There’s a creative act in trying to decide what problem is worth asking in the first place.

DAY ONE

What you should have learned this year about writing… 1.Process matters & does make a difference  Outlines  Editing 2.Creativity Counts 3.Supporting Your Ideas is a Necessity 4.Conclusions can make or break your paper!!

The Assignment: 1. Students will select a question to pursue that covers one or more of the novels/plays we read this semester.  characters, themes, symbols, etc. 2. Students will write a paragraph outline, two drafts & submit a final draft to turnitin.com by midnight on Wednesday May 12,  the process packet will be turned in at the beginning of class on May 13, 2011.

Grading ~Process Counts!!  40%: Process Parts of the Paper (80 points) 1. Outline 40 points (Due 5/6/11) 2. 1 st Draft (edited) 20 points (Due 5/9/11) 3. 2 nd Draft (edited) 20 points (Due 5/10/11)  60%: Final Written Draft (120 points) 1. 33%--Creativity 2. 33%--Support / Organization 3. 33%-- Grammar / Syntax

Topic Ideas…

DAY TWO

Example

How do Stanley and Blanche reflect the values and lives of people living in the United States early 1950’s?  Are these characters irreconcilable??

BRAINSTORMING

Stanley ~abusive, dominant male ~ “rules his castle” ~hates Blanche for threatening what he built ~loves Stella, but conditionally  not representative of all males, but does represent those who could take advantage of a woman’s lack of options Blanche ~represents “delicate” people ~typical woman who needed a man to care for her  no options for career ~wanted to help her sister  ”stuck” in a situation due to lack of money, must have husband to survive

OUTLINE

How do Stanley and Blanche reflect the values and lives of people living in the United States in the 1940’s and 1950’s? I. Introduction  novels help us to better understand who we are by showing us where we came from  A Streetcar Named Desire reflects the lives of people living in urban areas in the 1940’s and 1950’s  more diverse, but the role women played in society was tragic Thesis: Stanley and Blanche clash throughout the play, but this clash represents the conflict that was evident in the home between men and women, and it represents the clash of the classes seen in many of the urban areas.

II. Through the characters of Stanley and Blanche, we get an understanding of what life was like for women.  Stella is dependent on Stanley, which leaves her stuck in a situation she claims she doesn’t want to get out of. She tries to explain this to Blanche. She does seem to waiver though. ~ “But there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark—that sort of make everything else seem—unimportant.” (p.70) ~ “People have got to tolerate each other’s habits, I guess.”  even after Stella finds out what Stanley did to Blanche, she still must stand by Stanley. ~ “Don’t ever believe it. Life has to go on. No matter what happens, you’ve got to keep on going.” -Eunice (p.133)

III. Stanley & Blanche represent the struggle that existed between the classes.  Blanche believed Stanley was not good enough for her sister & wants to come up with a plan to save them.  Worried because she sees sister as a victim & worries that Stella thinks this behavior is normal ~ “Maybe he’ll kiss strike you or maybe grunt…”(p.72) ~“There’s something downright—bestial—about him” (p.71)  Stanley resents the fact that Blanche thinks she is better than him just because of where she is from. ~“That girl calls me common!...You know she’s been feeding us a pack of lies here?” (p.98) ~“Pig-Polack-disgusting-vulgar-greasy! Them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sister’s too much around here!What do you two think you are? A pair of queens?” (p.107)

IV. Conclusion ~Why is this significant?  Stanley & Blanche represent the worst elements of the 1950’s society—the repression & lack of options for women, the abusive & dominant males that took advantage of this situation.  There were wars going on inside of the home: cultural wars, class wars and gender wars.  Their beliefs could never be reconciled because each detested the world the other came from ~refusal to accept the weaknesses of the other

DAY THREE

Working on Your First Draft

Essay Paragraph Structure ~An Average paragraph should have sentences!!!  Introductory Sentence  Commentary  Support  Details  Concluding Sentences

u III. Stanley & Blanche represent the struggle that existed between the classes.  Blanche believed Stanley was not good enough for her sister & wants to come up with a plan to save them.  Worried because she sees sister as a victim & worries that Stella thinks this behavior is normal ~ “Maybe he’ll kiss strike you or maybe grunt…”(p.72) ~“There’s something downright—bestial—about him” (p.71)  Stanley resents the fact that Blanche thinks she is better than him just because of where she is from. ~“That girl calls me common!...You know she’s been feeding us a pack of lies here?” (p.98) ~“Pig-Polack-disgusting-vulgar-greasy! Them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sister’s too much around here!What do you two think you are? A pair of queens?” (p.107)

In addition to showing readers what life was like for many women, Williams also uses the characters of Stanley & Blanche to exemplify the struggle that existed between the classes in the 1940’s & 1950’s. Blanche may have ended up poor, but she was still raised in an upper class society. She believed Stanley was not as gentile as she and Stella had been raised to be and not good enough for her sister. In Blanche’s mind, Stanley was “downright—bestial” (71). Once she sees Stanley hit Stella she decides she must come up with a plan to save them because she’s worried that Stella now thinks this behavior is normal. She warns Stella that “maybe he’ll kiss strike you or maybe grunt”(72), and this should not be tolerated. Unfortunately, Stanley overhears Blanche voicing her concerns and is enraged when he sees that Blanche thinks she is better than him just because of where she is from. “That girl calls me common!” He begins to realize that Blanche is threatening the life he has built and yells and Stella for this behavior, “Pig-Polack-disgusting-vulgar-greasy! Them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sister’s too much around here! What do you two think you are? A pair of queens?” (p.107) The conflict between Stanley and Blanche brought up by their different upbringings was not uncommon during this time.

DAY FOUR

Editing on Your First Draft

Top Priority: 1 st Task 1. Complete Paragraphs a. Introductory Sentences b. Concluding Sentences 2. Transitions a. Introductory Sentence of 2 nd Body ¶ b. Connect ideas between paragraphs

2nd Task 1. Complete Introduction a. General  introduce author/title   introduce ideas in essay  thesis ~Does the thesis answer the prompt question??

3rd Task 1. Write Conclusion a. Why is this significant?

DAY FIVE

Editing on Your Second Draft

5 Tasks for Polishing Your 2 nd Draft 1. Ambiguous Words & Generalizations–  remove (“People”, “everyone”, “things”) 2. Unclear Antecedents–  remove unclear pronouns 3. Polish Intro/ Conclusion/ Transitions  do C.S.’s tie ideas back to thesis?? 4. Edit sentences  check for fragments & run-ons  remove “you”, “I think”, “I believe”, “In conclusion”  Do not start sentences with “Also” or “But” 5. MLA–  page numbers for citations, name, spacing Do you have a creative title??