Week 7

Good day.  Today we will review works in progress, particularly the essay 6 incorporating the subjunctive mood and conditional verb use, et al.  We'll review verb exercises and use of adjectives and adverbs, pronouns too.

As planned, we'll look too at a littleof the film Frida to gain some sense of how the artist developed before our field trip to the NSU Art Museum next week.  We may practice writing about images such as oil paintings, for many will be on exhibit next week and call for description as you recount the experience and highlights of the work on view.

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Assignment (6): If we were given the chance to rewrite some chapter in life, or to relive some moment now resigned to the past, what revisions would we make, or what insight would we bring to  the moment now? What lessons are there in wondering, what if . . . ?

What if we could time travel? We can. We can pretend that we had been born in 
different era and imaginatively enter into the lives of those who have lived before us. Thanks to
the research of scientists and historians of every stripe, the past unveils its secrets, and is now
recorded in layers of story and imagery, all adding to our knowledge of life on this planet.
We may learn how other human societies lived and what they believed, how they and 
other species met the challenges of life, how they at whatever time did navigate, nourish and 
reproduce themselves, defend themselves and their young. If you were given a day, week, month, or year to live wherever and whenever and however you choose, what choice would you make?

We can say, had I known such and such a thing, I might never have done what I did. Sometimes we rewrite the past with our inner voice, as a means of understanding what has worked and not worked for us, thus reshaping our thought and behavior as we move forward in life. What if we are stuck in outmoded ways of thinking and behaving? What if the possibility for personal change were to be taken from us? Transformation begins with our thoughts, and with the language we use to express ourselves. Thank goodness we can imagine possibilities beyond the given or present!

Essay 6: In 350-500 words you are to explore a hypothetical scenario; that is, one that you imaginatively enter into, with whatever sure knowledge makes it all plausible and meaningful as an essay. You are writing non-fiction, remember, seeking to show a truth. You might think in terms of the difference made if one or another event had occurred (or not) in your personal life or in history. 
What effects on the past, present, and/or future do you imagine in this hypothetical scenario? 
How might the past look, how might today be different, and how might the future look?

This essay assignment provides good practice with verbs–past, present, future–and in using 
comparison and contrast mode. You will likely use the subjunctive mood and conditional (modal) tense forms as well as simple and perfect tenses.

For example, imagine that you had been born under or into circumstances other than those you 
were born into; say, a different place and/or historical era, a different family, a different gender (or species), and so on. Describe what your childhood was actually like, and what it might have been like (under changed circumstances); what your present life might be like (as opposed to what is actually happening); imagine your future, actually or hypothetically. Or look at any important decision you made or did not make and trace the consequences of having taken an opposite track. 
If we had the chance to do things differently, if we had superpowers, the omniscience of a goddess, what would we do with these?  Of course, we don't have superhuman powers, and we must make do with what we have–but there are insights that reflection brings when we think of what might have been, or what might be if only . . .   This "other" life is what Cheryl Strayed ("Sugar") refers to in the piece called "The Ghost Ship That Didn't Carry Us" (class handout).

Modern technology allows us to see the world in ways we could not without it.  Look at the 
short film here:  https://www.ted.com/talks/louie_schwartzberg_hidden_miracles_of_the_natural_world
You could write about what is revealed by Schwartberg's camera eye, and your response to it.
If we had the power to examine a dragonfly's wings in slow motion, what would we discover? We now have the technology to make such an investigation possible, as the film reveals.

Checklist:

*Title the essay.

*Proofread to make sure you have a clear central idea and adequate support.

*Remember your audience and write on a matter of intrinsic or practical importance.

*Edit your sentences for clarity of expression and grammatical correctness.

Note:

–The use of narration and description, with scene setting, vivid detail and action, will make readers see  and feel the particular experience(s) and ideas you have in mind. – Comparison/contrast mode will show the actual versus the imaginary, and make it clear that your  focus is hypothetical.

  

You might start in this way: 

Had I been born an only child, instead of being born the fifth child of six,

I might have got more attention than I did.  I might have been spoiled!  My parents had little time for me,
as it was, with so many to care for.

Or:

If I were sixty-five (you can fill in any future age) and to at my life, what would I want to see I had 
accomplished

Or:   If I could do one thing differently, rewrite the past, I would go back to the time . . .

Or:   If we were to walk, fly, or swim the proverbial mile in the life of (fill in whatever human,
animal or insect subject interests you) we would discover . . .

Or: If we were to travel to the ends of the earth and back, we would discover a great deal about life
on this planet, including the fascinating  . . .

Or:  If I were rich, free of all financial obligations-I would travel.