ENG 1141: Discussion Board Notes (Exploring Dialogue and Point of View)

Writers,

I’ll see you soon in class, but while reading through the dialogues on our class discussion board, I have seen a growth character development and creating plot with stakes and urgency.

Some ideas to consider as we move forward: how do we use conflict, tension, character development, and dialogue to make the reader want to continue? There are many good moments on the board so far, but I want to point out a few in particular:

  • Ester’s use of the prompt to write a revenge story that gets the reader involved quickly.
  • Xinhong’s use of emotional urgency when the reader realizes the characters don’t have enough money to eat
  • Dominic’s use of dramatic tension that builds when the reader realizes someone is being asked to kill close family members.
  • Janet’s use of detail in character development. Notice how a main character’s lack of remorse can be compelling when combined with other characteristics. You can think of movies and how characters that are doing questionable things become more complex when we get a glimpse of the mind of the character behind them.
  • Sakif’s story takes on sudden urgency in the very last line of the dialogue.

There were many others! We’ll continue to talk about plot, conflict and how good stories evolve in today’s class on flash fiction. If you haven’t posted on the discussion board, you can still do so here:

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/groups/eng1141-sears-sp2022/forum/topic/session-15-discussion-board-exploring-dialogue-and-point-of-view/

See you in class at 2:30 pm!
Prof. Sears

Session 13 Discussion Board Notes: Story Starters

Writers,

I’m enjoying reading the story starters discussion board. To recap the plot exercise started during our last session on developing plot, you had two options: to kick off two paragraphs of a new story using one of four in-class prompts OR to plot out the beginning, middle, and end of longer story.

Last week we also discussed how fiction often deals with dilemmas and concerns that are very much true to life. Many of the story starters below reflect what is going on in our difficult and unique world and in New York City right now or not too long ago.

If you have not gone, there is still time. Please note that whatever you start here can be developed as we move forward in the class. To get inspired, here is a summary of what is there so far on the Session 13 Discussion Board: Story Starters

Ester uses the in-class prompt to start a story about lockdown and chaos in grocery stores when the pandemic began. This will sound familiar to many of us who were in NYC when the pandemic began. Nice details, Ester!

Xiang Lin writes of ethics and adventure during wartime in his story beginning of a  kingdom where knights are caught between time: some from the middle ages fight with swords while others fight with guns.

Cesar’s beginning draws from our in-class writing prompt and goes back to the early days of the pandemic when the idea of it all seemed unreal.

Xinhong’s story also explores ethics and dilemmas encountered during wartime, in particular the difficulty faced by refugees who have to start their lives over.

Sakif’s story takes a different perspective on the story prompt from class and tells of a lockdown where people forced together learn secrets that were kept even from family members. Notice how Sakif successfully builds suspense at the end. I hope you keep working on this Sakif!

Dominic offers the complex beginning, middle, and end of a story about a place named Malus that is shifting between different types of rule while dealing with an attack from another country called Vitis. The royal family is divided and then brought back together in a plot with twists and complications and ethical concerns. Maybe we’ll get to see this story fleshed out before our fiction module ends, Dominic!

Janet also used the lockdown prompt to discuss the panic experienced within a city uncertain of what will come in less than 24 hours. The cool and calm protagonist waits to avoid the rush at the store but arrives to find nothing left. The focus throughout this beginning is noticing how time passes.

Adrian’s story begins with a philosophical tone to take the reader into a dark world were death is constant and everyone is forced to do physical labor. This story too has an ominous ending and an illustration (see his link). This almost reads like a prose “ekphrasis,’ Adrian. I hope you continue this story.

Shahat’s story starts with a very good first line drawn from one of the in-class prompts and explores the dilemma of a group of friends trying to handle a difficult ethical situation. Accountability quickly takes an interesting and high-stakes turn in these opening paragraphs. Shahat, I hope we learn what happens these young people and what they decide to do.

Alice’s strong first sentence also starts with an in-class prompt. Her paragraph gives a summary of a whole story with a beginning middle and end. If you want to turn this into a more complete story, Alice, you could eventually add more details about where this town is show a bit more of the scene when the people abruptly force Andy into the car.

Write on, everyone and contribute on the discussion board if you not done so. Here is the link to the board again:

Session 13 Discussion Board: Story Starters

 

 

 

 

Discussion Board Notes: Abecedarian Poems

Abecedarian Notes:

I’m impressed by the new abecedarians on the OpenLab site. In these eleven posts, there are discussions of dreams, of cities, of frustration with world politics, …… Your work with the challenging letters has also proved productive.

If you have not posted, please remember that participation on this board will count as attendance for Thursday, March 3. The discussion board link is at the bottom of this post.

Here are some notes from those who have participated so far:

Ester bravely writes first and gives the reader a keyhole view of a sunny day in New York. Waiting for a subway becomes  wonderfully “xanthic” or yellowish. Dominic explores a bleak society writing, “no more are the times of reason, is such times have ever been present in this world.” Notice how his ideas break through the lines and how he incorporates the words xenocide and zealot. Jeanpierre writes about a character who dreams of being an actor and the frustration of seeking success until the actor receives a mysterious call from Xander (good way to use that X!) Muztahid writes philosophically about maintaining childhood dreams in a world shaped by pain. Notice how he returns to childhood with its imagined “xilinous” beasts but ends with a stoic look at the present. Ashiley gives us a love poem, using those tricky letters in words that often come up in relationships: vexation and yearning, feelings zapped away from the heart. Cesar writes about the challenge of the monotony of unfulfilling jobs and dreaming of vacation time with “xanthic” sunshine.

Alice’s abecedarian creates a world of animals, using the letters in some places to create names including a fish named Joseph, a very big fish, who makes a snack of Henry the Penguin, but they are all endangered by the “xenophobic” poacher. Xiang writes about gaming, using some of the letters to name characters including  a hero named Jinx and on the team Kayle, Morgana, Nunu, and Pantheon. (By the way, the header of our OpenLab class site is taken from below the oculus of the Roman pantheon.) Janet writes of an intense circus of young people who experience joy that is “quixotic” but wicked dialogues sometimes turn sadly xenophobic.

Xinhong writes about one of those rare good days when life serves too much cake but leaves enough time to play the xylophone! Mary writes about friendship, using the challenging letters to talk about quitting, individual uniqueness and values, and howling at the moon.

Here is the link to the Discussion Board-Abecedarian Poems. Post before the end of the day today, March 7:

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/groups/eng1141-sears-sp2022/forum/topic/discussion-board-abecedarian-poems/

Breaking the Line Discussion Board and LAF Contest

Writers,

Great work on the Discussion Board! Some of you are doing interesting things with line breaks, in particular Scanio and Janet Lu! See them on the board (and you can still post if you haven’t). The link is HERE. Remember to log in if you are trying to post.

I’ll see you soon in class at 2:30 pm! I’ll mention this also in class, but here is information about submitting work to the LAF contest and attending the event on ZOOM with poet Layli Long Soldier.

2022 Literary Arts Festival Writing Competition Final

 

Discussion Board Notes

Writers,

Thank you for submitting posts to our last discussion board. A quick roundup:

Some of you wrote about dinners with enough details to make us all hungry; others wrote about movies and dreams. There is a letter to an entire football team! There are gratitude lists, (including a hats off to teachers willing to write recommendations). A thoughtful exploration of why writing about what we always involves risk. Another writer discusses the painful experience of being bullied.

As these were written in response to the idea of keeping a “Writer’s Notebook,” keep in mind that writing is act of courage. Like Joan Didion suggests, we sometimes write in order to discover what it is we need or have to say. As writers, we write to discover ideas. We don’t know where we’ll end up. (More on that in today’s discussion of poetry.)

The responses you gave each other also were valuable. Writing is very much about listening to and reading what others write. We’ll write more in class today at 2:30 pm! If you haven’t had a chance to post or to respond to another writer’s post, here is the link to the discussion board:

Discussion Board: Writers Notebook Prompt 1

See you at 2:30 pm