March 31 April 4 (Week 9 End Third Marking Period)

CW (bold = level-one)

March 31 – April 4 (week 9 – end third marking period)

M: Story assignment intro T: rough outline discussion; explain overall arc of story W: polished outline and 1 page due (consider POV; third v. first, etc.) R: 2 pages due F: “25 Stories by 18 Year Olds”; critique draft due Monday (2-4 pages due Monday)

April 7 – 11 (week 1)

M: “25 Stories…” critique due; discuss stories; 2-4 pages due T: Work on story. Read “Happy Chang” opening aloud; discuss opening (read all for Thursday) W: Work on story; discuss dialogue presentation R: Work on story; discuss “Happy Chang” F: Work on story: 4-6 pages due. Level-one critique of one of four selected stories.

SPRING BREAK: APRIL 14 – 18

April 21 – 25 (week 2)

M: Level-One critique assignment—discuss; due Monday after Spring Break: see web site for stories by Dark, Black, Percy, Packer. Consider fiction exercises (“What if…?” questions; “Show, Don’t Tell”); continue story work in progress. T: 5 pages due; consider exercises on dialogue… W: 6 pages due/draft due ASAP R: cont. F: Draft due

April 28 – May 2 (week 3)

M: Work on story; review “Story Qualities”; review troublesome mechanics; review dialogue and scene break technique T: Work on story—polished draft due. W: Final edit, submit ASAP R: Read stories; two-paragraph critique of classmate’s story. F: Story submission absolute deadline

[PROM WEEKEND] May 5 – 9 (week 4)

M: Introduce food scene assignment. Watch food scenes from Little Miss Sunshine, Ordinary People, American Beauty, Raging Bull, and Juno; consider how the physical world reflects the emotional world of the characters; consider the arc of the scene, and how one character drives the scene; how conscious and unconscious desires are met with obstacles (interpersonal; intra-personal; environmental) T: Work on food scene assignment W: Write sample food scene together as class; revise food scene assignment; introduce adaptation assignment; see sample screenplay; discuss format (Read and discuss “How to Watch a Movie”; introduce movie assignment; groups brainstorm for movie concept, outline) R: continue (revise food scene); work on adaptation scene (Watch “Ordinary People”; see sample adaptation screenplay) F: Read and discuss “How to Watch a Movie”; introduce movie assignment; groups brainstorm for movie concept, outline (Watch “Good Will Hunting”; see screenplay)

May 12 – 16 (week 5)

M: cont. story revision and screenplay scene assignments; (work on script; read Benjamin Percy’s essay on revision for HW) T: cont. W: Story revision due. Watch Ordinary People for overall structure, highlighting key scenes that show, through imagery and crucial dialogue, the trajectory of the main plot and subplot. R: work on screenplay scenes; outline due; work on screenplay draft F: scenes due (or first-thing after break); screenplay draft due. Return short stories, with substantial feedback; discuss and begin revision process [weekend #1 to work on short film]

May 19 – 23 (week 6)

M: Watch Good Will Hunting with an eye for overall structure, especially long Act One, which develops character, creates sympathy, clarifies stakes for Act Two. Story revisions due. T: Work on script. W: Work on script. R: Return short stories; work on screenplay exercises; introduce Good Will Hunting screenplay… F: Work on script / story revision

May 26 – 30 (week 7)

M: Watch Good Will Hunting with an eye for overall structure, especially long Act One, which develops character, creates sympathy, clarifies stakes for Act Two. Story revisions due. T: Work on script. W: Work on script. R: Work on script. F: PRIDE DAY Work on script. Movie-book essays due; present (group chats)

June 2 – 6 (week 8)

M: Screenplays due / Stories back… Movies due, along with polished screenplays T: Movie Night! W: R: F: SENIOR AWARDS & GARDEN PARTY

June 9 – 13 (week 9)

M: FINALS T: W: R: GRADUATION Jan. 29-31 (week 1)

W: Review syllabus; introductions; discuss School Memory assignment #1; google.docs R: #1 due; share, critique, revise; read “Bobby” F: Work on #2a (childhood anecdote)

Feb. 3-7 (week 2)

Hmmm… Ice, snow…

Feb. 10 – 14

M: (critique three personal essays, by Ford, Martin, Black, for Monday) Read, critique, and discuss three personal essays by students (#4) Bring Childhood Photo; work on #3 T: Work on #3 W: #3 due; write #5 Rant R: Brainstorm for personal essay; read selected essays (Sweeney, Saunders, David Foster Wallace; see satires, by David Sedaris, Steve Martin…) (“Here Come the Orphans” by Dave Eggers; critique due next Tuesday)

F: IN-SERVICE DAY

Feb 17 – 21 (week 3)

M: PRESIDENTS DAY T: (“Here Come the Orphans” by Dave Eggers, critique due) —in-class “rant” #5 due; watch DFW “This Is Water” video; “thesis” and begin draft W: work on draft R: work on draft F: work on draft (draft due Monday)

Feb 24 – 28 (week 4)

M: Draft due; share, revise… T: Final essay due; read aloud in class… W: Fiction Exercise #1: Read POV excerpts and write four scenes… R: Work on Fiction #1 (Mr. Z in Seattle) F: SSR, or Work on Fiction #1, due Monday (Mr. Z in Seattle) (“White Angel” by Michael Cunningham critique due Monday)

March 3 – 7 (week 5) M: (discuss “White Angel” and submit critique) —POV assignment due—four scenes; share… T: Work on “Airport Scene” (#2) W: Share and discuss “Airport Scene”; revise and polish. R: Read “The Flowers” by Alice Walker; discuss how it works as a complete story, despite its brevity; see other short-short stories… F: SSR; “Separating” critique due Monday

March 10 – 14 (week 6)

M: (John Updike “Separating” discussion; critique due) —Write a short-short story that stands alone, in third or first-person (#3) T: Write a scene, in contrast to a story (#4) W: revise and polish story and scene assignments R: Read “Shot” and answer questions F: SSR

M: Discuss “Shot”; search for news article for #5 T: Work on #5 Scene: Creating sympathy for the character; writing a compelling opening scene to a story (inspired by a real-life news story) W: Write group stories, continuing from #5… R: Present stories; reveal original inspirations… F: SSR (due Monday: critique on “The Love of My Life” by T.C. Boyle)

M: (critique on “The Love of My Life” by T.C. Boyle) —“Story Machine” #6 scene-writing assignment: writing a last scene in a story. Exercise plus brainstorm… T: Write #6 in class W: #6 due; peer review. Present and discuss scenes. R: Anne Tyler’s “Holding Things Together”; read, do #7 (arcs of 8 scenes in the story) F: work on #8 (outline of own story)

March 31 – April 4 (week 9 – end third marking period)

M: Story assignment intro T: rough outline discussion; explain overall arc of story W: polished outline and 1 page due (consider POV; third v. first, etc.) R: 2 pages due F: “25 Stories by 18 Year Olds”; critique draft due Monday (2-4 pages due Monday)