I have just shot a short video in which I look back on the initial video I created at the beginning of this module and reflect on the goals I set myself then and whether I have managed to meet them or not. It's only 6 minutes so, I can guarantee you will be able to endure it! :-)
MA DTLT14-15 Creative Writing
This blog is dedicated to my reflections on the Advanced Language Teaching: Technology-enhanced Creative Writing in a Foreign Language module while in the second semester of the University of Nottingham MA in Digital Technologies for Language Teaching.
Sunday, May 10, 2015
IDT1415 CW Entry 21 - Reflecting on my Progress on the Creative Writing Module
As I said in my previous post, this Creative Writing Module has been a true journey of discovery in terms of professional, academic and personal achievements. I feel I have come a long way, but at the same time that there is still a long way to go. This is not necessarily a negative aspect of this journey, but a rather exciting one as it means I'll have an endless array of possibilities for development and learning.
I have just shot a short video in which I look back on the initial video I created at the beginning of this module and reflect on the goals I set myself then and whether I have managed to meet them or not. It's only 6 minutes so, I can guarantee you will be able to endure it! :-)
I have just shot a short video in which I look back on the initial video I created at the beginning of this module and reflect on the goals I set myself then and whether I have managed to meet them or not. It's only 6 minutes so, I can guarantee you will be able to endure it! :-)
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
IDT1415 CW Entry 20 - My Story has really been a 'Journey'!
When I started the Creative Writing & Technology module of my second semester in the MA in DTLT with the University of Nottingham, I was intrigued and also a little concerned about the whole idea of creativity and the idea that creativity is a synonym of freedom. With this in mind I struggled a little to understand how it was possible to be creative and still have some boundaries which seems to be contradictory. I soon reliased that being creative or a creative writer requires 'technique' and this provides the 'loose' parameters which, IMHO, allow the writer-to-be to become aware of the fact that bad creative writing is easy but good creative writing is as complex as trying to define creativity (WritersTreasure.com2015).
We started with a series of reallly interesting exercises which aims at raising our awareness of the different techniques amognst them we had to write a short piece of fiction. My initial story can be seen here. Please note the Entry 7 of my blog which has a link to the Storybird version of it, now shows the updated and final version of my story, which is also available here. Anyhow, I'm writing today to share my final draft and also to reflect a little on 'my journey'.
When posed with the question of what to write about I thought it would be a nice idea to write about how much my dog meant to me and to write about our relationship via a fictional story. The idea really caught me and so I started the process which was long but not tortuous! I must admit that understanding - and please see I am not using the word 'mastering' Point of View (PoV) was a real challenge. I know, some poeple get it straightaway and some don't, I'm fine with that. What really mattered to me was to be able to get it in the end. Now, as you read my story you may still think I still don't get it so it's ok, it's a process after all isn't it? I think that in my third draft - which obvisouly implies possibly a fourth one - I have managed to aligne PoV compared to the first draft where it was all over the place and managed to confuse my readers.The concepts of Plot, Character, Scene and the idea that a good writer doesn't tell but shows were friendlier to me. Time of course has been one of my major constraints in getting more done as being a student and having a full time job plus a few other part time ones does not help, so if you're planning on getting another MA while being employed, make sure you have only one job!
Anyways, one of the things I like best about this whole process is that initially I thought it was going to be so easy and then I realised in the making that creative writing is a craft and as such you need to write and write and write more and read and read and read more to 'see' these techniques - theory alone does not work, not for me so I'm grateful to Veronica, my tutor, for her patience :-). And even if I still feel that I haven't got there yet, it is my journey and I'm happy with how it's going.
References
Writer's Treasure. Creative Writing 101. 2015. [online] Last accessed 17 April 2015 at:
http://www.writerstreasure.com/creative-writing-101/
Saturday, April 18, 2015
IDT1415 CW Entry 19 - Feedback in Creative Writing
What opportunities of feedback can be extracted
from the creative writing activity in Veronica's PowerPoint presentation?
After
watching the slide presentation, this was the question that resonated in my head
and so I've decided to try and answer it with my context and students in mind.
First of all, I believe that the different parts of the activity afford
different opportunities for feedback. For instance, in the first part: The
Elements, the tasks are open ended (Describe 2 different science fiction settings which could be used
in a story; Invent and describe three
different science fiction characters; Design/sketch/describe three
different modes of transport which could be used in a science fiction story;
Think of and write down one problem which could happen in a science
fiction story, and Think of and write also about one problem) and there are no rules, then the
focus of feedback is totally up to us, the activity or even better then
students. Why not ask them what they want feedback on? This would make them
even more receptive as they would be agents in the decision making process.
Secondly,
in part two: Structure, the tasks focus on the different parts of the story:
the start, the characters, potential problems and resolutions, and a
conclusion. Again, here it is possible to negotiate what the focus of feedback
will be and if manageable why not foci on different aspects. I can think of
several possibilities e.g. feedback not only coming from the tutor but also
from the students themselves (peer
feedback) with assigned foci for each group after the writing stage, or
carousel feedback where students put their work up on the walls around the
classroom and so they all read the different parts with the aim of finding at
least one thing to give feedback on either positively or on possible
improvement areas.
Thirdly, I
think that the editing stage could go smoothly hand in hand with the feedback
stage as we pay more attention to the texts produced when editing. Here I think
it would be important to dissect the difference between editing and giving
feedback and the directions these can come from. We can use an editing written
correction scheme or system which is popular in language teaching which the
teacher uses to show where the problems are but without say which it is so that
the student is then required to think more carefully about it and self correct.
This I see as a hybrid between editing and feedback. However, feedback does not
have to come only from the teacher so this would be a great opportunity to
introduce peer feedback. This would require clear guidelines and student
training as clarity and transparency is one of the keys highlighted by (Moon
2002) in terms of design of assessment
criteria.
Finally, I
will conclude with another question for you all...
What are the different
sources of writing (not written) feedback in your classroom?
References
Moon, J., 2002. Writing and using assessment criteria. The
Module and Programme Development Handbook: A Practical Guide to Linking Levels,
Outcomes and Assessment Criteria, pp.79–106.
IDT1415 CW Entry 18 - Collaborative Writing and Editing
I really liked the idea of Freewriting as presented
in this week's materials and developed by Elbow (1998, 2000). I think that this
kind of writing would be beneficial for our students as most of them (97%) are
on exam preparation courses which are demanding and to a certain extent a little prescriptive as
there is a very clear path to follow. Freewriting
would provide some freedom from the set writing techniques and a good
opportunity to explore language from a different angle. In my current context,
both private and public freewriting would be possible, but I would argue that
public writing would be a much better approach as Lave and Wenger (1991)
suggest that learning requires social interaction and collaboration. Students
would be more motivated to pay more attention to their writing as it would be
read by others and this along with the possibility of integrating media so that
their 'active learning experience ... is social, participatory and supported by
rich media' (Mcloughlin
& Lee 2008) as I argued in a blog post here.
The editing strategies suggested in the
Thinking Writing materials for this week are also interesting both in terms of
their applicability to my own story and in the classroom. However, I believe
that for these strategies to be implemented in my context they would need some
adaptation as our students as stated above mainly follow exam prep courses and
so the changes to the Upper Main Suite exams, FCE and CAE, introduced this year
means these strategies come in handy as all students are now required to write
an essay as one of the 2 writing tasks. I
believe that some of the strategies listed are more challenging than others and
this added to the fact that our students are still language learners at
different levels means that they would have to be carefully selected and
possibly diluted. For instance, I could
use the following strategies with a group of First Certificate students who have
lessons twice a week for 1 hour and 45 minutes each time.
- Underline all the verbs you use - as they are familiar with this type of identification task. I think it would be beneficial for them to make them think and assess whether the verbs or other parts of speech do what they are intended to do as this will raise their level of awareness. However, I believe they would need a lot of support in the few lessons as the weaker students may not be able to 'see' how these parts of speech work as a whole. I would use it with both First and Advanced students, and possibly with lower main suite, Preliminary students.
- Summarising the main ideas - I believe this would be a very useful exercise as my Italian students tend to have difficulty summarising. As a lower order thinking skill, summarising requires students to be able to understand the text to be able to identify the main points and so writing the main ideas on the side of the paragraph would help them visually. Again, I would also model for and do this activity with the students so as to build their confidence. I could use this strategy both with my First and Advanced students, and possibly with Preliminary students. However, I can see the activity taking a lot longer in the initial stages because of their lower ability.
- Sentences of increasing length - I think this activity would really stretch my Advanced students and so I would be willing to try it out with then. On the other hand, I think that it would not be appropriate for my First students as it may be too much of a stretch if not adapted somehow e.g. sentences an x number of specific cohesive devices or parts of speech. I would only use it with lower levels like Preliminary by using phrases carefully designed by me so as to show them how it works in a controlled environment and scaffolding guided experimentation.
The remaining three strategies (negative
summary, a piece of writing in your field that you admire, and common patterns)
would be used with advanced classes with examples in class and most of the work
done for homework so as to maximise their speaking in class.
So what about your context? Which strategies could you
implement?
References
Elbow, P. 1998.
Writing without Teachers, 2nd
edition, New York: Oxford University Press (1st
edition 1971). [online] Last accessed 1 April 2015 at: moodle.nottingham.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=1421309
Elbow, P. 2000.
Everyone Can Write New York: Oxford
University Press. [online] Last accessed 1 April 2015 at: moodle.nottingham.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=1421309
Lave, J. and Wenger, E. 1991. Situated learning: legitimate
peripheral participation, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Mcloughlin, C. & Lee, M.J.W., 2008. Future Learning
Landscapes : Transforming Pedagogy through Social Software. Innovate,
5(4).
IDT1415 CW Entry 17 - Endings
Can you apply any of Chekhov's 'subversive
endings' to your story?
As Barb
mentioned in her blog post,
writing a powerful ending to a story is an art and would like to think that
since practice makes perfect as they say, then I need a lot of practice! While
reading Jauss' article
I was happy to see that it is also possible to end a story with everything
going back to normal or as it was before. And yet, I think that simple as it
seems, achieving it is not as much for Chekhov's intricate work would in its
simplicity add complexity by creating an unexpected ending which is what makes
them 'subversive' in my opinion. I really like how Kolpakov, in the Chorus
Girl, goes from being passive to fully emotional in the end, showing life, or
what Jauss implies in his article, returning alive. I find these subversive
endings exciting and fascinating as they do reflect real life as Jauss says.
Also, because as he also says they do
'undercut our expectations' and can see my story having a subversive ending
which brings in a pinch of chaos to an end that seemed predictable. This would
make it even more memorable, I'd say, but this is yet to be decided.
As it is
usual for me, I decided to created a table summarising Chekhov's Closure
Strategies as they're called by Jauss as it will help me to keep the options at
hand when working on my third draft.
Chekhov's Closure Strategies
|
|
1. Anti-epilogues
|
'he
typically returns the character, and us, to the uncertainty of life, leaving
us wondering what will happen next'. 'How will it end?' Grace >Paley: 'The
open destiny of life'.
|
2. Reverse epilogues
|
There is
a shift to the past when we expect a move to the future. It says what 'has
happened' not what 'will happen', implying no future change as suggested by
Frydman. Clear example in Pasha's ending where she is humiliated and one
would expect she'd learnt her lesson and this to trigger change but instead
Chekhov finishes by remembering her previous humiliation implying no future
change.
|
3. Echo endings
|
Chekhov 'conveys the essential changelessness
of those lives—... by echoing in the ending the events, imagery, and/or
language of the story’s opening.' e.g. in A Strange Land he finishes with the
sentence: 'The same performance begins over again, and Champoun's sufferings
have no end'. In short, the story would end in the same way it began.
|
4. Chiastic endings
|
Are those
where the ending repeats the words and/or actions of the opening in reverse
order. 'Cathy Popkin compares such endings to the rhetorical device chiasmus,
in which the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases are reversed. The example given in The House with the
Mezzanine where Monsieur X describes in reverse order the path he walked when
he initially approached Zhenya and how this represents
|
5. False climaxes
|
Where the
conflict remains unresolved, the character ultimately unchanged. In 'Misery'
Iona fails to find someone who will listen to his story and in the end he
tells his story to his horse, which is a false climax as even if he finds an
audience -the horse - it is not a real audience.
|
6. Omitted climaxes
|
Conrad
Aitken: these stories which do not ... conclude at all - they merely stop.'
However, conclusions are not premature. Conflict cannot be resolved. These
are in Frydman's terms 'dead end stories'.
|
7. External climaxes
|
'An
epiphany is more powerful if the reader experiences it rather than witnesses
it'. He does it through an unreliable narrator e.g. The Little Joke, the
narrator recounts a joke he claims not to understand but the readers do -
that in reality he did lover her and missed one chance at love. He also does
it through analogy: in 'Fortune' he compares the shepherds to the sheep and
the implications of this analogy are an epiphany to the reader.
|
8. Temporary climaxes
|
Or
'relapse endings' show the protagonist back where they started. '... relapse
plot is perhaps Chekhov’s most common solution to the conflict between the
desire for narrative closure and his belief in the relative changelessness of
human beings...'. In a Gentleman Friend, Vanda has an epiphany which does not
last as she ends up in the same conflict (being a prostitute) at a club
called 'Renaissance'. The Darling is an example of the relapse plot on
steroids as there are repeated relapses as in a 'novella-like fashion'.
|
9. Complication-creating climaxes
|
In this
type of ending characters do change without relapsing but this change makes
things more difficult. In Neighbors, Pyotr's resolution to whip Vlassitch for
seducing his sister Zina dwindles as the story progresses making the story
more 'falling action' rather than 'rising action'.
|
10. Conflict-creating climaxes
|
Endings
which resolve one conflict by creating a completely new one. In Sleepy, Varka
strangles the baby (solves the conflict preventing her from sleeping), but
knows that when she wakes up the new conflict awaits her: going to jail.
|
11. Extended anti-climaxes
|
The
climax is given so early in the story that it becomes literally
anticlimactic. In The Teacher of Literature, the story builds toward the
conventional happy ending of a wedding, but then goes beyond it to the
mundane disappointment that follows. In The Story of an Unknown Man Chekhov
builds toward the narrator’s transformation into a new person very early in
the story, but what happens next deflates that climax and extend the
character’s anticlimactic return to the “small print” of life. This is one of
Chekhov’s masterpieces. The climactic scene in Ward No. 6 sees the narrator
ready to kill his enemy but fails. Then for 35 pages he focuses on the
questions the protagonist's change raises.
|
12. Shifts in address, tense, and/or PoV
|
In The House
with the Mezzanine the narrator changes from addressing the audience to his
lots love Zhenya. In A Boring Story this happens too and there is also a
change of tense to past tense revealing a sense of loss which was kept at bay
by using the present to describe past events using the present. In Expensive
Lessons the shift is to the present showing how the protagonist has failed to
master French and chronicled everything in the past tense up to then. In a
Trifle from Real Life Chekhov changes abriptly from Nikolai to Aliosha's PoV in
the story's final sentence. The shift shows the story was about the child,
Aliosha and not the adult, Nikolai. In Gusev, the PoV shifts from Gusev after
his death to the sea creatures not other characters.
|
What's your experience of writing subversive
endings?
Unfortunately,
I have very little experience of writing subversive endings as this is the
first time that I've come across them. I plan to use the table above to add one
to my story, but I haven't decided yet which one it will be. I think they all
have a different appeal and as Zac (2012) mentioned in his video, stories can
cause different reactions to listener/reader - empathy being my preferred
option over distress.
References
Jauss, D.,
2010. Returning Characters to Life: Chekhov's Subversive Endings.
[online]. Last accessed 25 March
2015 at: http://www.writersdigest.com/jauss-article.
Zac, Paul., 2012. “Empathy,
Neurochemistry, and the Dramatic Arc.” [online]. Last accessed October 16
April 2015 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHeqQAKHh3M
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