Class One

In our first class we were initially given an overview of the "writing skills" course, as I don't think many people were sure what the class entailed. We were told that we would be studying texts much more closely than at A level. As many people on the course had previously taken the module "close reading skills" many people asked whether it would be like this, as it did sound quite similar but we were told that although there were some similarities we would be studying the structure of the texts and the language in a different way. We were also introduced to the "moodle" website where all the writing skills information would be available. This was incredibly helpful for all the writing skills information on essays. 


Then we were put to the test. We were given Hemingway’s six word story: “For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn.” and were told to discuss whether this was a story or not! Initially many people were not convinced that this could be a story but after further discussion people were able to make up their own story about what these words might mean. The class began to see that even though there were only six words there was indeed a beginning, middle, and an end and that these words could mean anything that they wished! In fact, I think the creative license that Hemingway gives us here as the reader is vast and that it can be argued that this story is more interesting than those that are given to us, word for word.