Assignments for Tuesday May 4th

There are no reading assignments for Tuesday's class; just be sure to begin revising your research paper, which is due Thursday May 6th.

In other news, I have decided not to give a final exam during finals week. Instead, we're going to have a final project and accompanying in-class writing assignment. The first part of this final project is a portfolio. You'll need to collect all of your writing from the semester into a single folder and bring it with you to our last class on Thursday May 13th. In class, you will have one hour to write an analysis of your work over the course of the semester. For now, you should begin collecting all drafts of everything you've written this semester. I'll answer questions in class on Tuesday.

Discussion Board:
Read the following definitions of a "good" reader. Choose the four that you believe to be true. Briefly, explain why.

1. The reader should belong to a book club.
2. The reader should identify himself or herself with the hero or heroine.
3. The reader should concentrate on the social-economic angle.
4. The reader should prefer a story with action and dialogue to one with none.
5. The reader should have seen the book in a movie.
6. The reader should be a budding author.
7. The reader should have imagination.
8. The reader should have memory.
9. The reader should have a dictionary.
10. The reader should have some artistic sense.

Assignments for Thursday April 29th

For Thursday's class, remember to bring three copies of WP #6: The Research Paper (draft 1).

Extra Credit Opportunity

Wednesday, May 5th, 7:00pm

Close Observations: The Poetics of Flora and Fauna

A Reading and Conversation with Diane Ackerman and Kimiko Hahn

$7 for students

(Poets House is located at 10 River Terrace in Battery Park City)

Assignments for Tuesday April 27th

For Tuesday's class, please read the following articles from the textbook:

1. "In Groups We Shrink" by Carol Tavris (pg. 261)
2. "The Rights of the Born" by Anne Lamott (pg. 271)

Discussion Board:

In what way(s) are these two articles in dialogue with one another? Can you apply the ideas expressed in "In Groups We Shrink" with the situation described by Anne Lamott in "The Rights of the Born"?

Assignments for Thursday April 22nd

For Thursday's class, find and print an image that relates to your research topic. (You can use Google image search, or make a photocopy from one of your sources.)

You'll be using your image in class on Thursday to spur analytical thinking, so be sure to bring it with you.

Assignments for Tuesday April 20th

For Tuesday's class, please familiarize yourselves with analytical thinking and writing by reading the following chapter from our textbook:

• Chapter 12: Analysis (pgs. 461 - 508)

On Tuesday, we'll be analyzing poems, so please ready yourselves by studying this chapter thoroughly.

Extra Credit Opportunity

Extra participation points will be given to anyone who attends this creative writing reading tomorrow at 6:30pm. Be there!

APRIL 15th, 2010 TURNSTYLE READING SERIES Turnstyle, a cross-genre MFA reading series, features the faculty and students of four CUNY graduate creative writing programs. Each evening, two faculty readers and eight second-year MFA creative writing students will read a mix of non-fiction, plays, fiction, and poems.

FEATURING: Faculty readers: Pamela Laskin, Julie Agoos, Adam Berlin MFA student readers: Curtis Jensen, Danielle Davidson, Deonne Kahler,Stefanie Lipsey, Sunil Yapa, Maria Dilorenzo, Kevin MacDonald, Mardi Jaskot

LOCATION: John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Room 630, 899 Tenth Avenue (at 60th Street). Readings start at 6:30pm and are free and open to the public.

Co-sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs, MFA in CreativeWriting Affiliation Group and Center for the Humanities.

Assignments for Thursday April 15th

Please bring your completed interview to Thursday's class.

Also, answer one of the questions below about the film Man on Wire.
(Please post your answers in the comments section.)

1. What is the effect of the film’s opening scene? What kind of tone does it establish?
2. How does the fact that some of the film was shot in black and white contribute to the overall effect of the film?
3. When does Phillipe Petit get the idea for what he calls his “great dream”? How does this event relate or foreshadow his process for achieving this dream?
4. How would you characterize Phillipe Petit? What specific aspects of the film’s portrayal of him cause you to form this viewpoint?
5. How does the film’s cinematography complement its script? (Name examples.)
6. Cite specific examples of how the film maintains the exhilarating pace of a thriller, a “nail-biting” suspense even though the audience knows from the beginning that the central character is going to succeed in his goal. What specific events and scenes contribute to the
7. suspense?
8. The director decided to exclude all mention of the September 11, 2001, fate of the World Trade Center Towers. Why do you think Marsh made this decision? What is your response to his decision?

Assignments for Tuesday April 13

For Tuesday's class, please read the following from our textbook:

1. Chapter 6: Between Screens (pgs. 283 - 287)
2. Reviews of Man on Wire (pgs. 320 - 325)

Please also begin working on your interview, which is due next week Thursday, April 15th.

Assignments for Thursday April 8th

For Thursday's class, please read the following:

1. Interviews from the New York Times Magazine (handout)
2. Gathering Additional Information: The Interview (pgs. 522-524 in your textbooks)

Discussion Board

Choose one of the interviews from the packet to analyze. What do you think is the interviewer's agenda? (In other words, what truth is she trying to uncover?) Does she succeed in bringing this issue to light? How, or why not?

(Please post your response in the comments section below.)