Literacy Across Generations

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Today in class we had a great discussion about literacy and how literacy changes over time. For Wednesday, I'd like you to write a blog post (100 words) talking about how literacy is different for you than your for your parents or someone else in the Boomer generation. Consider your world and what ways you communicate--look at how you interact with people (and technology) on a daily basis and how you use language. Now think about your parent or friend--do they have a different way of "reading" the world? Make this less about technology and more about language itself.

For example, I mentioned how my little sister called me a n00b. I had no idea what this meant until I realized it was a play off of the old fashioned term "newbie." Think about changes in languages, shifts in communication, trends, ideas, expression.

Tag this post "Literacy."

How English Has Changed Over Time

Click here to take a look at the chart.

Imitation Writing

Montaigne

Benchley

D'Agata

In class we discussed writing in terms of its historical context. We talked about the 911 piece from your SW4 book and an excerpt from Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. We watched the news brief about JFK's assassination and Obama's address to the nation announcing Bin Laden's death. We also a few pieces by Montaigne, Benchley and D'Agata. For your blog post, I'd like you to imitate the style of one of these writers:

1. Montaigne + vices: write about a vice (look up vices if you're unsure what they are) and make your writing sound like Montaigne. Pay attention to his vocabulary, the way he structures his sentences, and the general "sound" of his voice.

2. Benchley + comedy: write about a topic of your choice, but be funny. You might use sarcasm, wit, exaggeration, etc. Take a look at the Hollywood's Loss piece and investigate what Benchley does to be funny.

3. D'Agata + lists/informative: write about something you'd like to inform your reader about and do so in a (mostly) list form. Be sure to include facts, statistics, etc.

Regardless of which person you choose to imitate, your blog post needs to be at least 150 words. Remember to post by 12pm on Monday and tag this post "Imitation."

Self-Assessment

Now that you've written your first essay, I'd like you to do some reflecting and complete a self-assessment. Please do a blog post answering all of the following questions:

1. Clarity: did you express your ideas clearly? Did you use correct punctuation, grammar and sentence structure?

2. Organization: did you present your ideas in a logical manner? Are your supporting examples presented in a way that is understandable?

3. Creativity: did you say things in a way that is original, innovative and interesting?

4. Development: did you fully form ideas and support your examples with detail?

*Tag your post Self-Assessment

Amelie

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In class this week, we watched (almost all) of Amelie. Please write a blog post answering one of the following questions:

1. Discuss time in the film and how the story is presented in a non-linear or "back and forth" kind of way

2. Discuss the use of color in the film and how it is meaningful and why

3. Discuss how the film uses the city of Paris and location in general to help shape the story

4. How was it for you to watch a movie in French with subtitles where you had to literally read the story? 

5. Discuss how the film was absurd or full of whimsy

*Please tag your posts "Amelie" and comment on two other blog posts, too.

Happy weekend!

50 Sensory Details

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We've written about familiar places and unfamiliar places. In class this week, we went out to random places around campus and wrote down 50 sights, sounds and smells. Now you're going to use those sensory details and write a lyric, poetic paragraph. Think back to the Refrigerator poem we read--your paragraph should mimic that sort of language and make something ordinary seem strange. Take time with your writing and craft really lovely sentences. An elevator doesn't have to seem like an elevator. The lobby doesn't have to seem like a lobby. Make the place you observed come to life or make it seem like somewhere else entirely. Check over your writing and make sure it's clean and uses proper spelling and punctuation. Include 15 different sights, sounds or smells from your list.

Tag this blog post "Chicago place 3" and make sure to comment on two classmates' posts.

Have a great weekend!

Getting Outside the Comfort Zone

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Keeping our discussion of cultural connection to place in mind, I want you to choose an unfamiliar place somewhere in the city. You just did a blog post on a place with which you connected, a place that felt familiar; this second place should feel foreign, strange, and unrelated to you. I want this place to be somewhere that does not resonate with you culturally, where you feel a little out of place. Again, please pay very close attention to your word choice and work toward creating a vivid picture of the place using detail and description. Use 150 words at minimum. In your paragraph, you must include the following:

1. One overheard conversation or snippet as seen here or here
2. One smell
3. A bodily reaction (ie adrenaline rushing through your veins and making your heart beat fast, goosebumps, a nervous feeling in your stomach, sweaty palms, etc)
4. A list of three things

Don't forget to comment on two classmates' blogs and leave me a comment with their names!

A Place in Chicago

In our last class, we watched Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero's music video, "Home." It talked about how home can be with a person and not just a place. I think all of us understand that home is a complicated thing--it isn't just a place (but it can be) and sometimes it's not a person (but often it is a person). Some of us might feel the most comfortable at home, the most loved, the happiest. Others of us might really dislike being at home. Home, for some, can be uncomfortable, stressful, and difficult. Regardless if home brings up warm memories or bad ones for you, home is definitely a place with which you are familiar.

I want you to talk about a place in Chicago with which you're already or becoming familiar.  Maybe it's a bench down by Lake Michigan or a favorite coffee shop. It needs to be a place outside of your house or dorm room. Pay attention to very specific details about the place to help you express why it feels familiar and comfortable to you. In your post, you must include the following:

1. One color
2. One sound
3. A specific memory in that location (ie on a Tuesday during finals last semester, I worked from a coffee shop for eight hours straight; I watched the sun come up and set again, I ate breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same table near a drafty window where cold winter wind made me keep my coat on the whole time I wrote an essay on naps)
4. The word artichoke