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Exercises week 1

Practical exercise

In the practical exercise you are asked to think about the way you interact with the things when commuting to the academy. We will take four (or five) steps to analyse this interaction and eventually distill one central term out of it.

Textual exercises

Part 1: Reading

Read the (definition and example) essay The Idea of Resonance as a Sociological Concept by Hartmut Rosa. First, skim the text to get an overview without trying to fully understand it – just to get a sense of what it’s about.

Then, read the text closely and critically. Come up with one or two questions about the text, which we can discuss in class.

As you go, process the text: annotate by jotting down questions or comments in the margins, underlining important points, circling keywords, and marking places you may want to revisit. Feel free to underline, scribble, or doodle – this is what we call the processed text.

The processed text will be part of your exercises book.

Part 2: Writing

a. Think of a word that covers something that interests, fascinates, or intrigues you — something that resonates with you. Start writing from this keyword, following the six freewriting points below. Just let your associative, emotional mind guide you, without knowing exactly where the text will take you. You might end up somewhere unexpected.

b. Cut out the parts you don’t need, or that feel too personal to share, and edit the text. Check whether the sentences need to be clearer or more logical, whether you want to add a sentence for clarity, and whether the parts can be shaped into a more coherent whole.

The text will also be part of your exercises book.

Take ten minutes to write a text according to the six points below. The basic unit of this practice is the timed exercise. Time yourself for ten minutes and commit yourself to those ten minutes and for that full period.

  1. Keep your hand moving. (Don't pause to reread the line you have just written. That's stalling and trying to get control of what you're saying.)
  2. Don’t cross out. (That is editing as you write. Even if you write something you didn't mean to write, leave it.)
  3. Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar. (Don't even care about staying within the margins and lines on the page.)
  4. Lose control.
  5. Don’t think. Don’t get logical.
  6. Go for the jugular. (If something comes up in your writing that is scary or naked, dive right into it. It probably has lots of energy.)

Next time, we will use this text as input for an editing-exercise, so be sure to take it with you to the next class.