Writing Exercise #1, Passage Re-Write
Revised due date. Post submissions as comments.
Due 2006.12.04 8:00am PST
The idea is this: Take the passage below and re-write it substituting words, yet retaining the form in some recognizable fashion. Perhaps the first two sentences might be re-written as such:
"When I was sick, I missed my brother Stevie. It was impossible for him to come into my room without contaminating the air and breaking my immune system defenses down. His letters had some magical..."
The goal is to get a preliminary feel for choosing words and placing them in order without getting too hung up on the subject matter or story. You can interpret this exercise how ever you feel is appropriate.
The passage to play with:
"When I was ten, I feared my sister Megan. It was impossible for her to come into my room without breaking at least one of my favorite toys, usually the favorite of favorites. Her gaze had some magical tape-destroying quality; any poster she looked at seems to fall of the wall only seconds later. Well-loved articles of clothing disappeared from the closet. She didn't take them (at least I don't think so), only made them vanish. I'd usually find that treasured tee-shirt or my favorite Nikes deep under the bed months later, looking sad and abandoned among the dust kitties. When Megan was in my room, stereo speakers blew, window-shades flew up with a bang, and the lamp on my desk usually went dead.
She could be consciously cruel, too. On one occasion, Megan poured orange juice into my cereal. On another, she squirted toothpaste into the toes of my socks while I was taking a shower. And although she never admitted it, I am positive that whenever I fell asleep on the couch during half-time of the Sunday afternoon pro football games on TV, she rubbed boogers in my hair."
Due 2006.12.04 8:00am PST
The idea is this: Take the passage below and re-write it substituting words, yet retaining the form in some recognizable fashion. Perhaps the first two sentences might be re-written as such:
"When I was sick, I missed my brother Stevie. It was impossible for him to come into my room without contaminating the air and breaking my immune system defenses down. His letters had some magical..."
The goal is to get a preliminary feel for choosing words and placing them in order without getting too hung up on the subject matter or story. You can interpret this exercise how ever you feel is appropriate.
The passage to play with:
"When I was ten, I feared my sister Megan. It was impossible for her to come into my room without breaking at least one of my favorite toys, usually the favorite of favorites. Her gaze had some magical tape-destroying quality; any poster she looked at seems to fall of the wall only seconds later. Well-loved articles of clothing disappeared from the closet. She didn't take them (at least I don't think so), only made them vanish. I'd usually find that treasured tee-shirt or my favorite Nikes deep under the bed months later, looking sad and abandoned among the dust kitties. When Megan was in my room, stereo speakers blew, window-shades flew up with a bang, and the lamp on my desk usually went dead.
She could be consciously cruel, too. On one occasion, Megan poured orange juice into my cereal. On another, she squirted toothpaste into the toes of my socks while I was taking a shower. And although she never admitted it, I am positive that whenever I fell asleep on the couch during half-time of the Sunday afternoon pro football games on TV, she rubbed boogers in my hair."
posted by nate at 10:19 AM
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