HOW TO USE THIS SITE

OK. So here you are. This is the place for English Electives at Turning Point. Currently we offer Writer's Craft (EWC) and English Media (EMS). All of thos assignments are on this site, and you could scroll through and find them all as needed, but there's an easier way.

At the bottom of this post there are 'labels' - EWC and EMS. These labels are one of the ways blogger organizes posts, and they function as links, so if you want to do the Media course simply click the EMS label. Conversely, if you want the Writer's Craft assignments just click the EWC label and it will take you to all of the EWC assignments.

We may develop the Literature course if there's enough interest, so if it's up your alley be sure to let me know.

EWC - Part 1 - Weekly Writing Journal (20%)

Here it is - the MAJOR task for this course, and it's not hard - at least the product itself isn't hard. The hardest part of being a writer, in my estimation anyway, is the fact that you need to write all the time. Even when you're sick. Even when you're busy with other things. Even when you're so sick of writing that you would rather jam a freshly sharpened pencil into your right hand. Writers need to write. That's what makes them writers. And most writers need to write because they need to appease an editor (who is behind a pay cheque).

That's what this part of the course is designed to prepare you for - or at least give you a taste. You will be required to submit a piece of writing (what that looks like will be explained below) once a week for eight (8) weeks (making at least eight (8) total submissions). Your editor (that's where I come in) will be expecting SOMETHING every week, so that's how you will be graded. Once you start submitting you will get a 5/5 if you give me something (proving that you found time to write that week) and a 0/5 if you don't.

Step 1
Choose a day for submissions. This will be the day you will give me something, every week. Think about your schedule and when makes sense for you. You can change this date once.

Step 2
Start writing. It may sound easier than it is - but the key will be making time in your weekly schedule to write something. It doesn't really matter what you write. Some weeks will (hopefully) be insipred and full, and others will be lighter - but the goal is to have SOMETHING new to submit every week.

You can submit either written pieces in person to my inbox (on my desk in J034) or you can email them to me (see contact info. above). It really doesn't matter - so long as you submit something.

Step 3
Select your favourite pieces for your portfolio. (See Part 5 of the course for more info about that.)

Writing Prompts
Sometimes we need a little spark to get our writing started, and there's nothing wrong with that. If you dind yourself unsure of what to write, finding a prompt will give you some focus and allow you to get something out - even if you don't love it, a 5/5 is a 5/5. 

If you do want a prompt, a quick google search will yield 100s of hits, but here are some that I've used. 
20 Writing Prompts
More Writing Prompts
Even More Writing Prompts
Writing Prompts for Character Development
Writing Prompts for Setting, POV and Plot

EWC - Part 2 - "The Writing Life" Investigation (15%)

Advice isn't always helpful, but why not take a listen to some writing pros who have some simple suggestions on how to do what they do so well. That's what I want for you with this part of the course. There are two parts - and both will give you some insight into what it is to be a 'pro' writer - like, you get PAID for it.

Step 1

First, I want you to read over some advice offered by some pros. Helpful? Not so much? I want you to consider it and give me your opinion.

"The Writing Life" Assignment Sheet

And here are some articles you'll need to complete the assignment.

Advice from Peggy Atwood
23 Tips from Famous Writers
D Brande's Becoming a Writer 

Step 2

Great. Now, to finish off this part of the course, I want you to spend a bit of time thinking about the various jobs available to the writer. Have you ever seen CareerCruising? Probably, and if not, today's your lucky day.

Here's the assignment sheet you'll need to complete the writer job search. All of the instructions for getting onto CareerCruising is on the sheet, but if you're having any problems, just ask me.

EWC - Part 3 - Critical Reading Report (20%)

So let me be clear, and blunt. If you want to be a writer, you need to be a reader. Yes, I've been preaching all course long that to be a writer you need to write, a lot. But you also need to be an avid and diverse reader.

Liken it to being a chef - in order to cook with imagination and inspiration you need to taste a lot of food, and lots of different kinds of food, and good food at that. It's the same thing with being a a writer. In order to stay inspired, motivated and educated you need to read widely and deeply. The classics. The underground. Poets. Playwrights. Novelists. They can all offer you something useful, but only if you use them for that.

You also need to make sure that when you read you are reading both as a reader AND as a writer. Reading as a reader is all about reading to understand WHAT happened - just enjoying the story and getting carried away in the adventure. But to read as a writer you need to take a step back - you need to be objective and watch HOW the author achieves what they achieve. HOW do they describe the characters so successfully such that they dance and talk and play about in your head all day? HOW do they design a setting that makes your sense tingle?

And that's what you're going to do here. I want you to read widely, and for this assignment, I want you to read, as a writer, at least five (5) different pieces of writing. Here is the assignment sheet you should use to create your Critical Reading Reports.

Feel free to choose selections from your own library, or choose some of the pieces below. Just make sure you review at least five (5) different authors.  

Novel Excerpts
Mistry's Family Matters
Adams' Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Woolf's To The Lighthouse
Smith's White Teeth

Poems
Some poems from Dorothy Livesay
Some poems from ee cummings
Some poems from Langston Hughes
Some poems from Maya Angelou
Some poems from Pablo Neruda

Short Stories
"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker
"The School" by Donald Barthelme
"The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by G. G. Marquez
"Happy Endings" by Margaret Atwood
"Mr Coffee and Mr Fixit" by Raymond Carver

EWC - Part 4 - Writing BLOG/Forum Participation (15%)

Great. Now this is an important part of the course, and it's one that could, if done properly, last you long after the course is finished. I want you to involve yourself with an online writing community. There are many, many, many possible homes for your writing life, and part of being a successful writer is having a group of (objective) people who can be called on to give you honest opinions on your writing.

Here is an assignment sheet that explains the rationale and requirements of the assignment, but the basics are simple:

- find an online blog/forum that you like. You should like the material posted on the site, and you should like the way people talk to one another (I want you to involve yourself in this community, so it's important you not hate the people within).

- sign up for the forum and tell me your handle/user name.

- participate! You can post your own writing, or simply comment on the writing of others.

- participate at least 5 different times. The length of each post/comment doesn't really matter. Longer, more thought out posts/comments will receive a better mark, but five (5) comments of "I like your writing" will receive a passing mark.

OK? Any questions - you know the drill. ASK ME!

EWC - Part 5 - Culminating Task (30%)

Excellent! You've come a long way since you've started this course. You've (hopefully) been writing for at least eight-weeks now, and that in itself is a serious accomplishment. You've also read a considerable quantity of writing by professional writers, and you've begun to see writing as a writer sees writing (as opposed to how a reader sees writing). You've fully grasped the difference between reading something to figure out what it means (what a reader does) and reading something to figure how it means (what a writer does).

You've also considered what a life as a professional writer would be like and whether or not you might like to give it a shot.

Well, all of that hard wok is nearly over. Now we come to the final step. You will spend the last few weeks of this course preparing a 'writing portfolio'. Here is an assignment description to help guide you through this process.

Also, one of the first things you should do is read this article about HOW TO PROOFREAD AND POLISH your writing. It should help to put you in a positive state of my mind as you embark on this final leg of your journey.

What you need to know:

• you must submit evidence of your editing process (I don't want you cramming your whole course into the end of the semester - that will create shoddy editing, and shoddy writing

• you must submit a number of pieces - the specific number will depend n the type of writing:

                                                - poems - >7

                                                - short stories - at least 15 pages worth

                                                - novel  - an excerpt at least 15 pages long

                                                - articles - at least 2 articles (300+ words each)

                                                - script/screenplay - at least 15 pages

•  Any questions about the quantity, see me.

The borrom line is that if you've been working steadily through this course this final step should be a pleasant experience that should leave you feeling satisfied and proud. Let's talk about how you're doing and what you're working on. I can't wait to read your writing!

EMS - U1A1 - Where It All Came From

UNIT 1 - Different Forms of Media

OK. This is it - the first assignment for EMS3O1: English Media! This is where it all began. The classy looking gent above is Thomas Edison, the father of American invention. He's sitting next to his first phonograph, sort of like a record player. That picture was taken in 1899. Can you believe that in a little over 100 years we have gone from that, to a telephone that fits into your pocket capable of taking the picture, playing the music, and performing 100s of other vital (or trivial) tasks!?

The world of media is vast and impressive, and it can be a lot to figure out - but fear not, we will do it in steps, and by the end you'll be a savvy media consumer and even a fairly accomplished creator in your own right.

Let's get things started - here is the first assignment. It's a relatively short one, but it will function as a foundation, a reminder of where we've come from, and perhaps an indication of where we might be going. Deep.

EMS - U1A2 - TV

Do you still watch TV? There are some major shifts happenning in our culture as we speak, and one of them is a slow move away from traditional TV viewership. That doesn't mean that people don't still spend much too much time (so Drs tell me) watching TV. But it means that the way people watch TV is changing, and that, unlike 10 years ago, more (young) people are spending the majority of their free time browsing the internet - an activity severly cutting into TV viewership.

In any event, there are a lot of dollars being spent on generating ever more TV shows for you and I to watch, so someone must still be interested in this ancient medium.

In this assignment you'll spend time learning about the early days of TV, the development of the situation comedy, and the birth of the new juggernaut, reality TV. Buckle up and enjoy!

EMS - U1A3 - Film

Let's keep the ball rolling. Two assignments done for this first unit, three to go. This assignment will not go into the world of filmic terms or do much in the way of a detailed look at modern film. It will give you a brief history of the development of the art form/medium and will provide a qualitative look at what films bring to our lives.

You WILL need YouTube again for this assignment, but since you're likely accessing this on the internet anyway, there's likely no problem there.

Also, here is a work sheet that should help describe what I'm looking for on the last question of this assignment - the Film Analysis.

Questions? Concerns? You know what to do.

EMS - U1A4 - Video Games

Great. You seem to be making your way through this unit well, which is good, since you have 4 more! Anyway, now we're going to spend sometime thinking about video games. You don't need to be a gamer to do this assignment, I promise. Most of us have SOME experience with gaming, even if its simply fighting them for the attention of our friends or significant others. It's estimated that the video game industry will surpass the film industry in total revenue in just a few short years - amazing considering it is so young.

And yet video games are not considered art. The creators are not considered artists. Even though they involve all of the elements of a classic novel: conflict, heroes, villians, magical landscapes, unbelievable acts, etc.

We will also spend some time discussing some of the major concerns people have with video games - namely, they're addictive, and they're too violent. Well, why not get started.

Here is the assignment, game on! (I wish the link could take you to a page that said "I'm sorry Mario, your assignment is in another castle" - wouldn't that be amazing? Alas.)

EMS - U1A5 - Computers & the Internet

Here's a map of the internet as it first started in 1969. You can see the original 4 sites (or nodes), 3 of which are in California (UCLA - University of California at Los Angeles; UCSB - University of California at Santa Barbara; SRI - Stanford Research Institute) and the 4th at the University of Utah.

And here's the same map of the internet 26 short years later in 1995.

And finally, here it is 10 years later in 2005. We can only expect this web to encompass the entire planet before too long.

With such a massive change in such a short time (in comparison, it took reading/writing 1000s of years to spread across the globe as completely as has the internet) it is obvious that some growing pains would occur. Some claim that we're still right square in the middle of said growing pains, and that the problems and pitfalls of today's www will be solved/forgotten in another generation.

In any event, that's what you'll spend time working on for this assignment. Enjoy the journey and ask questions.

NOTE: The video you will use for this assignment is relatively fast moving and quiet, so you may have to pause it to write down an answer, and then continue. OK? OK. You've been warned.

EMS - U2A1 - Constructing Reality, HOW?

UNIT 2 - CONSTRUCTING REALITY

Here we go, the beginning of the second unit - so we're going to shift our focus away from the different forms of media, and instead, spend some time thinking about the behind the scenes world of media. This first assignment will be a quick and straightforward look at how media is created - specifically, how world's are generated in computers that apparently become home to actors and actresses all the time.

Here is the assignment package - if you have any questions or areas of uncertainty PLEASE take the initiative to ask me. OK? It will result in better work, faster progress and a happier teacher.

EMS - U2A2 - Constructing Reality, WHY?

Moving on, now that we're clear on HOW media is created we should spend a little bit of time talking about WHY it is created. The video game industry (alone) was worth about $90 Billion last year, and the film ndustry earned another $90-100 Billion last year - so there's a lot to be made and lost in the world of media. Those numbers guarantee that there are a lot of people involved in media creation, and that a lot of people care WHY media is being made.

Enough talky-talky, let's get to it. Here is the assignment, and remember what the tab at the top of the page marked "Contact Info. and Schedule" is for - I'm here to help, just ask!

EMS - U2A3 - Deconstructing Media

OK. Now let's see if any of the previous lessons have stuck. For this one I want you to try taking apart a few pieces of media. Tell me what the explicit meaning is, what the implicit meaning it, who are the winners and losers, etc. It's all explained, and I even provide you with an example - be sure to choose a media text that you find interesting, you can do this for anything.

Here's the assignment, and here are some words of encouragement - you can do it!

EMS - U3A1 - Social Media and the Media Machine

UNIT 3 - MEDIA and YOU

That picture above is of an old (but certainly not one of the first) printing presses. This machine helped to revolutionize the world by allowing us (as a species) to share information across long distances (books can be shipped) and across time (books don't deteriorate very quickly) - and it is often thought of as the beginning of the media revolution.

For this assignemnt you will consider how the newest forms of media have changed our world and how we are adapting to this new era. Here is the assignment sheet, and as usual, call me, text me, email me, or come and talk to me - but be sure to ask me if you have any questions.

EMS - U3A2 - Life Without Media

This one is a short one, but it canbe a challenge - depending on your tempermant. The good news is, you're in charge, and you can set your own challenge (you'll see what I mean when you read the assignment). For this assignment I really want you to think about how you use media, and what your life would be like if you were to take a break from it. Try to challenge yourself, but there's no need to trigger a panic attack - stay within your comfort zone, but try to push it a bit.

In any event, here is the assignment sheet. Good luck, and remember, you can do it!

EMS - U3A3 - Media Job Report

OK. Let's finish this unit. Now I would like you to spend some time and energy researching potential careers in the field of media. As our economy (both National and local) continues to shift from a manufacturing focus to a service focus the field of media related jobs grows and grows. Even 5 years ago a "Social Media Consutlant" would never have existed - but today most major coroprations have one, and maybe a whole team.

So, it has never been more important to consider this field when planning your future. Guess what I would like you to do? You're going to use CareerCruising to get the skinny on some media related jobs. Here's the assignment sheet I'd like you to use to track your learning. As usual, ask me if you have questions.

EMS - U4A1 - Ad Basics!

UNIT 4 - ADVERTISING

OK. The last unit of this course - let's get cracking. Now we're going to spend some time talking about advertising. Ads are pervasive - they are a major element of our modern landscape and there are few places where we can go and NOT be inundated by their appeals. They're also designed to take our money away from us, so it's not a bad idea to know what they're about and how they work.

Anyway, here is the assignment sheet. You will spend most of your time learning about the two main methods of advertising - the appeal and the claim. Learn to know the difference, and more importantly, how to keep your hard earned money in your pocket and not the advertisers.

EMS - U4A2 - Analyse THAT!

Super! You're making some good progress on this course if you're starting this assignment - so good on ya. For this one you're going to continue developing your understanding of how advertising works, both the explicit (clear and easy to see) messages as well as the implicit (hidden, unsaid) ones.

Here is the assignment sheet. As usual, don't be shy about asking me questions - that's what a teacher is supposed to be doing. Every time you have a question and DON'T ask me a kitten dies - don't contribute to the kitten slaughter, ask questions of your teacher.

EMS - U4A3 - TV Advertising (and Why We Worship It)

Good, we're getting close now - but we still need to talk about one of the major tools for advertisers - television. This is the 'big dog' of the advertising world. We hear about lots of new and innovaticve methods including guerilla marketing and internet banners and social advertising, but the primary form of advertising we face today is that published on TV screens all across the world. The most expensive ads in the world (you can watch them here) are all on the TV. So there must be something to that - no?

In any event, here is the assignment package - if you have any questions about this, let's talk. Seriously!

EMS - U4A4 - Promote THIS!

Great stuff, so this will be it - your last assignment before the culminating task - so let's make it a good one. Now I want you to spend some energy working on your promotional strategies. If you wanted to promote yourself in order to get a job promotion, could you do it? If you were selling your car would you know how to position it to get the best price? That's what this is all about.

Here's the assignment, and as usual, talk to me about this stuff - make sure you're clear on what I'm expecting of you and if you're unsure of how to do anything, that's what I am for.

EMS - Culminating Task (30%)

UNIT 5 - CULMINATING TASK

Excellent! So you've made it this far and it's time to see how much you've learned. Welcome to the Culminating Task for EMS3O1 (English Media). For this, your last project, I would like you to take what you've learned about different media forms, about advertising, and about persuasion to create a campaign to RAISE THE HYPE for any subject you choose - a product, a service, an NGO, a cause, an idea, a charity, whatever - just get people talking about it. OK?

Let's talk about what, in particular, I am looking for - but here is the assignment package.

This unit should take you approximately 2 weeks of solid work to complete, it's your exam, so do your best. Ask me questions, clarify things that you're uncertain of - I'm here to help, but it's easier to help before you are finished - get it?! Good. Good work (luck has nothing to do with it).