First Time Essay Due Wednesday

We will have the first part of class on Wednesday, October 28th, in the computer lab, and you MUST have something printed out and ready to bring back to class by the end of this time--thanks!
Mrs. E

Colors and Senses

Please do this exercise if you were absent-- we are working hard to get sensory images into our writing, and this is great practice.

Across the page, write the names of FIVE COLORS.
down the page, skipping a couple of lines in between, write the names of the FIVE SENSES-- fill out the grid (what does orange taste like? What does purple smell like and black feel like, etc.):
EXAMPLE:
                       Purple         Green         Yellow           Black                   Orange

Hearing          like bubble                                                                   Screaming Eagle
                   wrap popping                                                                     exhaust pipes

Taste           grape juice

Sight           fresh bruises

Smell           plum sauce                                    underneath the
                                                                    bleachers on game day
Touch         silly string

First Time Stories

We have been brainstorming and drafting our stories about the first time we did something and the emotional core of that moment.  Here is the assignment so far:

First Things Story: Theme

Capture a feeling—a human connection to a personal experience that you have had in your lifetime.

Brainstorm: put the words, First Things, in the center of a web and connect all of the first things experiences of your life that you can think of.

Go back and read the experiences you have written down and cross out those that do not spark an emotional response.

Choose the “best” of your first experiences, and write a list of at least five emotions that are connected to that experience.

As you look over the list of emotions from that experience—choose that one that resonates with you the most.

As you begin to draft your story about your “first experience,” focus on the emotion that is the strongest, and make that the focus of your story.

Be sure to include something about that strong emotion in the first paragraph of your draft.

EXAMPLE: experience: first baby. Emotions: fear, wonder, love, humility, confusion, ferocious protectiveness.

Choice: Love.

Expand on what you mean by that emotion:

EXAMPLE: Unconditional love—as in: I would die for this person that I don’t even know yet. As a matter of fact, I don’t know much right now, because I have not had a lot of sleep or time to think, and yet, what I find bubbling up from within me is the idea that, without any doubt, I would die for this person, my child. An unknown life.  Another thought: I have experienced the feeling of love before, but I have never known, or even thought about whether or not I would be willing to sacrifice my life for the person I loved. I hope I would, but I never really knew it. However, in this particular situation, I find myself thinking this thought, “ I would die for this person,” and I know it is true. How odd! Something very elemental has changed in my understanding of myself and my relationship to others in the world. Nothing in my experience compares to this: it is a true first. It is not the last.

Start your narrative with this idea that comes from thinking about your strongest emotion.

First Things Assignments

First Grade

Explore the poem “First Grade.” Using it as a model, write a poem that talks about the school experience, whether from the point of view of a very young child, or as an older student. Use the same number of lines and stanzas.  

First Grade Poem

The First Day

Read this amazing story, being sure to highlight the words a phrases that stand out to you as particularly wonderful and ALSO noting sensory description: ways the author is appealing to the five senses (smell, feeling, taste, sight, hearing) in order to help you, the reader, connect with the story.

First Day Story

What is the theme of this story—what is the big thing about life or childhood that this author is talking about in this piece? Frame your answer in the form of a sentence.

Begin your own story about a first—first day of soccer practice, first time fishing with Dad, first time you realized how wonderful music was, first tooth lost, first swim trophy fist time driving a car, first best friend—anything that has a strong emotion for you—and make that emotion the theme of your piece. Be sure to include the sights, sounds and smells, tastes, etc. that go along with your story to make it “pop” for the reader—so they can recognize your experience.

Monday October 5th class activities

October 5th

Friday October 2nd

Here is what we did in class:
10 minute journal write called The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat
Write for five minutes about a moment in your life that was thrilling and amazing and you really felt on top of the world. Conversely, write for five minutes about a time that was sad or disappointing or when you were at a loss.

We are writing poems in the style of the Villanelle, a very specific form.  Attached are two documents that have explanations of this style with the pattern written out and a great example included. We will finish these on Monday, which is a "B" day.
Villanelle poem and example
This is Dylan Thomas