Entry #1: 1/6Many societies and cultures have formalized ceremonies or rites of passage to mark the initiation of a child or teenager into adult society. What does it mean in our culture to become a man or woman? Are there ceremonies or rituals involved? What practices within your own family mark the transition into adulthood - are there family traditions? Also, according to your own personal observations and ideas, what does it mean to be an adult? Are there specific differences for boys and girls when it comes to "growing up" and entering "the real world"?
**Remember to reflect on these questions in writing for at least fifteen minutes.**
Entry #2: 1/12Recall a time when you were either ill or injured. Write an entry in which you describe your injury or illness using as much sensory detail as you can possibly pack into fifteen minutes of writing. I challenge you to overload me (your reader) with sensory detail.
Entry #3: 1/18
Recall the manifold purposes of myth: to explain something about the natural world, to illustrate the cultural ideal, to teach lessons about the relationships between humans and the gods, etc. Write a short myth of your own creation that accomplishes one or more of these purposes.
Entry #4: 1/25
This entry is to capture where you are in your life. It might be a good idea to begin with a comment on your general situation as you sense it. Begin with a broad comment; then let your mind sweep through your recent life. Record specifics, bits of dialogue, frustrations, pleasures, questions, dreams - everything that comes to you. Be specific.
Entry #5: 1/31
Our school is scheduled to begin daily recitation of the
Pledge of Allegiance today. What are your thoughts and opinions about the pledge? What do the words of the pledge mean? What does the American flag represent? What does it represent to you personally? Have you or anyone in your family made sacrifices for others in our country? Explore you own personal and unique relationship with America. How do YOU feel about "the republic for which it [the flag] stands"?
Entry #6: 2/9 - Borrowed from
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
Okay. Choose a specific process to write about. It can something you've done only once, or something that you do every day. Let's say the experience of carving a spoon out of cedar. Tell me all the details, but try to do so without becoming myopic. As you become single-minded in your writing, at the same time something in you should remain aware of the color of the sky or the sound of a distant mower. Just throw in even one line about the street outside your window at the time you were carving that spoon. It is good practice. When we concentrate in our writing, it is good. But we should always concentrate, not by blocking out the world, but by allowing it all to exist. This is a very tricky balance.
Entry #7: 2/15Begin by crafting a list of formative experiences in your life. List things, situations, people, lessons, etc. that have changed you forever and made you into who you are today. Your list might be long, or it might be short - just make sure that you've put thought into compiling it. Then, select one or two of the entries on your list to write about in as much detail as possible for fifteen minutes. If you stall out on writing about one experience, switch to another and keep going.
Entry #8: 3/1
Answer each of the following questions thoughtfully and thoroughly - be prepared to discuss your answers.
1. How does what you demonstrate to others limit or enhance your opportunities?
2. Other than preparing you for a good job, what purpose should school serve?
3. If you could be an expert on any subject, what would it be and how would that expertise benefit others?
Consider the following questions with your SCANTRON testing experience in mind:
4. How hard did you try?
5. What do you think this (your score and effort) shows about you?
6. Identify two goals that you'll work on in English class this semester.
Entry #9: 3/30
Much of
Great Expectations deals with developing an internal standard of behavior - a conscience - and learning to trust it. Write about an experience that caused you to question your own conscience. When faced with a moral dilemma, how did you ultimately decide which course of action was "right" and which was "wrong"? Did you act in a manner that brings you pride or shame? What was the outcome of the situation? How do you feel about it today?
Entry #10: 4/6
Record impressions of the classroom. Include as many sensory details and descriptions as you can in fifteen minutes. You may also include descriptions of the people. Here's the idea: All of my students will be writing this entry, and many of them will most likely note the chalkboards and whiteboards. What will you notice and describe that no one else can see or write about just like you? Use your keen observation and write about the smallest details from your own unique perspective.
Entry #11: 4/12
Dickens uses Pip's narrative voice to richly develop the young man's character. This is an especially effective device when used to suggest changes in Pip. Although nothing like Great Expectations, I've recently read a few other books that also make interesting use of narrative voice. Markus Zusak's The Book Thief is narrated by Death, while The Art of Racing in the Rain (Garth Stein) is narrated by a dog named Enzo. These are two very different books, but they both use the narrator's own strengths and weaknesses to develop beautiful stories. For instance, there are things that Death just doesn't understand about the apparent human motivation to destroy each other. That's a revealing tidbit - not just about Death, but about the nature of human existence. Think about Pip. What does his point of view reveal to the reader? How does this change from when he's innocent and childish at the beginning of the text, to his pompous and conceited ideas as he embarks on his journey to London?
Okay, here's your writing task. Get ready to flex those creative muscles. I want you to experiment with writing in a narrative voice that you've never tried on before. So... you might choose an African Elephant, you might choose a specific animal whom you know well (maybe I should try my cranky cockatiel), you might choose a famous historical figure, a neighbor, a tree, a rock... you get the idea.
Entry #12: 4/18 - This entry comes from your vocabulary book, page 106.
If you were to write a reflection, an informal account of something that you have been thinking about seriously, what subject would you choose? Montaigne* wrote about such subjects as fear, sadness, friends, anger, solitude, liars, smells, and clothing. He wrote about his own experience, his observations of others and the world, and his reading. Choose a subject about which you have something to say, using words from your vocabulary lessons thirteen and fourteen. The following words may stimulate your thinking:
- exploits (wonderful adventures?)
- ploys (tactics yo or others have used to overcome an opponent?)
- apprehensions (worries? fears about the future?)
- dexterity (forms of dexterity you admire? kinds you possess?)
*French author Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) wrote three books of essays.
