Critique WorkshopWorkshopIn this workshop, you will be introduced to a few key terms, concepts, and processesrelated to providing and receiving feedback on fiction writing.INTRODUCTION: 20 minutesTerms of Endearment:Positive Feedback — praise for what “works” and whyNegative Feedback — claim that something isn’t working and why; identification of perceived errorsConstructive Criticism — suggestions for developmentResponsive Description & Characterization — careful recounting of the reader’s experience, impressions, and sense of what’s thereCreative Response — various creative work that honors and reflects the author’s work Destructive Feedback — any feedback that communicates disinterest in or disrespect for the author’s creative processWhat to do with the author:Exclude the AuthorInterrogate the AuthorInclude the AuthorSilence the AuthorServe the AuthorWhat your brain does when you read:Considers the work in the context of: Expectations of the genrePersonal tasteYour own creative inclinationsPast experienceAssumptions about intentionInterpretive methodsAssumptions about the authorEmotional & nostalgic connectionsAuthor’s stated purposeAdvice you’ve heard beforeGets distracted; thinks about lunchAllatonce!Gets jealousGets self-important- When you read and privately judge another’s work, you are exercising your own critical voices, voices that you might often fail to apply to your own work until you consciously perceive them as representative of your personal values.- Being aware of these voices helps you to find ways of reading someone else’s work without clarity— the challenge is to become the ideal reader for every piece that comes your way, to as much aspossible strive to see potential and possibilities in a piece without believing that what you see is the dogma-truth. Your perspective will always be tainted; at least you can be aware of the tainting.- Throughout the entire process of critique, you should expect to learn a lot more from yourself about how to write better and a lot more from others about how to be a better reader.Exercises1. In a group of three. (30 minutes): Style & Difference: creative responses- Steven reads a short passage out loud. Listen carefully. Take notes if you wish.- Each group member writes their own version of the passage. You should feel free to “make it yours” stylistically, keeping to the spirit and facts of the passage.- Pass the results to each other. After you read someone’s piece, writebelow it on their paper a description of something they did that you found interesting or surprising. Be specific and very descriptive—try to come up with the best way of expressing what you think they have done.- Discuss the ways that these sorts of rewritings (of the text Steven read)could be an effective approach to critique.- Discuss the ways that seeing a description of what someone else thinks you’ve done might be useful to you as a writer.2. In the same group. (20 minutes): Plot Summary / Story ConceptIn the same way that you were able to come up with criteria for rich historical questions, perhaps you can begin to articulate something about rich plots or rich concepts for narratives.- Evaluate the following plot summaries and rank them according to potential “richness.” (If you know the work summarized, please ignore what you know)- Discuss what qualities of the plots/concepts as summarized suggest“richness.” Articulate and record at least 5 qualities of a rich plot/concept.- Discuss ways in which your assessment of these summaries and their relative richness can fail to predict the quality (the richness) ofthe actual works.- Based on that discussion, come up with some statements about the kinds of richness that literature in general can possess.AA poor sensitive law student murders a vile landlady/usurer believing himself exempt from moral law. He is pursued by a suspicious police detective and becomes involved with a saintly prostitute who leads him to confession and the road to redemption.BFirst half: a degenerate old man flees a detective on bicycle, trying to return home to his decrepit mother as his legs slowly wither. Second half: a detective with a young son searches after a degenerate old man whose legs slowly wither.CAn aging woman buried up to her bosom in a mound of scorched grass fills the hours grumbling, reminiscing, laughing and endlessly chattering in an attempt to assure herself that this is one of her happy days. The second act opens with the woman buried up to the neck, still chattering, while her husband (?) climbs the mound to reach her.DVarious characters realize their 'absence of love' and 'failed spirituality' through encounters with a Christlike Polish refugee who is run over by a tractor as others passively watchEA poor Norwegian man raised on fairy tales leads a life of self indulgence and fidelity to his Gyntian Self. His exploits involve ruining young maidens, escaping from trolls, dealing in slaves, and becoming a prophet and wandering the desert. When he finallyreturns home, X discovers that his 'true self' dissolved due to his self-seeking and ruinous lifestyle.FAn intricately constructed series of biased narratives by family members and friends telling of an origin-less man's relentless drive to build a plantation in a Mississippi swamp and the lasting damage his ruthless drive inflicts on his family . Loosely basedon the biblical story of King David and Absalom where one of David's sons revolts against his father and another son engages in an incestuous relationship with his sister.GAn ape explains his slow and painful domestication to the level of a cultured European.Summaries from www.littlebluelight.com3. In the same group. (30 minutes) ‘Twas a Dark and Stormy Night…- Author X has developed two possible openings to his/her story. Independently evaluate the qualities and merits of each version. Make notes on the text and in the margins.- Discuss your observations as a group. Attempt to identify any assumptions or general rules you harbor about writing that determined your evaluation.- After your discussion, write (as a group) 2-3 sentences of feedback for each author. There are six cases below; for each one, provide one of the types of feedback as described on page one under ‘Terms of Endearment,” making sure touse each type only once. 1A — “He felt two small hits as he listened to the music from the bandshell, as if he had been struck by some