Task 1 — Dynamic dialogue. (150 words)
Write the dialogue for a conversation that takes place between two people. The choice of scene and story is up to you. You can provide a couple of sentences to set the scene, but they should form part of your story, not a separate explanation. Or you can set the scene through your dialogue alone. For this exercise use an established convention for quoting dialogue, and be consistent in its use. If you can make the conversation a cameo ‘story’ so much the better.
Task 2 — Tracking tautologies (100 words)
Find seven examples of tautologies in samples of professional (and/or creative) writing.
List all seven examples as brief passages (one sentence will do) highlighting (bold or underline) the tautology and briefly referencing the source of the work.
Task 3 — Shhh! This one’s a secret! (150 words)
Write about one of the following: a cat hunting a bird, a child playing with a doll, a woman arguing with her partner, the police chasing a speeding car, or a busker entertaining a crowd.
Task 4 — Your favourite blog. (300 words)
Write about your favourite blog. Briefly explain why you admire this blog. What is it about this blog that makes you want to keeping going back to it and reading more? Particularly focus on the writing (although there may other reasons why it appeals) Provide a link to your favourite blog.
Task 5 — Write a blurb. (80 words)
Write a blurb to persuade students interested in improving their writing that a Creative and Professional Writing is the unit for them.
Task 6 — Writing reviews (200 words)
Review your favourite or least favourite author; not a book they’ve written, but the author themselves and their work in general. Research their background if you need to do so.
Creative Writing
Dynamic Dialogue
“Is anything wrong? You look kind of off today. What’s the problem?” She asked during their walk that evening.
“You,” he said turning to face her.
“Me?” she asked confused by his answer.
“Yes. You. I have been seeing you every day for the past week. But I really can’t understand why at every opportunity you give me the impression that you’re with me by force and not by choice?”
She didn’t know what to say. She had been wondering the same about him.
“Please… it’s not like that…” she quickly denied.
“Look if you’re here because your mother wants you to please tell me so and next time I’ll make sure she doesn’t get the opportunity to put us together…tell me whether you like spending time with me…”
“No…”
“No? No you don’t like spending time with me?”
She rapidly shook her head in denial.
“So… you’re not here because your mother forces you…”
“No.”
“You like spending time with me?”
“Yes.”
Tracking Tautologies
- There’s ne’er a villain dwelling in all Denmark.
But he’s an arrant Knave.
– William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 5
- Is there for honest poverty
That hings his head, an’ a’ that?
The coward slave, we pass him by—
We dare be poor for a’ that!
For a’ that , an’ a’ that,
Our toils obscure, an’ a’ that,
The rank is but the guinea’s stamp,
The man’s the gowd for a’ that.
– Robert Burns, “Is there for honest poverty”
- It stands erect this aged thorn;
It is a mass of knotted joints,
A wretched thing forlorn.
It stands erect, and like a stone
With lichens it is overgrown.
– William Wordsworth, “The Thorn”
- Trapped, like a trap in a trap.
– Dorothy Parker, “The Waltz”
- Anything that happens, happens. Anything that in happening causes something else to happen, causes something else to happen. Anything that in happening happens again, happens again. Though not necessarily in that order.
– Douglas Adams, “Mostly Harmless”
- “I want to live while I am alive.”
– Bon Javi
- “With malice toward none, and with charity for all.”
– Abraham Lincoln
A Cat Hunting a Bird
Cats are equipped with an inborn instinct for chasing and hunting. The domestic cats, even though there is no clear reasoning for their behavior hunt and kill birds, mice, insects and a variety of other species. Much like the jungle cats, the domestic cats are also avid hunters and hunt in a similar fashion. Once a cat has spotted its prey, it immediately sets upon immobilizing and ambushing its prey. Since cats easily climb roofs and have the ability to climb trees, they carefully watch their bird prey from afar and stalk them noiselessly. They hide at a place where they can easily access the prey and when the opportunity strikes, they pounce and deliver a lethal neck bite like the tigers or leopards do. Their canine teeth sever the life cord of the victim by either puncturing the blood vessels or asphyxiates it by damaging the trachea resulting in fatal bleeding. Even well-fed domestic cats can’t resist a good hunt.
My Favorite Blog
It is said that a man who reads a lot lives as many lives as the number of books he reads. It is true in my case. I love my books and visit numerous blogs looking for reviews and suggestions. One of my most favorite blogs is by Jennine G., My life in books. In her blog, you can find everything that is bookish right from review of books, guest posts, and discussion on famous book quotes, ponderings, and anything book related. The options are limitless and the reviews are done in a tasteful way. The writing is exemplary and deserves special mention. The blog also has a multitude of amazing book bloggers who cover a huge number of book related topics. The reviews of the books published in the site are at the most honest. Both the positives and the negatives are discussed equally instead of false praise. And the language is truly remarkable. Going to this blog always helps me decide whether or not to read a book and most of the times the reviews are accurate.
I do have a long list of books on by to be read shelf and most times do not know which one to go to first. I turn to this site for reviews and suggestions. Also, if I need to find a particular book on a particular genre, this blog is of great help. Going through the blog makes me realize it is not easy blogging. And the “Begin the week with words”, “Student in the spotlight” sections are great. The former provides readers with inspiration and the opportunity to learn new words and the latter showcases the talents of young students as the blogger herself is a teacher. An avid reader, this blog inspires me in creative writing.
Link: http://livingawritinglife.blogspot.com/
Blurb
Generally it is said that, creative writing is something that originates from mysterious bursts of inspiration from within oneself. But most of us find our inspirations so tiny and negligible that we don’t even notice them. Our modesty makes us miss the mystery of our own creativity and tends to focus on other people’s work of genius and find them far more interesting than our accomplishments. That is a mistake. Highlight the creativity within your brain and you could turn out to be a brilliantly gifted writer.
Author Review
I and my brother picked up the complete set of “The adventures of Sherlock Holmes” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in a book exhibition. I spent a good part of six months reading and re-reading every detail of the book and when I was done it felt like an accomplishment in itself. The book awed me and the way the writing kept me engaged was quite an awesome experience. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is arguably the greatest writer of detective novels. I personally would be forever grateful to him for giving us Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. One of the most interesting things about the narration in his stories is that intelligently it was Watson who did the narration in most of the stories since narration by Holmes himself would not at all times have kept the mystery alive which in turn wouldn’t have kept the readers engaged. His tone of storytelling and use of high class language makes the experience all the more exciting. Another fascinating thing about the author is his love-hate relationship with his creation. In 1893, he killed Sherlock Holmes off after getting extremely sick of what he created only to revive him back again eight years later. And like any good story teller, he knew a good story when he heard one which was, of course, elementary like one of his famous quote goes.
References
- Thiher, A. (1997). The Power of Tautology: The Roots of Literary Theory. Associated University Press, Inc.
- Lindstrom, E. (2012). Prophetic Tautology and the Song of Deborah: Approaching Language in the Wordsworth Circle. European Romantic Review, 23 (4), pp.415-434.
- Jennine, G. My Life in Books. http://livingawritinglife.blogspot.com/
- Lindskoog, K. A. (1989). Creative writing: For People Who Can’t Write. Zondervan Publishing House, Michigan.
- Earnshaw, S. (2007). The Handbook of Creative Writing. Edinburgh University Press.
- Predatory Behavior of Cats. http://www.perfectpaws.com/help3.html#.VPKw7HzF8RA
- Jerz, D. (2004). Blurbs: Writing Previews of Web Pages. http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/e-text/blurbs/
- Surhone, L.M., Timpledon, T.M., and Marseken, S.F. (2010). Tautology, Pleonasm, Word, Morpheme, Redundancy, Rhetoric, Tautology, Double Negative, Dummy Pronoun: A Dictionary of Modern English Usage. Betascript Publishing.
