English 221: Intro to Creative Writing
Agenda:  April 1, 2008

• In-class Writing: Pick a subject that is odd or difficult to talk about. Pick another subject that is relatively easy for you to talk about. Write indirectly about the first subject (the main subject) by writing, primarily, about the second subject. All along, make subtle references to the main subject, that a reader would see on a re-read but might not see the first time. Somewhere in middle, make a direct statement (it ought to startle the reader because of its directness) about the main subject. NOTE: I'm going to ask you, at the end of the freewrite, to swap your freewrites and talk about them.
• Quiz: Somehow Form A Family
• Syncopation: (definition) a temporary displacement of the regular metrical accent in music caused typically by stressing the weak beat
• Wynton Marsalis on Syncopation:
  • "Syncopation. A syncopated approach to rhythm, which means you're always prepared to do the unexpected, always ready to find your equilibrium. If you're thrown off, you get back on. You challenge the rhythm. In jazz you're improvising within a form. You challenge that form with rhythms, with harmonies."
• Group Work:
  • There are at least three examples of syncopation in Earley's essay--startling sentences that pull the reader out of the rhythm of the story. (Syncopation is sometimes called rhythmic surprise.) What are they? Fro each example, speculate about why Earley chose to do this.
  • Make a list of all of Earleys' personas in the essay. Rank them in order of importance for the essay. Why this order?

FOR NEXT TIME: 4/3

READ: Stephen King's "On Impact": Come Prepared for a Quiz on the essay for Thursday

READ: Essay Assignment & Start Drafting Your Essay