Description
Class times:
Tuesday 6:30pm Thursday 6:30pm Friday 6:30pm
Starting July 19 – September 20 Nine-week term.
Fee
$225 ($25 per one-hour class). Sibling discount 20%
Venue:
All sessions are led by Michelle and presented online.
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
We’ll use this famous and compelling novel to discuss literary themes. After sharing an excerpt we’ll consider the book’s themes and set about writing in a similar style.
The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman
This book beautifully weaves two traditional fairy tales into a more-powerful, richer story. We’ll share some of the text and detailed illustrations before rewriting our own fairytales.
Forever Young by Bob Dylan Bob Dylan
is a singer songwriter who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. We’ll listen to some of the song, and read the picture book adapted from its lyrics. Lyrics can be seen as a form of poetry or literature. Let’s see what lyrics we can come up with.
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
An autobiographical novel that vividly illustrates a significant and horrific time in history. We’ll share some of this compelling first-person book and discuss why such accounts are so valuable. Can you look back at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and chronicle its impact on your life? The National Library is keen to collect these personal accounts if you’d like to submit your writing. (Clearly there is no comparison between the horrors of the Holocaust and the current pandemic)
A Glasshouse of Stars by Shirley Marr
This Australian novel is written in the rarely used second-person point-of-view. What do you think of the style after reading an excerpt? We’ll look at some other literary examples of this. Can you try writing in second-person?
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
Fairies, starry skies, romance gone wrong…what’s not to love about one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays? We’ll share a simplified, illustrated version of the story and see what mischief we can get up to with fairies and forests while learning about one of literature’s most revered authors.
Journalism 101
Writing informational reports, such as news articles, requires specific skills. Michelle will draw on her long career as a newspaper editor and journalist to you hone your report-writing skills.
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Garcia Marquez
This short story is an excellent example of magical realism; a genre created when authors began blending real-life narrative with fantasy. How can we blur the lines between fantasy and reality in our writing?
Free Writing and Reflections
It’s Write-What-You-Like Week. Finish a story from during the term or write in any style or genre you choose. We’ll reflect on the topics we’ve covered during the term, the skills we’ve learnt and the confidence we’ve gained as writers.
