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.
4 comments:
I agree that writing fiction is a much needed break from the literary-response quagmire that is life as an English major. I love being the one who chooses what images get used and what they mean. I love the way my story ends because I wrote the ending. Combining fiction and reality wasn't so difficult for me, because so much of what we call reality is, in fact, a fictional concoction with which we are presented.
You're right about getting the students started in class. They'll be much more confident writing the rmainder of their paper, if they know they've startd in the right direction. Exposing yourself through examples will also encourage students to be more willing to share their own work with you. Then again, maybe they'll just make fun of you. Kids are great. Either way, examples, yours or soemone else's, are a necessary aid with young writers.
The creative writing fiction assignment appeales to me too. At first, before we had received instructions, I was nervous, but then when Dr. Clark gave us the sheet with the different topics, I calmed down. I like having something to start with...it gets me going. That's ironic because then it's not really actually my "creative" writing, since the topic was kind of given: Under What Circumstances would someone..." Anyway, after I saw this, I was really excited about it. It was a really fun assignment for me and I had a great time writing it.
I really like that you want to incorporate the movies into this when teaching. My high school teacher did this, and it was really fun! I think it's always a great idea to incorporate anything outside of just "books" to students because it gets them interested. Honestly, this is what got me interested as a high school student. I mean, let's face it, if everyday in class, all we did was read a story and talk about it and write about it, it would tend to get a little on the boring side. So,I really like that you thought to incorporate movies into this lesson on fiction. Great idea.
I also think it would be fun to read the students fiction. I work with kids of various age groups now, and each kid is so unique and creative, and I know that reading each person's thoughts would be really fun. Kids today are really very interesting and creative in my opinion, when they're given a chance to be. Sadly, in most classrooms the focus is on the stupid standardized stuff, and not on important issues like creativity.
I agree with you too about the much needed break from writing academic papers as english majors! This class gave us all the oppotunity to be creative and even though it can be scary at first, and certainly was for me, it was a lot of fun!!
I also love you idea about using movies to teach creative writing in the classroom. After all, a movie does start out on paper and it could be used as a great tool to get students interested. You could also incorporate a lesson on screenwriting and playwriting as well. There are endless things we can do to make english and learning more fun and this exercise was just one of them. I am so excited to be able to start implementing my own lessons from what I have learned in this class.
Hi Elizabeth,
The creative writing assignment was a lot of fun! I didn't get a chance to finish my "X in W land" story, because it would have been much too long. I found I couldn't end it! I decided instead to write about the other topic and found it to be much shorter. I was loathe to make it any longer than a page and a half, much different than writing about fiction, when less than five pages is too little.
I like your idea about introducing the concept of how media happens. Before we see it on the screen, it is usually presented in some form of writing first. Maybe your students could write scripts and then make a movie (introduce media). Looking at some of the work put out by students, I am often surprised at the level of work they put out, not only in print, but in video as well.
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