Folks should be well into the novel at this point. Today's question: how would you like to see the novel end and why? This is a question you can answer if you have finished the novel or if you haven't. As you answer that question, identify parts of the novel that make you think this could be a reasonable ending. And if you ending is totally not in the realm of possibility, tell me why it could not possibly be the ending even though you wish it was. 

NOTE: if you have finished it, try not to give anything away in your answer about this twisty book. 

I want to try something a little wacky tonight. I've taken note of how much you enjoyed working as a small group in the discussion board space--the work on the poems two weeks ago was really thrilling (I mean that--thrilling), and I want to try to capture that energy and enthusiasm again as we talk about Young Adult Lit. 

Young Adult is a kind of genre fiction at it's heart--certainly at least in it's current iteration. We could have just as easily used YA during the week we talked about genre fiction. But, because I know so many students are active readers in the genre--and some of you imagine yourselves writing in this genre one day, I wanted it to have it's own week.

Now for the wacky part: Each of you are going to write a micro YA short story. I'm going to give you a first sentence. After that, you are off and running. I'll give you a good 10 to 15 minutes to write and post. Then you'll read what your classmates have written and posted. As you read what others have written as their short story, what do you notice the stories seem to have in common? What plot elements, character or characters, themes? Are there commonalities about language, sentence structure, POV? As you notice, post. Try to read as many of your colleagues as you can and respond. 

Finally, after that, go back through the comments and comment one more time: what do these stories seem to have in common with Dear Medusa? Be specific. This is your ICRN for the week, so I need to see that you read? As you make connections to our novel this week, what, in the end, can you say seem to be the distinguishing characteristics of this particular genre? 

HERE IS YOUR OPENING: On the first day of 10th grade, I stared at the back of Maria Kukowski's head. Maria Kukowski sat in front of me in every class, in every grade since I started at St Margaret Mary's. That's what happens when you have an "L" last name and someone has a "K" last name, and you both live in the same dinky town with the one dinky Catholic school. I had stared at her hair when it was dirt brown like a normal person in 3rd grade and when it had the blue streaks in 7th, and now I was staring at her bright blond highlights at the start of 10th. 

Man did I hate Maria Kukowski. 

Take the poem you are assigned in class. Do a close reading of the poem that is informed by the exercise we did in class with "Why Write Love Poetry. . . ". Then read your classmates ideas about what the other poems we read meant to them. Comment on at least two but feel free to comment on all of them agreeing, disagreeing, going in a different direction, marveling at something your classmate thought or noticed that you didn't--because those things are possible in thinking about a poem. 

After that, think about what the poems we've read--contemporary poems--say about the state of poetry today. What function does it play in our world? Why write it? Publish it? This is what will make up our class discussion tonight. 

Understanding how to read and discuss new poetry is important precursor to talking about it. That's what this first part of class is for. Use this space to write through your initial thoughts about what "Why Write Love Poetry. . . " could mean.

As we enter deeper into the world lf the novel, several themes worth chasing start to emerge. For this book club journal (that takes us to roughly the 120 mark) consider one of the following two ideas and trace it in the novel so far: 1) twins and twinning or 2) attitudes and images of motherhood. 

As I mentioned in class, I didn't realize that the Wednesday after Veteran's Day is a Tuesday schedule, cutting one full class out of our semester. So in order to make it possible to talk about the novel (The Catch: A Novel), we need to space out the reading. So we'll discuss the book at the end of the semester, but we'll do a "book club" online each week leading up to it to make it a little more manageable. 

For this first book club, I asked you to read the first sixy pages. Here is your first book club prompt: What questions do you have about the novel? About the characters, plot, themes? This is a first chance to write about the book so it doesn't have to be perfect or profound. Sixty pages in, what are you wondering about as you read? 

From the Midterm Portfolio Explanation: 

 A proposal for your final project. In the midterm portfolio, I would like for you to include a 500 word discussion of what you think your final project is going to be. Tell me about the following in your 500 words:

• What genre are you writing in?
• How would you briefly summarize the writing you will be doing in the project?
• Why this project and not some other project?
• What are you nervous about as you undertake this project (talk about yourself as a writer here; don't tell me about how you are worried about graduating or fitting all the work in--all that is a given)?
• What might you do to help you know how to do this project better (what kind of reading, what kind of research, what kind of exploration)?