9.11.12+and+9.12.12

Journal procedures list

Goldberg reading

WU: I remember when...

Start listing memories as quickly as they come. Try not to lift you hand from writing for 10 minutes. If you get stuck, describe one memory in more detail. Keep writing. Ex: J: I remember when...
 * my little brother was born
 * when we drove across the country when I was 12
 * getting the bad scar on my left knee
 * swim meets in Bend

**Discussion:** What makes a good story? What does it need? What makes you interested in it? How do we tell stories/**why** do we tell stories? What are some stories that are important to you and why?


 * Notes: Elements of a Story (copy these in your journal) **


 * ** Plot: ** Basic situation/exposition/doormat, rising action/complication, climax, resolution/denouement/falling action
 * ** Conflict: ** Internal (person vs. self) and external (person vs. person, nature, society, technology, etc.)
 * ** Characterization ** : Direct and indirect
 * ** Character: ** main, minor, static, dynamic, flat, round, stock, protagonist, antagonist
 * ** Point of view: ** First (“I” or “We”), second (“You”), third/omniscient (he/she/it/they)
 * ** Setting: ** where it all goes down. This includes time, physical location, surroundings, atmosphere
 * ** Theme: ** Controlling idea/underlying idea in a text. A theme is more than one word: “love” is not a theme. “Without love, society collapses” is a theme.


 * Elements of a Memoir: **
 * Memoir: ** A short work of non-fiction that is autobiographical, but highlights one specific event, or links a few related memories, rather than the span of an individual’s life. The narrow focus allows the author to make meaning or truth out of a small slice of his or her life.

Components:
 * Written in the 1st person
 * Narrative—includes elements of a story (though might alter format)
 * Takes a memory or group of memories and transforms it/them into meaning (usually growth, realization, education, etc).

**Discussion:** Why do we have memoirs, and is a memoir fiction or non-fiction? Is it “truth”? Example:"A Million Little Pieces". How does age change the way you view your memories?


 * Six Word Memoirs--distilling a story into six words **

"For Sale: baby shoes, never worn."--Hemingway

**Discussion:** What is the story behind this story? Is it a tragedy? A comedy?

Here is a website that contains more six word memories--note that some might not be PG. []


 * Here are a few other examples: **

Couldn't cope, so I wrote songs.

Thank you, lasagna, for the memories.

I've not yet begun to procrastinate.

One tooth, one cavity, life's cruel.

Life behind a microphone gets lonely.

Was father. Boys died. Still sad.

Going crazy is a long journey.

Dear Aliens, Please abduct me soon.

Will succeed. Don't know how yet.

Raising my mother's kids at 17.

Boyfriends 1, 3. Same dinner. Awkward.

I want to be six again.

Gray sneakers turned black with rain.


 * When you create your six-word memoir, think about how you can distill a story from your life into six words. Give enough information to suggest the story that is behind your words. **


 * Copy your six-word memoir onto a sheet of blank paper and feel free to add decorations to increase it's meaning. **


 * DUE: Next time I see you. **