Hello everyone,
First of all, on Tuesday, February 11, please bring a laptop or portable device like an iPad (I don't think a cellphone will work) to class if you have one. If not, you'll have to follow my lead as much as you can and try it at home.
So this is what I'd like you to do for your first blog post.
First of all, on Tuesday, February 11, please bring a laptop or portable device like an iPad (I don't think a cellphone will work) to class if you have one. If not, you'll have to follow my lead as much as you can and try it at home.
So this is what I'd like you to do for your first blog post.
Due Date Wednesday, February 12, by 12 pm
1. Read "How to Describe a Thing Without Naming It"
2. Follow the instructions at the bottom of the page, and write a 100-word description for one object and one person.
Examples:
Object Described: Baseball Field
The radio plays the same songs Fenner’s heard for twenty years or more:
Allman Brothers’ “Ramblin’ Man,” “Big Shot,” by Billy Joel. He’s parked
with his back to Safeway’s brightly-lit parking lot; all he can see are
the shadowy outlines of the bleachers, the dugout blocked by clumps of
snow, the skeletal cyclone fence that runs parallel with the first base
line. On nice days, he and Nora picnicked by the fence and gave Henry
encouraging fist pumps before he stepped onto the mound. Christ, Fenner
wonders, how long since then? No more than two years ago, which might as
well have been forever.
Word Count: 104
Object Described: A Notebook
I’ve been sitting in this spot for twenty minutes, holding a black ink pen in my right hand. My tired face rests on my left hand. My writing is slanted on its pristine white pages. Smudged ink leaves a frail trail towards the bottom of the page. I keep staring at the brown leather-bound cover thinking of the day my mom gave it to me—it was two days before she died. In the hospital she handed me the rectangular package and told me, “Here, Nina. You’ll need to write down your thoughts from time to time.” She was wrong. My eyes sting and my tears wet the metal flower bookmark.
Word Count 111
Person Described: Mother
Dad used to tell me how much he loved her. He did so almost every night before tucking me in. With one leg on my bed and the other resting down, he’d sigh and describe her raven hair, her black eyes, the way she pursed her red lips when she had to concentrate. “You look just like her,” he would say before kissing my forehead and going to bed. My memories of her span from the moment she kissed my knee the day I fell in the garden to the last time I saw her in the hospital. Dad held her hand.
Word Count 102
These are just three examples. Please remember to choose one person and one object.
For Thursday, please read, "The President and the Dragon: The Rise of Bruce Lee in the 1970s."
I'll keep you updated as much as possible. In the meantime, if there are any questions at all, please do not hesitate to ask. Don't wait until class time to say something was unclear. And I hope you have fun with this assignment! Don't over think it and take risks!
1. Read "How to Describe a Thing Without Naming It"
2. Follow the instructions at the bottom of the page, and write a 100-word description for one object and one person.
Examples:
Object Described: Baseball Field
The radio plays the same songs Fenner’s heard for twenty years or more:
Allman Brothers’ “Ramblin’ Man,” “Big Shot,” by Billy Joel. He’s parked
with his back to Safeway’s brightly-lit parking lot; all he can see are
the shadowy outlines of the bleachers, the dugout blocked by clumps of
snow, the skeletal cyclone fence that runs parallel with the first base
line. On nice days, he and Nora picnicked by the fence and gave Henry
encouraging fist pumps before he stepped onto the mound. Christ, Fenner
wonders, how long since then? No more than two years ago, which might as
well have been forever.
Word Count: 104
Object Described: A Notebook
I’ve been sitting in this spot for twenty minutes, holding a black ink pen in my right hand. My tired face rests on my left hand. My writing is slanted on its pristine white pages. Smudged ink leaves a frail trail towards the bottom of the page. I keep staring at the brown leather-bound cover thinking of the day my mom gave it to me—it was two days before she died. In the hospital she handed me the rectangular package and told me, “Here, Nina. You’ll need to write down your thoughts from time to time.” She was wrong. My eyes sting and my tears wet the metal flower bookmark.
Word Count 111
Person Described: Mother
Dad used to tell me how much he loved her. He did so almost every night before tucking me in. With one leg on my bed and the other resting down, he’d sigh and describe her raven hair, her black eyes, the way she pursed her red lips when she had to concentrate. “You look just like her,” he would say before kissing my forehead and going to bed. My memories of her span from the moment she kissed my knee the day I fell in the garden to the last time I saw her in the hospital. Dad held her hand.
Word Count 102
These are just three examples. Please remember to choose one person and one object.
For Thursday, please read, "The President and the Dragon: The Rise of Bruce Lee in the 1970s."
I'll keep you updated as much as possible. In the meantime, if there are any questions at all, please do not hesitate to ask. Don't wait until class time to say something was unclear. And I hope you have fun with this assignment! Don't over think it and take risks!