Week 4-1

How do we tell the story of a breakup?

Who did this right? It's a stupid question, isn't it?

We had to make decisions about…

• What genre are we working in?
• Whose point of view are we writing from?
• Who makes the first move?
• How old are they?
• Where is our focus? On the details? On the feelings?
• Do we like these people?
• How does it end?
• How do they want us to feel?

What caused things to end?

• "He's just a friend"
• Family conflict
• Surprise coma
• A viciously pragmatic approach to sports recruiting
• "She's just a friend"
• "I'm leaving you for your dad" / "No way, I'm leaving you for your dad!"

What genre are we working in? Some other approaches I've seen from students.

• Epistolary Writing
• Two-Voice Poems
• Dating Sim
• Storyboard for a Reality Show
• Dialog (via text)
• Ukulele tablature
• A musical...?

Do we like these people? The Last Five Years

Some takeaways

• There is no right or wrong. There are only choices.
• The choices we make as writers have certain effects on our readers.
• That doesn't mean that there's no such thing as "good" or "bad."
• What counts as "good" or "bad" really depends on whether our choices achieve the effects we intend.

How does this clip feel?

The Great Library - Phase II

Objective vs. Subjective

"Survey Says: April 2013: The Greatest Story Ever Told." The National Campaign.org. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Apr 2013. Web. 12 Nov 2015.

"Trends in Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing." Department of Health and Human Services. Office of Adolescent Health. 28 Aug 2015. Web. 12 Nov 2015.

Some Places to Look

• The Library's Reference Desk.
• Wikipedia as a starting point.
• Not Google, but Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
• Academic Databases (libguides.cos.edu/az.php)