Be prepared to share with the group 5 specific, concrete examples of how 5 different (if possible) members of your group evince the traits common to your species of animal.
LESSON:
Reading Quiz
The three levels of reading/analyzing
When I pulled the trigger I did not hear the bang or feel the kick–one never does when a shot goes home–but I heard the devilish roar of glee that went up from the crowd. In that instant, in too short a time, one would have thought, even for the bullet to get there, a mysterious, terrible change had come over the
elephant. He neither stirred nor fell, but every line of his body had altered. He looked suddenly stricken, shrunken, immensely old, as though the frightful impact of the bullet had paralysed him without knocking him down. At last, after what seemed a long time–it might have been five seconds, I dare say–he sagged flabbily to his knees. His mouth slobbered. An enormous senility seemed to have settled upon him. One could have imagined him thousands of years old. I fired again into the same spot. At the second shot he did not collapse but climbed with desperate slowness to his feet and stood weakly upright, with legs sagging and head drooping. I fired a third time. That was the shot that did for him. You could see the agony of it jolt his whole body and knock the last remnant of strength from his legs. But in falling he seemed for a moment to rise, for as his hind legs collapsed beneath him he seemed to tower upward like a huge rock toppling, his trunk reaching skyward like a tree. He trumpeted, for the first and only time. And then down he came, his belly towards me, with a crash that seemed to shake the ground even where I lay.
NPR...The power of love to transform and heal. Points to Remember:
1. SHOW, don't TELL (specific & concrete details, avoid abstraction)
2. Word choice: strong writing = strong verbs
3. The power of three
4. Start at the last possible moment
ASSIGNMENTS:
READ another great resource to use while writing a narrative (it's coming)!
READ this New Yorker article by James Stewart re-printed to commemorate the 15th Anniversary of 9/1
WRITE: Informal Essay #1: Attempt a level 3 analysis of this article. First identify the theme and purpose of the piece. Consider the title and time-period it is written in. Then, discuss the unconventional methods the author uses to convey these themes through this article (all informal essays are 1.5 types pages, double spaced, times new roman font 12)
READ this narrative by David Sedaris (listen to the author read the narrative below). As you read, consider the discussion we had in class today. Be prepared for Wednesday, to further discuss the quality of this piece and "how" it evinces the tenets of good narrative.
EDIT out to be from Formal Essay #1.
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