Writing Center Hosts February Academy Prep Tutoring

Love (of writing, that is) was in the air this February when Academy Prep students and Writing Center tutors alike flocked to the Jean Ann Cone library to work on a myriad of writing assignments ranging from Shakespearean sonnets to personal narratives. Tutoring events included sophomore Writing Center tutors working with fifth graders on free verse poems, junior Writing Center tutors working with sixth graders on limericks and haikus,  and senior Writing Center tutors advising Academy Prep seventh graders on the art of composing Shakespearean love sonnets. The students channeled their inner brooding poets and wrote profound odes to subjects ranging from the abstract concept of being the final living beings on the planet to the irresistible aroma of McDonald’s fries.

A tutor and an Academy Prep student relax before the tutorial.

However, February tutoring kicked off with a special session made possible through the collaboration of Berkeley alumnus Justin Honaman, a retail sales and marketing executive at the Coca-Cola Company, and the Writing Center. Honaman, in an altruistic move to give back to his community and alma mater, decided that the Writing Center’s dedicated partnership with the students of Academy Prep deemed it a worthy organization to work with. On the first day of February, Honaman and dozens of Coca-Cola representatives arrived at Berkeley to join forces with Writing Center interns and directors and Academy Prep tutees. The momentous nature of the essay prompt given to the Academy Prep eighth graders was indubitable; they were tasked with the assignment of describing one defining moment of their lives through a personal narrative.

Coca-Cola representatives join the tutoring sessions.

The day began with various icebreakers among the Academy Prep students, Coca-Cola representatives, and Writing Center tutors. Animated conversations about baseball teams, favorite foods, and the upcoming Grammys pervaded the library until Mrs. Marcantuono, a Writing Center faculty director, began the session with a few introductory remarks. Marcantuono welcomed the guests to Berkeley and challenged both writers and tutors to employ the cardinal rules they previously learned about quality writing, including “showing, not telling,” integrating rich sensory details into descriptions, and deploying effective dialogue. She also stated that at the end of the hour, groups were welcome to share either excerpts from their narratives or lessons they learned. A mere five minutes into the session, the library was a sea of red Coca-Cola shirts, white Academy Prep polo shirts, and multicolored Berkeley uniforms hunched over rough drafts and pencils.

An Academy Prep student expresses her ideas during a tutorial.

It was difficult to determine which was more impressive: the range and depth of the personal narratives’ subject matters or the literary skills the Academy Prep students already possessed. In my group, one student chose to write about being elected the king of his school’s winter dance and how that achievement provided him with newfound confidence. Another student chose to write about the day his grandmother was diagnosed with diabetes and how that event compelled him to reevaluate and improve his own eating and exercise habits. After brainstorming briefly with our tutee about how to structure and organize his narrative, the Coca-Cola reps at our table and I watched noiselessly, exchanging looks of astonishment and awe, as he put pencil to paper and began to compose an earnest, exquisitely-written introduction about the memory of his grandmother playing classical music at 3 p.m. and baking chocolate chip cookies on Sundays. His writing exuded a maturity and responsibility unusual for his thirteen years as he continued to detail the conversation he had with his grandmother about the importance of a healthy lifestyle and his subsequent urge to research the disease and its possible cures. When the buzz of conversation, interspersed with exclamations of praise and “Oh, I get it now,” ceased at the end of the hour, one truth was evident – despite the grammatical corrections and stylistic suggestions we made, for many tutors and representatives, the lesson was ours.

-          Yunhan

Berkeley Celebrates Literary Character Day

Students arrived in their costumes for Literary Character Day.

On Thursday, February 23, the Writing Center held its annual Literary Character Day, a day when students had the option to dress up as their favorite character from literature.

One student's favorite character was Madeleine.

Once again, students participated in this event in large numbers and with passion for the literature their costumes were based upon. The variety of costumes was on ideal display in the library at 12:50 during lunch, where costumes were paraded in front of students with each student describing their costume as well as their character.

Students gather at the library on Literary Character Day.

In the library, some great treats, from village inn pies to chip to cookies and cupcakes, were served, and those who dressed up received a special addition in the form of pizza. After everyone had eaten something, the costume parade started, but not before emcee George O. kicked things off with a witty literary pun. This pun was the first of many, which were sprinkled throughout the parade.

The emcee starts off the festivities.

Some costumes looking as if they had jumped right off the page, like Shannon A.'s and Katie O.'s appearance as Stanley Yelnats and Hector “Zero” Zeroni from the classic children’s novel Holes. On the inspiration of the costume, Shannon A. said she was inspired by a Holes project from elementary school that she came across one day while going through stuff in her house. Katie O., on the other hand, cites “divine inspiration.”

Students dressed as characters from Holes.

Costumes not only represented classics from American literature, such as Elly S.'s Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird and Megan M.'s, Marie P.'s, and Elizabeth K.'s ensemble from The Great Gatsby, but also there as a large representation for British and Swedish Literature.

One student dressed as Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird.

A group of stuents dress as characters from The Great Gatsby.

British costumes, shockingly lacking any Harry Potter representation, included Thomas P.'s Sherlock Holmes, TW B.'s Willy Wonka, and Mitchel K.'s Arthur Dent from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

 A student dresses as a character from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

 Swedish costumes included Sarah C.'s Pippy Longstocking and Lizzie W.'s Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. 

Students dress as characters from Swedish literature.

Some costumes operated on a more subtle, even metaphorical, level, including Derek C.'s Yellow Brick Road and Simon M.'s “Straw Man,” a pun on the rhetorical fallacy.

Students wore subtle costumes as well.

These two costumes were part of a much larger Wizard of Oz ensemble that was made up of students from Mr. Brandt’s B Block AP Language class.

Mr. Brandt's class dressed as Wizard of Oz characters.

The choice of The Wizard of Oz came after much deliberation on the part of the class as to what would be the best choice for a class ensemble, with discarded choices including the Socs and Greasers from The Outsiders and the conspirators from Julius Caesar. The group ended up walking away with the Best Ensemble prize, so the choice they went with was clearly the best one. The award for best American Literature Costume when to Calle K. as Glimmer from The Hunger Games, and best British Literature Costume went to Thomas P.'s Sherlock Holmes.

Some of the costume contest winners.

The award for best Children's Literature Costume ended up as a tie between TW B.'s Willy Wonka and Sarah C.'s Pippy Longstocking.

One of the Children's Literature Costume prize winners.

With the caliber of costumes present, however, everyone was a winner.

The author himself participated as well.

- Charles