Mimicking the Artist 1

Mimicking the Artist 1: (Civil Rights Era of America)
due: Monday, May 4, 2009

Guidelines:

- 1-2 page short story (perhaps one brief scene from a larger piece) that serves as a creative homage to a writer you admire (or don’t!).

- Can be an author we’ve read, or a writer you’ve read and feel you understand their literary techniques/writing style.

- Imitate/parody the author’s writing style – the literary device(s) that make them famous (plot, characters, language/dialect/syntax/word choice, dialogue, theme, symbolism, suspense, allegory/ etc.)

o At the top, on left-hand side, head your paper with:
       • Your name
       • Mimicking _______ (insert their name)
       • ID story and/or aspect of their writing you’re mimicking

Since we live in a Post-9/11 America, what issues are relevant today that you could represent through a piece of literature? Choose one of the authors we have read, or another established American author from the time period (1945-1980ish) we are working through in the first half of the quarter. How do they deal with their culture? How do we, as 2009 Americans, deal with ours? Imitate your author’s writing style and genre (poetry, drama, fiction, essayist?) but in your own voice. In other words, write a modern version or homage to one of the texts of that era.

The ubiquitous advice to burgeoning writers (even if forced to write!) is to be honest, and “write what you know.” However, leaving the statement at that is dangerous. Without context, it tells you to write with an authority of having the answers, when this is simply not the case What that statement really means is this:

Write from the reality and experiences of your life; what have you been through, what people in your life have gone through; what is the world you live in; what themes of humanity obsess you? What do you know, but not really know? What is worth exploring based on you and your experience?