Episodic What?

When I began to read the article “Episodic Fiction: Another Way to Tell a Story,” I thought to myself: “Well you are doing just great Kris. Two sentences into the introduction and you already don’t know what a word means” (It’s been a rough day).

 However, I found this article to be rather interesting and something that will definitly engage student’s in their writing.  Since I am reading The House on Mango Street, my interest was sparked when I read the quote, “I found that by isolating the images and story high points and by forming these into vignettes and linking these episodes with a common theme, my stories became vibrant, sparse, and poetic.”  The House on Mango Street is written through a series of vignettes, which portrays a quick read and a lot of flexibility.  However, although each vignette is different and not written in chronological order, the theme remains a constant throughout the text.

As we have been learning throughout this semester, we know we need to base our assignments around things that matter to students and things that will actually interest them.  Therefore, by writing episodic fiction, students will not feel pressured or forced to write lengthy, boring papers, when they can be creative, flexible, and have choice about each “scene” they write about.

 I wish I was assigned to write in this type of format in high school!

Kristin

The Writer’s Eye

In the reading “The Field Trip Within” a very interesting idea named “the writer’s eye” is introduced.  The purpose of this mindset is to better observe your surrondings.  In the piece, Scott Peterson says, “When I view things through the eyes of a photographer, I am more aware of the world around me.”  The entire point of the writer’s eye is to add great and meaningful detail to your writing. 

An activity that I really found practical (and one I hope to use in my own classroom) was the “in-school field trip” Trenouth took his students on.  The basics of this activity include just walking around and throughout the school trying to notice unique sounds, smells, and sights.  Trenouth says, “my goal was primarily to get each to use the “close, patient observation” that is the writer’s eye.”  I believe this is a very authentic activity for the classroom, one which could produce some great writing. 

However, Trenouth believes that more than just great observation chances are needed to lead to good writing.  He also discusses how successful techniques and “the students’ willingness to chance self-revelation and verbal extravagance.”  It is our job as teachers to provide all of the important tools so that our students can become great writers.  — Doug