"Most great stories of adventure, from The Hobbit to Seven Pillars of Wisdom, come furnished with a map. That's because every story of adventure is in part the story of a landscape, of the interrelationship between human beings (or Hobbits, as the case may be) and topography. Every adventure story is conceivable only with reference to the particular set of geographical features that in each case sets the course, literally, of the tale."-Michael Chabon

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Happy Earth Day!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/earthdays/player/

Monday, April 19, 2010

Presentations

Reading presentations for Tuesday:

-Buffalo for the Broken Heart by Dan O’Brien, pp. 69-124 (Erik Gerver)
-Buffalo for the Broken Heart, by Dan O’Brien, pp. 125-193 (Alexander Frisvold)
-“Fecundity,” by Annie Dillard, p. 531 (Carrie Fick) (Journal)
-from A Sand County Almanac, by Aldo Leopold, pp. 281-294 (Jordan Euson)
-The Song of the White Pelican,” by Jack Turner p. 835 (Danielle De Bruin,
Sarah Craig)

Journals

Journals are due on Tuesday (tomorrow)--be sure to include:

-1 page entry on: Buffalo for the Broken Hearted

-Journal on: “Fecundity,” by Annie Dillard, p. 531

-Journal on: from A Sand County Almanac, by Aldo Leopold, pp. 265-281

-2 paragraph response on: “Dwellings,” by Linda Hogan, p. 809,

-Journal on: “The Song of the White Pelican,” by Jack Turner p. 835 (Danielle De Bruin,

Sarah Craig)


Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Thursday


"In my writing, I try to explain and show how important the prairie is, not just to a few ranchers who make a living here, but to the country."-Linda Hasselstrom

Thursday, writer Linda Hasselstrom is visiting our class--she's a great writer, activist, and advocate of the western and Midwestern landscape.

To learn more about Linda, check out:

http://www.grassfedparty.org/component/content/article/218
http://www.windbreakhouse.com/work9.htm
http://wiki.wyomingauthors.org/Linda+M+Hasselstrom
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/author.php?auth_id=1766

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Final Portfolio

Due: the day of the final

A portfolio is your chance to look back on your writing from the semester and reflect upon it. Our class portfolio will be in the form of a chapbook or zine.

Chapbook/Zine:


Your chapbook/zine will be a collection of your favorite short journal/blog entries, and a short reflection. Please feel free to get creative with the presentation of your work.

Contents:
  • 3 "Reading Like a Writer" entries
  • 3 50 "snapshot" photos
  • Imitation poem/essay (for either Blood Dazzler or your rhetorical analysis)
  • 3 in class writings
Revise the contents of one category and write a brief reflection discussing any changes you've made.

For reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapbook