End of Marking Period/The Enchanted

AGENDA:

Finish 1st draft of Magic Realism story for Friday/ The Enchanted Breakout Box

Contests: Sokol/Gannon---Extra credit. follow instructions carefully

End of marking period portfolio and reflection:

MIDTERM PORTFOLIO

There are two (2) parts to your midterm portfolio:

A. A 2-3 page, double-spaced, typed self evaluation essay (about 500-750 words)

B. Your 1st semester drafts of all your CW class assignments
(poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and scripts only).
There is no need to put homework assignments, worksheets, or projects
(like human interest films, powerpoint poetry or presentations) in your portfolio.
You may refer to these things in your reflection. Most pieces are already in your portfolio
.

Part A. Self Evaluation Essay (see details below)

Part B. Portfolio

Self Reflection Non Fiction - Creative Essay:

During your freshman year, we have thrown quite a bit of information,
projects, and assignments your way. We did this so that you had the opportunity
to grow as a writer and a student.

It is true that the most important qualification for writers is that they write.
Apart from this, reading is also the most important way to improve your writing
this stage of your development and education. These introductory courses
designed to get you to know yourself as a student and writer a little better,
and we're going to continue that trend into the second semester.

Reflective piece: 2-3 pages, double-spaced, MLA heading, 12 pont font, Times New Roman.
Answer some of these questions:

Write about how you’ve grown as a writer so far this year 

by taking Ms. Gamzon or my classes. 

Reflect on what has been easy or hard for you 

as a student and/or as a writer. 

Comment on what areas you feel you need more work in; 

Reflect on your progress as a writer, a reader, and as a student. 

Discuss the work you have done so far in our classes. 

What have you learned (about yourself or about the craft and art of writing) 

from writing these projects or drafts? 

Comment on the value of Performance, Word, and Text and 

Grammar and Style.

Comment on the value of keeping a writing journal. 

Respond to the books you have read in Creative Writing 

and compare those to what you have read in your English classes. 

Comment on your progress with grammar and

writing in different genres or formats.

What have you learned?

Finally, give yourself at least 1 

writing goal for the second semester. 

You may give yourself more than one goal 

if you'd like.

• 
  

Sokol/Gannon Contests

CONTESTS:
Gannon
http://www.gannon.edu/Academic-Offerings/Humanities-Education-and-Social-Sciences/Undergraduate/English/Poetry-Contest/

SOKOL
https://ffrpl.libraryweb.org/programs/sokol-awards/

Magic realism stories

AGENDA:

Begin work on magic realism stories.

Finish Mango Street books.

Select 5 questions from The Enchanted handout to respond to.

Finish reading The Enchanted for Thursday.

Welcome Back 2019/Magic Realism

AGENDA:

The Enchanted/Magical Realism short story

AGENDA:

Answer Questions 5-8 and post on blog.

Continue to finish Mango books.

Begin working on a magical realism story.

More about magical realism:

Please read Bruce Holland Rogers' article on writing magical realism:

http://www.writing-world.com/sf/realism.shtml

and his story  "The Dead Boy at Your Window"

www.flashfictiononline.com/f20081104-dead-boy-at-your-window-bruce-holland-rogers.html 

Watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfkiASdFa5I 

Also read:

http://www.rachellegardner.com/2011/09/why-i-write-magical-realism/

https://www.writermag.com/improve-your-writing/fiction/writing-magical-realism/

Aimee Bender:
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/bender-skirt.html

http://road-signs.org/What-Is-Magical-Realism-Magical-Realism-Examples

So, are you ready to write some magical realism?

The Enchanted/12 Days of Christmas BREAKOUT

AGENDA:

READING:

Think, Pair, Share.   Discuss the following questions and post a partner response.  Be sure to list both names. :


3. Why does York want to die and why does the lady want to save him? Is he worth saving? How does she go about gathering evidence to understand his case, knowledge that might prevent his execution?

4. Think about York. What were your first impressions about him when he's introduced? As you discovered more about his story, did your outlook towards him change? How does the experience of investigating York's past affect the lady and her outlook towards York? How does it shape how she sees her own life?


HMWK:   Over break, read to pg. 131 or finish the book

The Enchanted

AGENDA:

Discuss the beginning of The Enchanted.

Work on editing vignettes

HMWK: Read to pg. 60 in The Enchanted

The Enchanted

AGENDA:

Finish work on Mango Street books

The Enchanted Readers Guides

The Enchanted

AGENDA:
Go to library for The Enchanted
Read Ch. 1 and post a response to Q. 1
HMWK: Read The Enchanted to pg. 37

http://www.readinggroupguides.com/reviews/the-enchanted/excerpt

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18090147-the-enchanted

http://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/13-fiction/9694-enchanted-denfeld 




1. The novel opens with the line, "This is an enchanted place. Others don't see it but I do." The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word "enchant" as, "to attract and hold the attention of (someone) by being interesting, pretty, etc.; to put a magic spell on (someone or something)." Why does the narrator call this place enchanted? What beauty does he find in his surroundings that others do not? What does this tell us about the narrator?

2. Talk about the main characters: the narrator, the lady, the priest, and York, the prisoner on death row at the center of the story. How are these characters' lives and their fates intrinsically connected? What do we learn about the lady and the priest from the narrator?

3. Why does York want to die and why does the lady want to save him? Is he worth saving? How does she go about gathering evidence to understand his case, knowledge that might prevent his execution? What propels her choice at the novel's end?

4. Think about York. What were your first impressions about him when he's introduced? As you discovered more about his story, did your outlook towards him change? How does the experience of investigating York's past affect the lady and her outlook towards York? How does it shape how she sees her own life?

5. What draws the lady and the priest to one another? Why do you think each chose the career they pursued? How do their callings sustain them emotionally? Are they good at what they do—even if the priest is himself fallen from grace?

6. What has being locked inside done to the narrator—and for him? What about some of the other prisoners he watches? Do you believe in rehabilitation? Do you think our prison system today encourages rehabilitation? Is there something else we can do besides imprison those who commit crimes?

7. One of the Ten Commandments is "thou shalt not kill." Isn't executing someone—even someone who committed a heinous crime such as taking another's life—going against morality? Why is the death penalty still used in the United States compared to most other modern democracies?

8. Do you believe that we are products of our circumstances? How much can free will mitigate terrible damage that inflicted in a person's youth, when he or she is most vulnerable and impressionable? Why do people do such terrible things to each other and to innocent children? "There is too much pain in the world, that's the problem," the lady tells the priest. What causes so much of the world's pain and can we, both individually and as a society, do to help alleviate this suffering? How much responsibility do we carry for our fellow men and women?

9. What do you think is the worst punishment that the prisoners in the novel face being locked away? "It is meaning that drives most people forward into time and it is meaning that reminds them of the past, so they know where they are in the universe. But what about men like me? For us time doesn't exist." Think about time in your life and in the narrator's. How do you respond to him? What can give a life that is not measured by the events of time real meaning? How is such a life measured? Think about not being able to touch someone or see the sky. How would that affect you for a day? A week? A year? A lifetime?

10. What happens to people when they are incarcerated? How can we make the prison system more humane? Should it be humane or do convicts, regardless of the level of their crimes, "deserve what they get"? As a society, do we see prison more as punishment or as retribution? How can we save people from having failed lives? Is it possible to save someone?

11. Do you think that death offers release for men like York and the narrator? Did they find peace?

12. Like the lady, Rene Denfeld is a fact investigator in death penalty cases. How do you think her work shaped the story? Did reading The Enchanted alter your view of prison?

13. Rene Denfeld touches on many issues and themes: Mental illness, justice, time, kindness, remorse, forgiveness, the need for love and connection, life and death itself. Choose one or two and trace them through the novel, using examples from the novel to enrich your analysis.

14. Why did you choose to read this novel? Did the novel surprise you in any way? Explain why or why not. What did you take away from reading The Enchanted?
(Questions published by the publisher.)