Questions for Discussion and Journaling

Questions for Discussion and Journaling

Read “Becoming a Writer” and answer the following questions.

1.

Question 4.1

Have you ever felt that you have “slipped into a No-Writing Twilight Zone,” as Díaz says he did, without the ability to “find an exit”? Why do you think this happened to you? How did you get out of this Twilight Zone?

2.

Question 4.2

There is a general conception in our culture that “good writers” are writers who find it easy to write. How do Díaz’s experiences help you think differently about this conception? What makes Díaz a “good writer”?

3.

Question 4.3

Consider the sort of motivation, hard work, and persistence that it took for Díaz to turn his draft into a book that was a Pulitzer Prize winner. If Díaz were writing for school, do you think he would or could have put in the same sort of effort? What distinguishes his motivation from the sort of motivation students tend to have for school projects? Is there a way for educators to make school writing more engaging for students? (To get you thinking about this, you might read Marissa Penzato’s piece in Chapter 4).