The Write Club: The Olympics, Revised!

Welcome to the Olympics! Today, we will be racing ostriches… and doing relay races with flaming batons… and watching raccoons bowl! Well… not literally, of course, but you’ll have to use your creativity, writing skills, and hyperboles to describe fun new events for the Olympics. 

This is a self-paced (video-based) class consisting of one video with a post-class assignment.  

The Write Club is a series of creative writing projects that can be taken in any order and at any time. They combine a specific literary element or feature with a fun project. All submitted assignments will receive an evaluation that examines writing style, grammar, and content/use of the device. 

In this particular class, we’ll examine how hyperboles can be used to strengthen writing by providing an amusing exaggeration that underscores just how fast, slow, boring, or exciting something is. The original game of tug-of-war is more boring than watching Grandma sew placemats, so let’s add an alligator pit! How about underwater torpedo throwing? You’ll have to throw those torpedoes with the strength of Apollo! 

The purpose of this class is not just for students to have an enjoyable writing experience but for them to examine how hyperbole can be used to make writing more powerful and humorous. 

Students will have in-class practice brainstorming creative ideas for new names, new rules, and entirely new sports. We will also examine the usage of hyperboles. 

The final assignment, which should be submitted for feedback, gives the setting for a specific story that uses an unreliable narrator.