Name
Insert Date
Class
Poem about dad
Aug 26 1 1st draft; discussed metaphor problem in the second stanza with K
C
with Bob: he said I should be careful not to overuse clichés in my description
Evening Star (was: Brilliant Light) (poem about night sky)
Sep 5 1 first draft at home, revised twice; shared with parents, who like it
Sep 6 1 C with K: discussed poor rhythms (esp. lines 4 and 7) and stilted word choices (“orb”: what was I thinking?)
Sep 9 2 altered phrasing throughout poem
C with Bill and Jan: Bill says I still have a lot of cliche word choices (like “omniscient soul”); Jan thinks they are fine
Sep 25 3 scrapped earlier work in favor of a new focus; changed format to sonnet and added element about relationships
The Midas Touch (short story about my grandfather)
Aug 28 j started as journal entry
Sep 1 0 discussed outline for story with K and Jenny
Sep 2 1 started first draft; trouble with description of grandpa’s house
Sep 15 1 continued working on first draft; Jenny says description of hallway works
Sep 24 1 finally finished first draft; awaiting feedback from K and hoping she doesn’t take as long to get it back to me as I took writing it
Sep 19 1 tried and abandoned
Sep 19 1 first draft finished, but it really stinks; C with K about rhythm; she gave me ideas for revision of lines that don’t work
Sep 21 1.1 C with Brian and Sandi; they said my changes in line 3 don’t help, but suggested that I make it comic
Sep 22 2 comic version works better, I think, but the ending needs tons of help; scheduled a conference with K
Michael (character sketch about a retarded child)
Sep 13 0 got idea watching my brother; brainstormed thoughts
Sep 14 1 finished first draft
Sep 15 1 C with Brian and Bill; they suggest I focus more on adding to the character of Michael’s sister
Sep 17 2 fleshed out Michael’s sister by giving her a scene alone watching him
Sep 20 2.1 small changes in wording
C with K: suggested POV change to reflect changes in D2
C with Brian and Bill: they basically agreed with K; I’ll try it from her POV
Hello, Journal
EP: Passion
What I think about aardvarks
LD #1: dad at dinner
Bilbo and me
A thousand steps
Random jottings
Dyslexic penguins
LD #2: molly reading a paper
Marathon eating
Little boy blue and other perverts
Random jottings 2
Walter and the Tin Box
Silly sonnet
The Real Thing
EP: love
EP: friendship
LD
Creatures who live under my bed
Puff the Magic Dragon
Why?
EP: pain
Sep 24-30
In My Room
A Thousand Uses For a Broken Brick
LD #4: Brian in the cafeteria
Chocoholic
Warthogs and Other Fine Pets
Cumulative Journal Totals:
28 entries. Locations: 17 in Rm. 55; 6
at home; 3 in cafeteria; 2 in car
Styles: 4 diary; 7 poems; 4 life drawings; 5 story starters; 2 random jottings; 5 emotional portaits
1 Sep 2 Colleen “Midget Glances” d1
2 Sep 6 Marianne “On the Wall” d1
3 Sep 13 Robert “Incendiary Bananas” d1
4 Sep 15 Alaina “Musings From a Teenage Philosopher” d1.1
5 Sep 26 Marianne “On the Wall” d2
The Firm by John Grisham 8/26 1-90
8/28 91-175
8/29 176-234
9/6 finished
The Stranger by Albert Camus 9/12 1-116
9/15 finished
Intensity by Dean Koontz 9/16 1-38
9/17 39-75
9/18 abandoned for now
A Book of Stories by Joyce Carol Oates 9/21 1-70
9/24
71-115
9/28
116-131
How to Make a Workshop Summary
Each student in WW must, once a week, turn in a revised and updated Workshop Summary (WS) in which you outline specifically which pieces you worked with that week and what you did with them. The purpose is twofold: a record for you of your accomplishments and a quick review for me of your effort for the week. Although it may not always be returned to you, this is a class assignment and should be treated as such. It should, however, only help your grade if you do it correctly and on time.
The WS is simple to make if you follow this format:
On any computer, open a file and name it “WS” or “Summary.” Format the file exactly as I have done in
this model! Any deviation will hurt
your grades. Be sure that you insert
the date in the heading; otherwise it will not automatically update itself with
each week’s WS. (There ought to be an
Insert Date command in the File or Edit menu, or there might be an Insert
menu.)
Each piece on which you work should be listed
separately. Also: provide each piece
with a generic description, as in “poem about dad” or “poem about raindrops.” Titles can and do change, but the nature of
the piece remains the same. For any
date on which you work on the piece, there should be an entry that shows the date
and the work you have done.
The current week’s work should be bold
or colored or highlighted. In order to do this: either drag the mouse over what you have typed
that day and select Bold or a color or a highlight from the ruler, or just
type everything new in the style you desire. Either way, after printing or sending the piece to me via e-mail, select
ALL and deselect your style before saving
Otherwise, you’ll already have highlighted work when you start typing the
next week.
For your journal summary, note the titles of your
pieces. (New titles should be
highlighted.) Also, remember to change
the numbers in your cumulative summary.
Note: The designations for draft numbers and styles
of journal entries are idiosyncratic.
In this sample WS, draft numbers are used like software versions, with a
full whole number jump only for major revisions and a .1 or .2, etc. for
smaller revisions. In the Journal
Summary, phrases like “emotional portrait” and “life drawing” are made up; the
former is used to mean a physical description of an emotion, and the latter
means a secret observation of someone.
Feel free to find your own format or style designations.