End-of-semester wrap-up (including portfolio and manifesto guidelines!)

 

FINAL PORTFOLIO

The Final Portfolio will be due by 5 PM on May 21. THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE FINAL DEADLINE (really!) Please submit your portfolio to the Final Portfolio folder in Perusall .  Also, please look over our syllabus for the grading breakdown.  Note that you  need to submit revisions 1 and 2  and the final portfolio to pass the course!  

What is a Final Portfolio?

The Portfolio gives you the opportunity to present your best work and showcase who you are as a writer. Work in the Final Portfolio should be a revision of writing you’ve done in this class this semester.

What are the guidelines?

  • You’ll submit an Artist Statement or Manifesto (if you have questions, see the manifesto slideshow HERE.)
  • You’ll submit 2-3 pieces of your strongest work (in addition to the manifesto).  I’m not too focused on page count here, but if you only turn in 3 pages, you’re unlikely to do well. It’s POSSIBLE, for example if you have 3 phenomenal poems, to get an A, but unlikely.
  • At least one of these pieces should be one of the experiments or graded assignments you’ve turned in this semester, with substantial revisions (aka, not exactly what you turned in before!)
  • You will submit on Perusall. You  may submit as a word doc or a pdf, or… if you’re feeling very fancy, a link to a website of your work!  Just remember to double-check any links to make sure they actually function.

 

 

 

Substitutes and Schedule

Hello, everyone!  This is a friendly reminder that, even though I have to go out of town, class will be meeting as usual next week., May 7 and May 9.  I have chosen these two subs because: first of all, they’re both great! And second of all, because they’re skilled in dialogue and poetry, which folks asked to learn more about.

On May 14 and 16, I will be on Zoom for (optional) 1-on-1 meetings during class time.  I’ll email you that link.

Also, I can meet with you at another time, if you’d like to talk about your final portfolio. Please email me at chall@citytech.cuny.edu if you want to set that up!

Remember, your final portfolio is due on May 21st by 5 PM on Perusall.  I CAN NOT TAKE LATE PORTFOLIOS. More info on the portfolios here! 

I will miss you (really!!) Please don’t hesitate to reach out.

New Due Date: Revision 2, Thursday April 18

Hello all!  Just a reminder that I will start grading Revision 2 on Thursday.  This means:

  • If you haven’t turned it in yet, please do so by Thurs!
  • If you already turned it in, but would like to make some changes, feel free to do so by Thursday!  Please make sure you make it clear which is the final revision

For information on the revision, please see the “Revisions” page of this site

 

Our Comic! (and what to do for Thursday)

Hey all, on Thursday, we’ll have some time to work on your upcoming revision (due April 16), so make sure you come to class with what you worked on.  Also, here is the comic we made in class (see the citations below!)

Citations:

“Bubbling Washer Overflowing Anime” prompt.

“Motorcycle Gang Many People Anime” prompt

“NYC People Running Earthquake Anime” prompt

“NYC Subway Train on Fire Anime” prompt

“Family in Apartment Pointing at Ceiling Anime” prompt

Canva Magic Media, 9 April  2024

For Tuesday, April 2: EXPERIMENT THREE DUE

Experiment 3 is due Tuesday before class. Remember that this assignment should be Creative Non-Fiction OR Fiction inspired by something true.  It will be 2-4 pages long and, as you remember, you get credit just for turning it in! When you’re finished you can post it in Perusall. 

Here are the in-class writing assignments we did throughout this unit. You can use any of these as a starting point for this assignment:

  1. A story about a time you wrote an essay
  2. A story about a meal you loved (or hated! Food that influenced you)
  3. The KWL+ essay: you researched something you care about and used it as a starting point for a creative work
  4. The story of how your parents met.
  5. The moment in history that inspired or affected you the most
  6. An essay or story motivated by a weird fact— if it helps you, look at Joyas Voladoras for inspiration.

If you have questions, please email me at chall@citytech.cuny.edu.  I don’t always see those Perusall messages!

 

 

 

For Thursday, March 28

I will give you at least 30 minutes of free- writing time in class to work on your 3rd experiment (due on April 2). Remember that this assignment should be Creative Non-Fiction OR Fiction inspired by something true.  It will be 2-4 pages long and, as you remember, you get credit just for turning it in! Come to class on Thursday with some idea of what you’ll be writing about!

Here are the in-class writing assignments we did throughout this unit. You can use any of these as a starting point for this assignment:

  1. A story about a time you wrote an essay
  2. A story about a meal you loved (or hated! Food that influenced you)
  3. The KWL+ essay: you researched something you care about and used it as a starting point for a creative work
  4. The story of how your parents met.
  5. The moment in history that inspired or affected you the most
  6. An essay or story motivated by a weird fact— if it helps you, look at Joyas Voladoras for inspiration.

Remember, this story/essay/ piece of creative work/ isn’t due until April 2, but when you’re finished you can post it in Perusall. 

 

For Tuesday, March 19

Read the personal essay: “The Year I Grew Wildly, While Men looked on.” 

By the way, I will be collecting notebooks on Tuesday, just so I can give you credit for doing the in-class writing!

As a reminder, I will be meeting with the following students at the following times:

Monday, March 18:

  • 11:00 Nathaniel (Zoom)

Tuesday, March 19

  • 12:00  Jaylen (Namm 511)
  • 12:20 Melany (Zoom)
  • 12:40  Georgios (Namm 511)
  • 1:00 Yoel (Namm 511)
  • 1:20 Ritchy (Namm 511)

For Thursday, March 14– Revision 1 Due by 10 AM.

Hello everyone!  A friendly reminder that Revision 1 is due Thursday, March 14  by 10 AM.  Please submit to the Revision 1 Perusall folder.  Remember to give your work a good title–something that isn’t “Story” or “Poem 1”.

Also, I’ll be meeting with everyone one-on-one at least once this semester.  Here are the people I’ll be meeting with this week and next. If you indicated you want to meet on Zoom, I sent you a link:

Thursday, March 14:

  • 11:00 Ritchy (on Zoom)
  • 11:20 Naselin (Namm 511)
  • 11:40 Edison (Namm 511)

Monday, March 18:

  • 11:00 Nathaniel (Zoom)

Tuesday, March 19

  • 12:00  Jaylen (Namm 511)
  • 12:40  Georgios (Namm 511)
  • 1:00 Yoel (Namm511)

Weds, March 20

  • Jazmine, Time TBD.

For Tuesday, March 12

Hi everyone! Your homework for the weekend is to keep working on Revision One (due March 14). See the “Revisions” page for details.  You can upload your assignment here. 

Remember– this is worth 10% of your grade– so please turn it in on time. I do not accept late work unless you’ve spoken with me first.

Also– please email me (chall@citytech.cuny.edu) to let me know if you’d like to meet one-on-one on Zoom  to talk about your revision or the course in general. Everyone will have to do it at least once this semester. These meetings are about 15 mins and help you answer questions about your own writing or writing in general. I am free Friday and Monday.  You’ll need to make the appointment at least 6 hours in advance!

 

 

Homework for Thursday, March 7 (no class Tuesday)

Hi everyone– we don’t have class on Tuesday, March 5. This is JUST FOR THIS CLASS. We will meet again on Thursday, March 7.

For March 7:

  • Read “Car Crash While Hitchhiking”
  • On March 7, please bring in a printed copy of the piece you will be revising. You will get feedback from one or two classmates (of your choice). See details about the revision assignment here. 
  • Keep working on your revision, due March 12. Remember what Tanya said: focus on one or two aspects for revision (making the scenes more vivid, cutting out fluff, just FINISHING the thing, etc). Don’t try to make the whole thing perfect

By the way, here is a website for help with procrastination. You don’t have to look at it, I just thought you might find it interesting, since it came up today!

Homework for Feb 29

If you haven’t finished Zoraida, READ IT!!  Remember that Tanya Rey will be zooming into our class on Thursday.

With this in mind, come to class with at least 2 questions (written  down!) for Tanya– they can be about Zoraida, her writing process, or whatever you want. Remember that we’ll be doing revisions soon, so if you want to ask her about that, go ahead!

If you haven’t submitted your short story yet, please do (details below).

Also, here is the webpage on character arcs, if you find it useful.

Another way of thinking about plot:

  • the writer teaches readers what to expect
  • something unexpected happens
  • the character reacts
  • something (usually the character) changes from beginning to end.

Remember that you have a revision (graded assignment due on March 12.) This will be 4-6 pages of work.  Keep working on it!

Assignment 2 due by 10 AM, Tues Feb 27

Hello my dears! Remember that your short story assignment is due on Tuesday. Please post by 10 AM.

 This will be a story OR the first few pages of a story.  2-4 pages (double-spaced). 

Use whichever of our in-class writing exercises you feel most excited about/ energized by  as a starting point. These were: 

  • Rewriting a fairy tale (or rewriting a story from your past) 
  • A scene from three distances: Far, Middle, Close
  • The Storymatic story (This was the one with the cards. You started with a character and then I gave you an event)
  • What happened yesterday/ a journey, using one the language you would use to talk to a friend or relative
  • An important event in your life, told from the perspective and voice of someone else who was there. 
  • Storymatic: two characters  

Also remember that we will be discussing “Zoraida” by Tanya Rey in class on Tuesday.  Don’t worry about reading it “right” or getting the correct answer. Just sit back and read the thing. Find a place you are comfortable and can focus for a while. Here’s what I’ll be asking you.  Keep in mind, there are no right or wrong answers.

  1. What happens in this story? Where does it begin? Where does it end? (in other words: what changes from the beginning to the end?) 
  2. What stuck out to you? What did you notice? 
  3. Where are you confused? What more do you want to know?
  4. Find a place where Rey uses concrete, significant detail

Homework for Tuesday, Feb 20

Read “Zoraida” by Tanya Rey. Try reading with a pen in your hand– what do you like/ not like– SPECIFICALLY about it. Mark places you get confused/ intrigued/ annoyed. why? Also, take note: how is Rey using language? What about it is surprising/ interesting/ confusing?

Trigger warning; there is some homophobia and racism mentioned here.

Tanya will be visiting our class (on Zoom) on Feb 29 to talk about this story!

For Thursday, Feb 15

 

For Feb 15, your homework is to read “Bullet in the Brain” by Tobias Wolff.  We’ll discuss the story in class on Thursday. (If that link doesn’t work, try this one. You only have to read pages 1-5 if you use this link)

I will be collecting your notebooks on Thursday so I can give you credit for your in-class writing– including the work we did today. Feel free to add to today’s assignment if you felt like you were on a roll!!

Stay warm and safe!

Feb 13– class on zoom

Hi everyone– it turns out CUNY has moved all classes tomorrow due to the upcoming snowstorm (!!). We’ll be meeting on Zoom at our regular class time (2:30 PM). I’ve sent you the Zoom link via email and text and I’ll put it on Blackboard too.  I can’t post it here because this site is public and we don’t want Zoom bombers!! If you have a problem finding the link, email me at: chall@citytech.cuny.eduAlso remember your two poems are due tomorrow. Details below. 

HW For Feb 8 and Feb 13

For Feb 8: please read the love poems packet. We’ll talk about these in class.

For Feb 13: Please upload two poems (preferably on the same document) to this folder in Perusall. You MUST have a Perusall account to upload!

I will also collect your in-class writing notebooks. I’m not going to read these or comment– I know they’re private. I’m just giving you credit for doing the work. If there is something in there that you really don’t want me to see, fold the page over and I will not look.

Guidelines:

  • Two Poems. Only one can rhyme, but you do NOT have to make either rhyme (in other words, at least one of your poems must not rhyme.)
    Use our in-class writing as a starting point– but go where you want to go with it! You can revise, add, rearrange, whatever you like!!
  • Must be turned in by 10 AM so I can read them before class
  • Please give your poems titles!!
  • Please title the file clearly with your name and the name of the assignment (for example: CarrieHallPoetry.doc)
  • Use word doc or PDF and double check that it has uploaded, and you can open it!! If using Google Docs, you will have to save your document as a .docx or .pdf and upload it here. It’s easy! Go to the FILE dropdown and click on DOWNLOAD. From there, you can choose your document type.

    Here are some of the in-class exercises we did, if you need help remembering:
  • Names (you could write a poem about your name)
  • In depth-description from a small part of The Garden of Earthly Delights, by Heironymous Bosch
  • Epistolary (letter) poem, such as to Superman!
  • Concrete, significant detail poem describing a staircase or hallway you remember
  • Love poem
  • Choose a feeling and a noun (try forces of nature, animals, household objects). Combine the two to make a metaphor. Write about it!

Homework for Thursday February 1

Please read all the poems in the poetry packet before Thursday’s class. Be sure to bring this packet with you when we meet again! Remember that homework is 30% of your grade.  See the page “course readings” for digital copies of the poems, if you prefer to read online.

Look for examples of Concrete, Significant Detail (CSD) .  Be prepared to discuss: What poem did you like the best (and why?) and any questions you might have about the poems or poetry itself! 

I also strongly suggest you join this website as a member– that way, you’ll get emails when I’ve posted announcements or assignments

To Join this class:

Login to your OpenLab account and follow these instructions to join this course.

If you’re new to the OpenLab, follow these instructions to create an account and then join the course.

Also, if you haven’t yet joined Perusall– please do it now. That’s a requirement of this class! (Info on joining is below!)

By the way, here’s a zoomable image of The Garden of Earthly Delights, the painting we wrote about in Tuesday’s class

Hi! And welcome to our first day of class!

Day One HW: 

First,  join our Perusall site This is very important, as, after today, this is where you’ll be submitting all of your writing!  Basically, you just need to go to Perusall.com using this link:  https://app.perusall.com/join/hall-jw42d If you still have questions, this page has more info 

You may be asked to provide our course code. It is: HALL-JW42D

Second, re-watch “(un)Learning my Name” by Mohamed Hassan 

Third, click “comments” above, and in your comment, introduce yourself to us and your name.

You can do this however you want– you can write a poem, a brief story, or just a conversational paragraph . You can even add a link to a video. Or record an audio file and link to it. Or draw something and upload the image. Whatever you want. Remember: we’re all about composing in the 21st century, so feel free to do what you think would be interesting for us to see/hear/learn about. You can use the work you did in class as a starting point.

 

 

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