In-class individual writing: Choose 4 to experiment with
- Write a paragraph (or so) in the third person using s/he as Ondaatje does on p. 17. Describe yourself doing something important or being somewhere central to your own writing project. Take the stance of an objective observer and describe what you see.
- Read Ondaatje’s analysis of the word “
Asia” on p. 22. Make a list of specific words central to your own topic. Choose one that seems important and write about it. What does the word look like? Sound like? Evoke or suggest? What are the associations others might have with this word?
- Tell one story that you think is essential to understanding a person you’re writing about. The story should speak volumes about their character, life, and personality without added commentary or explanation from you. (Check out the family story about Lalla’s fake breast in “The War Between Men and Women” (42-43) or the blasting of snakes with shotguns in “Kegalle (ii)” (98-99.))
- Identify general characteristics of the relatives/family/people you’re writing about: “Most Ondaatjes liked liquor, sometimes to excess. Most of them were hot tempered—though they blamed diabetes for this whenever possible. And most were genetically attracted to a family called Prins and had to be talked out of marriage…” (57). Consider the desires, needs, vices, ambitions, failures, & personality traits. You might want to try starting with the prompt: It seems that most of (your relatives/family/clients/customers/patients/)…….
- Dedicate a list poem to someone you’re writing about and use similes (like or as) to make a series of specific (and not so positive) comparisons like Ondaatje does on p.76-77. Your voice sounds like…
- Brainstorm a list of possible chapter headings or section titles for your project. Let your list be personal, associative, and specific. Think about what you’ve already written, but also about what you haven’t yet written. (Check out Ondaatje’s Contents on pp. 11-13).
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