Exercise
You work for a national magazine (maybe Time or Newsweek?). Your editor
has sent you to the George Mason University campus to write a reflective,
interview-based feature on technology-mediated learning in George Mason's
new classroom building, Innovation Hall.
After interviewing faculty, students, computer lab. assistants and administrators,
you sit down to write your piece. You decide to begin with a scene-setting
lead and the scene you choose is IN 318, late on a Monday afternoon.
But it's tough to begin your article, and you decide to make one last
visit to IN 318 to immerse yourself in the location. Using all five
senses, list in precise language as many specific details about the
room, its inhabitants and the work going on that you can.
Think beyond what you see, although that is critical. What are the
sounds you hear (both inside and outside the room)? What do you feel?
Is the room hot or cold? What kind of heat is it? What might you touch
in the room? How might you touch it?
Whenever you write down an evocative detail, ask yourself what detail
about the detail might you add? Will an incisive adjective
or a probing adverb sharpen your focus? Will you talk about the 'hum
of computers' or will you talk about the 'inescapable white noise of
thirty computers'?
Here are some questions you might use to kick-start your creative
process:
a) What does the room look like? What fabrics are used in its
construction? How traditional or modern does it look? Does it
overshadow the occupants?
b) How does it sound? Are any of the sounds musical? What metaphors
do the sounds bring to mind? To what extent is the room insulated
from
the world or linked to it?
c) What are the furnishings like? Are the furnishings purposeful
or
decorative? Are they aesthetically pleasing or are they utilitarian?
d) What is going on insider the classroom (remember you have
completed your research for this piece so you know the purpose of
the
class)? What relationships do you observe? How are these
relationships displayed? Do any people in the room seem to exemplify
the room and what is happening within it?
Good Luck!
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