Profile assignment

cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo by Bill Gracey: http://flic.kr/p/d7cwSh

Disclaimer:

• Suggestions for revision

• Not graded

• Most important aspects to work on

• Not everything is marked

• Not a checklist for a "perfect" paper

Thesis statement

• If you could describe the most important thing about your subject in one sentence, what would that sentence be?

• "So what?"

Scott Jurek

© Luis Escobar

• 2-timeBadwater Ultramarathon winner

• 3 consecutive Spartathlon victories

• 7 consecutive Western States wins

• 100-mile trail PR: 15:36 • Marathon PR: 2:38 • One of the top 8

runners of all time, Runner's World magazine

Christopher MacDougall, Born to Run "Scott was a hero for a very different reason… After winning a hundred-mile race, Scott would be desperate for a hot shower and cool sheets. But instead of leaving, he’d wrap himself in a sleeping bag and stand vigil by the finish line. When day broke the next morning, Scott would still be there, cheering hoarsely, letting that last, persistent runner know he wasn’t alone."

Lisa Palmer, "What Are Extreme Runners Thinking?"

Scott Jurek has a deep, gnawing pain. The familiar assault begins 30 miles into a 100-mile race. His legs feel like they’ve been beaten by a baseball bat, and his suffering will only increase over the next 70 miles. Sooner or later he’ll contend with a pitiful triad: vomiting, dry heaves, and stomach pains from the stress of sweating, eating, and drinking while running continuously. And that’s the best-case scenario.

http://slate.me/1gwBahE

Profile

• Show, don't tell

• Not a bio

• Not a memoir

• Pronouns: – 1st person

– 2d person

– 3d person

cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo by Meredith: http://flic.kr/p/7kujKZ

Star Wars

• American epic space opera film

• Written and directed by George Lucas

• 1st film released in the Star Wars saga

• Groundbreaking in its use of special effects

• One of the most successful and influential films of all time

Star Wars

Major sentence errors

• Fragment

• Run-on

• Comma splice

Memoirs

• Story about the past

• Focus on the writer

• Capture important moment

• Convey significance

cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo by Xpectro: http://flic.kr/p/5i8QaV

"All Over but the Shoutin'"

• What happens?

• Why is it important?

• Significance?

• Details/imagery?

"Killing Chickens" Meredith Hall

• What happens?

• Why is it important?

• Significance?

• Details/imagery?

Key Features

• Good story

–plot

–characters

–conflict

–resolution

• Vivid details

• Clear significance

memoir pre-writing

• Write about a moment that you remember well. Include all of the following: weather, a gesture, dialogue, music, color, a smell. Do not exceed 250 words.

• Choose a day from your life that you remember well, not necessarily because it was dramatic or important but because you can recall many of the details. Write a diary entry as if it were yesterday.

memoir pre-writing

• Write two different openings for a story about your first day of school or your first day on a job. Choose one of the following openings: – Start in the middle of the action

– Start by describing a photograph of that day (real or imagined)

– Start by seeing your reflection in a mirror or window

– Start at the end

– Start with dialogue