Entry #1: 1/6
Many societies and cultures have formalized ceremonies or rites of passage to mark the initiation of a child or teenager into adult society. What does it mean in our culture to become a man or woman? Are there ceremonies or rituals involved? What practices within your own family mark the transition into adulthood - are there family traditions? Also, according to your own personal observations and ideas, what does it mean to be an adult? Are there specific differences for boys and girls when it comes to "growing up" and entering "the real world"? **Remember to reflect on these questions in writing for at least fifteen minutes.**
Entry #2: 1/12
Okay, we've been talking about the controversy surrounding The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for a full week. We've also spent time discussing the purpose and nuances of satire. It's time: I want to know your opinion of the text. Do you find it offensive? Dangerous? Controversial? Explain your ideas - I want to know WHY you feel the way you feel about the text. How about other texts? Have you encountered other books that you feel should be censored? Are you against censorship all together? If not, when do you feel that censorship might be appropriate? (This is certainly topical in light of recent arguments in the news surrounding political rhetoric.) Again, I want to know how you feel, and WHY you feel the way you do. Feel free to consider other forms of expression that have been deemed controversial: television, films, holy texts, music, etc.
Entry #3: 1/18
Recall a time when you were either ill or injured. Write an entry in which you describe your injury or illness using as much sensory detail as you can possibly pack into fifteen minutes of writing. I challenge you to overload me (your reader) with sensory detail.
Entry #4: 2/1
Our school is scheduled to begin daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance today. What are your thoughts and opinions about the pledge? What do the words of the pledge mean? What does the American flag represent? What does it represent to you personally? Have you or anyone in your family made sacrifices for others in our country? Explore you own personal and unique relationship with America. How do YOU feel about "the republic for which it [the flag] stands"?
Entry #5: 2/4
This entry is to capture where you are in your life. It might be a good idea to begin with a comment on your general situation as you sense it. Begin with a broad comment; then let your mind sweep through your recent life. Record specifics, bits of dialogue, frustrations, pleasures, questions, dreams - everything that comes to you. Be specific.
Entry #6: 2/11 - Borrowed from Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
Okay. Choose a specific process to write about. It can something you've done only once, or something that you do every day. Let's say the experience of carving a spoon out of cedar. Tell me all the details, but try to do so without becoming myopic. As you become single-minded in your writing, at the same time something in you should remain aware of the color of the sky or the sound of a distant mower. Just throw in even one line about the street outside your window at the time you were carving that spoon. It is good practice. When we concentrate in our writing, it is good. But we should always concentrate, not by blocking out the world, but by allowing it all to exist. This is a very tricky balance.
Entry #7: 2/15
Begin by crafting a list of formative experiences in your life. List things, situations, people, lessons, etc. that have changed you forever and made you into who you are today. Your list might be long, or it might be short - just make sure that you've put thought into compiling it. Then, select one or two of the entries on your list to write about in as much detail as possible for fifteen minutes. If you stall out on writing about one experience, switch to another and keep going.
Entry #8: 2/22
At the beginning of Chapter Four, Billy Pilgrim watches a war movie backwards while waiting to be abducted by the Tralfamadorians. How does the message of the war movie change when viewed backwards? Select an event (big or small, personal or global) that you would like to see undone by rewinding time. Write it. Like Vonnegut, do your best to take the story all the way to the end/beginning, in order to give the same images very different meanings.
Entry #9: 3/7
Kurt Vonnegut wrote: "Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything." Write a response to Vonnegut's thought in which you explore your own experiences. Have you experienced disappointment as part of attaining your current level of maturity? How has loss been a part of your own growth?
Entry #10: 3/29
A crucible is a severe test or trial. Before we begin reading Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, about one man's most difficult personal trial, I would like you to reflect on your own struggles. Specifically, I want you to identify the hardest thing you've ever done or been through. Then, I want you to write about it for fifteen minutes, without pause. Here are a few guiding questions to stimulate thought and keep your writing flowing, but feel free to allow your writing on this subject to take whatever direction it may: Describe the experience. Why was this the most difficult thing for you? What got you through your crucible? Is this still difficult for you? Did you gain anything from this experience? If you could go back in time and erase this experience, would you? Why or why not?
Entry #11: 4/5
In Act One of The Crucible, Arthur Miller writes of "the necessity of the Devil." Miller argues that the nature of our view of cosmology necessitates a concept of evil in order to conceive of good. However, Miller goes on to note that the Devil may be used by different ideologies and institutions to achieve control over others through fear. Obviously, this is true of Reverend Parris's approach to leadership of the church in Salem. Miller extends the analogy to make the argument that political leaders in the 1950s also appropriated the Devil in order to instill fear of Communism in Americans. As history shows, time and again, people tend to turn on each other when they are afraid. In this way, Miller shows the practice of accusing an enemy of evil to be useful in achieving one's aim of turning others against the enemy, but dangerous in that it can lead to fragmentation or dissolution of the group one is trying to protect.
For your Writer's Notebook Entry today, I want you to extend Miller's analogy to modern times. While non-Puritans (or people who weren't good enough Puritans) were the victims of the Salem Witch Trials, Senator McCarthy's attack on suspected Communism in America during the 1950s targeted people believed to be evil due to their political leanings. What group of people, lifestyle, or set of beliefs do you see as the modern equivalent? Who are current societal/political/religious leaders targeting for being "evil"? Does the analogy hold true - are those currently seen to be aligned with the Devil simply people with whom the majority does not agree, or are they actually evil?
Entry #12: 4/12
Twain uses Huck's narrative voice to richly develop the young man's character. This is an especially effective device when used to suggest changes in Huck . Although nothing like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, I've recently read a few other books that also make interesting use of narrative voice. Markus Zusak's The Book Thief is narrated by Death, while The Art of Racing in the Rain (Garth Stein) is narrated by a dog named Enzo. These are two very different books, but they both use the narrator's own strengths and weaknesses to develop beautiful stories. For instance, there are things that Death just doesn't understand about the apparent human motivation to destroy each other. That's a revealing tidbit - not just about Death, but about the nature of human existence. Think about Huck. What does his point of view reveal to the reader?
Okay, here's your writing task. Get ready to flex those creative muscles. I want you to experiment with writing in a narrative voice that you've never tried on before. So... you might choose an African Elephant, you might choose a specific animal whom you know well (maybe I should try my cranky cockatiel), you might choose a famous historical figure, a neighbor, a tree, a rock... you get the idea.
