Good Morning, Musees,

Today is Monday, 2/10/14.  (If you were absent, please see me for assignments).

Do Now:

In an NCTE (National Council of Teacher's of English) blog, the following was stated:

"Many of us think of writing in two ways. One we spell with a little "w" -- it's the writing such as notes to ourselves, photos at our niece's wedding, text messaging with our friends, and maybe even reports for work. The other we spell with a capital "W" -- it's the writing that we do when we have an assignment in school or when we're feeling creative. But writing, whether big "W" or little "w," is integral to our lives in the 21st century and many, many people, young and old, are writing every day."

What do you think are the qualities of good writing? That is, what qualities should you focus on improving in Writing for College this semester in order to make your capital "W" writing "good"?  Please respond in a thoughtful comment of a paragraph.

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This week, we will be talking about writing style, expressing your own ideas with confidence, and using powerful words in your writing.  Put thought into them and make them count!


Six Word Memoir Assignment

Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in 6 words and he replied, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” In just these six words we're able to gain much insight into Hemingway's life and lifestyle. Even more, we gain insight into what he believed defined his life story. In true Hemingway fashion, there is an entire website dedicated to teens and adults uploading their own 6-word memoirs. Your first "mini-assignment" is to create your own six word memoir that you will then upload to this blog post.

What to do:
1. Visit the website called Smithmag and peruse the six word memoirs uploaded there by thousands of people. Start to get your mind rolling as to what words you will choose to define your life thus far.

2. Keep in mind that a memoir is an account of one's personal life and experiences, so start jotting down and brainstorming a list of words that come to mind when you think of your life thus far.

3. Show thought and creativity with word choice and syntax. Arrange and rearrange words to come up with a powerful six word memoir. How about using words that pack a punch rather than the average choices? Experiment with grammar and punctuation. Use semicolons, colons, dashes, periods, commas, etc. to help give strength to some words and/or phrases over others.

4. Remember, you can ONLY use six words; no less and no more.

5. Once your six word memoir is acceptable enough for you in defining your life thus far, post it to this blog post!

Due Date: TOMORROW! In order for this post to count, your Six Word Memoir must be uploaded by the start of class on Wednesday.