Genre: Narratives and Analysis
Techniques: Explication, Annotation, Outlines
Thursday, August 20
Part I: Housekeeping
• LSC Orientation
• Collect Proposal #1
• Collect Mini #1
(Hold onto your extra copies for later)
BTW: Foundation Office is currently accepting
scholarship applications from all majors. Deadline for
application acceptance is September 2, 2015. Students
will need to complete one general application which
can be accessed at www.chaffey.edu/scholarships.
Discussion
“Drama is anticipation mingled with uncertainty.” –
William Archer (playwright, essayist, and critic)
What makes for a good story?
What makes it memorable?
How can storytelling be used to put forth an
argument (a larger point)?
Provide some examples.
Why do we tell stories?
• Sharing an anecdote conveys larger meaning
• How does this relate to thesis creation?
• Cautionary Tales, Parables, Allegories, Fables, Myths
• Conveys an example and moments to relate to the
audience?
• Instructive: teaching the audience something
Narrative Essays: Basic Features
A well-told story often uses a dramatic arc
What are these?
• Exposition/Inciting Incident: Background information, scene setting, or an
intro to the characters or an initial conflict or problem that sets off the action,
arousing curiosity and suspense.
• Rising Action: The developing crisis, possibly leading to other conflicts and
complications
• Climax: The emotional high point, a turning point marking a change for good
or ill.
• Falling Action: Resolution of tension and unraveling of conflicts; may include a
final surprise.
• Resolution/Reflection: Conflicts come to an end but may not be fully
resolved, and writer reflects on the event’s meaning and importance—its
significance.
Flow chart for chronological
sequencing
Basic Features Cont.
• Vivid Description of people and places, naming,
detailing, comparing (try to invoke the 5 senses)
• “The cars’ tires laid behind them on the snowy street a
complex trail of beige chunks like crenellated castle
walls. I had stepped on some earlier; they squeaked.”
(Dillard, par. 5)
• Autobiographical Significance
• This is the point the writer is trying to make—the
purpose for writing to a particular audience
• Remember feelings and thoughts from when the event took
place
• Reflect on the past from the present perspective
• Choose details and words that create a dominant impression
Using Dialogue:
Quoting: dramatize dialogue through combo of spoken
words and descriptive speaker tags
• “Elementary, my dear Watson,” he uttered
assuredly.
Paraphrasing: reports content of what was said but
doesn’t quote the actual words or use quotation marks
• I asked her if I could have money for the movies. She
said I could only if I finished my chores and walked
the dog.
Summarizing: gives the gist without the detail.
• I was read my rights and questioned. (Brandt, par.
19)
Diction in Sentences: Show and
Tell
• Effective writing = specifying rather than generalizing.
• Expressing emotion or using description? “show” the reader your subject
rather than “tell” the reader about it.
“Showing” means you give the reader specific details appealing to multiple
senses—sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. You show your audience
specific objects, images, and sensations that convey the idea rather than
simply stating the idea.
• Bad use of generality: “I was nervous and excited as I heard the news.”
• Good use of specific details: “My hands trembled and my heart quickened
as I heard.”
• Bad use of generality: “It was a winter day. It was cold as I walked outside.”
• Good use of specific-details: “Frost coated the ground as birds shivered in
naked trees. My breath misted the air, and every step I took crunched the
snow.”
Note:
sometimes, generalizations serve your purpose as
well. Short, stark statements add emphasis.
However, specific description creates a sense of
realism. It makes the reader participate in your
writing.
Pro-tip:
“telling” usually involves using a weak “to be”
verb (is, am, are, was, were, be being, been), and
if you remove the verb and replace it with an
action verb, you will be one step closer to
“showing” with specific diction. Similes and
metaphors also help.
Part II Analysis
Take notes during the video
Focus Questions:
• How did watching the video give you a different
impression than reading?
• How can media help or distract from our
understanding?
David Foster Wallace (2005)
This is Water
Audience:
He gave this commencement speech at Kenyon College
in 2005. Who is his audience? Anybody else?
Purpose:
What is DFW arguing for? What is the significance, the
big so what, of this speech?
Style:
What stylistic devices can we take form this story and
apply it to our essays?
DFW, “This is Water”
http://www.metastatic.org/text/This%20is%20Water
.pdf
ACTIVITY: GROUP OUTLINE AND DISCUSSION
PARAGRAPH SAYS
PARAGRAPH DOES
Close Reading includes
Annotating
Annotating (dfn): marks, underlines, highlights, and/or
comments you make on the page as you read. Record
immediate reactions and questions. Outline and
summarize main points. Evaluate the ideas and points
of view.
What does this mean?
- Read with a pencil in hand and think of all the ways
you can connect with what you are reading
User Guide
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Define words or slang
Make connections to other parts of the text
Make connections to other texts you have read or seen
Draw a picture when a visual connection is appropriate
Re-write, paraphrase, or summarize a particularly difficult
passage or moment
Make meaningful connections to your own life experiences
Describe a new perspective you may have now
Offer an analysis or interpretation of what is happening in the
text
Point out and discuss literary techniques that the author is using.
Example) Annotated example fr. MLK, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham
Jail” (p. 295)
“Explication”
Close Read = read with purpose
- mark up the text
- Look for patterns in the things you’ve noticed
about the text (repetition, contradiction, similarity)
- ask questions (esp. how and why)
Your Turn:
• Annotate and Close Read Anne Lamott’s essay, “Shitty
First Drafts”
http://wrd.as.uky.edu/sites/default/files/1Shitty%20First%20Drafts.pdf
• When done, answer questions 2 & 3
Discussion:
What’s going on stylistically? How is she persuading
readers to agree with her?
Assigning the Outline (pp. 286-87)
Purpose:
• To invent what you want to say in an essay and a way to
organize your ideas and info
• To see at a glance the essay’s weaknesses and strengths,
which can help you revise more strategically during the
drafting process.
Topic outline / sentence outline: more formal than a scratch
outline (a long list) because they follow conventional format of
numbered and lettered headings and subheadings.
http://www.dianaluu.com/wpcontent/uploads/2015/07/Eng1A_Essay-1-Outline.pdf
Rough Structure of Narratives
• Introduction
• The “Hook” : Start your paper with a statement about
your story that catches the reader’s attention, for
example: a relevant quotation, question, fact, or
definition
• Set the scene: Provide the information the reader will
need to understand the story: who are the major
characters? When and where is it taking place?
• Thesis statement: (slightly different than argumentative
or expository essay) it can offer a moral or lesson
learned “I’ll never hike alone again” or identify a theme
that connects the story to a universal experience “
Journeys bring both joy and hardship.”
Body Paragraphs (one ¶, one idea)
• “Show, don’t Tell”: details, descriptions that help readers
understand the experience (5 senses)
• Supporting evidence: personal narr = your experiences
prove the thesis (which is about you)—for the movie
worldview part (use aspects of the movies: characters,
dialogue, setting, music) the evidence should demo the
lesson learned/significance to you
• Passage of time: chronologically? Sequentially?
• Transitions: change in action; move from action to
reflection
• (ex: end of one ¶ “I turned and ran, hoping the bear hadn’t
noticed me” … next ¶ “There are many strategies for surviving an
encounter with a bear; ‘turn and ran’ is not one of them.”)
Paragraphing (pp. 319-20)
- Groups related ideas and details
- signals when a sequence of related ideas begins
and ends
- helps readers judge what is most important in their
reading
(Pro-tip: writers usually emphasize important info at the two points in the
paragraph where readers are most attentive—the beginning and the
end.)
Topic Sentences (p. 320)
Announces the Topic (main idea sentences):
- Usually at the beginning of the paragraph
- Lets readers know the focus of a paragraph in
simple and direct terms
- Topic sentence is a cueing strategy for the
paragraph ~ thesis (or forecasting statement) is for
the whole essay
- Since ¶s usually signal a shift in focus, readers
expect to be reoriented in the opening sentence
- (i.e. Will the new ¶ introduce another aspect of the
topic or develop one already introduced?)
Topic Sentences: Making a
Transition
• Not all TS simply point to what will follow
• Some link paragraphs:
Examples
-Within its broad traditionalism and anonymity,
however, variations and distinctions developed.
-Regionally, too, distinctions were introduced…
-Finally, out of such regional and other variations come
individual, signed achievements…
Conclusion:
• Moral of the story? Significance?
• Not a place for new information
• Closing action of the event , but also some
reflection/analysis of the significance of the event
(This is the home stretch…you’re wrapping it up)
• TENSE: Reporting vs. Reflecting
Part III: Pitching the Proposal
👂
I heard,
👀
I noticed, and
💭
I wondered.
Directions:
One student reads the proposal while the other one listens. The listener
then composes these three statements, and then reads the responses
back. Reader then takes notes on the listener’s responses. Then,
switch.
I heard: summarize what you think the essay is about.
(as a writer, listen to this section and try to hear whether or not you
communicated what you were trying to say)
I noticed: tell the author what things attracted your attention. What
worked well? What details seemed vivid or striking? What will you
remember about this proposal?
(think about why your reader noticed these things, why was it
effective?)
I wondered: did you have any questions after the reading? What do
you anticipate the writer will need to elaborate on? Were there any
parts that were difficult to understand? Do you suspect something
might have worked better another way? Do you have any
suggestions about the essay’s tone/structure/development to help
your peer?
(try to answer the reviewer’s questions. Look at your writing again and
see if there’s any way to make those points/ideas clearer.)
HW
- Complete E1 Outline (Make sure to follow the
guide, use complete sentences, and format it in
MLA)
- Start drafting
Review:
• pp. 1-13 (for prewriting strategies, and
remembering events)
• Pp. 284-87 (outlining)
• pp. 294-316 (for annotating and outlining)
• pp. 317-31 (cueing the reader, thesis statements,
paragraphing, topic sentences, transitions)