Friday, April 27, 2012

Bivalve Book Club

          12Writing happily presents the Bivalve Book Club for writers! This is a 10 week course running from May 12th to July 14th. Bivalve participants will read four books, respond to writing directives correlating to readings, and participate in group discussions on the books and writing directives. Join an online community of writers in growing and thinking as we journey through the works of others!


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Bivalve Book Club for Writers!

          Like bivalves, a class of mollusks whose shells are two pieces hinged together, those who write are hinged to be those who read as well. This course will discuss books in both writerly and readerly fashions. Every two weeks, course participants will read one book, respond to a number of writing directives, and join in discussions that relate the writing directives to their reading experiences.
          Participants can read the books at their own pace over the reading period. At the one week halfway point for each book, there will be 3-4 writing directives posted for course participants on either a Facebook group or Moodle page that will serve as a virtual classroom for the course. Participants can write in response to as many directives as they would like and post their writings in their classroom. Premium-group participants can submit 1-2 of their directive responses per reading cycle for feedback. On the last weekend of the reading period, discussions and questions that cover both the rationale behind the directives and the aspects or sections of the books that correlate to those assignments. Any participant is invited to partake in any of the discussions, whether they did the corresponding directives or not. By the time writing directives are posted for the next book, premium-level participants will receive feedback on the last week's writing directives (except for the Roy reading session, where feedback will be returned midweek in preparation for the end of class reading).

Topics Covered in Bivalve Books
Click here for the complete schedule

    The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka
          - The Real in the Fantastic
          - First Line Climaxes
          - Believable Motivations/Suspension of Disbelief
          - Plot-Driven & Character-Driven Stories

    Madwomen, by Gabriela Mistral
          - Multiple Perspectives
          - Lost in Translation
          - Collections/Editorial Decisions

    ***The Hours, by Michael Cunningham
          - Straight-Talking in Mixed Stories
          - Flashbacks/Introduction to Nonlinear Narratives
          - Appropriation
          - Fact & Fiction

    ***The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy
          - Nonlinear Narratives: Further Scrambled
          - Character in Form
          - Character in Depth

***Denotes books with mature content.

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