Day 5
Mon. Nov. 7
Poem titles: abstract and concrete
Creating tension: “Orange Crush” and “Southern Summers”
Looking ahead
Homework
➤ Begin Essay 2: Essay on an Object
I’d recommend you get started writing soon! Come to next class ready to tell us what object you’re writing about (or planning to write about).
Be sure to read the instructions carefully before beginning. A word of advice: Objects that tend to produce the most meaningful essays tend to be ones that are meaningful not just to you personally but also to a group or community of people beyond yourself. (Beloved childhood toys, stuffed animals, etc, tend not work so well because their meaning is highly individual; they don’t mean much to people other than the child who owned them.)
➤ Read “The Mwiko,” write a new ending
This piece is not on the website; it’s available either in the course reader or in our SharePoint folder.
As you read, ask yourself:
What does the mwiko (and making ugali) represent for the different characters (the father, the narrator, the sister)? For each of the characters find one sentence that reflects this and come to class ready to share it.
Where does the tension come from in this story?
In addition, please write a new ending for the story (any length is okay, a short paragraph is all I expect) in which a character does something (a physical action) with the mwiko. Upload it to the folder “New endings for the Mwiko” in our SharePoint folder and be ready to read it out loud for us next class.
➤ GIVE TITLES TO “MICRO-POEMS”
For each “micro-poem,” give it a title that is abstract. Try to think of a title that either perfectly captures the feeling of the poem, or adds a new layer of meaning to it. (You will find the Word document with the micro-poems in our SharePoint folder.)
Please copy the Word document and add your titles to the poems, so that we can see the title above each poem. Upload the poems with the titles you gave them to our SharePoint folder, in the folder called “Titles for micro-poems.”
➤ Read handouts explaining grading and the Literary Atlas
Between now and next class I will share with you a private shared folder that contains my comments on your written work. For a detailed explanation of how grading in this class will work, read the handout “WOC190 - Going Forward.”
One thing I’d like to highlight here is you may submit revisions of your work to me for feedback any time, as many times as you wish. I encourage you to do this! Generally people who get started revising early see a greater improvement in their work over the course of the session.
Also, click the link below for more information about Meridian: A Literary Atlas of DKU. Work produced in this class will automatically be considered for publication in Meridian!
Meridian
a literary atlas of DKU