This exercise, developed by Margaret Price and Sara Lewis for their Experimental Writing Workshop "Writing the Visual Image," could be used for journal writing or in-class writing. Either way, it will spark discussion about the effect of visual representations on the narratives we write.

Part I

Visual representations affect our constructions of narratives in various ways. Photography, for example, allows us to create stories about events we did not participate in ("My Parents' Wedding"); the presence or absence of visual representations can affect what is and is not remembered, valued, and discussed.

For this exercise, first create a visual/textual piece (using paper, pens, and cutouts from magazines if you wish) that announces, emphasizes, or perhaps celebrates an event to which we usually don't call attention.

Examples of things not usually announced in this way include:

• a breakup
• a funeral
• your car breaking down
• the day you fail a class or exam
• the first day you start taking your new medication
• a day that you were very sick.

Part II

Come to our next class with a photograph you have taken of an event that we seldom see represented in photographs. This means that you will need to take a picture and develop it by next week. If you don't own a camera or can't borrow one, you might team up with another class member to buy a disposable camera.

We will share and discuss these photographs and the narratives they create, narratives that are usually left out of photo albums full of pictures of weddings, vacations, new babies and graduations.