Snow Child discussion questions, interviews, readings

AGENDA:

HMWK: For Monday, read Ch. 9-13 (finish Part One)

Study guide from Writers and Books
THINK, PAIR, SHARE:  With a partner, answer five questions from the study guide and post on the blog

Continue working on your fairy tale/folk tale adaptation

Snegurochka  (The Russian folk tale)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snegurochka

2. The Snow Maiden
http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/tales/snow_maiden.html

http://vd-crystaldream.blogspot.com/2013/05/legend-of-snow-maiden-russian-fairy.html

Magical Realism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_realism

Eowyn Ivey at Rochester Public Library
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlgm_Ob6DDI

Snow Child

AGENDA:

Close reading activity: Pages 6-9.

     a. We will be reading this passage aloud as a class.

     b. Then reread the passage silently to yourself and jot down any observations you have on the sheet you will be given. Look for figurative language (i.e. similes, metaphors, imagery, personification, symbolism, etc.)

     c. After you have finished, we will go over your observations as a class.

 With the remaining class time, keep working on finding a folktale/fairytale for your final story. If you have already found one, start thinking about how you would include a scene like the one from close reading activity into your own story.

HOMEWORK:

Read Chapters 5-8 in The Snow Child

The Snow Child

AGENDA:

Get The Snow Child from the library.

Read Ch. 1-4 for homework. Go to Eowyn Ivey's website.
http://eowynivey.com/

Magical Realism Characteristics

FANTASTICAL ELEMENTS:

Fantastical elements and events are included in an otherwise “normal” narrative. The narrative maintains a strong contemporary cultural relevance while reaching beyond the confines of realism and drawing upon the elements of fable, folktale, and myth.

AUTHORIAL RETICENCE:

The deliberate withholding of information and explanations about the disconcerting fictitious world. The narrator does not provide explanations about the accuracy or credibility of events described or views expressed by characters in the text. The narrator is indifferent, a characteristic enhanced by this absence of explanation of fantastic events; the story proceeds with "logical precision" as if nothing extraordinary took place. Magical events are presented as ordinary occurrences; therefore, the reader accepts the marvelous as normal and common.

SENSE OF MYSTERY:

The reader must let go of preexisting ties to conventional exposition, plot advancement, linear time structure, scientific reason, etc., to strive for a state of heightened awareness of life's connectedness or hidden meanings.

METAFICTION:

The narrative explores the impact fiction has on reality, reality on fiction and the reader’s role in between; as such, it is well suited for drawing attention to social or political criticism. Furthermore, it is the tool paramount in the execution of a related and major magic realist phenomenon: textualization. This term defines two conditions—first, where a fictitious reader enters the story within a story while reading it, making us self-conscious of our status as readers—and secondly, where the textual world enters into the reader's (our) world.

REAL WORLD SETTING

The existence of fantasy elements in the real world provides the basis for magical realism. Writers don't invent new worlds but reveal the magical in this world. In the binary world of magical realism, the supernatural realm blends with the natural, familiar world.

END OF MARKING PERIOD

AGENDA:

Finish all poems!

Happiness poem
Technical Terms poem
20 Little Poetry Projects
Writing hides
Neruda exercise...steal a line
TPCASTT Analysius Neruda
Sestina
T

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird/Poem in Parts

AGENDA:

Go over Wallace Stevens' "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"

Read "Crazy Horse Speaks" Sherman Alexie in Unsettling America

Advanced Formal Poetry: Sestinas

Sestinas

/www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5792

Elizabeth Bishop's Sestina
www.poemhunter.com/poem/sestina/  

KNOW THE PATTERN. A sestina consists of six sestets (6-line stanzas) and one tercet (3-line stanzas). Each sestet contains the same 6 end-words, but in different a order for each stanza. The final stanza, the tercet, contains 2 "end-words" per line. Following is the pattern for the sestina ==> stanza 1: 1,2,3,4,5,6; stanza 2: 6,1,5,2,4,3; stanza 3: 3,6,4,1,2,5; stanza 4: 5,3,2,6,1,4; stanza 5: 4,5,1,3,6,2; stanza 6: 2,4,6,5,3,1; final stanza: 1&2,3&4,5&6.

2

CHOOSE YOUR 6 WORDS. When deciding on your 6 words, focus on versatility in terms of parts of speech, meaning, and usage. For example, the word "hand" can be a verb or a noun (as in the sentences "Hand me the towel" and "We shook hands," respectively.) "Hand" can be used in idioms (e.g. give me a hand, on the other hand). And finally, "hand" just has a plethora of definitions (e.g. a poker player's cards, a worker).

3

REVIEW & REVISE YOUR 6 WORDS. Are all of your words nouns? Are they all verbs? Do they seem to point to one specific subject matter you're planning to write about? If so, I'd suggest diversifying. Throw some adjectives in there; open a magazine or book, put your finger on the page, and write whatever word it lands on; or add a word that seems completely unrelated to the others.

4

ORGANIZE. Although it might seem tedious to organize ahead of time, it will save you from the grief that comes when realizing you've finally perfected your sestina, but you accidentally messed up the pattern in the third stanza, making the patterns in stanzas 4, 5, 6, and 7, also incorrect. So, on a piece of paper, make 3 columns. The first column is for the number pattern, the second is for the end-words, and the third is for your lines of poetry. If you are staring at a blank computer screen, make a table with 3 columns and 7 rows. Go to your TABLE panel or dropdown, click "Insert Table," and enter the number or columns and rows. (READ STEP 5 before writing the end-words down.)

5

WRITE. There are many ways to start a sestina, so experiment and find what is right for you. As for me, I like starting the first stanza without a particular order in mind for my 6 words. I just make sure one of the 6 words is at the end of each line. Only after writing that first stanza do I fill in my end-word column.

6

USE OTHER DEVICES. Don't let the end-words fool you; they are not necessarily the most important part of the sestina. Don't be afraid to repeat other words, too. This can actually draw some attention away from the end-words, adding a different type of rhythm and also warding off the dreaded monotony that can result from a sestina gone wrong. Enjambment can also create this effect.

7

BE FLEXIBLE. If you are accustomed to writing free verse, the sestina's constraints may seem to take away from what you want to say or what you're trying to do in your poem. However, I suggest that instead of not quite writing the poem you wanted to write, allow yourself to write a different poem than what you'd imagined when you began. There are many surprises to be found when writing in forms.

Unsettling America

AGENDA:

Readings from Unsettling America
Finish revising poems