Austin Woerner's Memory Palace
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WOC190 Spring 2021 Session 3

Day 12

Mon. Mar. 3

  • English lesson: Telling stories about ourselves

  • Intro to editing

  • Share observations on “I Remember” and 《怀乡书》

  • Write “I Remembers” in class

Homework

➤ English homework: Be prepared to re-tell story about yourself

Each of you are rehearsing a story about yourself that you’d like to be able to tell more vividly in English.

Research some of the most important words involved in telling this story. (For example, for telling a story about gender inequality, “stereotype,” “prejudice,” and “discrimination” might be important words.) See what words they go with (what their “collocations” are) and how they are used, by looking at sample sentences on a dictionary app.

You could also investigate synonyms — for example, if you want to talk about being anger, what are some other words we can use to talk about anger? (For example, resentment, indignation, frustration, etc.)

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WOC190 - Final project
WOC190 - Final project

Due at midnight (11:59pm) on Sunday May 14 (China time)

Choose one of your three essays—the one you’re proudest of, or most interested in improving—and revise it into a complete, polished work that you could imagine being published in the Literary Atlas of DKU, or elsewhere.

➤ Work on revising final essay

Write a new draft of your final essay, and make an appointment with me to discuss it.

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Joe Brainard, "I Remember" (excerpts)
Joe Brainard, "I Remember" (excerpts)

Excerpts from the book I Remember, in which painter and poet Joe Brainard recalls his childhood in a series of brief vignettes, each of which begins with the words “I Remember.”

➤ Write “I Remembers”

Write a lot of “I Remembers.” Try to fill a whole space single-spaced (or two pages double-spaced).

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盛可以，《怀乡书》
盛可以，《怀乡书》

A book of illustrated miniature essays, each about an object or practice related to life in a rural village.

➤ Look more carefully at 《怀乡书》

Notice patterns within each short passage. How does each passage begin? How does it end?

➤ Look at endings

Go back and look at the endings of “The Old House at Home,” “Orange Crush,” “Southern Summers,” “Uncle Pat,” “The Man Who Eats,” and “Mazie.” For each ending, ask yourself: Why do you think the author decided to end this way?

Austin Woerner