Welcome to our class 'chapbook.' This is a space for you to further practice your craft of essay writing without worrying about how it will become a fully developed piece. You could think of it as an on-line, public journal (hey, isn't that what a blog is?).
**Each of you should spend 5-10 minutes on Mon., Tues., and Wed. nights writing. On Thurs., choose one piece of a classmate's writing to respond to. Be specific in your praise and advice for improvement. "This is great," helps no one. You could address the topic of the writing, the sentence styling, word choice, word order, offer suggestions, ask questions, etc. Remember to respect each other.
Being back at Waynflete feels both familiar and odd. The everyday chatter and teachers is something I remember, but separating my living and school space is odd. At Chewonki the bathroom I used and kept my toiletries in was the same as the one I used during classes. I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner where I spent my frees, and I would do homework at night in my history classroom. I would find myself pulled toward the same places throughout the day. Now, the places I spend my time has multiplied, which has been surprisingly unsettling.
ReplyDeleteThere's really no good way to start this. A lot of you already know the basics about me. I'm a junior, my name is Haley Jo, and I like to write. I suppose something I know about myself that a lot of people don't know is that I'm actually pretty funny. People tell me I'm quiet, or smart, or serious. Not a lot tell me I'm funny. But I love to laugh, and tell jokes. Something else a lot of you do know is that I live on a farm, and have four cats, two dogs, eighteen chickens, two cows, and three exotic birds. Living where I do has informed a lot of my world view, like how I look at books and songs and politics and people. And lastly, I like writing in a form that's closer to how I think and talk, rather than a more formal style. For instance, starting a sentence with "and."
ReplyDeleteI am Brandon Woo, and I am a junior. The only important thing anyone needs to know about me is that I am a serious entomologist, and delight in sharing my love of insects with others. I've recently started to specialize in the Orthoptera (that's crickets and grasshoppers to the rest of you), especially as it relates to their sound production and behavior. Other than my entomological work, I am a Star Trek aficionado, and also enjoy macrophotography. As for pets, I maintain a menagerie of myriad insects which is ever-changing. I've been told that I write very straightforwardly, without a whole lot of strong emotion. It's a product of my work, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteThe dull, long, hazy days of summer are over yet, I still can't get my brain out of the fog. I'm not ready for school to start. I'm not ready for the work or the challenges. But, I guess it doesn't matter because it's already begun. I can't waste the time waiting to be "ready" to begin my work. I just have to do it. Although, the pressure is already building on my shoulders, all the commitments I have innocently signed myself up for have come barging at me, sticks out at the ready to beat me with. Work, school, religious schooling, the play that's coming up, college. The list, in retrospect, didn't seem long to me. But, now, when I am trying to fit it all into a schedule, suddenly, I'm wishing the days were much longer. But, I can't think of it in this way, with so many negative connotations. I have to calm down, take deep breaths like my friends told me too and tell myself, "I'm gonna make it."
ReplyDeleteI spent an over an hour (losing track of time after ten minutes) composing an in-depth summary of myself, my strengths and weaknesses. It ranged from how I think I'm smart and kind and funny to how I consider myself socially inept. It encompassed the thirty-plus books I read, and the thirty-plus pages I wrote, this summer. It discussed how much I love school, and how much I prize friendship (my historical favorite topic of all time). But I deleted the whole thing, and the next several drafts which attempted to grapple philosophically with issues of social acceptance. I am a perfectionist who acknowledges that I don't do anything perfectly, I don't let others unseat me in the belief that I am just as I should be, while caring about what others think about me. I am hopelessly insecure yet enjoy being the center of attention. I set out to write a humorous paragraph and have written something far too serious. I am, in short, a mass of contradictions, and I love myself exactly as I am, even as I castigate myself for everything I feel I've ever done wrong. In the end, I've spent far too long composing this, and it isn't just as I wished it to be, but I suppose that it wouldn't be properly defining me, if it wasn't just as it is.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Julianna Harwood, I am 16 years old and a junior at Waynflete. I live in a 18th century farm house in Yarmouth with my parents and dog, Pepper. I am the youngest of five and am now the only kid left in my house which is taking some getting used to. I love soccer and basketball and have been playing both for as a long as I can remember. As far as school I usually enjoy science and math classes more because I like exact answers more than ambiguous ideas and concepts, and Spanish is by far my worst subject. I hope to one day live in a city but I haven't a clue as to what I want to do for a living. It's been ten minutes and I can't think of anything more so I'm going to stop.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Emily White. The number of people who ask how to spell “White” always surprises me, but I am happy to have been named “Emily” instead of “Snow”, a joke that would have become very old, very quickly. I live on a farm in Buxton where childhood memories were created in haylofts, blueberry patches, and frog ponds. My parents, grandmother, great aunt, and great grandmother share the farm, and like the plants, I grew in the center being the youngest by almost 30 years. Tennis was a part of my life for as long as I could remember. At three years old I was given a tennis ball and racket and I haven’t put them down since. I have two horses, three rabbits, chickens and a cat but the numbers always change because I am the first one to ask, “Can we keep it?”.
ReplyDeleteHey there, my name is Meredith and I am a senior this year. Some of the essentials include that I have two brothers and one sister, I have a dog named Maya, my favorite food is potatoes, I love singing (or rapping) to myself but I'm well aware that I am terrible, and I live in Standish. I don't think I really identify with any of those things, but they're good to know. I identify myself, and others, with personality traits as opposed to arbitrary facts. So I should probably introduce myself more appropriately. I really like to listen to people and I am very analytical when it comes to people and their behaviors. I am pretty loud and still struggling with the ability to turn my mouth off when I need to. I should probably add to the fact list that I talk to myself frequently in the third person. I don't think this is an indicator or any major physical or mental problems, but socially I run into some uncomfortable situations. I think I will end this here, although I'm sure I could go on much further.
ReplyDelete