Re: if you only had 75 minutes

[WILL HOCHMAN <hochman@uscolo.edu>]

Hi Katie, as both a compositionist and MFA, I've enjoyed the energy of
using innnovative comp pedagogy and creativity to make writing instruction
work since the late seventies...my all-time favorite writing lesson is
called "paired fiction writing." I like to put my students in pairs and
have them quickly write stories using directed freewriting in chunks and
after each chunk, the pair switches the text to write into...so students
will start by describing a scene, switch texts and put characters in the
scene, switch and develop a conflict, switch and further twist the
conflicts, switch and resolve the story.  Your MFA's will like it because
they are teaching creative writing but the stories themselves (though
usually hugely amusing and fun to read and often "seamless" so you can't
tell who write which parts) are not the point.  This activity sets up
community and trust in the writing class and proves that we can read and
write powerfully into each other's writing, as well as showing FY
writers that there is a place for creativity in their academic
pursuits...if you are interested (or
anyone else) I will send a xerox of an article I wrote about the activity
but it's as easy as understanding some basic story elements, making
students not talk but write themselves, and keeping a sense of play as
part of the class.  You can do this quickly in 20 minutes or just as
easily in 40 minutes--and you can customize it any number of ways
when your students share some content...whenever I do this my students
always remark
that they lose sense of time as they enter their "fictive universes" and I
always know that they may leave those stories but have come closer to
each other.  Try it, you'll like it! will

On Sat, 1 Nov 1997, Latisha LaRue wrote:

> Good morning chums,
> 
> I've been asked to teach a workshop to MFA students which I'll entitle
> "What's a Kid Like Me Doing In A Place Like This?  When MFAers Teach
> College Comp." Although my sidekick for this presentation and I have
> taught comp. for years and years, we are both interested in what any of
> you, given the same challenge of 75 minutes, would make sure to include.
> 
> Thanks for any ideas you send our way.
> 
> Katie
>           /\       
>         / /\ \     Katherine Fischer                            
>       /   \/   \   Writing Lab, English Department
>      | ________ |  Clarke College       
>      |          |  Dubuque IA 52001  
>      |	        |  319-588-8115
>      |          |  kfischer@keller.clarke.edu	 	
>      ||        ||  FAX: (319) 588-6789                    
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>