Forums – What Would Joan Do?

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- Week 1
  Weekly Reading Reflection – Pick an excerpt from a reading from this week – a paragraph, a page, a single line – and reflect. Why did you choose this expert? What does it add to your understanding of writing or thinking about writing? How does this excerpt complicate your understanding of Didion’s work? Of course, there is no need to answer all of these questions, but what is required is careful thought about how reading can inform the way that we understand writing and the writing process.
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- Week 2
  - Weekly Reading Reflection – Pick an excerpt from a reading from this week – a paragraph, a page, a single line – and reflect. Why did you choose this expert? What does it add to your understanding of writing or thinking about writing? How does this excerpt complicate your understanding of Didion’s work? Of course, there is no need to answer all of these questions, but what is required is careful thought about how reading can inform the way that we understand writing and the writing process.
  - Introducing Trauma – Both of Didion’s memoirs open with an introduction to the trauma she has experienced. These introductions do not bring us to the beginning or the end of her trauma experience but rather let the reader into the headspace she was occupying at the time of composition for these memoirs. In 2 to 3 paragraphs, write your introduction to an experience you would like to share. This experience need not be traumatic. Instead, I ask you to focus on how one – like Didion – can succinctly allow their readers to share in a necessary headspace that subtlety provides context to a much more extensive experience.
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- Week 3
  Weekly Reading Reflection – Pick an excerpt from a reading from this week – a paragraph, a page, a single line – and reflect. Why did you choose this expert? What does it add to your understanding of writing or thinking about writing? How does this excerpt complicate your understanding of Didion’s work? Of course, there is no need to answer all of these questions, but what is required is careful thought about how reading can inform the way that we understand writing and the writing process.
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- Week 4
  - Weekly Reading Reflection – Pick an excerpt from a reading from this week – a paragraph, a page, a single line – and reflect. Why did you choose this expert? What does it add to your understanding of writing or thinking about writing? How does this excerpt complicate your understanding of Didion’s work? Of course, there is no need to answer all of these questions, but what is required is careful thought about how reading can inform the way that we understand writing and the writing process.
  - A Life in Short Stories – Both of Didion’s memoirs are collections of different stories, pasted together in a seemingly non-sensical order to tell two stories – one of a life that was and one of her new reality. If a memoir is to tell a story of a moment in time, why does Didion choose to tell the stories across two lifetimes? In 2 to 3 paragraphs, write across one storyline of your own life. Choose the information you wish to share, the stories you want to tell, and how they all fit together. In an additional paragraph entitled “Author’s Note,” reflect on how writing in this way impacted both your perception of your own story and how you were able to convey it to others.
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- Week 5
  Weekly Reading Reflection – Pick an excerpt from a reading from this week – a paragraph, a page, a single line – and reflect. Why did you choose this expert? What does it add to your understanding of writing or thinking about writing? How does this excerpt complicate your understanding of Didion’s work? Of course, there is no need to answer all of these questions, but what is required is careful thought about how reading can inform the way that we understand writing and the writing process.
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- Week 6
  - Weekly Reading Reflection – Pick an excerpt from a reading from this week – a paragraph, a page, a single line – and reflect. Why did you choose this expert? What does it add to your understanding of writing or thinking about writing? How does this excerpt complicate your understanding of Didion’s work? Of course, there is no need to answer all of these questions, but what is required is careful thought about how reading can inform the way that we understand writing and the writing process.
  - A Life in Short Stories – Both of Didion’s memoirs are collections of different stories, pasted together in a seemingly non-sensical order to tell two stories – one of a life that was and one of her new reality. If a memoir is to tell a story of a moment in time, why does Didion choose to tell the stories across two lifetimes? In 2 to 3 paragraphs, write across one storyline of your own life. Choose the information you wish to share, the stories you want to tell, and how they all fit together. In an additional paragraph entitled “Author’s Note,” reflect on how writing in this way impacted both your perception of your own story and how you were able to convey it to others.
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- Week 7
  Weekly Reading Reflection – Pick an excerpt from a reading from this week – a paragraph, a page, a single line – and reflect. Why did you choose this expert? What does it add to your understanding of writing or thinking about writing? How does this excerpt complicate your understanding of Didion’s work? Of course, there is no need to answer all of these questions, but what is required is careful thought about how reading can inform the way that we understand writing and the writing process.
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- Week 8
  - Weekly Reading Reflection – Pick an excerpt from a reading from this week – a paragraph, a page, a single line – and reflect. Why did you choose this expert? What does it add to your understanding of writing or thinking about writing? How does this excerpt complicate your understanding of Didion’s work? Of course, there is no need to answer all of these questions, but what is required is careful thought about how reading can inform the way that we understand writing and the writing process.
  - Making Didion’s Magic Trick Your Own – For your final writing assignment of this course, look to moments of nostalgia in Didion’s work. Write 2 paragraphs telling a story that emulates her style – try your best to bring to life the notion that one can simultaneously be a creature of the past and present. In an additional paragraph entitled “Author’s Note,” reflect on the techniques you used to emulate Didion’s style. What is the significance of writing this way when considering trauma and grief?
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