. Write about journaling.  What kinds of things are in your journal?  Who would you want to read it?  Will you continue to journal?  What will you write about? 
5. Type an entry directly from your journal that you consider notable.  It could be a paragraph or a page or so.  You don’t have to explain it, but you could.
6. Type or copy/paste a passage or section directly from one of your pieces of writing that you consider notable or your favorite that you’ve written.  It could be a section or a page or so.
7. What creative writing do you plan to do in the future, if any?  What do you get out of writing creatively?  How does this differ from the other writing you do, in school and in life?
8. Some final words of encouragement, appreciation, inspiration, etc. for your fellow writers you’ve worked with this quarter...
9. Feel free to post any other writing you’d like to at this time.

If you've done everything else, it would be great if you could cruise through your classmates' blogs today and leave a little note wishing each of them well--maybe a favorite quote or piece of advice of yours or something or a personal message...

Beginning of the end...or end of the beginning

As we near our last days together as a class, here are some things to keep in mind:

Please have all blog posts completed by the end of class on Friday for points.  Look at your grade check to see what you're missing (I've also included the remaining assignments so you can see what other points you could earn/lose).

Use time in the lab today and tomorrow to print the items you need for your Altered Book project--letters, quotes, lists, your writing pieces, images, etc.

Plan to turn in your journal with at least 10 new full pages at the end of class on Monday.  You can do up to 5 more pages for extra credit if you'd like. (Seniors have a rehearsal for the Senior Recognition assembly at 1:30 on Monday.)

Your Altered Book is due at the end of class on Tuesday and will be returned to you with your final grade for the class on Wednesday.  If you happen to finish your book before then, please turn it in so I can get a head start on grading.

If you need to take the final, it will be a longer reflection post on your blog addressing several things about your work this semester.  I'll post the questions to the class blog next week.  You can come in at any time on Thursday to complete it.  If you have an A, you don't need to worry about it!  

Thanks for being such an awesome, creative, happy group!  We will miss you, seniors!

This is... Photo Writing

I like this image...it's a print available at one of my favorite websites called Etsy, where you can buy all sorts of vintage and handmade goods. So much creativity and inspiration there...have a look some time.

I'd like you to do a New Post on your own blog with some writing about one of your own photos inspired by Katy Barber's "Photograph 1969." I'll leave it up to you to decide whether you'd like to arrange your words as a poem or a short piece of prose. I'll be looking for a vivid description of what we can actually see in the photo, followed by that "twist" we discussed in class, where you intimate or imply what else is "in" the photo...an understanding, an observation, a hint at something that came later...something more. Please include the photo in your post. 

If you don't have a photo of your own or find that too personal, find a striking or interesting photo that speaks to you on the internet or in a magazine and write about it in this same way instead.  You could also use the antique photo you looked at in class as your inspiration. 

Photograph 1969 by Katy Barber

This is my mother
lifting her hair long
like a low whistle
off her neck
These are her fingers
caught in the tangles
of brown and gold caught in
silver earrings
This is my father
reaching through the lens
to touch the edge
of a new family
to touch her opening belly
under her full dress

This is existing
before I exist

This is me growing up
against their lives
him watching for a sharp
breath from her looking out
onto the border of birth
this is bumping us into three

Photos of the millennium (so far...)

With the advance of cell phones, caputring all aspects of history and everyday life is easier and more accessible than ever.  Think about what your great-grandkids will say about all the images your generation is leaving behind--or will many of the images that tell your story/history vanish into cyberspace somewhere eventually instead of being in a photo album for those grandkids to flip through?

This little dog happened to be strolling down a street just after the Pope had passed by--his little smile and upturned chin make it seem like he believes all the applause and fuss is for him!  Adorable.

Choose one of the photos from the 2000s and write a piece (poem or prose, fiction or nonfiction...your choice) of at least 250 words inspired by the photo. This might be a personal memory you have connected to this event or your thoughts about this moment in history...you decide what you'd like to say. 

Here's an example of something I wrote referencing an image from the aftermath of 9-11 that has always stayed with me.  

If the CrackTwo link is blocked on the school computers for whatever reason, you could visit another website with "iconic" or important photos from this decade or the last and choose one from there, or you might be able to Google an individual picture if you remember one or have a certain one in mind.  Include the photo you chose and your writing in a New Post on your own blog.  

Photo Hunt: Captions + Hashtags + Quote

In a New Post on your blog, please add all 15 of the photos you took Monday during our Photo Hunt. Add a caption of at least 25 words to go with each photo, and include a clever #hashtag with each caption.  You can decide whether to label or otherwise indicate which photo on the list each was supposed to be.

At the end of your post, include a quote that suggests something about paying attention or writers noticing everything or the power of photographs.

101 Things About Me (You)

Please share your list of 101 Things about yourself in a New Post on your own blog.  

Your list might be a combination of short and long statements.  Some may be serious and important; others may be lighthearted or silly.  

If you are having trouble thinking of things, you might be able to use my list for ideas or you can Google "101 Things About Me" and read the lists of multiple bloggers who have created these.  Include images if you'd like to.

You may also have a few people in your life make a list of things they know/love/are fascinated by about you--you can include those lists in your own and put the author's name in parentheses after the statement.  

All MUSIC posts are due for credit by the end of class Thursday.  Your list of 101 Things is due by the end of class on Friday.

Lyrics Shuffle

In a New Post, share something you came up with when we looked at the 4 songs with the lyrics all cut apart and scrambled last Friday.  Include an image.