Prof. Brian KosterUnit 3 Seminar

Welcome!Any questions from Unit 1 or Unit 2?

Discovery and Pre-WritingThe writing process - The step-by-step

process anyone can follow in order to complete a writing assignment, whether it's for a class or a workplace project.

The Writing ProcessThe first step is to choose a topic. You need to

determine what you will be writing about (think about the main idea).

The topic sentence provides the main idea of the paragraph. It can also provide transitions between paragraphs.

Pre-WritingPre-writing allows you to organize your

thoughts before you begin to write.

There are a few types of pre-writing.

BrainstormingBrainstorming is the simplest form of pre-

writing.

You can write for a few minutes about your topic. Free writing allows you to write about your topic with no worry about grammar, spelling, etc. The point is to come up with details that you can use in your paragraphs.

Free WritingWhen you free write, you take a few minutes to

write about your topic. Don’t worry about topic sentences, correct format, etc. You are just working on getting details that you will use in your paragraphs.

OutliningThe next step is to develop an outline. The

outline is like a skeleton of your essay. You will come up with the order of paragraphs, but you will not yet write the paragraphs.

The order of paragraphs can always change—your outline is not set in stone.

Early DraftThe early draft is when you bring your

brainstorming and outline together. This is the first essay that you write. You will write everything, then edit and rearrange it to develop….

Final Draft…the final draft. The final draft will have

correct spelling, grammar, and format. This is the final project that will be turned in for a grade.

Your early draft will be revised and edited to become your final draft.

Sample Pre-WritingHere are some sample pre-writing

assignments

What makes a good science fiction TV Show?

 

Jot List/BrainstormingShows – ST:OS; ST:NG, Babylon 5, Forever Knight, Buffy

the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Highlander: The Series, Charmed, Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi version), Blood Ties, Moonlight

 Flawed Heroes and Heroines –Kirk, Picard, Sheridan (B5),

Nick Knight, Buffy, Angel, Duncan MacCleod, Piper, Prue, Pheobe, Paige, Lee Adama, Kira Thrace, Adama, Roslin, Vicky Nelson, Mick St. John

 Conflict –Big Bad, save the world, save their world, save

their friends, save/protect something greater, escape, get home

 Moral Dilemmas – little black and white; is torture okay?

Become evil to defeat evil? When to walk away?

Free WritingScience fiction television seems to ebb and flow in popularity

but the best shows are the ones that have all the elements yet leave the audience wanting more. What makes a good sci fi show? Look at the ones that work – the original Trek, ST NG, Babylon 5 (the Boxleitner Years), Forever Knight (cult hit if not a ratings one), Highlander the Series (is Duncan versus Connor EVEN a debate??), Buffy, Angel, Charmed (the Rose McGowan years – Prue was too much the center), the newer version of Battlestar Galactica (a case study in what works compared to the original which NEVER worked), Lifetimes vampire series Blood Ties, Moonlight on CBS – newer shows that are WORKING and developing; Shows have the flawed hero (Angel, Nick Knight, Mick St. John all drink BLOOD; Duncan MacCleod and Buffy kill to live; Picard is emotionally distant; the Halliwells all have issues;) What about sources of conflict – not just the typical big bad but internal conflict as well;

ListingShows Flawed Heroes/

HeroinesRelationships that do not work

Enigmas Conflict Angst Moral Dilemmas

No closure

St:OS Kirk Kirk/Female of the Week

Spock Prime Directive vs ….

Is everything black and white

Why CAN”T we have it both ways

Never win win

ST:NG Picard Picard/Vash Q Prime Directive vs ….

How to solve the unsolvable?

What if what we think is right is wrong?

All Good things

5 Sheridan/D’Lenn Londo; G”Kar External – save the universe; internal – save yourself

How do we KNOW what is real?

How far do we go?

What did happen???

Forever Knight Nick Knight Nick/Nat LaCroix Becoming mortal Guilt Become evil to stop evil

Last Knight – still debated; did Nick kill Nat: did LaCroix kill Nick

Buffy Buffy Buffy/Angel; Buffy/Spike

Spike Save the world What Is real? What is right?

How far is too Far?

??

Angel Angel Angel and Cordelia

Wesley Ditto Can we change ANYTHING

Become evil to stop evil

??

Highlander Duncan MacLeod Duncan and Tessa; Duncan and Amanda

Methos The game; the greater evil (Ahriman)

People dying for/because of

Become evil to stop evil

To Be or Not To Be – Never Again??

Scratch OutlineI. Shows

1. ST:OS 2. ST:NG 3. Babylon 5, 4. Forever Knight, 5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 6. Angel 7. Highlander: The Series, 8. Charmed, 9. Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi version), 10. Blood Ties, 11. Moonlight

II. Flawed Heroes and Heroines1. Kirk 2. Picard 3. Sheridan (B5) 4. Nick Knight 5. Buffy 6. Angel 7. Duncan MacCleod 8. Piper, Prue, Pheobe, Paige, 9. Lee Adama; Kira Thrace; Adama; Roslin 10. Vicky Nelson 11. Mick St. John

Pre-WritingBrainstorming is the easiest and most

straightforward method of pre-writing.

Just take 15 minutes and write about your topic. Don’t worry about spelling or grammar; just worry about developing as many details as you can about your topic.

Final Project: Your final project isn’t due until Unit 9, but we

will be working on it one step at a time.

The first step, pre-writing, will be done in Unit 3.

Turning in Unit 3 ProjectA template is available in DocSharing to help

you format your project correctly.

Remember, you MUST have MICROSOFT WORD in order to complete and submit your projects.

Turning in Unit 3 Project

Unit 3 Project

Turning in Unit 3 Project

Add Attachments

Unit 3 AssignmentsThe following assignments are due by 11:59pm

ET on Tuesday:

1.Seminar (we are almost finished!)2.Discussion (reply to the Discussion topic and

at least two classmate replies)3.Unit 3 Quiz4.Unit 3 Project (turned in to the Dropbox—

using the Word template uploaded to DocSharing)

Questions?Any questions before we wrap-up tonight’s

seminar?