Fiction Writing and Literary Analysis

Friday, September 28, 2012

Homework due 10/1-10/5

Portfolio Posts Due:

Due Sunday, 9/30 by 8pm:
Journal #3 (Memoir into Fiction)
Journal #4 (Paragraph on Chris):  Take the following bland, boring paragraph and transform it into a vivid, active paragraph.  Here are some of the following techniques that you should be using to add life:
***Significant and concrete (sensory) details
***Writing about emotion (internal and external emotion)
***The active voice
***Prose Rhythm
The basic paragraph is:
Chris had always wanted to be successful, but committing to a job is tough for him.  He currently works in the food industry, but hates conforming to a regular schedule.  He comes from "rich roots" and is constantly battling the lifestyle of his youth.  He is an embarrassment to his family.

Homework due 10/1-10/3:

1.***All of you need to bring a short excerpt (3-5 sentences) from Journal #3 to share with the class, as well as your Journal #4!***

2. Read "Big Me" and "The Things They Carry" and take great notes.  Here are some guiding questions to think about while you read:

Questions for "Big Me":

1. Why can't Andy stop thinking about Mickleson?

2. a. What is an allusion?

b. An allusion is used in the short story "Big Me". What is the purpose of Dan Chaon using it and what does it represent?

3. Find 3 examples where the author uses prose rhythm in order to create mood and list them.

4. Why does Chaon use the line from "A Christmas Carol" in the story “Big Me”? How does it help illuminate the theme of the story?

Questions for "The Things They Carried"

1. Why does the narrator insist on the exact weight of things?

2. Name two concrete objects that help to characterize the individual soldiers (such as the photo or the Bible). Explain what these details imply.

3. Find one passage where the prose rhythm mirrors the rhythm of the action described and another where it reinforces the emotion depicted.

4. Typically, writing teachers suggest avoiding abstract terms, such as love, injustice and beauty. Yet here, in addition to their gear, the soldiers carry such abstract qualities as distrust of the white man, all they could bear, grief, terror, love, fear. How does O'Brien use so many grand abstractions successfully in this story?

5. What choice does Jimmy Cross make on the first page of the story? The last page? How would you describe the change in Jimmy from beginning to end?

6. How would you describe the way the story is told? What advantages are there to telling to story this way rather than in a more traditional, chronological form?

Homework Due 10/3-10/5:

1. Read "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been".  Here are some guiding questions:

Questions for "Where are you Going, where have you Been?"

1. Find passages where Connie's fear is described through physical sensations and list them.

2. What specific things make Arnold Friend frightening? As the writer attempting to create a frightening, original character, what kinds of cliches would it have been easy to use?

3. What is shown by Connie's habit of checking her reflection? By the "two sides" of her appearance?

4. How does Arnold Friend maintain power over Connie?

5. Find three dialogue lines that show different kinds of persuasion used by Arnold Friend. Why has the author portrayed him as trying to persuade rather than force Connie to leave?

6. What seems to be implied in the final paragraph? Why does the author end the story at that point?