Monday, July 28, 2008 - Daily Log

Western New York Writing Project
Daily Log
Monday, July 28, 2008


Breakfast:
Wow! Wham! (onomatopoeia) We were welcomed and wooed as we waddled to breakfast with a wonderful whiff of what we might call, warm deliciousness that weakened our willpower to watch our calories. (alliteration) What a treat! Was it a soufflé or a quiche? It doesn’t matter. It was good. Our choices were peppers, sausage, and mozzarella, and, broccoli and cheese. We also had a million boxes (hyperbole) of cereal at our fingertips to start our day!

R&R:
Chris read a selection from Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell, a book of short stories that discusses how acting without thinking, especially judging others, can negatively affect the way our choices work out in the end. The title of the selection read was “The Warren Harding Era”. During our sharing, we learned about the skin of peaches, Jessica loves her fruit, and a woman wearing blue pumps with a lot of luggage.

Announcements:
· We found out that Ellen is starting a new career as a professional interviewee as CMT talked with her at the Ghost Walk.
· The servers were down this morning and Jon, the caring, supportive man he is, reminded us that it is not his problem, the I-movies are due Thursday, and have a nice day! Just kidding. Time passed by (personification) and he saved the day. (idiom)
· Suzanne offered an opportunity to continue our enthusiasm for what we’ve accomplished during the summer institute by providing postcards for us to write words of encouragement to ourselves in the future. Will the universe collapse when we receive them, or is that only when we meet ourselves in the future?
· Please email Suzanne any poems or writings inspired by our visit to the Art Gallery
· Don’t forget your pictures for Patty’s lesson tomorrow.
· We also learned some sad news. Our thoughts and prayers are with Katrina and her family.

Writing Groups:
Due to the servers still being down, our agenda changed and we met in our writing groups this morning instead of the afternoon. Some words of advice: revenge is best served by choosing the right parking spot and burning houses to the ground is not the most productive way to cope with being angry.
Remember to bring in a hardcopy of your writing pieces that you submitted to the anthology.

Demo Lesson:
Kathy provided an insightful lesson on figurative language, Eight Figures – Making Your Writing Rich. We worked in groups and individually defining the eight literary terms, using book quotes to apply the terms, writing stories as groups using the terms creatively, and then writing our own stories. The group stories were about Bobby surfing, puppies pooping and gambling, girls dancing, gardens, and a rodeo with an unhappy bronco.
Well Done, Kathy!

Lunch:
We ate lunch like ravenous wolves. (simile) Well, some of us did. Others sang the Oscar Mayer Wiener song. And one weird man pulled a sandwich from his pocket, creating suspicion and confusion on the faces of those around him, as they raised eyebrows in disbelief, tilted their heads in perplexing manners, and sat shocked with wide eyes and drooping jaws. (imagery) It was a very odd hour in the cafeteria.

Inquiry Groups:
Holy smokes! At first, we thought this movie was a beast. (metaphor) But now we know, with a little help from our friends, we can accomplish most things! We worked on our I-movies and research for the remainder of the day.

Until tomorrow…

Scott