http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0084/0084_01.asp
Here's another example of graphic novels used as social action. To get an agenda across (and we may or may not agree with this agenda) these comic strips have been passed around NYC.
Kat
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
NEED HELP
Hey, does anyone have any ideas on what i could use as a resource/research article for my graphic novel/memoir?
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Gangsters in Concrete -- Submit your work!!
Everyone should submit things to Gangsters in Concrete. It's a small book of poetry and prose that gets published around the middle of the year by Emerson students. It's all student run and they are always looking for submissions. You can bring your writing to their mailbox at the Campus Center in 150 Boylston Street or email to gangstersinconcrete@yahoo.com. State whether it's poetry or prose in the title of the email. Include your name, Emerson ID, phone number and the title and genre of the work. It's always worth it to try, you could become a published writer!
Office Hours on 12/14
Due to some weird obligations, I have to cancel office hours tomorrow. If anyone would like to meet, I can come to campus later in the day and chat. PLEASE do not hesitate to schedule a meeting if you are struggling with the final project.
On a side note, the responses to Memoir as Social Action are very intriguing. Everyone should check them out and respond.
-Kat
On a side note, the responses to Memoir as Social Action are very intriguing. Everyone should check them out and respond.
-Kat
Graphic Novels
It seems like some of you are becoming more interested in graphic novels (which makes me want to cry with joy). Does anyone have any suggestions for reading? I have a long break ahead of me and would love to dig into some new graphic novels. Thanks. -Kat
Saturday, December 13, 2008
At first I questioned why we were writing a memoir for a Research Writing class. But as I got more and more into the memoir writing piece, I realized how much research actually goes into it! I didn't talk to other people to write my memoir, but I looked back on pictures that basically showed a timeline of my memoir and then I looked back on letters/messages and that was when I realized how much research actually goes into writing a piece like this.
I personally enjoyed writing the memoir out of all the projects we have done this semester. I really did enjoy working in my group for the third project [but that's because we all got along really well and had fun with our project]. However, this project I feel like I put a lot into it and even, without thinking about grades, got a lot out of it. Writing such a memoir made me look at how I've grown and who in my life has made me do so.
Also, I really think that my new interest is graphic novels! Even comic books...which I never really showed much interest in. [Read the Archie Comics!!]
I personally enjoyed writing the memoir out of all the projects we have done this semester. I really did enjoy working in my group for the third project [but that's because we all got along really well and had fun with our project]. However, this project I feel like I put a lot into it and even, without thinking about grades, got a lot out of it. Writing such a memoir made me look at how I've grown and who in my life has made me do so.
Also, I really think that my new interest is graphic novels! Even comic books...which I never really showed much interest in. [Read the Archie Comics!!]
Friday, December 12, 2008
The Emerson Review
Hey everyone.
I've decided to submit something to the emerson review. It's actually not something from this class; it's a photograph that I have taken. Here's the picture..
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Memoir as Social Action
So, why do you think that I chose memoir for this class? How is it a form of social action? Be specific.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
My Summer Job Revised
Ok, here's my comic in, unless errors occur, its finished format. If there are problems, point them out to me and I'll correct them until the thing is perfect.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
...
from the new york times:
"In the market equivalent of shoveling cash under the mattress, hordes of buyers were so eager on Tuesday to park money in the world’s safest investment, United States government debt, that they agreed to accept a zero percent rate of return."
sandbag and hide.
"In the market equivalent of shoveling cash under the mattress, hordes of buyers were so eager on Tuesday to park money in the world’s safest investment, United States government debt, that they agreed to accept a zero percent rate of return."
sandbag and hide.
Cady's Critical Reflection Essay
The most poignant thing I learned from trying to write this memoir is that writing memoirs is extremely difficult. I was wondering if it was just me, if maybe some flaw in my design made memoir-writing harder for me than it is for my fellow writers, but after reading a passage by author and writing guide William Zinsser about the art of writing the memoir, and a selection by David Sedaris from his book Me Talk Pretty One Day, I realized that I'm not alone. I discovered through this process that there is no single, foolproof way to write your own history, no one type of event that you could be told to write on, because experience is different for everyone. However, there are hints and tips and skills that can significantly help with adapting what has happened in your life into a story that others can relate to, and these two pieces helped me significantly in doing so.
The Zinsser passage explained a few truths common to all memoirists. For example, he explained that one could not possibly include everything that one wants to in a memoir, because there won't be a clear enough story for the reader to follow. This was difficult for me to grasp, because I felt like the theme of my memoir (the collection of souvenirs and what they mean looking back) is so prevalent, and can really encompass a lot of small events in my life. This was one of my main problems in writing the memoir: finding a coherent line of thought and including only the details that would further it, not hold it back.
In the piece, Zinsser suggests, "You must find a narrative trajectory for the story you want to tell and never relinquish control". For me, this meant not allowing the details and the small parts that meant so much to me when they happened start writing the story by their own accord. By including too much in the rough draft, the message I was trying to get across was getting lost in the details. In the end, I found a "narrative trajectory" that I wanted to maintain, and cut out almost 50% of what I had intended to include, because they were holding me back from connecting with my readers on the message I was trying to portray. It was hard because it was, as my professor would say, "killing my darlings", but it was necessary. My story feels better, lighter, and more coherent. I didn't get rid of all of the small things, and Zinsser says this is also important: "On the contrary, many of the chapters of my book are about small episodes that were not objectively 'important' but that were important to me." I didn't want to get rid of the details that were especially vivid to me, because if they struck a chord with me, I felt that they would strike a chord with the people reading the memoir. Seemingly silly aspects were kept in, just ones that I felt furthered the story and elaborated on the theme of the overall memoir.
In David Sedaris's piece, the title work from his best-selling book Me Talk Pretty One Day, he uses a very comic and sarcastic tone, but the reader still connects with it on a deeper level. Although I attempt to use a more reflective and somber tone, I wanted to get a connection that went beyond that, which I tried to do by really explaining the personalities of the two characters I center my work around. I wanted whoever read it to be able to understand who these people were in the world, and what that meant in relation to my story about them. Sedaris also includes little charming aspects that, while not necessarily furthering his story, really put the reader in the scene. The details of his tragic attempts at trying to establish himself in his French class and the change in his peers from excitedly speaking of their summer vacations in French to explaining how they cry themselves to sleep at night in improperly conjugated terms is, though not personally relatable to my own experiences, understandable in his own terms. At no point did I lose Sedaris's voice, and at no point did I want to stop reading. I vowed to try to make my story that compelling, hopefully by providing enough of the scene (as Sedaris does) that the audience feels that they are personally involved and thus must know what happens next.
Memoir writing is extremely difficult. My main problems were getting so connected to the story as it happened that I overshot and wanted to explain my entire life to the reader so that they knew exactly where I was coming from. As I learned from these articles, readers connect with pieces not because they know everything about the writer or the scenario being described, but because they relate to emotions evoked from situations. I realized that I had to remind my reader of their own lives, what it is to miss and love people, and the need to try to hold onto things when they slip away. No elaborate details are necessary to remind somebody of their experience, just the emotions those experiences evoked.
The Zinsser passage explained a few truths common to all memoirists. For example, he explained that one could not possibly include everything that one wants to in a memoir, because there won't be a clear enough story for the reader to follow. This was difficult for me to grasp, because I felt like the theme of my memoir (the collection of souvenirs and what they mean looking back) is so prevalent, and can really encompass a lot of small events in my life. This was one of my main problems in writing the memoir: finding a coherent line of thought and including only the details that would further it, not hold it back.
In the piece, Zinsser suggests, "You must find a narrative trajectory for the story you want to tell and never relinquish control". For me, this meant not allowing the details and the small parts that meant so much to me when they happened start writing the story by their own accord. By including too much in the rough draft, the message I was trying to get across was getting lost in the details. In the end, I found a "narrative trajectory" that I wanted to maintain, and cut out almost 50% of what I had intended to include, because they were holding me back from connecting with my readers on the message I was trying to portray. It was hard because it was, as my professor would say, "killing my darlings", but it was necessary. My story feels better, lighter, and more coherent. I didn't get rid of all of the small things, and Zinsser says this is also important: "On the contrary, many of the chapters of my book are about small episodes that were not objectively 'important' but that were important to me." I didn't want to get rid of the details that were especially vivid to me, because if they struck a chord with me, I felt that they would strike a chord with the people reading the memoir. Seemingly silly aspects were kept in, just ones that I felt furthered the story and elaborated on the theme of the overall memoir.
In David Sedaris's piece, the title work from his best-selling book Me Talk Pretty One Day, he uses a very comic and sarcastic tone, but the reader still connects with it on a deeper level. Although I attempt to use a more reflective and somber tone, I wanted to get a connection that went beyond that, which I tried to do by really explaining the personalities of the two characters I center my work around. I wanted whoever read it to be able to understand who these people were in the world, and what that meant in relation to my story about them. Sedaris also includes little charming aspects that, while not necessarily furthering his story, really put the reader in the scene. The details of his tragic attempts at trying to establish himself in his French class and the change in his peers from excitedly speaking of their summer vacations in French to explaining how they cry themselves to sleep at night in improperly conjugated terms is, though not personally relatable to my own experiences, understandable in his own terms. At no point did I lose Sedaris's voice, and at no point did I want to stop reading. I vowed to try to make my story that compelling, hopefully by providing enough of the scene (as Sedaris does) that the audience feels that they are personally involved and thus must know what happens next.
Memoir writing is extremely difficult. My main problems were getting so connected to the story as it happened that I overshot and wanted to explain my entire life to the reader so that they knew exactly where I was coming from. As I learned from these articles, readers connect with pieces not because they know everything about the writer or the scenario being described, but because they relate to emotions evoked from situations. I realized that I had to remind my reader of their own lives, what it is to miss and love people, and the need to try to hold onto things when they slip away. No elaborate details are necessary to remind somebody of their experience, just the emotions those experiences evoked.
Thin Lines Around the Genre of Memoirs
I'm curious what really defines a memoir. While many writers of fiction draw on personal experience to fuel their characters and stories, some are basically re-counts of actual events. For example, in Jack Kerouac's famed books, On the Road and The Dharma Bums, he tells factual stories and accounts of himself and his friends. The only thing that is really fictionalized are the names he re-assigns to himself and his friends. However, in his book, Lonesome Traveler, which was released later and falls into the autobiographical/memoir category, he re-tells the same exact stories, only with the real names and drier prose. Beyond the name changes and the built thoughts/assumptions around each, there is little difference. Yet one is considered a memoir, while the other two are fiction.
To give another example, take Irish literature. Frank McCourt, Irish-American author of the memoirs Angela's Ashes and Tis', writes of the awful childhood that he experienced in the poor and unstable Ireland. While it is fictionalized stories, James Joyce, in his collection of stories called, The Dubliners, presents very similar accounts to the struggles and hardships of an Irish upbringing at the time. Though the differences here are more clear, I think the lines that separate memoirs from certain fiction and other genres are very fine. I know there are plenty of other examples, such fictionalized stories of slavery and the holocaust versus memoir accounts of each. Thoughts?
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Conference Schedule
Remember to meet in the Emerson Cafe.
Wed. December 9th:
3:30 Ian
3:40 David
3:50 Michael
4:00 Marcus
4:10 Alex
4:20 Talia
4:30 Laura
4:40 Aly
4:50 Lee
5:00 Glenn
5:10 Allison
5:20 Riley
5:30 Sam
5:40 Kathleen
Thursday, December 10th
8:50 Michelle
9:00 Lucy
9:10 Rachel
9:20 Jess
9:30 Jenny
9:40 Katie B
9:50 Caitlin
10:00 LInda
10:10 Walker
10:20 Lance
10:30 Ben Brewer
10:40 Grace K.
10:50 Jenell
11:00 Katie
11:10 Grace D.
11:20 Ben Hicks
11:30 Emily
11:40 Cady
Friday
12:00 Sheri
Wed. December 9th:
3:30 Ian
3:40 David
3:50 Michael
4:00 Marcus
4:10 Alex
4:20 Talia
4:30 Laura
4:40 Aly
4:50 Lee
5:00 Glenn
5:10 Allison
5:20 Riley
5:30 Sam
5:40 Kathleen
Thursday, December 10th
8:50 Michelle
9:00 Lucy
9:10 Rachel
9:20 Jess
9:30 Jenny
9:40 Katie B
9:50 Caitlin
10:00 LInda
10:10 Walker
10:20 Lance
10:30 Ben Brewer
10:40 Grace K.
10:50 Jenell
11:00 Katie
11:10 Grace D.
11:20 Ben Hicks
11:30 Emily
11:40 Cady
Friday
12:00 Sheri
Genre as Social Action!
You've all done a lot of great work in this class. Please consider sending your writing out for publication. One pub. to check out is The Emerson Review. Work can be submitted via email at: submissions.er@gmail.com
The reading period ends on Feb. 18th, 2009.
They accept ficion, nonfiction, and visual art!
Keep us posted if you get in.
-Kat
http://pages.emerson.edu/organizations/emerson_review/
The reading period ends on Feb. 18th, 2009.
They accept ficion, nonfiction, and visual art!
Keep us posted if you get in.
-Kat
http://pages.emerson.edu/organizations/emerson_review/
Monday, December 8, 2008
Comic
My thing isn't printing the way I want so here's my first draft pages. I'll bring in the hard copy, but, this looks better, I think. If it gives you the option to zoom, you should do so.
My Summer Job
by David Tafoya
My Summer Job
by David Tafoya
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Meat Opinions
Hi everyone...
I took my research paper and turned it into an opinion piece for the Berkeley Beacon. The comments range from mean attacks on me and my values to statements that I didn't do my research. I think everyone here can understand the many hours of research we all put into our research papers. It was also a challenge to condense the information from a 6 page paper to a less than 3 pages. Anyway that said you can all read and comment on the article if you feel the urge. It is online at:
http://media.www.berkeleybeacon.com/media/storage/paper169/news/2008/12/04/Opinion/Were-Going.To.Eat.Meat.Whether.You.Like.It.Or.Not-3570215.shtml#more
The piece was my opinion. I didn't feel like it attacked any group. Unfortunately Emersonians tend to have one social view. My own attempt at Social Action wasn't always popular I guess.
Emily
I took my research paper and turned it into an opinion piece for the Berkeley Beacon. The comments range from mean attacks on me and my values to statements that I didn't do my research. I think everyone here can understand the many hours of research we all put into our research papers. It was also a challenge to condense the information from a 6 page paper to a less than 3 pages. Anyway that said you can all read and comment on the article if you feel the urge. It is online at:
http://media.www.berkeleybeacon.com/media/storage/paper169/news/2008/12/04/Opinion/Were-Going.To.Eat.Meat.Whether.You.Like.It.Or.Not-3570215.shtml#more
The piece was my opinion. I didn't feel like it attacked any group. Unfortunately Emersonians tend to have one social view. My own attempt at Social Action wasn't always popular I guess.
Emily
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Fun Blog to Follow...
http://dangerqueue.wordpress.com/
This has nothing to do with anything, except that it is hilarious. I can't remember if I posted this link to the blog before or not. If I did, my apologies...it is really good.
This has nothing to do with anything, except that it is hilarious. I can't remember if I posted this link to the blog before or not. If I did, my apologies...it is really good.
In response to Michelle's post...
Why do you think it is that people lump together comic and graphic novel? What's the difference?
Great article on writing the Graphic Novel
http://find.galegroup.com.proxy.emerson.edu/itx/retrieve.do?contentSet=IAC-Documents&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&qrySerId=Locale(en%2C%2C)%3AFQE%3D(KE%2CNone%2C23)writing+a+graphic+novel%24&sgHitCountType=None&inPS=true&sort=DateDescend&searchType=BasicSearchForm&tabID=T002&prodId=AONE&searchId=R1¤tPosition=1&userGroupName=ecl_main&docId=A178085350&docType=IAC
The cat's out of the bag...
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Flash (non) Fiction
So I was kind of blindly google-ing memoirs a bit ago, and a stumbled upon this. Its an article/compilation of super short memoirs; six words only, to be exact. I thought it was pretty awesome new(ish) take on the genre, first started by Hemmingway on a dare. And plus its kinda cool how it has an open forum for anyone to post their own six word memoir at the bottom. Reading those was actually really strange; I didn't think six words could have so much versatility.
Anyways, there's a myriad of writers, celebrities, and just regular people's examples on there. Check it out!
www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/sep/28/loaded-letters-six-little-words-can-be-revealing/
Scholarly Sources?
Is anyone else having trouble finding/choosing a scholarly source? Any suggestions on where to look or what to look for?
Thanks!
Thanks!
After reading Maus, I became very moved by the different style and techniques used in graphic novels. I picked up Fun Home from Borders. Took me a night to read about half, defintely a must read. Very different from Maus- completely different story. But it helps in writing a memoir the differences in the two graphic novels are noticable.
Kat was right- it IS disturbing.
Kat was right- it IS disturbing.
To me, it seems like we have coupled the word "comic" and the graphic novel, "Maus: My Father Bleeds History" together. But in truth, the holocaust is by no means anything that should be classified as being comical. It's a genocide of millions of innocent people.
On a different note, as much as the story itself was upsetting, I did like the style and techniques Art used throughout the piece- specifically how he incorporated a small story in the bigger story. Maus is a graphic novel that tells the story of Art's father. But at the same time, it's also HIS story. It's his story in that he takes an interest in his own history. His father's history is his history.
On a different note, as much as the story itself was upsetting, I did like the style and techniques Art used throughout the piece- specifically how he incorporated a small story in the bigger story. Maus is a graphic novel that tells the story of Art's father. But at the same time, it's also HIS story. It's his story in that he takes an interest in his own history. His father's history is his history.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Dry
Ladies and gentlemen, I am here to recommend my favorite memoir. Dry, written by Augusten Burroughs, follows the author through his time in rehab and his struggles to remain sober afterward. The content is very heavy and moving, but Burroughs' sense of humor is alive and well, which softens the blow. If you are apprehensive about reading this because you haven't read Running with Scissors, don't fret. I still haven't read it. Burroughs is an inspiration for me. Soon after reading this book I was able to tackle a subject I had been struggling to write about for years. If you are a lover of memoir and haven't read this yet, do so as soon as possible.
Check it out here.
Check it out here.
Oh Walmart
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=6529135
this shows actual footage of the lines at the Walmart....
this shows actual footage of the lines at the Walmart....
Worker dies at Long Island Wal-Mart after being trampled in Black Friday stampede
When I heard about the Wal-Mart employee getting trampled to death I was embarrassed just being from Long Island. At the time of the incident I was actually on the island for Thanksgiving, but I wasn't crazy enough to even attempt to go shopping. I hate the malls in general, but on Black Friday 'soccer moms,' the ones who live in the suburbs and drive gas guzzling SUV's, are expecially cantankerous and ferocious. Long Islander's are crazy, I won't try to deny that, but I can't believe that people continued to shop after contributing to the death of a worker, at that very same store, just minutes prior. It's complete insanity. I can't even begin to imagine how much they had trampled over this guy to make it so he literally stopped breathing.
This is just another reason why I prefer Target.
This is just another reason why I prefer Target.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Anyone into RPG, check out this link...
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=3490&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en
Role Playing in the University? Thoughts?
Role Playing in the University? Thoughts?
Maus
Maus is a very unique memoir in both content and form. Please use this thread to jot down your reactions to the text. If you're new to the graphic novel, what's your perception of the form?
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