Reflective Vignette Book Project Guidelines

  1. Create a timeline of important events, people, moments, etc. in your life. What defines you or makes up your life? You will not need to hand this in; this is for you to help you get started.
  1. Choose 5 episodes/definitive moments/important people from your timeline to explore in more detail, eventually developing them into vignettes. Reflect on your feelings, details, characters, physical setting, etc. Don’t forget to include sensory details. One required vignette: your name. Explore who named you, why they choose that name, what it means. Look at all names: first, middle, and last. What were the other options? Consider what your name means to you.
  1. Create your own vignette book, developing your five episodes/ moments/people into five vignettes that provide glimpses into what composes/creates your personal story. As you create each vignette, consider what style you will choose (narrative, cause/effect, process analysis, argumentative, etc.), what your purpose of your vignette is, who your audience is, and what your strategies are for achieving that purpose. At the top of each vignette, you should put a brief paragraph explaining each part of the above (style, purpose, audience, strategies).
  1. As you edit your vignettes, be sure to consider your sentence structures, your personal style, and the images you create with your words. A large part of this project is your writing maturity and creativity. Draw your reader in as creatively as you can – you may want to look at Zora Neale Hurston’s imagery for some ideas. The more complex and accurate your vocabulary, your sentence structures, and your imagery, the better. Avoid “be” verbs. A large part of your grade is how you write, as I obviously will not be evaluating you personally.
  1. Vignettes usually average 1-2 pages of quality writing. No vignette should be less than a full page. You should put your vignettes together in a book-like structure and should also include at least three artifacts to supplement your work (photographs, artwork, etc).
  1. The last day projects will be accepted is Monday, April 5th both in class and on turnin.com. Please do not wait until the last minute; you may need/want to speak with family about some of these vignettes. You can turn this project in early. You will have other homework at the same time, so you will want to plan in advance.

Note: Some moments/episodes, etc. are meant to be private. Please consider this and revise and modify appropriately. You may choose to write them for yourself, but actually turn in other moments/episodes, etc. Be careful with what you share. When in doubt, don’t.

Reflective Vignette Book Project Rubric

Focus

Accurate, well explained and well executed style, purpose, audience, strategies

Content/Clarity/Creativity

Quality, strength and expression of ideas, supporting details, clarity, imagery, sentence complexity and variety

Conventions

Spelling, grammar, meets assignment guidelines (five vignettes, three artifacts, all bound in one book, etc)