last bit I read

         Here's the quote I read from Peter Elbow's Writing Without Teachers at the end of class today.  I hope it gives you some balm and calm and perspective as you work through your essays, and in fact, allows you to embrace (enjoy seems too strong) the work you are doing as a productive part of writing.  So whether you run on it or shovel the pond  or mop the floor (that's mine) give yourself the space you need when you are writing.  
        Elbow says:   "The turning part in the whole process of growing is the emergence of a focus or theme.  It is also the most mysterious and difficult kind of cognitive event to analyze.  It is the moment when what was chaos is now seen as having a center of gravity.  There is a shape where a moment ago there was none." 
      He goes on, in the very next paragraph to add:  "If you are having difficulty getting a center of gravity to emerge, the cure is to force yourself to make lots of summings up even if they do not fit your material or seem to be right."  
       This continuous "forcing" seems to be part of the writing process -- that we have to get it out to begin to work with it, to really see it, and to better shape it.
        Hopefully, as you work you will see what is working for you -- trying different approaches and strategies -- but staying open as well-- to what helps you along the way in producing your best work.  Cheers!

SHOVEL the POND

RUN ON IT

which way?

hmmmmm...

Happy Sledding!

Hope you all are warm and struggling appropriately with your essay drafts for Tuesday.

Drafting is an exploration -- so try to let yourself go, try to turn off the internal editor and just write -- and see what you find.  Peter Elbow, in his 1973 book Writing Without Teachers, in which he stresses the power of freewriting, says:

"The habit of compulsive, premature editing doesn't just make writing hard.  It also makes it dead.  Your voice is damped out by all the interruptions, changes, and hesitations between the consciousness and the page.  In your natural way of producing words there is a sound, a texture,  a rhythm -- a voice -- which is the main source of power in your writing."

You don't have to make it right this first time through-- just write and write.

Bring 5-6 (or more) printed pages of your first draft to class on Tuesday.

Daylight til 5:41pm !

I just feel like it is something to note now and then...

Blogs vs Term Papers

Just thought some of you might like to see this Jan 20th NYTimes article on Blogs vs Term Papers in college writing -- one of the things we discussed in class today -- and wanted to pass on the link.

Wonder what you think?

on Gladwell

Here's a link to an interview with Malcolm Gladwell that you might find interesting in which he talks about how he works.  What do you think?

(from Time. ) 

Fail. Fail. Fail Again.

Interesting and timely story on failing and failure -- STRUGGLING -- and its role in success.

(Yes, CNN.)  The Success of Failure: Pulitizer's winner suprising...

on writer Jennifer Egan -- whose A Visit from the Good Squad won last year's Pulitzer.

Wow or Whoa or Woe

A compelling story about the effects of big-time sports on universities in this weekend's NYTimes.  Worth a look...    "How Big-Time Sports Ate College Life"

I wonder what you think since you are here and in the midst of these things and are likely to know better than anybody else.  As a student, how true is the piece?  What parts ring most true?    What seems off -- or just plain inaccurate to your experience?  What seems most out of whack?  Any tales to add to the article's list of things students have been known to do for sports?   A  possible blog topic  - or topic for Essay 1.

Or just something to check out and let us know what you think as a comment here.

Jan 24 and 26 -- To Do

Just to clarify--  
For Tuesday:

1.  Working Proposal due -- Topic, Questions, and Works Consulted with some annotation/notes.  These three basics are part of the WP -- but as you go you may start outlining, mapping or whatever you do as writer to make this "working" proposal useful to you and how you develop your essay.

2.  Read from our text Writing True through to page 46 --which includes first three chapters 1) Why Creative Nonfiction; 2) The Power of the Notebook; and 3) Ten Ways To Draft.  As you can see from these titles, you may find useful information and strategies you can try out and put in action -- in your Working Proposal, for instance, or as you delve into your research and writing.  Pay attention to what works for you and try some things out.

3.  Write your first --  or second/third  Blog post.

Here's the topic again--
Share some keys to your writing process; What works for you -- and why?  And what hasn't -- and why?  What wisdom can you share with others about your experiences?  What has been some of the wisdom passed on to you by teacher / books / other writers that continues to influence you?

It's pretty wide open -- so take it and run.  It's a blog post.  Have some fun.
Try to include a link and/ or an image.  Video?  Or....

(And consider Audience.)


Let me know if you have questions or concerns.  Have a great weekend, too.

Preserves Preserve Us

Here's a good read and possible topic for those interested (or ghoulish) -- in today's Washington Post on the science, history, and practice of embalming national figures in "Exclusive Club Gets New Member" .  

I wonder what you think of the tone and voice of this piece and if it suits the topic.

And, of course, here's a picture of Lincoln:

To Do for next week (Jan 17 and 19)

Hi All--

I'm asking everyone to set up a blog on blogger or wordpress.com and email your blog's URL.  We will soon be posting these responses and other writing on our blogs.

For next week we will be reading and discussing in this order:

"Most Likely To Succeed" by Malcolm Gladwell

"The Bittersweet Science" by Austin Bunn

"A Perfectly Baked Cookie" by David Caldwell

This group of readings may help you think of ways to consider and approach your first paper.  As you read, I'm especially interested in what you observe about how these writers make use of "evidence" in their essays.  We talked about how Gawande stays patient in thoroughly explaining the Harvard research on team learning.

For your written work for Tuesday, please write no more than a page--single spacing is fine -- and discuss 1).  How Gladwell uses evidence and research in this essay.  What are his sources and how does he "use" them to make his case?  2). Describe Gladwell's voice?  Where is the writer in this essay and where does he most assert himself?  (And what is the essay arguing exactly?)

 You might want to read through "The Bittersweet Science" before you write this response -- and also consider Gawande's approach.  That is, reflecting on different approaches may help you better distinguish and specify with more insight what Malcolm Gladwell is doing in his essay.

Please print and turn in these one pagers.

Finally, finally -- start to brainstorm on your possible paper topics.  What are you curious about?  What do you want to learn more about?   "A Perfectly Baked Cookie" a student essay from last year -- may help you think about this paper as well.  We will share some topics in class Tuesday.  Come with potential topics -- and questions.

Have a great weekend! 

--Louis