Blog Reflection

Reflection Questions:

• What did you learn about yourself as a writer?
  I don't know that I learned anything about myself as a writer that I didn't already know. To sum up myself as a writer in one word, I would have to say that word would be complacent. I like writing, and usually have grand ideas when it comes to writing, but I never write. Either I lack the patience or I never make time to write. I should write more. 

• What did you learn about digital writing?
  I learned that creating a blog is pretty easy. While I am not a fan of digital writing, I see how it is an easy way to get a class talking, sharing. 

• What lessons can you take to classroom or share with future teachers about integrating blogging into instruction?
  Echoing the last answer, I think I can share with a future teacher that making blogs are easy and effective. I don't think I'll use it in my classrooms, but you never know. It would be an easy way to share information with my students.

• Challenges?
  The biggest challenge for me was writing before the deadline. This semester has been really hectic, and often I would write my blog post in bits in pieces, during weird hours of the night. Outside of that, I did not face any other challenges.

• Successes?
  I really liked doing the free writes. That is when I felt my most creative. 

Professional Text: Part 3

Memoir: the final part of the book.

The final portion of the text is about memoir. Gornick contemplates how the memoir rose to prominence. Novels have been all about voice; a voice that compelled us and reached our emotional core. As time passes by, the voice grew less and less compelling. Soon, people began to focus inward because they believe their voices could be compelling. This, Gornick believes, led to the rise of memoir. Gornick talks about the idea of the self, and how that idea "is almost always served through a single piece of awareness that clarifies only slowly in the writer, gaining strength and definition as the narrative progresses." In bad memoir, the line of clarification is muddy, uncertain and indistinct. In good memoir, it becomes the organizing principal, and drives the narrative forward. 

What I learned: I learned the difference between good memoir and bad memoir, and how memoir differs from personal essays.

Golden lines: "Memoir is neither testament nor fable nor analytic transcription." 

Questions: Gornick begins the chapter on memoir by pointing out: "Thirty years ago people who thought they had a story to tell sat down to write a novel. Today they sit down to write a memoir" (pg 89). How does she explain this shift? Do you agree? What other reasons might account for the recent popularity of memoir and other forms of autobiographical writing?

Strategies: Have students write a snip it of their memoir.