Tweeting the War

Your in-class writing for Wednesday is actually a take-home assignment, because you'll likely need the aid of your word processor. Here's the assignment:

Imagine that Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. had a smart phone and the ability to send Tweets about his wartime experience. After you've thoughtfully read the chapters by Menand, review your notes about Holmes' shifting perspectives on the war.  Then, write 3 carefully crafted Tweets as outlined below (remember, you've got a 140-character limit here, so each word counts, and you should count each character!). Give each Tweet two hashtags.

• a Tweet sent during the spring of 1861, following the firing on Fort Sumter
• a Tweet sent in the late fall of 1862
• a Tweet sent in 1865, after the war ended

Remember that a good Tweet both sums up the writer's attitude/position and provokes response from the readers (and consider who might have read Wendell's Tweets...).  Hashtags single out key ideas: a word that sums up the importance of the observation/point being made. In other words, they can be the briefest of arguments. If you need tips on writing Tweets, check out this site.

Bring your typewritten Tweets to class on Wednesday, on three separate slices of paper (they can be small - that's okay!).