So my guilty pleasure TV show is most definitely True Blood, seriously it is the most addictive thing on television. My two roommates scoffed at me, saying that they were sick of all the vampire media that has exploded since Twilight and it wasn't until I finally convinced them to watch it with me when they understood. We've been watching it whenever the three of us have free time and last night we stayed up until 1:30 powering through the end of Season 1 and starting Season 2, which consequently made me and one of my roommates to have creepy vampire related dreams.
While the storyline of the show seems ridiculous (and it is), it is incredibly imaginative and always keeps you guessing. I've never really thought that I could write a good fiction piece; I have made some attempts in creative writing classes, but I don't think they could be "publishing worthy"...maybe with some revisions. However, I think that by using inspiration from the show, I could come up with something pretty interesting and maybe something I'm more proud of. Now, I would most definitely not make or tell my students to watch True Blood (for those of you who don't know, it is extremely graphic in many ways...) but I would recommend that they take an aspect of their favorite TV show, movie, book, etc and make it their own, creating an original fictional piece. I think it could turn out to be a pretty good writing prompt to begin a class with.
And to entice you into joining the True Blood obsession, I leave you with the Promo for Season 2: True Blood Promo Enjoy!
That's such a great idea for a writing activity!
ReplyDeleteAnd I totally know what you mean about TV and guilty pleasures. Mine is Merlin from the bbc. The basic story line is it's Arthur and Merlin and Guenevere as teenagers - ridiculous but so good!
I agree with the above comment. This would be a fantastic writing activity, and I believe that only a true teacher would come up with such a great idea. Kuddos on the creativity.
ReplyDeleteLike the two comments above mine, I think using a tv show as a prompt for writing is a great idea. Your post reminds me of our class discussion last week. Why not try to engage our students' active and dynamic lives outside of the classroom? Meaningful learning can occur anywhere, and I think students would definitely enjoy it more if it related to some element of their lives.
ReplyDeleteI like that writing idea almost as much as I like True Blood. :) haha
ReplyDeleteI think that Stephanie Meyer's Mormon vampires ruined vampires for me forever. I do like the assignment though. The student not only gets a nice starting point, but finds one that he/she is both knowledgeable and passionate about. By the way, sorry I never told you my girlfriend is DZ:)
ReplyDeleteI love this post. Last year over Christmas break I decided to see what all the hype was with True Blood. We have on demand at my home back in Illinois and the whole first season was available. I had seen one episode in the middle of the first season that previous September, continuing to ask my friend Adam as we watched, "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" However when I returned home, with five days to spare until second semester would begin, I hunkered down on my couch and turned on the first pilot episode. 2 episodes in, I was hooked, no joke! And it is a guilty pleasure of mine too! In terms of your idea with students being inspired by a show or such and incorporating that into their work is really something I agree with! It leaves more to their imagination and is something they can really work with!
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