March 2, 2009

Today we finished the gatha poetry for the Nature Writing course. We also worked on the outline (warm-up) paragraph IV and considered how a tanka and a gatha relate to Nature Writing. We started looking at short stories as another means to express Nature Writing. The two stories that I chose to have the students read are both from different points of view (which we have been working hard on). Consider these questions when you readthe two stories:

o How is the description style different in these short stories compared to the journal entries?
o How does dialogue affect the writing?
o POV difference? Is there any? (From first person to third person)
o What is the effect of the narrator on the POV compared to journal entries?
o How do the two types relate in terms of fiction vs. non-fiction? (takes the personal observation out of the picture.)

Remember to start typing your journal revision for the portfolio.

Homework:
1) Revise either your tanka or your gatha and make a closer connect to nature. This should be done on the same paper as the original tanka or gatha.
2) Start revising your one journal entry that you have decided will go into your portfolio as your best work.
3) Read the short stories and consider the questions above. Don't write me a paper about the questions, just come prepared to discuss them.