Avoid Cliches!

Avoid cliches in your writing.  Here are a few examples of cliches--you should avoid using all of them!

• As quick as lightning
• It was a dark and stormy night
• It was love at first sight
• Everything happens for a reason
• Tall, dark, and handsome
• Life is like a box of chocolates
• Sports metaphors: Winning isn't everything--it's the only thing
• We were born ready
• Opposites attract 
• Things come and go
• It was all a dream
• Please, Mr. Wieffering is my father...call me Freddy.
• Ugly bridesmaids dresses
• tall drink of water
• rain in a scary story
• The word "beautiful"
• Stock characters like the nerd; popular girl/guy; ordinary, nondescript average man, blond, blue-eyed beauty, cheerleader, Disney movies

Class Poetry

School is sometimes good
Lunch time is the best time, yeah
School is out by two.


The cold makes me sad
Winter chases away light,
But you bring back warmth
Like the sun melting the snow
You are like flowers in bloom.

Poetry due dates

• Thursday, March 5: 3 poet's philosophy papers due (2 pages each = 6 pages)
• Don't forget the Works Cited pages
  
• Thursday, March 5: Peer Editing
• Thursday, March 12: Own Philosophy of Poetry due
• Don't forget the Works Cited page
  
• Thursday, March 12: Peer Editing
• Tuesday, March 17: Own poetry due
• Tuesday, March 17: Peer Editing
• Tuesday, March 24: Final Poetry Project Due
• Don't forget to include the poems you love!
  
• Tuesday, March 24-Wednesday, March 25: Poetry Presentations
• Thursday, March 26: Writing Notebooks Due
  

Upcoming Due Dates

• Writing notebooks: Friday, February 13th--added assignment: From today, read excerpt from Susan Allen Toth's Leaning into the Wind and write a personal story retelling a past experience where the weather is a character in the story.
• First Completed Draft of Memoir: Tuesday, February 17th
• Final Draft of Memoir: Friday, February 20th

Memoir Due dates

For the memoir you are reading on your own, you need to write four journals/posts while you are reading and then one last journal as a reflection on the entire book (a total of 5 journals). Each journal should be at least one page long.

Think about the writer's craft. You may want to write about:

• literary devices the author uses
• style elements
• affect the writing has on you
• favorite passages and explain why they are your favorite passages

Due dates:

• 1st post due Friday, February 6th.
• 2nd post due Wednesday, February 11th.
• 3rd post due Tuesday, February 17th.
• 4th post due Thursday, February 19th.
• Final reflection on entire book due Tuesday, February 24th.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

In the computer lab:
Two blog posts are due
Make sure you have access to the class wiki: creativewritingquest.wikispaces.com
Set up your aggregator: either google reader or netvibes.com
Add sitemeter: sitemeter.com

• Go to sitemeter.com
• Sign up for free
• Once you have an account, go to manager
• Click on html
• Copy html
• Go to your blog's layout page
  
• Add a gadget
• Click on add html
• Paste the sitemeter html
• Save the gadget
• Save the layout
  

Add a picture to your blog

2 February 2009

Class Activities:

• Sign up for memoir
• Make sure Ms. Peifer knows what your blog address is
• Writing prompt
• Read Alice Walker's "My Mother's Blue Bowl"
• Write a reaction in your reading reaction notebook on the writer's craft.
  

Writing Prompt:

• Choose a physical characteristic to write about: your hand, your hair, your foot, your freckles, your laugh, your height, etc. What are the emotional implications of that physical characteristic?