Thinking about memoir: showing and telling

 "Show don't tell" is commonly given advice from writing teacher to student (or from writer to writer).  to think about what this means, first read these guidelines from writing teacher Dennis Jerz. (Here's another link to try if Jerz's doesn't work...)

Then in the comments below--you may use your first name or sign in if you have a google account, etc.-- add your revisions to these sentences, trying to show the reader through sensory detail rather than telling the reader what to think or feel (or what you think or feel about something):

My hometown was a wonderful (or choose your own adjective) place to grow up. 

Laci had a rather eccentric style.

Mr. Brown is the worst teacher I've ever had.

The room seemed very institutional.

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Then read "Killing Chickens," an essay/chapter from Meredith Hall's memoir Without a Map. Pay attention to where the writer shows and where she tells.  In a MS Word file (to be printed out at the end of class) answer the following questions:

• Copy and paste three examples of particularly effective details or images, where you can clearly see or hear or smell what the writer is describing.
• Copy and paste a couple examples of "telling" sentences, especially general statements that seem to get at the general message of the essay.
• Comment on the essay's structure. What are the events that string together to make the essay's narrative? What is the setting or settings, and how does the writer shift between them
• What do you think the essay is about? (In other words, probably none of you have killed chickens, but how does her somewhat unusual experience tie to your own life? Can you articulate what she seems to be saying about more universal human experiences than just chicken murder?)

Once you have finished, please print out your answers and pass in to me.

Prewriting play in computer lab

Regular writing sites

• ·         100 words
• ·         Six sentences
• ·         40 x 365 (Make a list of people in your life; try to capture the essence of each in only 100 words)
• ·         Writing prompts from Writer’s Digest
• ·         Daily writing prompts from Writingfix.com

Look over samples, read writer’s guidelines, and do a couple of each. (You might even want to submit or join!)

Photo-inspiration

            Go to flickr.com or some other photo-sharing site. Pick a word and search through the photos for one that interests you. Try colors (blue, maroon), emotions, abstractions (independence, silence), types of food, family relationships, whatever. Write down a memory that the picture evokes, the imagined thoughts of a person in the picture, a string of images that the picture brings to your mind, …

Nonfiction sites

          Browse through the archives at Brevity or This I Believe. Look for a title that intrigues you and write your own post based on that title (or a variation of it). Make a list of memires that come to mind as you browse through these short pieces. 

Graphic organizers

            Play around with one or more of the following:

• ·         bubbl.us
• ·         gliffy
• ·         mindomo

Try mapping a difficult decision you have made, or the stages that you went through in some learning process.

List-making

Make a list of the significant objects in your life or the people who have taught you something. Make a list of the places that have been important to you throughout your life. Make a list of your endings and beginnings.

Responses

are here...

A couple questions to start...