Because You Asked . . .

Here's that sample profile from class, the one about the garbage collector.

Reflective Writing: Some Contrasting Examples

Group, I've got two example ePortfolios, just to show you differences in how reflective writing is done. I do change the questions, and I know that ours are pretty specific this time around--so please, don't misinterpret the examples you see. Notice instead the amount of THINKING SPECIFICALLY that is on display by the writers! And what, ultimately, gets communicated:

• Cassie's ePortfolio
• Bruce's ePortfolio

General MLA-Style Formatting

Straight from the official Modern Language Association (MLA) handbook, here's a guide to formatting essays. Only the profile needs a Work Cited (and it will say just that, "Work," since you only have one source for that project). 

Student Examples: Photo Essays

In class today we'll look at some examples of what students have actually done with the project. I want you to think about how clearly these present a PLACE as well as a VANTAGE POINT/PERSPECTIVE. What do you notice about them? Which are stronger? Weaker?

• Example 1: Sam
• Example 2: Natasha
• Example 3: Yara
• Example 4: Malaak
• Example 5: Graciela

At-Home Activity (due 8AM Thurs., 2/18)

So, we spent Monday talking about biography VERSUS profile, in order to understand what profile is all about. But we've also been working with VIDEO versions of the form. What's a WRITTEN profile look like?

Well, here's an example of a written profile. It's a profile of Al Yeganeh, who ran a very popular New York City soup restaurant. In fact the place was so popular (and he was so interesting as a person) that he was the inspiration for the "Soup Nazi" character on Seinfeld.

Read the piece (it's short!) for Wednesday, but just as important, head over to the survey to start thinking about the piece. 

Showing, Not Telling

As you write your segments for the first project, try to SHOW, not merely TELL. You'll find yourself telling (explaining, not using sensory experience or narrative) when you simply talk "about" your object abstractly. You might find yourself, for instance, going on about the symbolic meaning of the object to you, what it "means" or what you "learned" from it.

Instead, try to get absorbed in helping readers experience the object. Help readers get into your world, into you using the object in real time, or into the story, letting it actually unfold as it happened. Work in descriptive details, basically, and try to ground us in the past somehow, rather than merely summarize what happened to you.

For illustration, compare the two excerpts that come from a past student's work with narrative and description. The first one is more like fastwriting, where the author is just explaining, but the second one is really trying to help you experience the thing. It's trying to help ground you in a moment in the past, and trying to be specific as it talks about what that object "says" about the author. Both examples are just the beginnings of the draft, but as readers, you'll likely have a completely different reaction to each!

Consider this: which excerpt helps you to know the author more? The author's life? Their personality? Their lived experiences as a unique person?

Keep asking yourself as you write: Am I just talking "about" this thing, or am I really trying to SHOW it to my readers? And SHOW its story?

Finally, here's a copy of the slideshow we worked with last class, if you wanted to get another peek at the before-and-after writing examples there.

Lab Materials from Class 2/2

Group, I'm just sharing with you here the slideshow on writing about an object, as well as the draft of my "raft" story. Hope they help! A few comments about both:

• the slideshow is really pushing you to think about what to do once you're in the process of generating all those details about your object and it's story. In other words, how might you use that "prewriting" to make an actual draft for a reader? There are several approaches there, along with my own examples. My object in that case is a book about how to write in shorthand.
• the "raft" example features two attempts to write a draft. The first one I would consider my initial draft, and even though it's organized, I think it's not as interesting as the beginning of the second one. The tip here is to consider the TIMELINE of your narrative, and to realize that telling everything in chronological order, from the beginning, might not be that interesting to a reader. The second version starts in media res, which means it starts in the middle of the action. I think it's a lot more engaging because of that, and maybe you do, too.

Working with Captions, Organizing Photo Essay Material

Here's the slideshow from today's class, that features several examples of slides and captions written from different perspectives. The last slide illustrates how you can handle source material you bring into the file.