Respond to the previous post about the Atwood Stories!
Work on any of the 44 new prompts in the post below.
How are your "palm-of-the-hand" stories going?
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Writing prompts
We will be in the Creative Writing Lab today.
Continue to work on "palm-of-the-hand" stories, writing prompts and revisions.
Go to Raymond Carver site, explore and read "Little Things":
http://www.carversite.com/story.html
End of marking period is May 4!
Continue to work on "palm-of-the-hand" stories, writing prompts and revisions.
Go to Raymond Carver site, explore and read "Little Things":
http://www.carversite.com/story.html
End of marking period is May 4!
Monday, April 16, 2012
Atwood stories
Post responses to these stories here:
The first story, "True Trash," a deceptively easy going coming-of-age tale, accustoms us to the author's bold leaps in time. Set mainly in a summer camp on an island in Ontario's Georgian Bay, "True Trash" gives us a leisurely account of teen-age waitresses' fitful interaction with the "small fry" and counselors at Camp Adanaqui.
But it is only in a flash-forward of 11 years, when the former schoolboy camper Donny has dropped the last syllable from his name and grown a beard, that the story begins to take shape. During a chance encounter with him in Toronto, Joanne, a former waitress at the camp, begins to put together the missing pieces in a real-life True Romance story -- or rather, as one of the waitresses called this type of magazine, True Trash. "The melodrama tempts [ Joanne ] , the idea of a revelation, a sensation, a neat ending." But she is too sophisticated now for such a pat, "outmoded" story, and withholds from Don a revelation that would make him seem a True Trash character.
Kat...enjoys a slick rise to the top, though hers, in "Hairball," is more easily explained. "When knives were slated for backs, she'd always done the stabbing." What would otherwise be an all-too-familiar tale of comeuppance in the dreary world of fashion magazines is given an uncanny aura by the presence of a benign tumor, dubbed Hairball, which Kat has preserved from an operation and given a place of honor on her mantelpiece. "The hair in it was red -- long strands of it wound round and round inside."
The first story, "True Trash," a deceptively easy going coming-of-age tale, accustoms us to the author's bold leaps in time. Set mainly in a summer camp on an island in Ontario's Georgian Bay, "True Trash" gives us a leisurely account of teen-age waitresses' fitful interaction with the "small fry" and counselors at Camp Adanaqui.
But it is only in a flash-forward of 11 years, when the former schoolboy camper Donny has dropped the last syllable from his name and grown a beard, that the story begins to take shape. During a chance encounter with him in Toronto, Joanne, a former waitress at the camp, begins to put together the missing pieces in a real-life True Romance story -- or rather, as one of the waitresses called this type of magazine, True Trash. "The melodrama tempts [ Joanne ] , the idea of a revelation, a sensation, a neat ending." But she is too sophisticated now for such a pat, "outmoded" story, and withholds from Don a revelation that would make him seem a True Trash character.
Kat...enjoys a slick rise to the top, though hers, in "Hairball," is more easily explained. "When knives were slated for backs, she'd always done the stabbing." What would otherwise be an all-too-familiar tale of comeuppance in the dreary world of fashion magazines is given an uncanny aura by the presence of a benign tumor, dubbed Hairball, which Kat has preserved from an operation and given a place of honor on her mantelpiece. "The hair in it was red -- long strands of it wound round and round inside."
| This well crafted story concerns a contemporary woman in her
thirties who undergoes significant personal losses; in fact, she seems
to lose or lack an identity. Over the years, Kat, an "avant garde"
fashion photographer, has altered her image, even her name, to suit the
situation and the times. She has had two abortions and "learned to say
that she didn't want children anyway." The story begins when Kat undergoes surgical removal of a rare and peculiar ovarian tumor containing hair, teeth, bones (the clinical term is a dermoid cyst ); Kat dubs it "hairball " and stores it in formaldehyde on her mantelpiece. We learn that Kat's relationship with her married lover is going sour, that he will replace her as creative director at work. She fantasizes that she has given birth to "hairball" who she sees as the "warped child" of their failed relationship. Physical symptoms accompany Kat's growing emotional confusion. Hairball becomes the vehicle for an ultimate bizarre act reflecting Kat's personality disintegration. She has gone from being Katherine to Kath to Kat, to K, to being "temporarily without a name." | |
| Commentary | This story addresses the emptiness and superficiality that is pervasive in some segments of contemporary Western culture, and particularly it addresses the impact of the culture on the modern woman--the woman of the eighties and nineties. The narrative tone is almost satiric and masterfully reflects the lifestyle portrayed. The piece shows how women may subvert their own needs and best interests by the way in which they interact with men. Further, the story reminds us that abortion and surgery on reproductive organs can never be taken lightly, by patient or by physician. The implications, even when not consciously acknowledged, may be profound. |
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Wednesday workshop
Let's use the figment.com website to workshop today.
Go to figment.com. Find Ms. Gamzon's Advanced Poetry/Fiction class.
Find folder for palm-of -the hand stories.
Over the break, read "True Trash" and "Hairball" in Wilderness Tips by Margaret Atwood.
Go to figment.com. Find Ms. Gamzon's Advanced Poetry/Fiction class.
Find folder for palm-of -the hand stories.
Over the break, read "True Trash" and "Hairball" in Wilderness Tips by Margaret Atwood.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Atwood/Debra Dean
Read "My Life as a Bat" by Margaret Atwood
WRITING PROMPT
Why does the narrator think being reincarnated as a bat would be the ideal reincarnation? If you were to be reincarnated as an animal, what animal would it be? Write a monologue or short piece from the point of view of this animal.
ALSO: Please respond in a posted comment here to Thursday's workshop with Debra Dean (for credit).
What did you think of the workshop with Debra Dean? What did you learn from the writing prompts she offered?
And of course, since you have read the book, what did or did not impress you about the narrative style, characters, plot, etc.? Please respond "talking literature"---in other words, like a literary reviewer, refering to specifics in the novel and discussing them using literary terminology.
Finally, continue to work on your "Palm-of-the Hand" stories for a group workshop on Wednesday.
WRITING PROMPT
Why does the narrator think being reincarnated as a bat would be the ideal reincarnation? If you were to be reincarnated as an animal, what animal would it be? Write a monologue or short piece from the point of view of this animal.
ALSO: Please respond in a posted comment here to Thursday's workshop with Debra Dean (for credit).
What did you think of the workshop with Debra Dean? What did you learn from the writing prompts she offered?
And of course, since you have read the book, what did or did not impress you about the narrative style, characters, plot, etc.? Please respond "talking literature"---in other words, like a literary reviewer, refering to specifics in the novel and discussing them using literary terminology.
Finally, continue to work on your "Palm-of-the Hand" stories for a group workshop on Wednesday.
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