Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.

Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow

Journal • What is the purpose of writing as ART?

The Cold, Hard Facts 1. Your timed writes are not as strong as they could be 2. I can help you, but you HAVE to listen to advice…. DO NOT BLOCK ME OUT and assume you can figure it out with time and practice 3. Put your ego aside, and WORK at it

Timed Write Tips • Understanding the passage is KEY • WRITE on the passage as you read it • Spend time with it….you will see something new if you are looking • Do NOT make assumptions • Read the prompt -DO NOT WRITE A THESIS YET

Read the Passage AGAIN

We are going to write THESIS statements… On SINGLE sentences

What do these have in common?

Sentence 2 From the beginning, our heroes have been sailors, explorers, cowboys, prospectors, speculators, backwoods ramblers, rainbow-chasers and vagabonds.

Seeking land, profit Sentence 2 Columbus Lewis and Clark John Smith From the beginning, our heroes have been sailors, explorers, cowboys, prospectors, speculators, backwoods ramblers, rainbow-chasers and vagabonds. Glorified profession Wyatt Earp Professions looking for money Unrealistic jobs, tricksters, wondering folk Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyan

My Thesis In this sentence Saunders starts with allusions to concrete professions and moves towards scattered idealists to suggest this call for movement started in necessity and transformed into a shared and perhaps unhealthy mythology.

Next One • The habit of our industry and commerce has been to force identical schemes onto differing locales, as though the mind were a cookie-cutter and the land were dough.

More than once, repeated The habit of ourindustry and commerce has been to force identical schemes onto differing locales, as though the mind were a cookie-cutter and the land were dough. Done against the will of someone/thing Land is product to be changed, molded to our liking SAMENESS Plan to make money, trick Mind is sharp instrument, capable of only taking one shape

Through analogy, Saunders suggests that a “mind rooted in ideas” is not open to changing those ideas and therefore often imposes its sharp will on differing lands, creating homogeneity and unnatural sameness that leads to bigotry and environmental destruction.

Last One “In this hemisphere, many of the worst abuses – of land, forests, animals and communities- have been carried out by “people who root themselves in ideas rather than places.”

Not just an American problem? Last One “In this hemisphere, many of the worst abuses – of land, forests, animals and communities- have been carried out by “people who root themselves in ideas rather than places.” Words with positive connotations, things anyone would want to protect, harmless things? Suffering, torture, undeserved pain Rushdie’s own words to label those who history has shown to have bad intentions (allusions that follow)

Thesis Saunders uses Rushdie’s own “eloquence” as a jumping off point for his own argument about the danger of people who are tied to nothing other than an intangible- an idea.

Putting it all together “Saunders uses Rushdie’s own words to develop his perspective about moving.” Thesis Grade: 2/3

Putting it all together “Saunders begins with a nostalgic tone and whimsical allusions to then use Rushdie’s own words to develop his perspective about moving.” Thesis Grade: 4/5

Putting it all together “Saunders begins with a nostalgic tone and whimsical allusions to appeal to our sense of shared history and mythology before shifting to notorious historical allusions in order to use Rushdie’s own words against him to develop a perspective about moving that plays on both the sentimentality and the collective guilt of the audience” Thesis Grade: 8

Homework • Tuesday: RWE Vocab TW

Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.