Oryx and Crake Free Write Exercise

In Class Free Write

On a clean piece of paper, write a 1 page essay based upon chapters 3-11 of "Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood. (No more than 1 page, double spaced, 1 inch margins). Include on a second page, evidence (quotes, pages numbers, examples, ...) from the storyline that make your free write credible. I.e. what part of the story suggested to you the back-story you wrote.

The goal of the free write is to be creative. The essay should fill in details that are not in the book. Again, nothing is too bizarre, as long as you can point to evidence in the first 11 chapters that support your claim.

Some Example topics:

How did Jimmy's Father and Mother Meet?
Why does Snowman lives in a tree on the beach?
What thoughts did Jimmy's mother have when she leaves?
Where did Glenn (Crake) appear from? (pp 69)
What does Glenn (Crake) think of Jimmy the first day they meet?
Why does Snowman tell the genesis stories, "the Children of Oryx and Crake"
The thoughts of Oryx's mom when he sells her to "the man".

You may use one of these ideas, or make up one of your own.

Mentor Session Peer Comments and Looping

In mentor session. Pick a partner. Read each others essay. Discuss each others essay. Try and make helpful comments about how to improve the essay.

What was the best part? Why was it the best part?
What didn't you understand? Are there ideas that are missing?
Was there text that was particulary difficult to follow? How could it be improved.
Can you relate each part of the essay to some hint in the book? If not, can you alter the text to make the relationship stronger.

Now enter the text into an electronic document (a text document using Notepad, or a Microsoft Word document). Use the looping strategy to revise and improve the essay.

At Home Revision

Continue to revise the document at home. Bring a hard copy to class on Monday Feb. 2nd, 2009. You should hand in 3 things. Be sure your name is on all 3 parts, and staple them together.

The original hand written free write.
The evidence. Including chapter, page number, quotes etc.
The final revised free write.

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