CW Calendar: Fall / Winter 2015-2016
September 8-11 (Week One)
T: Freshmen only
W: Review syllabus; introductions; begin School Memory assignment #1
R: (“Day 1”) Cont. #1; draft in-class; create google.doc
F: (2) Share #1, critique, revise. Read “Bobby”; HW: Bring childhood / family photo
September 14-18 (Week “One” cont.)
M: HOLIDAY
T: Review “Bobby”; work on #2 (Childhood photo)
W: #2 due; work on #3 (3 paragraphs)
R: #3 due; share, critique, revise; work on / read #4 (read student essays)
F: Summer Reading Test
September 21-25 (Week Two)
M: #3 due.
T: #4 due. Discuss #4. [For Friday: Read essays by Martin, etc.]
W: HOLIDAY
R: See Sweeney essay; #5 “rant” in class. Brainstorm for Personal Essay / Narrative
F: #5 due. Read essays. [HW due: Read misc. essays by Martin, Black, Ford,
Sedaris; in-class critique]
September 29 – October 2 (Week Three)
M: Work on Personal Essay / Narrative [Discuss four essays. Read Dunham, Eggers.]
T: Work on Personal Essay / Narrative
W: Work on Personal Essay / Narrative
R: Work on Personal Essay / Narrative: Polished draft due
F: Work on Personal Essay / Narrative: [Draft due. Dunham/Eggers critique due
Monday. Hand out “White Angel” by Michael Cunningham]
October 5 – October 9 (Week Four)
M: Draft due; share, revise… [Dunham/Eggers critique due. Hand out “White
Angel” by Michael Cunningham]
T: Final essay due; read aloud in class…
W: Fiction Exercise #1: Read POV excerpts and write four scenes…
R: Work on Fiction #1
F: SSR, or Work on Fiction #1, due Monday [“White Angel” critique due Tuesday.
Hand out “Separating” by John Updike]
October 12 – 16 (Week Five)
M: COUMBUS DAY. IN-SERVICE.
T: POV assignment due—four scenes; share… [“White Angel” critique due. Hand
out “Separating” by John Updike]
W: Work on “Airport Scene” #2
R: Share and discuss “Airport Scene”; revise and polish.
F: Write a short-short story that stands alone, in third or first-person (#3)
JZ @ Columbia Seminar
October 19 – 23 (Week Six)
M: Read “The Flowers” by Alice Walker; discuss how it works as a complete story,
despite its brevity; see other short-short stories. [“Separating” in-class critique; hand
out “The Love of My Life” by T.C. Boyle]
T: Write a scene, in contrast to a story (#4)
W: revise and polish story and scene assignments
R: Read “Shot” and answer questions
F: SSR
October 26 – 30 (Week Seven)
M: Discuss “Shot”; search for news article for #5 (Hand out: “The Love of My Life”
by T.C. Boyle)
T: Work on #5 Scene: Creating sympathy for the character; writing a compelling
opening scene to a story (inspired by a real-life news story)
W: 3-HOUR DELAY. No first period.
R: Present scenes; reveal original inspirations… Readers Theater Period 1
F: Readers Theater pd. 5. Critique due Wednesday: “The Love of My Life” by T.C.
Boyle) Readers Theater 5-8
November 2 – 6 (Week Eight)
M: “Story Machine” #6 scene-writing assignment: writing a last scene in a story.
Exercise plus brainstorm…
T: IN-SERVICE DAY
W: #6 due; peer review. Present and discuss scenes. Due: critique on “The Love of
My Life” by T.C. Boyle
R: Anne Tyler’s “Holding Things Together”; read, do #7 (arcs of 8 scenes in the story)
F: work on #8 (outline of own story)
November 9 – 13 (Week Nine)
M: Story assignment intro
T: rough outline discussion; explain overall arc of story
W: polished outline and 1 page due (consider POV; third v. first, etc.)
R: 2 pages due
F: “25 Stories by 18 Year Olds”; critique draft due Monday (2+ pages due Monday)
END FIRST MARKING PERIOD
November 16 – 20 (Week Ten – 1)
M: “25 Stories…” critique due; discuss stories; 2-4 pages due
T: Work on story. Read “Happy Chang” opening aloud; discuss opening (read all for Thursday)
W: Work on story
R: Work on story; discuss “Happy Chang”
F: Work on story: Polished outline; 2+ pages due.
November 23 – 25 (Week Eleven – 2)
M: Work on story…
T: Work on story; consider exercises on dialogue…
W: 4+ pages due / MOVIE-BOOK ASSIGNMENT
R-F: THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
November 30 – December 4 (Week Twelve – 3)
M: 6+ pages due; consider fiction exercises (“What if…?” questions; “Show, Don’t Tell”);
continue story work in progress; review “Story Qualities”; review troublesome mechanics; review
dialogue and scene break technique
T: Work on story.
W: Work on story.
R: Complete draft due. Read stories; two-paragraph critique of classmate’s story.
F: Polished draft due. [Weekend if necessary; Monday absolute deadline]
December 7 – 11 (Week Fourteen – 4)
M: Introduce food scene assignment. Watch food scenes from Little Miss Sunshine, Ordinary
People, American Beauty, Raging Bull, and Juno; consider how the physical world reflects the
emotional world of the characters; consider the arc of the scene, and how one character drives the
scene; how conscious and unconscious desires are met with obstacles (interpersonal; intrapersonal; environmental)
T: Work on food scene assignment
W: Write sample food scene together as class; revise food scene assignment; introduce
adaptation assignment; see sample screenplay; discuss format (Read and discuss “How to
Watch a Movie”; introduce movie assignment; groups brainstorm for movie concept,
outline)
R-F: cont.
December 14 – 18 (Week Fifteen – 5)
M-W: continue (revise food scene); work on adaptation scene. Watch Ordinary People for
overall structure, highlighting key scenes that show, through imagery and crucial dialogue, the
trajectory of the main plot and subplot.
STORIES BACK… REVISE…
R-F: Read and discuss “How to Watch a Movie”; introduce movie assignment; groups
brainstorm for movie concept, outline
December 21 – 23 (Week Sixteen – 6)
M: cont. story revision and screenplay scene assignments; (work on script; read Benjamin
Percy’s essay on revision for HW)
T: Story revision due.
W: Cont. work on screenplay scenes; screenplay draft due. Return short stories, with
substantial feedback; discuss and begin revision process; due after break…
[All of break to work on short film and story revision]
January 4 – 8 (Week Seventeen – 7)
M: Watch Good Will Hunting with an eye for overall structure, especially long Act One, which
develops character, creates sympathy, clarifies stakes for Act Two.
T: Work on script.
W: Work on script. Story revisions due.
R: Return short stories; work on screenplay exercises; introduce Good Will Hunting
screenplay…
F: Work on script / story revision
January 11 – 15 (Week Seventeen – 8)
M-F: Work on script.
LEVEL-1:
M: Movie-book mini-workout in-class
T: Movie-book in-class essay
W: Movie-book-movie in-class essay
R: Movie-book multi-part essay due; discussion
F: Discussion, cont.
January 18 – 22 (Week Eighteen – 9)
M: MLK DAY: No school
T: MOVIES & SCRIPTS DUE
W: MOVIE NIGHT
R:
F:
January 25 – 29 (Midterms Week)
M:
T:
W: Mid-Terms (English)
R: Mid-Terms
F: End of 2nd M.P.