Vignette Reflection

“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” Joan Didion

Write a reflection on the process/progress you have made so far with your vignettes. Use the quote above as a framework for your thoughts about vignettes:
What are you thinking?
What are you looking at?
What do you see?
What does it mean?
What do you want?
What do you fear?

EXPLOSIONS

When a moment is slowed waaaay down for the purpose of painting a frame-by-frame picture for your reader…

THINK ABOUT: slow-motion scenes in a movie WHEN? WHY? HOW?

Instead of saying "He walked through the doorway."


He grasped the cold doorknob and turned it slowly to the right.  He pushed the door inward.  The hinges squeaked and cold air rushed past the opening door.  The room was dark.  He darted his eyes to the right.  Nothing.  He pushed the door open a little farther, and slowly moved his right foot into the room.  His shoe creaked a bit as it hit the polished hardwood floor.

Where could you explode a moment in this description?

I woke up late this morning--as usual. I had no clean clothes and the fridge was next to bare. Traffic was heavy as I sped to work. Some jerk cut me off and I almost had a wreck. At work I went to my desk and there was a note to go and see the boss. I waited outside her office for a while before she called me in. I couldn’t figure out why she wanted to see me. I went inside and sat down. My boss handed me an envelope. She told me that my services were no longer needed and that I was free to go. I got my belongings from my desk and left. The drive home was quick. I am now unemployed.

Vignette Response

Today's workshop is going to allow you to choose what you want to share and what responses you want.

1) Create a post on your blog, title it whatever you wish, and post any portion of your vignette. Place an author's note at the top if any explanation is needed to understand your piece.

2) At the bottom select the type of response you wish to receive:

BLESS: If you feel that your piece is very personal and do not want it to be critiqued heavily, you might ask for a responder to bless it by simply offering praise.

ADDRESS: Inviting readers to address the piece means that you have specific questions about it, such as about character development, snapshots, thoughtshots, etc. If you choose this option, please provide the specific question you wish the responder to address.

PRESS: If you want a reader to press in the response, you are willing to accept any critiques that could help you move toward a stronger version of your writing.

3) Respond to at least three other posts. When doing so, use the pointing technique. Point out a specific line by copying and pasting it into your comment box and then comment directly to that line. You may need to do this more than once in any given comment.

Thoughtshots

Thoughtshots provide the reader with a character(s)' inner-most thoughts about what is happening. What is s/he feeling? What is s/he questioning? What is s/he saying inside?

In fiction and creative-nonfiction writing, thoughtshots can be divided into different categories:

Flashbacks: a character thinks back about something that has already happened.
o She remembered the day he came for the first time. He was a little boy then…
o He remembered the first time he saw snow...

Flash-aheads: a character thinks about something that is going to happen or might happen in the future. Writers often use flash- aheads when a character is trying to make a decision.
o She thought about her opinions. She could go there and pretend it never happened. She could tell him everything. She could buy a plane ticket to Bermuda with the money…
o She thought about going to the new school. What would it be like? Would she have friends?

Internal dialogue: a character thinks about what is happening at that moment.
o There was no way she could do it. She knew that, but still her feet kept moving, one step after another. She thought about why she was doing this but there was no way she could make sense of it.
o He thought about what the teacher had just said. His mind raced, but he didn’t know the answer. Why did she call on him?

EXAMPLE:

The Old Woman Who Named Things
by Cynthia Rylant (Harcourt, 1996)

Thoughtshot #1 (Internal Dialogue or Flash-Ahead) from page 14:
• It was a very pretty puppy, she thought. But it couldn’t stay. If it stayed, she would have to give it a name. And it could never last as long as Franklin or Fred or Betsy or Roxanne.

Thoughtshot #2 (Internal Dialogue) from page 21:
• The old woman sat and thought about the shy brown dog who had no collar with a name. Wherever it was, no one would know that it was supposed to come to the old woman’s gate every day, that she was supposed to feed it and tell it to go home every day, that things were always supposed to be this way.

Thoughtshot #3 (Flashback) from page 24:
• The old woman thought a moment. She thought of all the old, dear friends with names whom she had outlived. She saw their smiling faces and remembered their lovely names, and she thought how lucky she had been to have known these friends.

NOTE: thoughtshots can happen at anytime. These thoughtshots can be intermixed, short or long as long as the thoughtshot helps the reader understand the character better and helps understand his or her actions or provides a vivid picture of a memory or emotion or tells a lot about how the character is feeling about a future event.

Snapshot

What did you see? What did you hear? What did you smell?
What did you feel? What did you¬ taste?


Writers are like photographers with giant zoom lenses, observing life in incredibly fine detail, pulling back to make sweeping generalizations, then zooming in again to make those generalizations come alive with detail. SHOW the image rather than tell. Don’t write about how bad your day was at school. Describe the inky pen stain on your pants, the scab forming on your grass-stained knee, the smashed peanut butter sandwich which was supposed to be your lunch…

EXAMPLES:
He thought he was the handsomest guy in the Western Hemisphere. He was pretty handsome too—I’ll admit. But he was mostly the kind of handsome guy that if your parents saw his picture in your Yearbook, they’d right away say, “Who is this boy?” I mean he was mostly a Yearbook kind of handsome guy. Catcher in the Rye—J.D. Salinger

Pieces of tree, pieces of metal, pieces of seat and wing gleamed in the moonlight. Some of the plane lights remained on, so what was left of the plane twinkled in a friendly way. The plane was immense. It seemed impossible that such a huge thing was ever airborne. It looked bigger and longer than a house, garages, and stable. Like some incredibly large, white celestial cigar suddenly ripped in pieces and thrown to the ground. Flight #116 Is Down—Caroline B. Cooney

Their bodies are discolored by paint. Some of men are huge and muscular to the point of deformity, their legs wrapped comically called braccae—breeches. There is no discipline among them: they bellow at each other and race about in chaos. They are dirty and they stink. A crone in a filthy blanket stirs a cauldron, slicing roots and bits of rancid meat into the concoction from time to time. How the Irish Saved Civilization—Thomas Cahill

The hands on the clock face of night
Strike the eternal moment,
Shiver two brittle shadows
Like bones strewn upon starkness.

The old man and his old hound
Walk the icy fringe, again,
To the boy who sleeps
Among the wind-licked stones.
A Place in Winter—Stephen M. Holt

THINK ABOUT:

* Think about or list the sensory questions. Answer them.

* What emotion, mood, or tone do I want to convey?

* How can I put these “answers” into my story?



A few words of caution:
Don't list each sense in turn. It sounds sing-songy and rote. It is far better to focus on the most powerful details, and the senses that lead the reader to your intended feeling.

Also, don't lock yourself into a tone. It's entirely possible that you'll sit down to write with a specific idea in mind, but find that it changes. That's normal. Part of the writing process is that the act of writing unlocks the subconscious, allowing old ideas and memories to take root in new, fertile soil.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Select a segment of your writing that you feel needs an emotional impact, suspense, or realism.

2. Either mentally or physically list the sensory details (various sights, smells, tastes, feelings, and sounds) of this segment. Zoom your camera in to see the close details, or zoom it out to see the big picture.

3. Use your list to determine the feeling you’re attempting to convey. For example, if you are looking to discuss regret—circle the sensory images that are connected to it. Likewise, do the same for any other emotion—joy, peace, serenity, etc.

4. Write and trust the process. Again, don’t be surprised or upset if you veer off the course. The act of brainstorming was still time well spent.

5. When you’re ready, copy and paste it to THIS blog. We all can learn from your wisdom!

USE THE FOLLOWING WEBSITES FOR WORD HELP:

http://www.msgarrettonline.com/descripwords.html

http://www.examples-help.org.uk/parts-of-speech/list-of-adjectives.htm

http://www.esldesk.com/vocabulary/adjectives

Vignette Examples

Read the following vignettes. Reflect on:

* What is the possible theme?

* What stands out to you?

* What do like the best?

* How is each piece the same? Different?

Vignette Prewriting

Assignment: You will be writing at least three vignettes focused on a particular topic. This should be bio-fiction in nature.

“Fact and Truth really have nothing to do with each other.” William Faulkner

“Beauty—of form, of language, of meaning—always takes precedence over mere accuracy, truth over mere facts. The successful memoirist respects facts, uses them, rigorously represses the human impulse to lie or embellish, but knows that truth is different from facts, and greater than facts, and not always their sum.” Bill Roorbach

“Fiction is already at work in what he remembers. No deception is intended, but he wants to see clearly what is invariably, intrinsically vague. So he imagines. Image-making is indivisibly a part of remembering.” Wright Morris

Prewriting Strategy

1. If you had to summarize your personal belief essay in five words, what they be?

2. Use the clustering technique to write brainstorm vignette ideas. Begin with a word that has meaning for you (from #1) and write it at the center of the page and circle it. Then brainstorm other words, writing them in circles and connecting them with lines to the center word. (webbing)

3. Decide on one idea to write about. It could be a single word from your cluster exercise or a group of words related to one idea.

4. Pick an image that represents the idea you want to explore in your vignette. For example, write about the bravest person you've ever known if you want to explore courage. Find a quiet, comfortable place to free write for 10 minutes. JUST WRITE; don't stop; don't worry about grammar, spelling, etc.

5. Post some portion of your prewriting on your own blog. Share what you feel may give us a sense of your direction but also a possible direction of our own.

What's a Vignette?

What is a vignette

a. A short, usually descriptive literary sketch.
b. A short scene or incident
c. A small illustrative sketch
d. A picture, illustration, or depiction in words

The vignette focuses on one aspect, mood, character, setting or object.


Lights
Stuart Dybek

In summer, waiting for night, we’d pose against the afterglow on corners, watching
traffic cruise through the neighborhood. Sometimes, a car would go by without its
headlights on and we’d all yell, “Lights!”
“Lights!” we’d keep yelling until the beams flashed on. It was usually immediate—
the driver honking back thanks, or flinching embarrassed behind the steering wheel, or
gunning past, and we’d see his red taillights blink on.
But there were times—who knows why?—when drunk or high, stubborn, or simply
lost in that glide to somewhere else, the driver just kept driving in the dark, and all
down the block we’d hear yelling from doorways and storefronts, front steps, and other
corners, voices winking on like fireflies: “Lights! Your lights! Hey, lights!” (34)

Reflect: What do you notice? What do you like? What questions does it raise for you? What does the vignette mean to you?


My Name from House on Mango Street
Sandra Cisneros

In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. It is like the number nine. A muddy color. It is the Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing.

It was my great-grandmother's name and now it is mine. She was a horse woman too, born like me in the Chinese year of the horse--which is supposed to be bad luck if you're born female-but I think this is a Chinese lie because the Chinese, like the Mexicans, don't like their women strong.

My great-grandmother. I would've liked to have known her, a wild, horse of a woman, so wild she wouldn't marry. Until my great-grandfather threw a sack over her head and carried her off. Just like that, as if she were a fancy chandelier. That's the way he did it.

And the story goes she never forgave him. She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow. I wonder if she made the best with what she got or was she sorry because she couldn't be all the things she wanted to be. Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don't want to inherit her place by the window.

At school they say my name funny as if the syllables were made out of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth. But in Spanish my name is made out of a softer something, like silver, not quite as thick as sister's name Magdalena--which is uglier than mine. Magdalena who at least- -can come home and become Nenny. But I am always Esperanza. would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees. Esperanza as Lisandra or Maritza or Zeze the X. Yes. Something like Zeze the X will do.

Reflect: What do you notice? What do you like? What questions does it raise for you? What does the vignette mean to you?

Over Break...Do Something Creative

For your third and final blog post for week 2, I want you to post something creative. Write ANYTHING! This could have any topic, content, and form. I don't care what it is...just be creative :)

Here are some prompts that might help you get started. Don't feel restricted to use any of these or feel free to adapt in any way you wish. HAVE FUN!!!


Creative Writing Exercises
Compiled by Catherine Reid

Creative writing exercises, like any kind of warm-up routine before playing a sport or a musical instrument, help loosen up your imagination while honing your writing muscles. The goals of the prompts below: clear, lively writing that uses specific images, well-chosen verbs and precise nouns, that “shows, rather than tells,” and that avoids clichés.

The prompts:

1) Describe a “first” (first apartment, first kiss, first time driving a car, first lie, first big success, first roller coaster ride, first time in this setting). Include as many details as possible, being sure to include an aspect relating to each of the five senses.

2) Describe a memorable event, positive or negative, and how it felt to you, but do not name the feeling. Instead, tell how it felt in your body (damp hands, metallic taste, tight throat, wobbly knees, etc.).

3) Create a story using words of one-syllable only, beginning with a phrase such as:
“The last time I saw her, she...”
“From the back of the truck...”
“On the night of the full moon...”
“The one thing I know for sure…”

4) Describe a significant place, allowing the details to reveal why the place matters. Describe it from a tree or rooftop or from a hawk’s point of view. Describe it from the height of a dog or a turtle.

5) Write the map to where you live. Start as close or as far from your home as you wish.

6) Describe a significant person (teacher, neighbor, mentor, coach, parent, sibling, sweetheart) with as many physical details as possible, but no clichés! (If you’ve heard the expression before, don’t use it.)

7) Write about your first name—why you were given it, what associations or stories are attached to it, what you think or know it means. Do the same for your last name. Given the chance, what name would you give yourself?

8) Describe a presence in your house (childhood home/current place of residence)—a person, a pet, a piece of furniture, an illness, a secret. Use all five senses. Be as detailed as possible.

9) Recall a photograph from your life and describe it in a way that suggests (but doesn’t specifically name) why it matters. (Remember the creative writer’s adage, “Show, don’t tell.”) Describe what happened either just before or just after the photo was taken.

10) Choose a photograph from a published collection of black-and-whites, of humans in uncertain conditions. Write the story of one of the individuals or one of the groupings.

11) Narrate a story about a person or a family member, a story that’s been passed down or ritualized; a story about yourself. Embellish, if so desired, or contrast the story with what you know to be the “true” account.

12) Describe a routine or holiday ritual, using present tense verbs.

13) Describe a routine or holiday ritual, using the 2nd person “you”:
For example, “You stand in the steaming kitchen with people you haven’t seen in almost a year. You wish your shirt didn’t have that tiny stain on the cuff. You wish your aunt’s laugh wasn’t quite so brittle. Feet stomp on the porch and you hurry to let your tall uncle in, forgetting to keep the dog from escaping outside…”

14) Choose a moral dilemma (for example, you see someone pocket several items at a CVS; you’re in a car at night, with people you don’t know well, and the driver hits a dog that ran into the road; you learn that a friend is having unprotected sex, etc) and explain what you would do. More importantly, explain why you would do it. What do you know about yourself that accounts for such a decision?

15) Create a short story that is 26 sentences long, each sentence beginning with the next letter of the alphabet. (Add other, arbitrary conditions, if desired, such as one sentence should be one-word long; there should be one question mark, one quotation, etc.) Rigid rules often produce fascinating results—such as with well-written sonnets, which have 14 lines and tight rhyme schemes, each line governed by a specific number of syllables and alternating stressed and unstressed syllables.

16) Create a still-life in the room that implies a dramatic moment (e.g. an overturned chair, several balled-up pieces of paper, an open map, a torn envelope, a set of keys, a silk scarf). Describe what happened either just before or just after that moment.

17) Review a section from the Police Beat or Classified Ads of a local newspaper. Choose one and tell the story behind it.

18) Describe the room of one of the following: a high school student about to drop out; a cashier who has just won the lottery; a faded movie star who still thinks she's famous; a paranoid person, etc (see full list of suggestions in What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers). Be as detailed as possible.

19) Create a how-to manual for something you can do well (clean a fish, change a flat tire, restring a guitar, make sushi, shop for groceries). Describe the process so that someone else could complete the task based on your directions. Use present tense verbs.

20) Come up with a list of nouns and a second list of verbs, all of one syllable each. Describe a scene or situation, using a minimum of ten words from each list.

Thought to Share

“The fear of exposure by writing is a rational fear. But in the act of exposure, writers discover themselves.” Donald M. Murray

Through this first writing experience, I hope that you have begun to find your self--both as a writer and as a human being!

Revising Reflection

Before submitting the next draft, you must write a reflection thinking about the revisions you've made. This is called a talk-back reflection. This gives you the chance to respond to your reviews. Thoughtfully explain, defend the choices you made while revising. Think about what you did, why you did it, and how it has improved your writing. Also comment on revising comments/issues that were helpful, problematic, confusing, or whatever comes to mind.

Please post this 2-3 paragraph reflection on your blog. Again, respond to your peers with support, questions, or advice.

Editing Guidelines

1) Proper Heading
2) Times New Roman, 12 pt font
3) Creative Title
4) Five paragraphs—each indented
5) Tools: Spelling and Grammar

HOW to edit:
1) Read through the essay for each type of common error
2) Read essay aloud
3) Read the essay in chunks—edit a paragraph and take a break, repeat
4) Read essay backwards
5) Have a partner read essay

WHAT to edit:
1) Capitalize first word of every sentence and proper nouns AND use a punctuation mark at the end of every sentence
2) Variety of sentence structure and word use
3) Look for fragments and run-ons
4) Watch for subject/verb agreement
5) Watch for pronoun agreement
6) Commas where necessary (compound, some complex, and compound-complex, introductory clauses
7) Eliminate 2nd person (you, we, us)
8) Eliminate contractions (can’t = cannot)
9) Eliminate vague words (things, stuff, ideas…specifics)
10) Eliminate unnecessary words or wordiness

Personal Essay Revising Goals

1) Read and assess the peer feedback.
2) Evaluate the feedback based on personal purposes.
3) Separate feedback into categories based on merit.
4) Create three obtainable and purposeful goals for the revising proces

Create a post defining and explaining those goals. The post should explore possible trouble spots and inquires that may arise.

Comment on each others' posts using the praise, question, or advice strategy.

Specific and Authentic Feedback Guidelines

1) The purpose is to motivate, engage, and encourage others in the revising process.
2) Create a positive environment through authentic feedback.
3) Understand that no paper is perfect and the writer is rarely satisfied.
4) Revising is focused on content and content only. Do not worry about grammar, conventions and mechanics.

PRAISE
Give positive feedback that affirms and connects to the text.

Affirmations: giving support to useful, meaningful, and effective content

Connections: demonstrate points of personal connection

QUESTION
Point out areas of concern through questions allowing the reader to make his or her own decisions.

Adding Information: ask questions that pertain to what you want to know more about

Clarifying Information: ask questions that pertain to what you need to know in order to better understand

Deleting Information: ask questions that pertain to identifying the focus

ADVICE
Recommend at the most three areas of further direction

Push: suggest ways the author can go beyond what is already stated

Explore: suggest other avenues or approached the author may want to consider

Direction: suggest strategies or tools that may be useful in obtaining your recommendations

Personal Essay Reflection #1

As you are continuing through the writing process with your Personal Essay, I want you to write a 2-3 paragraph reflection. A reflection is thinking about your thinking and pondering on what has happened thus far.

Some items to consider: (please do not respond to these as question/answer...this is written in paragraph form and only respond to those that apply. Also, feel free to incorporate aspects that are not mentioned below).

1) What have you done thus far?
2) What is going well with you? Why?
3) What has been the hardest part? If you have overcome it, how?
4) What do you fully understand? How?
5) What do you not understand?
6) Where are you going from here?
7) Triumphs? Fears? Frustrations?

Create a new post on your blog and title it Personal Essay Reflection #1.

Be sure to comment on others' blogs with praises and suggestions. (total for the week = 5-6 responses)

This I Believe Statement

It is now your turn to write your own This I Believe statement. Use today's activities for examples and here are more taken directly from published This I Believe essays.


I believe in Ivy. She was my youngest sister. She died in a plane crash with my father when she was sixteen.

It doesn’t always make sense to me but when ambiguities such as grace and love manifest themselves, I’m moved by the clarity they bring.

“Baby, people do what they do. What you got to do is be the best that you can be.”

I believe that the world is inherently a very dangerous place, and that things that are now very good can go bad very quickly.

If I have one operating philosophy about life it is this: “Be cool to the pizza delivery dude; it’s good luck.” Four principles guide the pizza dude philosophy.

I believe in fighting fear.

My success, I believed, came in asking the right questions.

POST YOUR BELIEF STATEMENT BELOW.

What Is a Personal Essay?

• An essay which emphasizes a personal, subjective view

• Focused on a belief or insight about life that is significant to the writer

• Often combines elements of narrative and memoir

Personal Narrative: Focused on a significant event
Personal Memoir: Focused on a significant relationship between the write and
a person, place, or object

• Structured similar to an essay with an introduction, body and conclusion

• Contains a thesis (This I Believe statement)

• Builds upon ideas, reveals significance in the end

TASK:
1) Split into three groups and read a selected reading (one personal essay, one personal narrative, and one memoir).

2) While reading Question the Author
* Look for the author's purpose (topic). What is the author trying to say?
* Identify effective supporting details (methods). How does the author say it?

3) Discuss findings with your group.

4) Split into eight different groups each containing a personal essay, personal narrative, and memoir. Share out and determine similarities and differences.