Week 7

                                                           Chestnut Quail Thrush

Writing is easy:  all you have to do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until the drops of blood form on your forehead.
                                      – Gene Fowler, writer

Good evening. 

Today we will review work in progress,  the essay 4,  on P.M. Forni's several book chapters (distributed in class) and continue verb exercises,  covering the subjunctive mood and modal verbs, use of which will be required in work to follow.

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Essay 6 Prompts: If we were given the chance to rewrite some chapter in life, or to relive some moment now resigned to the past, what revisions would we make, or what insight would we bring to  the moment now?       If we could be for an hour, a day, a week, month, or year someone other than who  we are, step out of our own skin for a bit and see through the eyes of another . . . what might we learn?      If given a day, week, month, or year to live wherever and whenever and however,  what choices would we make? What lessons are there in wondering, what if . . . ?

The subjunctive mood expresses what is hypothetical, contrary to fact, a wish or desire:  I wish I were a child again.  I wish I had never grown up!  Or, had I known such and such a thing, I might never have done what I did.  The modal verbs–should could would ought may might must–and others indicate necessity, obligation, possibility, probability.  If you could do anything, what would you do now? 

Sometimes we rewrite the past as a means of understanding what has worked and not worked for us, reshaping our thought and behavior as we move forward in life. What if we are stuck in outmoded ways of thinking and behaving? What if the possibility for personal change were taken from us? Transformation, as P.M. Forni says, begins with our thoughts, and with the language we use to express ourselves. Thank goodness we can imagine possibilities beyond the given or present! 

Essay 6: In 350-500 words you are to explore a hypothetical scenario, something contrary to fact or actual experience:  

If I were given wings . . .  if I could change one thing, or if 
I could do it all again, relive the moment, catch a falling star! How might the past look then, how might today be different, and how might the future look?

This essay assignment provides good practice with verbs–past, present, future–and in using comparison and contrast mode. You will likely use the subjunctive mood and conditional (modal) tense forms as well as simple and perfect tenses.

For example, imagine that you had been born under or into circumstances other than those you were born into; say, a different place and/or historical era, a different family, a different gender (or species), and so on. Describe what your childhood was actually like, and what it might have been like (under changed circumstances); what your present life might be like (as opposed to what is actually happening); imagine your future, actually or hypothetically. Or look at any important decision you made or did not make and trace the consequences of having taken an opposite track. 

If we had the chance to do things differently, if we had superpowers, godlike omniscience, what would we do with these?  Of course, we must make do with what we have–but there are insights that reflection brings when we think of what might have been, or what might be if only . . .   

This "other" life is what Cheryl Strayed ("Sugar") refers to in the piece called "The Ghost Ship That Didn't Carry Us" (class handout).

You might start in one of the following ways: 

Had I been born an only child, instead of being born the fifth child of six,

I might have turned out very differently.  Better or worse, who's to say.  My parents had their hands full, as it was, with so many kids to provide, cook, and clean for.

If I were sixty-five (you can fill in any future age) and looking back at my life, what would I want to see? 

If I could do one thing differently, rewrite the past, I would go back to the time when . . .

If we were to walk, fly, or swim the proverbial mile in the life of (fill in whatever human, animal or insect subject interests you) we would discover . . .

If we were to travel to the ends of the earth and back, we would discover a great deal about life on this planet, including the fascinating  . . .

 If I were rich, free of all financial obligations, I would travel. 

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Modern technology allows us to see the world in ways we could not without it.  Look at the short film here:  https://www.ted.com/talks/louie_schwartzberg_hidden_miracles_of_the_natural_world

You could write about what is revealed by Schwartberg's camera eye, and your response to it.

If we had the power to examine a dragonfly's wings in slow motion, what would we discover? We now have the technology to make such an investigation possible, as the film reveals.

Checklist:

*Title the essay.

*Proofread to make sure you have a clear central idea and adequate support.

*Remember your audience and write on a matter of intrinsic or practical importance.

*Edit your sentences for clarity of expression and grammatical correctness.

Note:

–The use of narration and description, with scene setting, vivid detail and action, will make readers see  and feel the particular experience(s) and ideas you have in mind. – Comparison/contrast mode will show the actual versus the imaginary, and make it clear that your  focus is hypothetical.