HMHV 201 :  Literature, Fine Arts, & Medicine
Agenda:  11/10

READ: Atul Gawande's essay "Final Cut" in COMPLICATIONS.

WRITE: Exercise: Reflection and Uncertainty

(1) Reflection: Uncertainly and Discovery: Explicitly acknowledging doubts and uncertainties is one important task for the writer of the personal essay. It is a way for the author to communicate to the reader that they don't have everything figured out--in the past or even now. It is a way for the author to convince the reader that they are on a journey of personal discovery.

Choose at least two moments in your draft in which you are faced with a choice or some uncertainty, and write a long reflection (5-10 sentences) for the reader in which you spell out the different options you were considering. In thinking about this choice or uncertainty, what did you discover then, or what have you discovered since then, as you think about it now.

Take out the bold passages from your draft and put this new reflective writing in bold.

(2) Revise your three scenes for drama: cutting ruthlessly those things which don't advance the action, build tension, or have conflict. If it's not dramatic, cut it. If you've neglected certain dramatic moments and instead emphasized mundane moments, then develop those dramatic moments. This is an exercise in refining the rough dramatic writing you've already done.

Underline all of this new dramatic writing.

Email me this draft by Tuesday, 11/15 at 11.