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.

4 Songs Freewrites ---> Narrative Poems

In a New Post, write a narrative poem of 10 or more lines inspired by the one or more of the 4 songs we listened to in class on Tuesday (Three Libras by APC, You Shook Me by AC/DC, Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton, Golddigger by Kanye West). 

Include an image.  If you missed that class, you can look up those songs and listen to them on your own, or write a narrative poem inspired by a song of your choice.  Here's my example:

Shadow Lake—an hour from home

A summer night—I am 16.

I shouldn’t be here.  I am not allowed.

He broke up with me a month before

and hasn’t called since.

She came with me but

asks him to dance.

He is working so he says no

but laughs as she nudges his arm.

He is too old for me.

He has outgrown me.

I am vulnerable, stupid, young

and I feel like my fourth grade

flat-chested self.

I will go on to break hearts too

but for now I just want the pulsing music

to stop making my head spin

and for him to quit looking away from me,

through me, across the sweaty dance floor

at other girls, older, wiser than I.

Catch up

Please use your time wisely today to finish and post any work you are missing.  

Today is the last chance to post any of the work connected to ART for points.  Don't put off the work connected to music either, since I'm turning in grades for progress reports from the office tomorrow.  

Circle any completed items on your grade check and give it back to me at the end of class.

If you're all caught up, comment on some of your classmates' blogs or work on something else quietly.  Thanks!

Music to our ears/their ears...

This week and next we will be looking at different ways music can inspire us to feel, think, act and even write. 

Create a New Post on your own blog with the word "music" somewhere in the title and type up your answers to at least 5-6 of the questions regarding music on the blue sheet I passed out yesterday.  Go for about 400 words.

Create a second New Post titled Teachers + Music and write about the answers to the questions about music you got from 2-3 teachers you spoke with.  Include your own answers to each question, too, and write about how they compare to the teachers' and/or anything you found interesting or surprising.  

Create a third New Post and share some of your favorite lyrics.  You could post entire songs or just favorite lines.  Do this one like we did our favorite life quotes and movie quotes.

Add images to your posts to make them visually interesting...you could also link to videos or websites.  I can show you how!

Thanks! Hope you're having a great day!

(pillow)talk

Create a New Post on your blog and include your writing connected to the drawing of a pillow we looked at it in class on Monday.  You might include your haiku, but also post a longer bit of prose.  Try for about 150 words at least on this one.  You can copy and paste the image from here, and if you'd like to, you can leave a comment on this post.  I've included some writing I did below.

Dream Marks on My Pillow by Ana Lancu

Last night before bed, I stepped out onto the front porch while Booker T. raced with a predatory growl towards the woods behind our house.  I waited for him to return, a triumphant skip in his step telling me all was safe and sound thanks to him, and from there on the front steps I noticed there was no moon out, or at least not one I could see.  A few stars dotted the sky but the yard was darker than usual and my big black dog crept back up beside me almost camouflaged.

I had been thinking of her off and on all day--my sweet Nanny who left us in June--and another round of loss swept through me there...no moonlight only made me miss her more. I scratched Booker's ears and cried, soft so that no one would hear, as if anyone was listening at that time of night.

I'll never be a little girl again.
I'll never see her shrug her shoulders
the way she always did.
I'll never see her handwriting on a
letter in my mailbox.
I'll never see her listening with interest
to my little boy's chatter the way she
always delighted in whatever I had to say.
I'll never see her again.

Ryan let Macauley sleep with us--a real treat on a school night--and with puffy eyes I slipped into the tiny sliver of our king size bed left for me, my son's now long legs tucked in close to mine and my big black dog in a ball at my feet, my husband miles of blankets and pillows away. Our room was dark and warm and I read only a few pages of my book before I floated into sleep.

And then, she was there...standing on my front walk, reaching out to me with a piece of paper in her hand.  He was there, too, a few feet behind her and to the side in dark blue jeans and the striped shirt he had on in their only picture with Macauley when he was a baby.  I grabbed her and squeezed her and cried for her to stay.  She just stood there and let me, still holding the paper.

I blinked and turned to see the numbers on the clock pushing me to start another day. I stared at the ceiling, making myself remember seeing her, knowing how dreams come and go if you don't commit them to long-term memory...like so many days I spent with her or spent not with her...they just slip away.

I could have cried in the car this evening when I told Ryan on the way to dinner. He said maybe it was a sign but he didn't say of what.  If I cry for her again tonight, will she be there on my front steps when I close my eyes?

Haiku:

When I close my eyes
she's standing on my sidewalk--
she knew I missed her.

Works inspired by Edward Hopper

Choose one of the 4 paintings (above) by American artist Edward Hopper we studied in class this week (you could also use his painting "Nighthawks" that is referenced in the insurance commercial we watched) and write a piece of at least 250 words inspired by it.  You might do a short fiction piece or a personal narrative or maybe even a long narrative poem.  You can refer to your lists of sensory details and other thoughts in your journal entry completed in class for ideas.  Please create a New Post on your blog  by the end of this week with your writing and include the painting, too.  Thanks!

Clay Story

For a New Post to your personal blog think about pieces of 3-D art such as sculptures and search for a piece you feel connected to online. Post the a picture of the piece and your comments or thoughts (in at least 150 words).

Ask yourself....

• How was it made?
• Who made it?
• Where did the clay come from?
• Whats the piece for or part of?
• What does it remind you of?
• Is it funny? Scary? or something else?
• What time is it from? 

Feel free to use a piece from here if you cant find anything online:

Poems for Paintings by the Artist you Profiled

In a New Post on your blog please choose 2 pieces by the artist you profiled and write a narrative poem of at least 10 lines for each. 

A narrative poem is one that tells a story.  It doesn't need to rhyme.  You could tell a made-up story inspired by the painting, you could tell a story from your own life the piece makes you think of, you could make up a story about the subjects in the painting...You could connect your two 10-line poems or let them stand on their own. Try to include vivid, sensory details and rich, interesting word choices.  You might even try to include a poetic device (like alliteration, simile, repetition, etc.) if you're comfortable doing so.  Please include the piece of art you are writing about in your post.  Give the post a creative title.

Circles of life: Mandalas

I hope you enjoyed the process of coloring the printed mandala designs in class on Wednesday.  We'll take some time on Monday, maybe, to finish those up.  Mandalas are important to a variety of cultures, faiths and schools of thought...

You can create some interesting mandalas at this site.  If you click on the asterisks, there is more information about the different elements.

Leave a brief but thoughtful COMMENT on this post answering one or more of these questions:

• How or why do you think art could be used as therapy?
• Can you think of other pieces of or types of art that are connected to certain faiths, disciplines or movements?
• What elements/symbols did you include in your own mandala?
• What role does art play in your own life?
• If you could be any kind of artist, what would you be?  Why?

Art Walk

In another New Post on your blog, post some writing connected to the art print you chose to study during our discussion in the front lobby of KHS on Tuesday.  Try for at least 250 words. 

Tell us the story from your own life it made you think of, write a critique or vivid description, write a long poem or several shorter ones inspired by the image...whatever you want to come up with. 

Include an image, too.  If you can't get a photo of the actual print on your post, just choose another one online that has the same feeling or look.

Have a wonderful weekend!  

Artist Profile

Grumpy Cat works in oils

Please profile the artist you chose to study in a New Post on your blog.  Please all include the information from your brochure, but instead of listing it, write the information more like a life story in paragraphs.  Include an image and/or self-portrait of the artist as well as 2-3 images of the artist's most famous works.  Title Your Post Artist Profile: ______ (name of artist)  Thanks!

Keeping it Real

In a New Post share your thoughtful answers to 4-5 of the Dan In Real Life questions.  Shoot for about 300 words.  Include an image.

"reely" good quotes

Dumb and Dumber

Create a New Post featuring 4-5 of your favorite MOVIE QUOTES.  These could be funny, sad, smart...whatever stands out to you.  You can type these or use an image featuring the quote.  Make sure you indicate the film the quote is from, and the character if you'd like.

When a Man Loves a Woman

**Reel** life

Do a  New Post answering the following questions (in at least 400 words) about your preferences in movies.

• Tell us about your favorite movie and why you like it.
• Tell us about the kinds of movies you don't care for usually.
• Tell us about how often and where you usually watch movies.
• Tell us about what you need for movie viewing (environment, food, company, etc.)
• Tell us about what this survey says about you.
• If my life story was made into a movie...(who would play you, what would be 3-4 main plot points/events, happy or sad ending, etc.)

Include images in this post also. Thanks!

When you're finished, leave a comment on the movie post and/or movie quotes post of at least 5 of your classmates.

Don't forget:  Your journal is due on Friday with 20 new full pages.  You could write more about movies to fill journal pages if you need to.

Six Word Memoirs

In a New Post on your blog, please share whichever of the 6-Word Memoirs you came up with in class  that you are comfortable sharing.  Just one or all of them.  Include an image or images.  You don't need to explain them, but you could if you wanted to.  You could also submit what you've come up with to the Smith magazine website.

And...scene.

Today is the last day to post and earn points for any of the work connected to BOOKS/READING as writing inspiration.  Please circle any posts you do today on the grade check and give it back to me.  

I added spots for the work that will be turned in next week so you could see how your 3rd quarter grade might turn out--you should just have a line through those on your grade check and they haven't been counted against you obviously.  

We'll be moving on to FILM as inspiration next week and doing just a couple of posts (both due by the end of next week), and you'll turn in 20 new, full pages in your JOURNAL next Friday for an end of the quarter check.  

I will not be counting any work connected to the books theme that is posted after today. Please use your class time to take care of missing items and earn the best grade you can.

If you are finished with everything up to this point, you could find a quiet place to read or journal.  You could find some books to look at and write about, or look at books and make a list of writing ideas you might get from them.  

Have a great weekend!