The road to hell is paved with ‘works in progress.’ – Phillip Roth
BEFORE YOU COME TO CLASS:
Have written Informal Essay #1
CLASS AGENDA:
- Review Informal Essay #1
- Review Quizzes
- Questions on Narrative – Discussion on Shoeless Joe
- Costal’s Keys to Writing #2 & #3
- Assignment Review
IN-CLASS RESOURCES
Costal’s 5 Keys to Writing:
- SHOW don’t TELL
- Writing IS Rewriting
- Good writing = Strong Verbs
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- XXX
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Shooting An Elephant by George Orwell: When I pulled the trigger I did not hear the bang or feel the kick–one never does when a shot goes home–but I heard the devilish roar of glee that went up from the crowd. In that instant, in too short a time, one would have thought, even for the bullet to get there, a mysterious, terrible change had come over the elephant. He neither stirred nor fell, but every line of his body had altered. He looked suddenly stricken, shrunken, immensely old, as though the frightful impact of the bullet had paralyzed him without knocking him down. At last, after what seemed a long time–it might have been five seconds, I dare say–he sagged flabbily to his knees. His mouth slobbered. An enormous senility seemed to have settled upon him. One could have imagined him thousands of years old. I fired again into the same spot. At the second shot he did not collapse but climbed with desperate slowness to his feet and stood weakly upright, with legs sagging and head drooping. I fired a third time. That was the shot that did for him. You could see the agony of it jolt his whole body and knock the last remnant of strength from his legs. But in falling he seemed for a moment to rise, for as his hind legs collapsed beneath him he seemed to tower upward like a huge rock toppling, his trunk reaching skyward like a tree. He trumpeted, for the first and only time. And then down he came, his belly towards me, with a crash that seemed to shake the ground even
where I lay.
ASSIGNMENTS
Read this narrative (and as you read, consider listening to the author read the piece here) by David Sedaris (listen to the author read the narrative below). As you read, consider what you learned about narratives from the Purdue OWL (and any questions posed in class today). Be prepared for Wednesday, to further discuss the quality of this piece and “how” it evinces the tenets of good narrative.
Joe Costal 