writing workshop

2. AGEND
A
Presentation: Terms
In-class writing:
Global Revision Writing
Workshop: Essay #2
You must have three copies of
your essay to remain in class
today.
Author Lecture: Leslie Feinberg

3. TERMS
Social Identity: Social groups
that people belong to
regarding race, gender, sex,
class, age, sexual orientation,
religion, ability, and national
origin.
Voyeurism: when those with
privilege find elements of
entertainment in the lives of
people that are different or less
privileged than their own; the
act of being an onlooker to
another’s life that is less
powerful without relating to it
Climax: the moment in a play,
novel, short story, or narrative
poem at which the crisis
comes to its point of greatest
intensity and is resolved. It is
also the peak of emotional
response from a reader or
spectator, and it usually
represents the turning point in
the action.
Essay: a short literary
composition on a particular
theme or topic, usually in
prose and generally thoughtful
and interpretative. This type of
writing is devoted to the
presentation of the writer’s
own ideas and generally
addresses a particular aspect
of the subject.

4. Instructions: READ ALL THREE PAPERS ALOUD BEFORE
WRITING (this is to ensure that everyone has time to respond to
each paper).
 As you are reading along, quickly mark any obvious errors or typos
in the text. Do not offer advice about how to fix the issues; just
identify them for now.
 After you have read all three essays, please answer the questions
on the handout as completely as possible (on the back of the essay
or on another sheet of paper).
 Do not just give the paper and writer the stamp of approval, or a “yes”
or “no” answer—you will be doing your partners a disservice. When
you are done, return the essay and your comments to the writer.

5. GET INTO GROUPS OF THREE
REMEMBER, READ
ALL THREE ESSAYS
ALOUD FIRST!
Answer all questions
thoughtfully.
Do not edit the papers you
are reading (no grammar
or punctuation).
We will work about an hour
and a half, so plan your
time accordingly.

6. RETURN PAPERS TO
THEIR OWNERS

7. LESLIE FEINBERG
Leslie Feinberg came of age
as a young butch lesbian in
the factories and gay bars
of Buffalo, N.Y. in the 1960s.
Since that time, Feinberg
has been a grass roots
activist and a journalist. Ze
is known in the lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender
movements in the U.S. and
countries around the world.
The lesbian magazine Curve
named Feinberg one of the
“15 Most Influential” in the
battle for gay and lesbian
rights.

8. Feinberg is an outspoken opponent of traditional Western
concepts about how a “real man” or “real woman” should look
and act. Feinberg supports the use of gender-neutral
pronouns such as “ze” instead of he or she, and “hir” instead
of him or her.
Feinberg is well-known for forging a strong bond between the
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, and
other oppressed minorities. “Everyone who is under the gun
of reaction and economic violence is a potential ally,”
Feinberg says.
Stone Butch Blues (1993), Feinberg’s widely acclaimed first
book, is a semi-autobiographical novel about a lesbian
questioning her gender identity. It received an American
Literary Association Award for Gay and Lesbian Literature
and the Lambda Small Press Literary Award.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2AZYoAhbjs

9. HOMEWORK
Revise: Essay #2
Post #12: best 250 words of your
revised essay.
Read: Stone Butch Blues (131-195)
Post #13: Choose a few lines from
Stone Butch Blues and explain
how and why they stood out to
you. Be sure to post your
quotation and citation above your
response
Study: Terms
Bring: A clean, revised copy of
essay #2 (paper or electronic—
NO PHONES)