Harvard Extension School Expo E-25; Section 6 (7:35PM-9:35PM) Instructor: Julie Anne McNary 1. Please check your Elluminate Audio Wizard; 2. Please do not use your video camera 3. Then, please find a Google Image that represents your home town, and cut and paste it to your own computer’s desktop for use this evening; 4. We will begin at 7:35PM.

Harvard University Extension School Spring Semester 2012 Expository Writing E25: Introduction to Academic Writing and Critical Reading Analyzing the Short Story

Section 6; Monday evenings, 7:35PM-9:35PM Online WebConference Via Elluminate Software Website: Elluminate Room:

Your Instructor: Julie Anne McNary B.A., Wellesley College, 1994 English Literature M.Ed., Harvard Graduate School of Education, 1995 Language and Literacy MA/M.F.A, University of Utah, 1998 British & American Literature and Creative Writing Cell Phone: (617) – no calls after 10PM – Voic during business hours

Introduction Whiteboard tools Google images and names Please upload best contact information into the Contact Information Dropbox on our website: name, title, company, school, best phone number, cell phone number, .

Writing Assessment Essay In the next thirty (30) minutes, please write a letter to your instructor outlining your experience thus far with formal or academic writing. You may write about your experiences in school, or at work, or both, but please try to clearly outline your top two strengths and weaknesses, the level of instruction you have received, and how much you do, or do not, enjoy the writing process. In the next thirty (30) minutes, please write a letter to your instructor outlining your experience thus far with formal or academic writing. You may write about your experiences in school, or at work, or both, but please try to clearly outline your top two strengths and weaknesses, the level of instruction you have received, and how much you do, or do not, enjoy the writing process. Important: Make an attempt to organize your letter into coherent and clear paragraphs. Try to formulate an introduction and a conclusion of some kind. Important: Make an attempt to organize your letter into coherent and clear paragraphs. Try to formulate an introduction and a conclusion of some kind. Please go to our class website and upload your essay into the dropbox therein labeled Writing Assessment. Please go to our class website and upload your essay into the dropbox therein labeled Writing Assessment.

Our Tools The Elements of Fiction The Elements of Fiction Audience and Purpose Audience and Purpose The Aristotelian Appeals The Aristotelian Appeals Close Reading Close Reading Analysis Analysis The Structure of an Argument The Structure of an Argument A Strong Introduction A Strong Introduction Thesis Statement Thesis Statement Paragraph Structure Paragraph Structure Conclusion Conclusion

The Elements of Fiction To start: Plot Plot Characterization Characterization Point of View Point of View Setting Setting

Plot For our purposes, the word “Plot” has two meanings For our purposes, the word “Plot” has two meanings –What happens in the story; the basics of the narrative; –The writer’s arrangement or structuring of the material into the story, beyond just a layout of a sequence of events. –“The King died and the Queen died” versus “The King died and then the Queen died of grief.”

Plot One

Plot Two

Characterization Physical traits Physical traits Body language Body language Verbal expression Verbal expression Framing Framing Active versus passive behavior Active versus passive behavior Psychology Psychology Relationships Relationships Conflict Conflict Resolution Resolution

Point of View First Person First Person –Main Character –Minor Character –Reliable or Unreliable Second Person Second Person –To “you” –“You” as self Third Person Third Person –Objective –Omniscient –Limited Omniscient

Setting Macro versus Micro aspects of Setting How big is the “world” of the story? Country, City, Town, Neighborhood, Street, Playground, Swingset? Where are your characters and how much to they “move” in the story? Time of year? Season? Time of day? Other, more nuanced, elements of setting?

Indian Camp

Writing Exercise 1.1 In the next week, after you have completed the reading assignments, please choose aspect of Roman Fever, one pattern that you notice, either in a repeated image, narrative move, plot point, situation, or character’s behavior, and write a one-page explication of what you have found so compelling. In the next week, after you have completed the reading assignments, please choose aspect of Roman Fever, one pattern that you notice, either in a repeated image, narrative move, plot point, situation, or character’s behavior, and write a one-page explication of what you have found so compelling. Important: please remember that you are analyzing a text, characters therein, etc. not a “real life” situation. This is a story, and thus an artistic representation. Important: please remember that you are analyzing a text, characters therein, etc. not a “real life” situation. This is a story, and thus an artistic representation.