Memoir Writing

Today we began our final unit of the year: memoir writing.  We began by differentiating between memoir and biography, noting that memoir allows for more flexibility with truth-telling.  Embellishing is allowed with memoir.  I shared the story of author James Frey's visit to the Oprah Winfrey Show, and how he was publicly humiliated when she discovered that he'd exaggerated some of the details in his book A Million Little Pieces.  Clearly, Oprah was not familiar with the definition of memoir!

I then shared a rubric (accessible at the link on the sidebar) for assessing memoirs, and I shared a memoir written by trey anderson, a Canadian writer/producer/director.  We noted all the aspects of trey's memoir which made it successful.  Students should attempt to achieve success with each of these aspects, in their own pieces: meaning, style, form and conventions.

We then created "Heart Maps," where we listed the moments from our past that we hold in our heart.  This was basically an opportunity to brainstorm for our memoir.  We now have a bank of ideas, from which we can draw when we go to write our first draft next class.

And now you also know the story of the day I got punched in the face.

Media Literacy Synthesis Essay

During today's class, students wrote the in-class synthesis essay on the media literacy topic of their choice.  If you were away today, please see me to schedule a time to write.

PSA Production

Today we spent the second of two classes in the computer lab, generating our print PSAs.  These are due by the beginning of Wednesday's class.  You are permitted to either submit a paper copy of your PSA to me on Wednesday, or you can email me an electronic copy at msbarsky@yahoo.ca.  You may wish to email me your PSA, if colour is a necessary component of your PSA's message.

PSA Planning

We reviewed the video PSAs from last day, focusing on the conventions used to express the message.  We talked about the use of music, voice over, juxtaposition, irony and repetition, among other things.  We noted the tag-lines in each PSA, as well as summarized the message of each.  We noted that some PSAs are cautionary in nature, warning people to stop doing something, while some are encouraging/promoting of behaviours.

I distributed a handout with some print PSA examples, and I asked students to make a plan for the PSA they will create.  Students were asked to choose an issue/behaviour for focus, and to begin making some notes on how the PSA will look/sound.

Photo Essays - Complete!

Today was our final day for preparation of the photo essays.  We spent the class in the computer lab.

Photo essays are due to me on Wednesday.  You may submit either a paper copy, or an electronic copy, via email.  If you are emailing it to me, please send it here: msbarsky@yahoo.ca.

Photo Essay Prep

We spent today's class in the computer lab, beginning to put together our photo essays.  We will spend next class in the lab as well, and then essays will be due on Wednesday, at the beginning of class.