7/6/2010- Oxford

7/6

At 7:20, we had a planned fire drill. Why we had to do it early instead of sleep in, I had no idea. Anyway, the director told us that from that day on we would be having breakfast at 7:45, much to the annoyance of my peers and I.

Creative Writing: We discussed introducing characters indirectly in our writing- describing their personalities through dialogue, actions, etc. We also described a person we saw in a picture and write about their personality.

My group's character was a girl, probably in her early twenties, at a desk looking frustrated with a heap of money. Here's what we came up with:

-Jessica

-New York University

-20 years old

-stressed, financial trouble, unorganized, irresponsible, yet confident, trying hard

-possibly not good at job, unreliable

-likes shopping

-lives in the city

-active, social, friendly

-worried

-parents wanted to teach her lessons- she was spoiled but now is trying to be independent

-lives in a dorm at university

-dreamer, party person?

-wants to please everyone

-smart, but has too much to do and has a heavy weight/burden

-financial troubles for her have never been so bad- piling up, but didn't find out until now

We brainstormed as a class other questions to develop characters:

Un/Married
Location
Parents
Job
Name/Nickname
College + Education
Debt?
Age
Kids
Relaxed vs. Stressed?
Spoiled?
Outgoing and social?
Friendly?
Irresponsible?
Sleep Habits?
Workaholic?
Relationships?
Dress?
Fight vs. Flight?

Our teacher also gave us a list of questions about what our character would do in certain situations. Below are the questions and our answers:

-How does your character calm down? Coffee ;)

-What does your character do when waiting for a bus? Clicks pen, ruffles through money, reads, shops, daydreams

-How often does your character change his/her clothes? 3 times a day

-What is your character's word for "cool" (wicked, amazing, spectacular, etc.)? Awesome!

-If your character received $1000, what would they do with it? Shop, but she might have problems later in life looking back at her debt...

Now that I think about it, our character was very random and very controversial. We weren't exactly sure about her.... haha ;)

Experimental Psychology: After a short break, we had psychology, where we watched a powerpoint and talked about a project we'd have to do later on.

Afternoon: After lunch, we had a tour of Christ Church- ONE OF THE FILMING LOCATIONS OF HARRY POTTER! It was an amazing place with beautiful architecture and scenery. A few of the hallways were filmed there and the great hall, where the characters eat in HP, was on campus as well. My favorite place there was the Grand Staircase, though. I couldn't believe I was walking in the sensational Harry Potter staircase! It was an extremely exciting experience.

< That's the Grand Staircase! Sorry, it's not that great of a picture. But that's exactly where they filmed it!

Free Time: Next, we had our first "free time" period, in which we could choose to go around in Oxford with a small group of friends or stay on campus. Everyone almost always chose shopping, though. On that particular day, I bought an Oxford shirt, a necklace (I think...), and a locket.

Evening: Following a small dinner, I watched the FIFA world cup semifinals, Uruguay vs. Holland. I ended up doing my writing homework in the meantime, which was to make up a character. Here's what I came up with:

Autumn Dawn Summers

Born on the crack of Dawn on September 22, 1995, the Fall Equinox.

Mother: Faith Louise Summers, African American

Father: Ryan Carter, Caucasian

Sister: Willow Ivy Summers, 18 years old

Other:

-14 years old

-shy, clumsy, unsure; not teased, but shy by nature

-private school, new kid moving from Palo Alto, CA

-rich parents, nice life

-clever, not pushed by parents

-long brown hair she hides behind

-plays tennis

-violin prodigy

-works hard

-has a cat named Veranika

-wears earrings

-favorite color: lilac