January 12, 2007

Homework: Essay due Tuesday

Today I discussed the idea of "sea and mountain" in the narrative. When we are in the moment, experiencing it, we are in the sea. We only notice what is going on. We are not even thinking about the importance of the moment. "Mountain" is when we are beyond the moment looking back. In narratives, this can be years or decades. From the mountain, we can see the moment we went through and the others that surround it. Whereas we could only experience the moment in the present while we were in it, now that time has passed, we reflect on the event and give it meaning based on our current life situation. The way we look at the moment can even change over time. For instance, the trip that I am writing about had meaning to me for the months that followed. But now that things have changed in the relationship of the person I visited, I am revisiting the trip through different eyes. I am, in a way, rewriting the narrative of the trip. This time I am emphasizing the parts that relate to my life right now. I am realizing that the trip was important to me for other reasons.

I have to finish my essay this weekend as well. I plan to write all three essays with the students. Narrative writing is my favorite. The essays we have done so far have been kind of formal. Now we can engage in introspection... my favorite! I enjoy the process of discovering what I need to say. While the formal writing process stresses outlining, these types of essays allow a writer to discover meaning and craft the final piece in stages. Sometimes what I think I am going to write is not what comes out.