Monday, April 14th, 2014

Welcome to Creative Writing!

Happy Monday!  April 14^th!

When You Come In

1.         Sign in, please.

2.        Make sure your Death of Language assignment is saved in the class folder as follows:  “YOUR LAST NAME—DEATH OF LANGUAGE”.

Due Today

1.      Death of Language, half-way completed--ten words with full reasons that look at least as detailed as the models; saved on google drive.

2.     Writing Experiment #5—Personal Essay

Death of Language Progress Check-- Half-way Checkpoint  (ten words with full reasons that look at least as detailed and thoughtful as the answers on page 19)

1.         Goal #1:  Get feedback on your work so far that will show you if you are on the right track for creating an excellent assignment, or if you need to dedicate more time and energy to this assignment between now and Tuesday.

2.        Goal #2:  Learn some new vocabulary words.

3.        Explanation #2:  Page 20:  Progress Check (which you will complete now)

4.        Explanation #1:  Page 21:  Handout #1:  Final Assessment (which we will fill out WEDNESDAY, when all twenty answers are due)

5.                Started _______; ending -ish (twenty minutes)

After You Complete Page 20

1.         When you finish your two progress checks, turn in your page 20 to me.

2.                 Now play Free Rice until I stop you.  Weee!  Free Rice is so fun! 

Diction Practice—Click on the link on my blog!  Make sure you’re in the class group!

1.      Play free rice at your BEST LEVEL (not starting over at Level 1) when you finish.

2.     10,000 grains are due by Thursday, April 17th, 2014.

Writing Experiment #6--I Am a Russian Tailor

Thirty Minutes (Ten to explain and model; twenty to type)

Here's the assignment:

1.     Write a poem about yourself that is filled with lies.

2.     Try to make up creative, dramatic lies, rather than saying things such as “I have two cats” or “I love chocolate pudding.”

3.     Your Writing Task:  Write a poem that is a series of creative, dramatic lies!

4.     Don’t worry about what order you put stuff in—just type/write the lies as fast as you can!

Some Examples of Lines—Notice How They SHOW!  (Concrete Details; Precise Diction)

1.           I have dog breath, even though I brush my teeth ten times a day.

2.          I love to wake up early and watch the sunrise.

3.          I have seventeen middle names, one of which is Gertrude.

4.         My imaginary whip sound is the best in the universe.

5.          All the windows in my house are made of titanium.

6.         I think bright red and neon green look good together.

7.          I like it when people whine; it makes me want to hug them.

8.         I had to kill a unicorn yesterday.

9.         I love to lick chalk dust

10.     I heat my house with lightning and ten tiny hamsters chained to an electric generator.

11.       I burned all the books in my house last week.

12.      When I cracked two rocks together, I created a squirrel.

13.      I write everything down fifteen times on pink paper.

Reminders About Your First Draft of RUSSIAN TAILOR

1.      NO BODILY FUNCTIONS!  Please, and thank you!

2.     JUST WRITE, LINE AFTER LINE, LIE AFTER LIE!

3.     YOU WILL HAVE THE CHANCE TO REVISE LATER THIS WEEK:

 Here’s a model of this poem:

Daryn Sebelius

Ms. Willy Willis

Creative Writing (Russian Tailor Poem)

24 February 2014

Equivocating

I hate food, I only eat every other week.

Chocolate milk is the most putrid beverage.

I wear jeans every single day, even when I shower.

I have never purchased a single pair of Air Jordan shorts.

I wear neon green spandex.

Only when I eat sour gummy worms though.

NASCAR is more entertaining than football.

I’m a prominent rapper, and Tupac resides at my house.

He rooms with Biggie Smalls & Eazy E.

I hate listening to music when I drive.

Unless it’s bluegrass of course.

I was the lead guitarist for Blink 182.

I drive a Lamborghini to school on Wednesdays.

When I arrive home from school I get started on my homework right away.

I work at the UP Home, they are much more superior than the Halcyon  House.

I date a Victoria’s Secret model and she’s obsessed with me.

She gets agitated because her twin sister is obsessed with me, too.

All of Katy Perry’s songs are about me.

I prefer winter over summer just because we get to go to school.

I hunt ostriches in Wyoming with Samuel L. Jackson.

Warren Buffett asked me for a dollar last weekend in Vegas.

I’m an illegal immigrant from Kenya, I ran here.

I can walk on water with my eyes closed.

While saying the ABC’s backwards.

I’ve played catch with Stevie Wonder, he has never dropped the ball once.

President Obama texts me for suggestions on how to run the country.

I don’t respond back unless he asks politely.

I am more interesting than the most interesting man in the world.

Workshop Time

“I Am a Russian Tailor” (2o minutes)

1.      Type at least twenty-five different lines.

2.     Be CREATIVE and DRAMATIC.

3.     Use your vocab variety sheet to help you be precise and descriptive.

4.     Include as many senses (sight, sound, texture, smell, taste, color) as you can.

5.     When you complete #1-4, move on to the items in blue below.

When You Finish the Russian Tailor Poem

1.      Go to our class folder, and find the spreadsheet called “Strongest Russian Tailor Line”, and copy and paste your BEST LINE there.

2.     Go back to playing free rice!