The creative writing fiction assignment appealed to me because I was able to give my opinion on a topic I have been familiar with and could make fun of. I was able to use my imagination and create a visual experience that flowed with what many people who suffer from allergies would be able to relate to. Writing fiction I find to be subjective because I am creating from my thoughts as oppose to being assigned a certain topic with resources to be included. In composing my work I found that trying to create meaning with images was at times challenging because the story had to flow. I also realized that combining fiction with reality took some time to stir up. I feel that since we are so accustomed to writing research papers we do not feel free to have fun and write creatively. The Y in X-Land would also have been fun to write on. Too bad we did not have time to write on both exercises.
When I teach this format I would like to first give the students various examples of the creative writing so that they feel comfortable with what is expected of them. Maybe read to them my work or other works that would be fun and interesting to them. I could also tie it to the movie industry and explain that everything they are seeing is because someone had a creative moment and first had to write it. It might have become a book and later it become reality onto a screen. I would allow them to start the assignment in class. If the students had any questions they could be addressed in class before they tackled this creative writing exercise. Reading their results would be a trial on the first draft, but the result would be fun to read.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Reflection on Creating a Myth Post 3
When creating the power point presentation for our myth chapter it dawned on me that we were also learning some very important history. Myth telling was the way in which tradition and faith were passed on. In revisiting those stories we too are passing them on when we discuss them with our students, friends or family. I talked to my friends about the medicine wheel and they had never heard about it. I had them do the exercise we did in class and we had a great time because some of the things they placed inside the wheel was entertaining.
As I was creating my myth I started writing a story and not adding some type of unnatural super hero. Instead
I wrote about a city and how it was run. After my peers commented on my work I realized that there does need to be someone in my city that stood out from the rest of the population. Someone that was looked up to and respected. The super hero's work would make the citizens become dedicated followers and pass on the beliefs. Creating the website has not been fun. I have never created one and listening and watching the people that were introducing the basic steps to us also confused just created the anxiety bubble to grow. My site is still in the process and I hope to complete that hurdle with much outside help.
I learned that when introducing this topic to students it has to be explained thoroughly. The use of the power point outline (not too wordy) is a great way to introduce the myth, because the pictures or animation can be incorporated to keep the students attention. The use of the exercise at the end will indicate if the students understood the subject, and hopefully it will be entertaining enough that it will grasp their interest. At the conclusion of the myth section an assignment for the students would be to write their own short myth. I am sure there will be many interesting creations.
As I was creating my myth I started writing a story and not adding some type of unnatural super hero. Instead
I wrote about a city and how it was run. After my peers commented on my work I realized that there does need to be someone in my city that stood out from the rest of the population. Someone that was looked up to and respected. The super hero's work would make the citizens become dedicated followers and pass on the beliefs. Creating the website has not been fun. I have never created one and listening and watching the people that were introducing the basic steps to us also confused just created the anxiety bubble to grow. My site is still in the process and I hope to complete that hurdle with much outside help.
I learned that when introducing this topic to students it has to be explained thoroughly. The use of the power point outline (not too wordy) is a great way to introduce the myth, because the pictures or animation can be incorporated to keep the students attention. The use of the exercise at the end will indicate if the students understood the subject, and hopefully it will be entertaining enough that it will grasp their interest. At the conclusion of the myth section an assignment for the students would be to write their own short myth. I am sure there will be many interesting creations.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Blog #2 Writing About Poetry
I am not a big poetry writer, but I do enjoy to read them. This exercise in writing our own poems was interesting because you can use any idea and turn it into a poem. I always shy ed away from the poetry writing knowing there are so many varieties, and with that comes guidelines. All those rules were not inviting to give me the confidence to have fun and write poetry.
The wrecking the first person poem did have guidelines. We had to write in the first person, share an experience, use the planets, a color, an exclamation point, foul word, and include someone famous. These were fun topics to work with in a poem. It gave us the writer an opportunity to reflect on our lives and add some fantasy to create a poem. The second poem was something that interested us, yet it also informed the reader of our interest in a different form. It would be great if magazines would use poetry in there advertisements to sell their products that would be a fun change in the typical stereotype of communication. The similarities are that all poems will carry some type of message or provoke a certain feeling. The differences I noticed takes place in the style of writing the poem (meter, figurative language, sonnet, alliteration, etc).
I would be confident in trying these choices with students. The wrecking the first person poem is an easy introduction to gain every ones interest. The manner in which poetry or any subject is introduced to students is important. The first exposure on a subject always makes an impact on the result. I learned not to be afraid to write poetry. I was happy with the outcome of my poem and would write more in the future. I also enjoyed the sharing of everyones peoms in class and learned different ways to deliver poetry. There is so much talent.
The wrecking the first person poem did have guidelines. We had to write in the first person, share an experience, use the planets, a color, an exclamation point, foul word, and include someone famous. These were fun topics to work with in a poem. It gave us the writer an opportunity to reflect on our lives and add some fantasy to create a poem. The second poem was something that interested us, yet it also informed the reader of our interest in a different form. It would be great if magazines would use poetry in there advertisements to sell their products that would be a fun change in the typical stereotype of communication. The similarities are that all poems will carry some type of message or provoke a certain feeling. The differences I noticed takes place in the style of writing the poem (meter, figurative language, sonnet, alliteration, etc).
I would be confident in trying these choices with students. The wrecking the first person poem is an easy introduction to gain every ones interest. The manner in which poetry or any subject is introduced to students is important. The first exposure on a subject always makes an impact on the result. I learned not to be afraid to write poetry. I was happy with the outcome of my poem and would write more in the future. I also enjoyed the sharing of everyones peoms in class and learned different ways to deliver poetry. There is so much talent.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Blog #1 495ESM
My name is Elizabeth (yoda). I have chosen the user name yoda because my two kids just love him and they say I am old like him. I am a native from Los Angeles and come from a family of seven siblings. My parents are first generation immigrants from Mexico. I am the first in my family to attend college and have lead one of my younger siblings through the college process. This is my second tour through college after 13 years of being in the work force. I have been faced with many new changes in the college arena.
When I first went to college there was no MLA writing style. You wrote the introduction, body and conclusion. I came to CSUN and in my first class the instructor was discussing MLA. I felt I was in an algebra class for the first time. Needless to say I went to see her during her office hours. What a relief that explanation was.
I hope to become an English/Literature teacher. I had good and horrible teachers in high school. I knew then that I could do a better job at making such a disliked course enjoyable. I say disliked because it was not one of my favorite subjects and to this date I don't feel I am a great writer, but I make an effort. My fear is while I am explaining the MLA writing style all the students are text messaging and not paying attention. Or I have given an exam and more than half the class has failed. This reflects on my teaching style and not being able to capture their attention to make it easy to remember during the exam. I think I will constantly remind myself of the teachers that were not good and make sure I am not making those same mistakes and fail at exposing these teens to how fun English and Literature can be.
When I first went to college there was no MLA writing style. You wrote the introduction, body and conclusion. I came to CSUN and in my first class the instructor was discussing MLA. I felt I was in an algebra class for the first time. Needless to say I went to see her during her office hours. What a relief that explanation was.
I hope to become an English/Literature teacher. I had good and horrible teachers in high school. I knew then that I could do a better job at making such a disliked course enjoyable. I say disliked because it was not one of my favorite subjects and to this date I don't feel I am a great writer, but I make an effort. My fear is while I am explaining the MLA writing style all the students are text messaging and not paying attention. Or I have given an exam and more than half the class has failed. This reflects on my teaching style and not being able to capture their attention to make it easy to remember during the exam. I think I will constantly remind myself of the teachers that were not good and make sure I am not making those same mistakes and fail at exposing these teens to how fun English and Literature can be.
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