Mentor Text: Tournament of Hearts by The Weakerthans Techniques: Extended Metaphor Background- Last weekend was a real treat. Amid the madness of kids’ activities, Christmas concerts, staff parties, and, well, the seeming sustained chaos that is normal life, my wife and I snuck out for a date. One of our favorite songwriters, John K. Samson, […]
Mentor Text: Just a Girl by Elizabeth Ditty Techniques: Writing memoir Organization Creative Transitioning Background- I’ve pretty openly expressed my love for Memoir Mixtapes here. As their header states, they’re “The ultimate mashup of the two things we all love to talk about: ourselves & music.” This makes them such a lovely source to mine […]
Mentor Text: ‘Start Here’ by Mari Andrew Techniques: Writing Memoir Organization Background- If you’re a regular visitor to Moving Writers, or follow any Moving Writers contributors on Twitter, then Mari Andrew needs no introduction. A wonderful creator expressing herself through image and words, she presents her thought with an openness and honesty that strikes a chord […]
Mentor Text: Five Truths and a Lie about Paxton Avenue by Jose Olivarez (pdf) Techniques: Writing Memoir Using a Structure Background – In the first paragraph of this column, I usually reference my Twitter feed. I follow a lot of poets, not only because they share their work, but the poetry community is wonderful at sharing […]
Mentor Text: The Last Jedi and the 7 Basic Questions of Narrative Drama (video essay) by Sage Hyden Techniques: Using A Structure To Defend A Thesis Using Subcategories to Organize Argument Layering Evidence Addressing Counterpoint Without Losing Focus Addressing Canon While Discussing A Modern Text Literary Analysis Background – My Twitter feed actually represents my career […]
Mentor Text: Problematic Faves: Firefly by Alyssa Fikse Techniques: Applying a Critical Lens Critical Appreciation Focusing an Argument Background – This week’s mentor text speaks to a couple of things that come up frequently in my classroom. One of those things is that pop culture can be treated as a text, and we discuss it […]
Mentor Text: Poetry from Memoir Mixtapes Techniques: Writing Memoir Making Personal Connections Analyzing Music Responding to Music Background – As I shared in my last Mentor Text Wednesday post, I found a great journal that encompasses two of my favorite things, memoir and music. I shared a couple of prose pieces in that post, and said […]
Mentor Texts: Jon Recommends: “Head Rolls Off” by Frightened Rabbit By Jon Johnson Sean Recommends: “Ocean Drive” by Lighthouse Family By Sean Cunningham Techniques: Using music as inspiration for memoir writing Mood Connecting elements in writing Symbolism Brevity Background – This is the first of two Mentor Text Wednesdays that finally allow me to fulfill a vision I’ve […]
Today’s guest post is from Amy Heusterberg-Richards, an eleventh-year ELA teacher at Bay Port High School in the Howard-Suamico School District, located north of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Just named Wisconsin’s 2018 NCTE High School Teacher of Excellence, she currently teaches Writing, Literary Analysis, and IB English Literature HL Year Two. She previously wrote a post […]
Mentor Text: Monday, November 4, 2013 from The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater Techniques: Introduction Infusing Narrative Into Informational Writing Background: Our washer died a couple of months ago. This is relevant because it means that since we haven’t taken the time to buy a replacement, I’ve been spending time at the laundromat each weekend. And […]
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