Week 8

And the night shall be filled with music, And the cares that infest the day Shall fold their tents like the Arabs And as silently steal away. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Day Is Done Good day!  Today we will review the short essay assigned last week, in which you were to  discuss a news story or interesting item found in the news or circulating on the web.  You'll  have a little time to finish them and I'll walk around to help you should.  When we've done  reading and discussing some of the work, we'll move on to our next assignment, the personal  profile. You may work in pairs or small group for this piece. The idea is to create a portrait of one or  two of the individuals attending Ai and to bring out something of the shared student experience   and the individual nature of your subject(s).  As you are yourselves students here, you have that perspective and experience to aid you in the interview or dialogue, which is the first step to creating the student portrait. An alternative is to focus on someone outside the classroom for a portrait. The Character Profile or study requires you present a "portrait" of an individual.  It includes the  individual's background to some degree and a look into their current endeavors, activities, interests,  ideas and attitudes.  To put it together involves an interview of sorts,  a two-way exchange in which the pair members dialogue to come up with enough information and first-hand impressions to write  the piece. The purpose is to gather and then bring to readers a sense of the background, motivation,  and personality of the students pursuing specific degrees or interests here at AiFL.  It will be a chance  to exchange personal stories, interests and ideas with others.   The focus may be on academic matters  or personal.  The student's particulars should illustrate some central idea, your thesis.  Imagine the audience as students and others in the local community or any who would be interested to learn about the experiences, concerns, and interests of college students today.   Key will be eliciting from your  subject(s) detailed background experience and personal stories that reveal character and personality, and recording it all in such a way readers feel like they are meeting this student in person, seeing and hearing the student gesture and speak. Some questions to ask to get your subject's story include the following:      *What's this experience or period of your life really about? *What is the emotional truth of your life today? What matters?  *What do you feel good about, uncertain about? *How did you get to this point or place in life? *Describe a past or current struggle in some detail to show the kind of challenge you know best. *Who were the important people in your life? How did they influence or shape you? *What are your near and long term goals? -----------  Notes *Include a brief description of your meeting place, the setting of the interview. *Include notes on the subject's appearance, style, voice and gestures–the face-to-face impressions and image created by your subject.   *Use some quoted speech, something your subject has said that epitomizes or illustrates clearly his or her point of view. Q&A Form      There are two ways of structuring the piece.  One is to introduce the subject in an opening paragraph,  providing context and a lead-in that generates reader interest.  (See the introductory paragraph description  below for more details.)  Imagine a target audience of your peers or some other reader group.  Follow the  introductory paragraph with a transcript of the questions posed to your subject and the responses elicited.   Shape the dialogue so that the  questions and responses, from beginning to end, are expressive of the  subject's history, interests, and future prospects or concluding thoughts on this stage of life.  At the following URL you will see the format demonstrated:  http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1644040,00.html Essay Form       The second way of structuring the piece is to summarize much of what you learn from your subject, shape  the main story line around a theme, and illustrate the whole with a few well-chosen quotations from your subject.  The second way is the article or essay form, as described more fully below: In the introductory paragraph, the writer must say something of the personal impressions your subject makes  in a face-to-face meeting. We want readers to feel they are meeting this individual in person; of course the  impressions are those you have drawn in meeting and talking with your subject.   The body paragraph(s) will recount history  and current endeavors, any conflicts or issues the subject is adressing, and how they are being addressed.   The body material is meant to illustrate  the nature of the personality and character of the individual subject.  Again,  the pairs or groups will be talking and exchanging information in an informal flow of give and take as you establish rapport and commonalities and differences. You will take notes on each other, specific background information,  career goals, interests, concerns, etcetera, which later you will incorporate into the essay. You will unfold something  of the life of your subject to illustrate a point about students or student life today.  Your conclusion will bring the presentation back to the central idea, underscoring it, and providing final comments.  You may want to incorporate direct quotation of one or another remark your subject has made, as well, to give some  sense of the individual's actual speech or voice. Dialogue or direct quotation is a dramatic device and draws readers  into the presence of your subject. You may use present or past tense overall. Bringing a sense of the subject individual's physical presence is a means of creating interest and imaginative appeal. Description of hair, eyes, gestures, clothing,  in some brief but telling way will allow readers to actually "see" the subject person as they learn something of the story  he or she embodies in the role of student. The following is part of the opening paragraph of an article about Justin Bieber written by Vanessa Grigoriadias, and  published in Rollingstone(March3, 2011):    Today, I'm the luckiest girl in the world.  I'm flying to Atlanta to interview pop-culture crush, Justin Bieber.  He's only 16, it's true, but half of womankind is in love with him, like Kim Kardashian (who wanted to spend Valentine's Day with a life-size poster of him), Rihanna (who has tweeted about his six-pack) and Katy Perry (who once said, "I would tap that.  Yummy").  To the Biebers, Justing is the most adorable kid in the world.  I've watched his videos  at least a dozen times each, I own two of his three albums and I have him on my Twitter feed . . . . Assignment 7:  A 400-500 word portrait in words of a fellow student or an individual whose personality, character, or life merits a portrait.  Use visual description, dialogue, and narrative detail to bring your subject into clear view.   Title the piece.  Double-space the lines.  Due week 9.