Margaret J., was already waiting for the class to assemble and we were the first to arrive, our numbers had shrunk to 5 today as Joy is ill with a cold.
For the first exercise we were asked to compose three sentences about ourselves including one lie, the rest of the class were asked to identify which sentence was the lie. My three sentences were ~
(1) I am an ex-administrator for a University.
(2) I have lived on a yacht in France.
(3) I have seen the pyramids in Egypt.
There were mixed responses and Margaret wasn't allowed to respond.
A very interesting exercise.
We were then handed a list of 5 topics and required to write for five minutes on one of them.
I chose to ~ Write about a unique quality that makes you special. How does it impact on your life/other people's lives?.
"I have a very interesting way of being able to react to most situations or troubles in a positive way. Many times I have been able to help friends and family by coming up with a solution in a way that sheds an entirely different light on things. My children are able to take a note of things that trouble them and I am always available to give advice if and when it is necessary.
My wife has the same quality and where one of us fails to come up with a solution the other can quickly come to the rescue. This impacts very highly on both our lives and I probably should have answered question 4, in relation to this rapport, but I felt it was inappropriate under the circumstances. The details would probably have brought a blush to her cheeks."
(Question 4 was ~ Write about a person you admire. What qualities do you have in common with this person?).
We then discussed characters from books and fiction that have made an impact on us in the past.
Margaret chose Inspector Banks by Peter Robinson. A detective with many interesting traits.
I chose Colombo, a detective played by the late Peter Falk with many interesting characteristics. The stories were probably written by a series of different writers.
Rita chose Scarlet O'Hara from "Gone with the wind" and Bathsheba from "Far from the Madding Crowd", written by Thomas Hardy.
Ettienne chose Estragon from "Waiting fo Goddo"
Melanie chose "Emma" by Jane Austen as a study of isolation.
After our break for tea we were asked to Write an important letter either, About/ or To /or From / your character.
I wrote a letter to Mary Braithwaite-Dickus about her husband Maxwell, from a firm of solicitors.
Dear Mrs Braithwaite-Dickus,
This is to inform you that we are a firm of solicitors and we have a very large sum of money in trust, waiting for your husband to collect. Despite numerous letters to his previous residences we have been unable to contact him to discharge our responsibilities in this matter. We have obtained your name and this address through a family member of yours, Grace Reynolds of Colchester. I would appreciate an early reply to enable us to complete this matter satisfactorily.
Yours Faithfully
Now did this letter come from a genuine firm of solicitors or from some unsavoury characters.
We then discussed Epistolary novels this is a novel written as a series of documents, ~ Letters, Diary entries, Newspaper clippings, Electronic mail, Emails or texts.
We then spent the last 15 minutes looking at some examples prepared by Margaret J., who asked us to compose a short piece of work using this method based on the letter we have just written. This should be completed as part of this week's homework.
The main part of the homework will be to study a book or books that we have read that have very good dialogue and bring the examples in next week.
For the first exercise we were asked to compose three sentences about ourselves including one lie, the rest of the class were asked to identify which sentence was the lie. My three sentences were ~
(1) I am an ex-administrator for a University.
(2) I have lived on a yacht in France.
(3) I have seen the pyramids in Egypt.
There were mixed responses and Margaret wasn't allowed to respond.
A very interesting exercise.
We were then handed a list of 5 topics and required to write for five minutes on one of them.
I chose to ~ Write about a unique quality that makes you special. How does it impact on your life/other people's lives?.
"I have a very interesting way of being able to react to most situations or troubles in a positive way. Many times I have been able to help friends and family by coming up with a solution in a way that sheds an entirely different light on things. My children are able to take a note of things that trouble them and I am always available to give advice if and when it is necessary.
My wife has the same quality and where one of us fails to come up with a solution the other can quickly come to the rescue. This impacts very highly on both our lives and I probably should have answered question 4, in relation to this rapport, but I felt it was inappropriate under the circumstances. The details would probably have brought a blush to her cheeks."
(Question 4 was ~ Write about a person you admire. What qualities do you have in common with this person?).
We then discussed characters from books and fiction that have made an impact on us in the past.
Margaret chose Inspector Banks by Peter Robinson. A detective with many interesting traits.
I chose Colombo, a detective played by the late Peter Falk with many interesting characteristics. The stories were probably written by a series of different writers.
Rita chose Scarlet O'Hara from "Gone with the wind" and Bathsheba from "Far from the Madding Crowd", written by Thomas Hardy.
Ettienne chose Estragon from "Waiting fo Goddo"
Melanie chose "Emma" by Jane Austen as a study of isolation.
After our break for tea we were asked to Write an important letter either, About/ or To /or From / your character.
I wrote a letter to Mary Braithwaite-Dickus about her husband Maxwell, from a firm of solicitors.
Dear Mrs Braithwaite-Dickus,
This is to inform you that we are a firm of solicitors and we have a very large sum of money in trust, waiting for your husband to collect. Despite numerous letters to his previous residences we have been unable to contact him to discharge our responsibilities in this matter. We have obtained your name and this address through a family member of yours, Grace Reynolds of Colchester. I would appreciate an early reply to enable us to complete this matter satisfactorily.
Yours Faithfully
Now did this letter come from a genuine firm of solicitors or from some unsavoury characters.
We then discussed Epistolary novels this is a novel written as a series of documents, ~ Letters, Diary entries, Newspaper clippings, Electronic mail, Emails or texts.
We then spent the last 15 minutes looking at some examples prepared by Margaret J., who asked us to compose a short piece of work using this method based on the letter we have just written. This should be completed as part of this week's homework.
The main part of the homework will be to study a book or books that we have read that have very good dialogue and bring the examples in next week.
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