Day 9

M-Tu Feb. 14-15

• Share details from Uncle Pat

• Share aphorisms

• Share details from “Mazie” and “The Man Who Eats”

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Homework

➤ Read “Mazie” or “The Man Who Eats”

Read whichever of these you didn’t read last time. (For this class, that’s Mazie for everybody. Read as much of it carefully as you realistically are able; I recommend at least reading paragraphs 1-6 and 8-9.

In “Mazie” look for one of each of these things as well. Come to next class ready to share an example of each of these for either “Mazie” or “The Man Who Eats.”

• Physical description of a character’s appearance

• A list of concrete objects

• An anecdote about a character (something they once did)

• A description of a character’s habits (something they always or often do or did)

• An aphorism / statement of that character’s worldview and values

• Something another character says about that character

• A description of the character acting in a scene (physical action)

• Quotation or dialogue that captures a character’s voice

➤ Read your classmates’ aphorisms

Read over your classmates’ new aphorisms on SharePoint (Folder 9, “Three new aphorisms”) and pick one that you find interesting: one that has multiple dimensions of meaning, one that tugs at your mind and invites you to ponder it again and again. (The opposite of this would be an aphorism that feels “flat” and one-dimensional.) Come to next class ready to share that aphorism and explain to us: 1) what you take it to mean; 2) why you picked it; and 3) what kind of person you think would believe this.

Note: If you misunderstood the previous aphorism-writing assignment, please redo it and upload a new version. Let me know that you’ve done so and I’ll delete the old version.

➤ Start working on your character essay

Your essay is due a week from today. It’s probably a good idea to get to work on it!