Tell a story that is not your own. You can use this assignment to explore the "eavesdropping/observation" action that I had you do last week. You can try to tell the story of a situation you observed from the outside (you cannot take the voice/be inside the head of another human although of course you can speculate on what they might be thinking and feeling).
You are also welcome to do research on a current event story or interview someone and present their story to the world. You can play a role in this essay (you can be present and even write in the first - or third - person). However, the story you tell should be someone else's.
Again, as always, figure out what this means to you. I'm encouraging you all to try to do more research than you have as of yet. You'd be surprised what is sparked *inside* you when you look outside a little further than you are used to.
Readings: Charles Reznikoff's from Testimony (p361-412). Make sure you read the intro to this so you understand Reznikoff's project - this gets repetitive and is technically a poem but also should get your mind reeling about the many ways to approach this assignment.
John T. Price's "The Burnt Plane" http://brevitymag.com/nonfiction/the-burnt-plane/ - the author is a character, but the story is not his.
And Beth Ann Fennelly's "Salvage" http://brevitymag.com/current-issue/salvage/ Almost a portrait.
One thing it will require--a sense of grave responsibility to your subject--whether s/he or they are strangers or friends.
