Scholarship Opportunities

I'll be entering student work (probably some of yours, if that's okay!) in an area writing competition called LAD Fair in a couple of weeks, and I wanted to let you all know about a couple of scholarships being offered in case any of you SENIORS would like to apply.  I'll link to the applications and more info on each below.  The deadline for these is Friday, 18 March, when they will be hand delivered to Willard High School with the rest of Kickapoo's LAD Fair entries. I'd be happy to help you put something together for these.  

Nick Harkins Scholarship Rules + Application

This one is for students with an interest in diversity and inclusion and requires a writing submission on those topics.

Naturalist Scholarship Rules + Application

This one is for students with an interest in ecology and the environment and requires writing submissions centered on those topics.

Famous First and Last Lines: Make them yours

In a New Post on your blog, type up the original writing of about 400 words or more  inspired by the pink famous first line and the purple famous last line you glued into your journal.  This could be one continuous piece or two separate pieces.  Include an image and an interesting title to your post. Put the lines you used in bold.

Famous First and Last Lines

In a New Post on your blog, present the following information  for each of the lines you chose.  Title this post Famous First and Last Lines.  You could link to relevant informational sites.  

Be sure to include the following for EACH:

• the line word for word
• the author, his or her birth/death years, and a bit of info about him or her
• the year it was published
• a 40-50 word summary of the novel in your own words
• 40-50 words on why you personally would or wouldn't like to read this book
• at least one image for each

Here's an example:

Famous First Line:

"You better not never tell nobody but God."

This line opens the novel The Color Purple, published in 1982 by author Alice Walker, who was born in Georgia on 9 February 1944. Through letters written back and forth to one another, the novel traces the story of two poor, African-American sisters who are separated, one married off to an older, misogynistic neighbor and the other called to serve as a missionary in Africa. The main character Celie also writes letters to God because she has no one else to share her shameful secrets and her deepest feelings with. 

I first read The Color Purple in a college class at Drury, a class taught by one of my favorite professors who I have long admired and tried to emulate as a teacher myself. I had read the work of Maya Angelou and found myself drawn to the stories of African-American women, and this story captivated me. I have since read the book 6 or 7 more times, and every single time I find something to shake my head at, mumble a "yup!" to, laugh about, cry about...Such a powerful work to me--I will read it many times more, I know. I wrote about a passage that reminded me of the turmoil in Ferguson, Missouri, back in 2014.

Famous Last Line:

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

F.Scott Fitzgerald ended his most famous novel The Great Gatsby with these words, considered by some to be the best closing lines of any novel ever. The novel came out back in 1925 but still shows up on collections of all-time classics and high school reading lists. Narrator Nick Carraway offers insight into the vapid society of West Egg, New York, in the 1920s, as well as the mostly empty marriage between Tom and Daisy Buchanan. The action centers on languid afternoons and extravagant parties at the mansion of Gatsby, an enigmatic millionaire.

I read The Great Gatsby in English class my junior year in high school. I re-read it again la couple of summers ago and enjoyed it very much. I liked the film starring Leonardo DiCaprio (so cute! totally one of my girlhood crushes) as Gatsby released a couple of years ago. The director, Baz Luhrman, also did one of my all-time favorite movies, Moulin Rouge, so I knew I'd really like what he did with Gatsby.

The lines were pulled from this list of Best Opening Lines and this list of Best Last Lines.  You could browse them for other writing ideas or inspiration.

Be ready to post some new writing of your own tomorrow using the first and last lines as a starter.  We will use Monday as a catch up day for all post related to BOOKS/TEXT then move on to putting together a couple of pieces to send to my friend's Chinese students for our writing exchange.  I'll collect journals on Thursday, 3 March--you need 20 NEW, unstamped full pages.

Your future's so bright...

...you've gotta wear shades. Have you heard that song before? Perhaps our visit to  417 Magazine inspired you to pursue a creative career...maybe in writing or maybe in graphic design or marketing or something else. There are, of course, lots of  schools that offer creative writing programs and there are several different directions you might take to work as a writer.

No matter what you see yourself doing down the road, take some time to do a New Post on your own blog and respond to the following questions:

• discuss 3 or more interesting ideas from the presentation Tuesday
• ask 1 or more question about something discussed
• write about a specific magazine you would like to work for, why you'd be interested or a good fit there, and what job(s) you'd like to do (you could choose 417!)
• write about where you'd like to be in a: 1 year, b: 5 years, c: 10 years and d: 50 years (this might include careers or work, accomplishments, family and friends, homes, possessions, emotions, etc.)
• include at least one image that shows what you see in your future
• include the word "future" or the word "magazine" somehow in the title of your post
• if you'd like to put a link in your post the way I have with the words in purple (maybe to the college you're interested in or a magazine you'd like to work for or something else) I can show you how--you just highlight the word you want to be linked, click on the icon with the little green circle and chainlinks on the toolbar then copy and paste the url/web address of the page you're linking to...I usually change the text color of that word, too, just to be consistent

When you've finished your own new post, read several of your classmates' and make a comment.

6 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.

in the news{paper}

In a New Post on your blog, please share some writing inspired by our dig through newspapers Wednesday.  You might have one longer piece or several shorter ones, but come up with at least 400 words.  Include some images and a catchy title.  You could note the headline, photo, ad, etc. that sparked your idea, or you could leave that a mystery...but don't just describe or narrate what you cut out--make up something new.

If you still have time, please click through your classmates' blogs and leave some comments.  You don't have to read every piece...Just choose one or two, read and comment, and move on to another blog.

Blackout

Thanks for trying the Sharpie blackout technique (scientific terminology there) in class. Please share at least one of your blackout text pieces as a COMMENT on this post. You could type the text you left on the page as a sentence or poem or story.  You could also take a picture with your phone and post your work that way on your own blog, but that is optional.

I'm thinking you could do this same technique with any printed material containing a good chunk of text to work with. I also think you could be inspired to write all sorts of other pieces by using your blacked out piece as a starting point.

You could visit Austin Kleon's website to see what others have come up with and even post your own work there if you're up for it. 

Another interesting Sharpie-related item you can check out here...

Don't quote me on that...

We often turn to the words of others for inspiration, guidance, or even just a good laugh. These words might come from favorite pieces of literature, song lyrics, a wise family member or friend, even movies or TV.

Please create a New Post on your blog featuring some of your favorite quotations.  You can find interesting looking versions of them on Tumblr or elsewhere, or you can simply type them in (you could change up the font and colors to make it interesting).  Be sure to give credit to the writer or speaker.

Here are a few quotes that I like:

"Love is the answer,

at least to most of the questions

of my heart."

Jack Johnson

Your quote may be from a person you know or a person you don't. It may be funny or serious, thought-provoking or light-hearted. Just so it speaks to you.  You might also want to jot your quote(s) down in your journal for something else I hope we can do this week.

On the topic of "quotes," I'm adding a link here to a funny site that documents superfluous (extra, unnecessary) uses of quotation marks. Maybe it's only funny to me as an English teacher, but take a look: http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/. Be on the lookout for unneeded quotation marks in your world...maybe you could send one in.

Be sure that you have done these posts by the end of class today:

• Writers as Readers Response (500 words) 
• Memorable Passage 
• Favorite Quotations
• Comment on I Write Like... Post on class blog

If you have extra time you could read and comment on your classmates' blogs or work on the Book Genres puzzle to count as a page in your journal.

I Write Like...

As we do some thinking about how what we read inspires or influences what we write, I thought it might be fun for you to check out a website I've seen that analyzes a bit of your own writing and tells you what published author your writing is similar to.

I tried it with one of my blog posts and evidently I write like Dan Brown. I know who that is, but I haven't read any of his books. Interesting.  I also found this interesting tidbit which confirmed my suspicions that there wasn't much heft to this particular tool, but hey...

Go to I Write Like and try it yourself. 

Go to the ProProfs What Famous Writer Are You? quiz and try that one.

Leave a comment on this post telling us your results (and what you think of them) when you do.  You might have to look up the author for more information if you don't recognize the name.  The ProProfs quiz said I write like our very own Missouri native Mark Twain.  Hmmm...

Memorable Passage

Post a passage (probably no more than a paragraph or so) from a book that was memorable to you. Type the passage in word for word and add some of your own thoughts (250 words or more) before and/or after, explaining why this particular set of words caught your attention or has stayed in your memory.  Title this post Memorable Passage.  Include an image with this post, too.

I write quite a bit on my own blog about what I read, if nothing else just to remember, but often to reflect on words that stuck with me. If you are so inclined or need some ideas about books to read or what you might write about reading, you can check out my posts here and here and here and here and here.  Also here and here.  But that's totally optional.

Writers as Readers

I'd like you to do some thinking and writing about how what we read plays into our creative process, how the stories we read might inspire our own character and plot ideas, how we might both consciously and unconsciously pick up sentence patterns, vocabulary and writing styles from the authors we are exposed to. You might have all sorts of things to add to your blog about your reading preferences and experiences, and you're welcome to do whatever you'd like, but please do at least the following by the end of class Friday:

• Post 5-6 of your answers (400-500 words) to the Writers as Readers questions on the blue handout as a new post to your own blog. Title the post "Writers as Readers." Include some images in this post to make it interesting. You can even add links to author's web pages or book reviews or other related websites if you'd like. I can show you how to do this.

I have a gadget on my own blog that you might want to add to yours. It's a link to site called Shelfari that lets me track the books I've read and plan to read. It also has all sorts of options for you to record your ratings of and notes about the books you read for other users to see. You get a little bookshelf on your sidebar that shows what you're reading now. Check it out if you're interested.  They're merging with goodreads soon, but that doesn't seem to have affected my shelf yet.  

I was glad to see that most of you are avid readers. I just think there's such endless inspiration and personal growth that is possible when you take the time to consider the ideas others have put in print. There is so much out there to read...how will we ever get through all of it we want to?

Moving on...Books that mattered

For class on Wednesday, please bring 3 books that mattered to you in some way.  These could be books from childhood, books from school or classes, books that were read to you, books you've enjoyed recently.  Be prepared to briefly share your books with the class and tell us why they mattered to you.  Thanks!

We will be moving on to a new theme tomorrow, so I'd like all the posts connected to dreaming to be posted before then to be counted for points.  Use your time today to get caught up on what you're missing, circle those assignments you complete on your grade check and return it to me.  

 If you have extra time, you could read some of your classmates' work and leave an encouraging comment.

Also, the librarians are asking as many students as possible to take their very short survey. 

pillow {talk}

Create a New Post on your blog and include some new writing connected to the drawing of a pillow we below.  You might include some poetry, but also post a longer bit of prose.  Try for about 250 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?

Maker Project: Dream Catchers

As a part of our discussion about dreams and how they can relate to writing inspiration and processes, let's try to create dream catchers in class this week and next!  

Dream catchers have been a part of Native American and other cultures for many years.  You can read a little bit about them here or do your own research.  This, on the other hand,  appears to be something different... :)

To prepare, when you have some time, take a look at some online tutorials and do some thinking about what you'd like yours to look like. Click here and here and here and here for some ideas.

These are certainly not the only ones--feel free to do your own search.  You'll be using a tutorial of your choice to create your dream catcher during class.

I will provide the hoops, basic supplies, and a few embellishments.  If you'd like to or are able to get your own supplies to really customize your dream catcher, please do so and bring them to class tomorrow.

Dream Threads

Also in a separate New Post today try the following writing activity using the interesting sentences regarding dreams that you and your classmates came up with on Wednesday.  We'll call these sentences "dream threads," little bits that you've pulled from a bigger piece and that could be "woven" back together in interesting ways.

• Choose one of the sentences to begin your story.  You may use it word for word or alter it slightly if necessary.
• Choose another sentence to end your story.
• Fill in the space in between with a story connecting the two sentences. This will likely be fiction but it doesn't have to be.  It also doesn't need to be especially long and may only be a portion of a bigger, more complicated story--maybe 200 words or so--but it could be.

If I Were in Charge of the World...

In the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s iconic "I Have a  Dream" speech, do some thinking about how you might shape the world if you could...what you would change or eliminate, what you would add or emphasize, what you would want for yourself and all of those you share this big place with.

Using the "If I Were in Charge of the World" poem by Judith Viorst as a starting point and a template, gather some of these ideas you have about what you'd like to see in a world of your own dreams or making. Polish and share your poem in a New Post on your own blog by the end of class today. Include at least one image, maybe several.  

Caged Bird Inspired

"The caged bird sings of freedom." ~Maya Angelou

In a New Post on your own blog today, please share a poem of at least 10 lines inspired by Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings."  You might use the prompts I shared in class Tuesday as a start.  Include an image and give your post/poem a creative title of your own making.  

Here are the prompts I shared in class if you need one of these to get started:

I know why...

I know...

I don't know why...

Birds...

Being caged...

Freedom...

Singing...

I sing of...

Flying...

Flying away from..

Something else you thought of as you listened to Maya's Master Class video

Caged Bird

The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom. 

Maya Angelou

You may say I'm a dreamer...

...but I'm not the only one. Some people say they never dream when they sleep, and I've read that isn't true: Everyone dreams many times every night (the average dream lasting only 3-5 seconds) but we remember so few (or none) of our dreams because they're sent straight to our short-term memories. Unless you do something like write the dream down or share it with a friend to transfer the information to your long-term memory, that dream is gone and you may never remember having it at all.

I've done a lot of thinking and even a little writing about dreams over the years--what dreams mean, why I always have the same ones, how to avoid really scary ones...I wonder if this is a topic that is interesting to you? I've heard that it's really fun for us to talk about our own dreams but it isn't all that fun for everyone else listening?  I'm not sure anyone really wants to know about my recent dream regarding my neighbor in the buff drinking coffee in his backyard or the one where I'm sorting through tornado rubble in only a towel.  :)

I have a couple of recurring dreams, meaning dreams I have had several times throughout my lifetime, and I have to say they are mostly bad, or at least very uncomfortable. I often dream that I am still in high school and I have a volleyball game or track meet to go to and I'm not ready. I've either forgotten my uniform or shoes or I can't remember going to any practices beforehand to train. I haven't played high school sports for 20 years...why would this keep showing up in my subconscious?  Another dream I've had a lot (although not in quite a while, now that I think of it) is that my teeth are really chalky and they're crumbling out of my mouth, or they're all loose and if you tapped one they'd all fall out in a sort of domino effect.

I've read that you're likely to have nightmares if the room you are sleeping in is very warm and if you sleep with your arms above your head...I wonder what conditions make for more pleasant dreams? Do you think that what you have in your head right before you fall asleep will come out in your dreams, or do the littlest things from earlier in the day somehow pop up? Do you think you can control your dreams? I have a friend who is into "astratravel," which is, very simply, being able to will yourself to go places in your dreams. She said she could think about checking in on her cousin before she fell asleep and then she'd dream something about her cousin that would let her know how she was doing. She also told me that if you ever see yourself in your dreams, like you're looking down at yourself from above (in video games isn't that the third-person view?) instead of seeing the dream through your own eyes (like first-person in video games?) that you have astratraveled without even trying. Interesting...

I hope you've also done some thinking about how dreaming can play into the writing process. Please post a brief but thoughtful comment on this post answering one or more of the following:

...a recurring dream you have

...the worst dream you've ever had

...the best dream you've ever had (PG-13 or tamer :) )

...what you think causes dreams

...books you've read about dreams or dreaming

...if you think dreams are symbolic or have deeper meaning

...what you found in the dream interpretation books

...if you think astratravel or lucid dreaming is possible

...your daydreams or your dream day chart

...your dreams for your future

...if you dream of being a professional writer

...something else connected to dreams?