Writing Workshop with Dr. B.: "A Mind at Work"

For today's class, we are going to do something a little bit different. Rather than have you do the writing, Dr. B. is going to show you how she would outline and write an essay on complex characterization.  Your job for today is to watch the process that unfolds as she

1) reads through the prompt,

2) identifies the question that needs to be answered,

3) breaks down the passages she selects, and

4) answers the question.

In the comments section below, comment on anything you notice or find important in Dr. Brigman's technique.  Some questions you might consider are the following: how does she break down the question? How does she jump into the writing task? What can you do during class tomorrow and all of this week exam that will involve the same strategies?

You might also consider Amanda Vickery's advice, "a mind at work." What does Dr. B. do that shows you (and readers) her mind is "at work" while answering the question?

For help with Live Commenting as a workshop strategy, please see previous examples from Dr. B's period 2 English class here.

Update 5/24/17: Here is the rough draft of the essay Dr. B. did in class yesterday.

Port Veritas: Day 4 (9th/10th grade)

Students workshopping their writing with Robin Merrill today.

Today, we broke again into three group (5-6 students and 1 poet each).  Students who shared their work yesterday read the poems they revised for homework and got feedback from their peers.

Here are some of the ideas workshopped today by our student writers:
1) One student wrote about the Greek Titan Atlas, telling the story from the earth's perspective and personifying its feelings.  The earth feels happy to be picked up and have their burdens taken away.

2) Another student wrote from the perspective of his boat and the experiences it has each day.  This topic became a metaphor for a person who works really hard and doesn't get the respect he/she deserves.

Port Verits: Day 3 (9th/10th grade)

Beau Williams reading one of his many awesome poetry slam-winning poems.

Our second high school workshop today began with a real treat: original metaphor and persona poems by Beau Williams and Nate Amadan.

Then, several students shared their metaphor writing prompts from last night.  One student wrote about a leaf leaving a tree, which represented individuals following their dreams.  Another wrote about glasses, which represented  a metaphor for how we treat our friends, parents, or loved ones.

After we shared with the class, we broke into small groups (5 students, 1 poet each) and everyone shared their work.

Group 1 workshopping with Beau Williams (right).

Group 2 workshopping with Nate Amadan (left).

Group 3 workshopping with Robin Merrill.

Tomorrow, students will pick up where they left off and bring in revised copies of the work they did today.

Port Veritas: Poetry Workshop Day 3

One of our seniors working with Port Veritas poets Nate and Beau.

Unlike Day 1 and Day 2 of this week's poetry workshops, today we started with a new poet, Beau Williams, and only one student in Period 2!

It was amazing.

How often does a young writer get to work with three professional creative writers workshopping his/her own work one-on-one?

Our lucky senior started by sharing last night's writing prompt (see here).  He chose to write about the smell, feel, and experience of working down at the Vinalhaven Fishermen's Co-Op.

The poem was filled with lovely phrases like "the smell of ocean and pennies" to describe the foulness of bait.

Speared bait bags (photo © by Helana Brigman, 2012.)

Some workshopping tips:
1) Play around with a thesaurus.
2) Circle all of the adjectives in your poem and try another one.  See if you like it more.
3) Beau: "give the words the power they deserve.  Confidence is key."

4) Think about the distinction between words.  What do you mean when you say "life" versus "livelihood?"

5) Trim it up: "Rotten fish may just seem like rotten fish / but to the fishermen it's their livelihood" is much more powerful, punchy, and meaningful when condensed to "Rotten fish may seem like rotten fish / but it's their livelihood."

One definition of a metaphor Beau recently heard at a play: "Trying to say one thing by saying something completely different without lying."

Senior student reading poem.

What was great about today is that our student had a lot more voice in how his poem was workshopped.  Because he was talking with Robin, Nate, and Beau one-on-one, he got really comfortable talking frankly about how he was editing and revising his work.  My favorite moment was when our student writer said, "I don't want to criticize you on my own poem...but..." and told Port Veritas's founder, Nate, that he had made an error when reading his poem.  Of course, Nate was very apologetic, but it highlighted the democratizing effect of a poetry workshop.  Student writers, although growing, really do become poets.