Atmospheric Anchorman

For this assignment, I want you to use the notes you took during class to create a written description of an Anchorman scene. The difficulty lies in creating a real environment through words. You only saw what the camera showed, things were out-of-focus, and often you had only a few seconds to try and spot something.

Here's a brief example:

Brian Fantana's office is outfitted much the same way as his colleagues: typical 70s wood paneling, a wood desk and table topped with a variety of small, artistic statues. Things that wouldn't look out of place in your grandfather's den. But unlike your grandfather's musty, smells-like-an-old-retired-man den, Fantana's office is light and airy. Big windows to let in the San Diego sun, etc. There's not much in the way of paperwork, or files, or any of the detritus that you'd expect a hard-working journalistic reporter to have.

Instead of work-related items, the room is dominated by his striking assortment of colognes that are concealed behind a fake bookshelf. It's a lovingly, obsessively compiled collection of cologne (check out that alliteration), complete with mirrored shelves and nice lighting. A collection of fine jewelry or historical artifacts wouldn't look out of place in Fantana's fancy display, but instead, this is where he houses his Blackbeard's Delight and Sex Panther.


Okay, so that's a short-ish version of what I'm looking for. Instead of plot or characters, I'm focusing on details that I noticed to create an environment. If you're writing about the party house, you wouldn't be remiss to discuss the types of people at the party, because these people are contributing to the atmosphere of the setting.

Now, as we move further into the Profile, we'll go beyond just recording and describing details to create a written environment. We'll also try to create meaning and signifance out of those details. More on that tomorrow.

I picked the setting with the least amount of a details that we saw today. So please choose a different one and write at least a full page on it.

New York Times Article Review

Class, your bloggery assignment is as follows:

go to your homepage (nytimes.com) and find an article that interests you. Review, news story, opinion piece, anything that's not short.

I want you to, in 1-2 pages, write a detailed summary of your article. Then you'll need to write about what interests you about the writing in the article. Grammar gymnastics? Interesting vocabulary words? Tone and voice that seem off-key? Anything. It'll be easiest to measure 1-2 pages if you write this in word first, and then copy and paste it.

So, half the post should be focused on content and summary, the other half should be focused on looking at the writing itself in a critical way.

This is a fairly unrestricted assignment, so make it easy on yourself and pick an article that appeals to you and focus on the parts of the writing that appeal to you.

Your Favorite Band Sucks

Listen. You're embarrassing yourself. Pop your iPod ear buds out for a second. Dial the volume down.

Your favorite band is...terrible. Pure garbage.

They're worse than the smell that emanates from the Cane's dumpster on a hot day. Their sound can only be described as the melding of TV static on full blast and a constipated walrus's desperate bark.

They're lame.

Convince me that your favorite band (or singer or rapper, etc.) is awesome. Describe them (he/she/it)? Their look, their sound, when/where you listen to them. Then, if you haven't at that point, explain why I'm wrong and your favorite band is great.

Welcome

Hello, summer school class of 2009.

I'm leaving up the previous posts from my fall 2008 class. You can scan through them and see how other freshmen wrote or you can ignore them. It's up to you. But they're there.

When you do assignments for this blog, you'll be writing in the "comments" part of the posts I post. Make sure you clearly identify who you are so you get credit for your work.

I may post random things from time to time, and you're encouraged to point me towards things you find interesting, helpful, or funny so I can include them here.

The game is afoot.

Bonus points if you know that reference.

Charitable Information Here.

Post information you have about organizations other students may be interested in. How can we help out in the quest to quell Africa's various conflicts?

Intro Paragraphs, Suckas!

Yo yo yo, post your rough introductory paragraphs of your Issues paper here! Do it now.

RESOURCES

Post article reviews here, Resources group.