The Imaginary Land Symposium

On Friday 3/10 we will bring our Imaginary Lands unit to a close with a forum, a symposium, a sharing, a… whatever!  We’re going to share our maps and stories.

For 50 easy points, be prepared by being ready to share your map and your story with the class.

These points are ONLY available on 3/10 to participants in the class event.  They can not be made up later.

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Map Making Site

Inkarnate is a great tool for the cartographically challenged (folks who can’t draw maps!)

You’ll need to create a simple (email/password) account.  Once you’ve done that, you can create beautiful, large, detailed, colorful imaginary lands.  Try this out if you’re lacking inspiration, feeling desperate, or doubting your artistic abilities.  No judgement! 😉

Writing Help for Imaginary Lands Stories

The final draft of your imaginary lands story will be due on Friday 3/10.

On Friday 2/17 we discussed the “hero’s journey” and talked about how to apply it to writing imaginary lands stories in the hopes that it might help you get around any existing writer’s blocks.  There are many online sources that can give you more details on the hero’s journey.  Here is one: http://home.rmi.net/~seifert/id22.html

And for the visual learners, try this fun one:Hero’s Journey Board Game

On Wednesday 2/22, we focused on “one small thing and a song”.  Start by sketching a small detail from your imaginary land (architectural, flora/fauna, clothing, a foot or a hand… anything! Imagine holding a magnifying glass up to some tiny thing in your imaginary land).  Next write a description of what you drew.  Lastly, create a short poem or song that relates a custom or history in your world (think of the sorting hat’s song from Harry Potter, or one of Gandalf’s historical battle poems from LOTR).

Add these into your Imaginary Land and see what happens!

And, we solidified the “real world” details of our imaginary lands by writing about:

• People: What are the different types of people/sentient creatures?  What are the species called?  How are they differentiated?  What variations occur within each species?
• Social Organization: How is the world ruled/governed?  What type of government is it?  How did it come to be?  What religions are practiced?  How much equality/freedom exists for people?  What sorts of wars/conflicts (current and historical)?
• Cities: What is each city/town/village called?  What is the population?  What races make up the place?  What is the economic support for the city?  Industry, agriculture, etc…

Happy writing!

Imaginary Lands Unit

For the Imaginary Lands unit, you will

• Read a book that takes place in an imaginary land.
• Create your OWN original imaginary land with map!
• Write imaginary land stories that take place in the land you created.
• Present your Map and Stories to the class.

Imaginary Lands work and due dates:

Imaginary Lands Reading Book:

Read a book that takes place in an imaginary land.  Start reading it this week and start bringing it next class!  Plan to write a two-page response when you finish reading.  The reading reflection will include: a) how does the hero’s journey compare to “The Hero’s Journey” aka “monomyth” that we discussed in class, b) sharing a detail of the imaginary land in the book, and c) discussing what point/lesson/comment your author might be making about the real world via the imaginary land in the book. Be prepared to share a quote/text example to support your ideas!

• Book w/ you in Class: NOW
• Written Response: Wednesday, March 8th

Map of your Imaginary Land :

A large, well-detailed, colorful map that includes:

• Title
• legend/compass
• one-page explanation/history of the land

Rough draft check: mid-Feb.
Final Map Due: Friday, March 10th

Scoring: 150 pts for a map that is: Large, Detailed, Colorful, and includes a 1-Page Description.  -10 points for each element that is lacking.  (eg. A map that is Large and Detailed, but lacks Color and Description gets 130 points)

Imaginary Lands Writing:

Several short legends/stories from your Imaginary Land  OR The first chapters of your Imaginary Land novel.

Notes and Ideas to Consider:

• Table of Contents
• Cover
• Location: can you get there from here? Or not!?
• Time: does your imaginary land use normal “years” or some other calendar?Language: is there a different language spoken in this land (like Elvish or Klingon)?

Final Draft Due: Friday, March 10th

*As usual, Final Drafts must be PROOFREAD! typed, 1.5 spacing, Times New Roman font, standard margins.

My Plan Essay Info

The My Plan Essay!  This graduation requirement asks that you write answers to 3 questions and upload them to Naviance.

Here’s what you need to do:

• Log in to Naviance
• Click on the “My Planner” tab, then “Tasks Assigned to Me”
• Locate the “My Plan Essay” task and follow the directions.

Here are the 3 questions you will need to answer.  Please use complete sentences/your best English skills when writing your responses:

1. Explain your career aspirations and your educational plan to meet these goals. Clearly articulate both short and long term goals and describe the interests, skills, and experiences that helped you develop your post-high school plan.
2. Explain how you have helped your family or made your community a better place to live. Provide specific examples and include what you learned from these experiences. How did these experiences help to inform your post-high school plan?
3. Describe a personal accomplishment and the strengths and skills you used to achieve it.Consider your growth during your four years in high school. How will this experience serve you in your future?

NOTE: Apparently, these questions ALSO appear on the OSAC application.  If you’ve done OSAC, you should just copy and paste your OSAC essays into Naviance and be done with the graduation requirement.

Good luck!