The Eight Point Story Arc

Today we'll examine story structure in more detail. Right now, before revision, your stories are tending toward bland and static narratives without much detail or dialogue. In looking at a standard story arc for establishing action, you can re-structure your stories, streamline them, and make them more engaging to the reader.

None of you opted to turn in a revision of story one, but remember that in revision we find our best writing. If you do revise story two, follow these guidelines:

--Turn in original with new version

--DOUBLE SPACE revision

--Turn in by December 4,  Tuesday

We'll also give you some ideas for exploring your Christmas images poetically

Character and Dialogue

Which two characters will you pair to create an interesting dialogue? Will Snoopy meet Garfield? Will Jay Gatsby meet Juliet? How will you use the dialogue to reveal their personalities? What scenario are they a part of?

Be sure to acknowledge our rules about indenting, dialogue tags and narration.

The Highwayman and the Narrative Poem

Alfred Noyes wrote this famous poem when he was twenty-four years old; it took him about two days to finish the final draft.  It is set in 18th Century England and focuses on a young robber who is in love with the local landlord's daughter.

Noyes was inspired by his own setting (he was staying in a cottage in a desolate Scottish heath) in order to create the spooky, dreary setting of his poem.

After reading and studying "The Highwayman" today, write your own poem in which you pay homage to a particular type of man.  See the examples on previous blogs for ideas.


Post your poem by Monday!

For those who were absent, the poem can be found HERE.



For poetry ideas, think of all the words with "man" in them:

Fireman, policeman, garbage man, clergyman, ombudsman, snowman, mailman, gentleman, minuteman, weatherman, working man, cameraman, fisherman, superman, cameraman, et cetera.

Imagination and Synesthesia

How might an experience change if viewed through the lens of synesthesia? This condition lends itself to creative and poetic thinking, so imagine a world where the senses are not strictly separated. 

Then translate that into a poem in which every line contains a blending of the senses.

Just as Fitzgerald had us considering the meaning of "yellow cocktail music" at Gatsby's party, we can use sensory details to re-frame perception.

Example:


Morning

The day rises with the violin strains of the sun
As the blue feeling of coffee invigorates me
Along with its nutty scent, its warm bubbling sound . . .

Snow Reflections

Today brought the first snow of the season--a poet's delight! In "The Snow Man," Stevens writes:

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

What is your philosophical, emotional, or visual response to the snow? What messages or images speak to you poetic soul?

Write a snow poem to share with the class.

An easy way to start? Try an acrostic:

Soft and unassuming, quietly eternal

Never asking for a thing beyond the right to fall

On everything alike, cold, white equalizer

Which brings a stern truth in a kind whispering whiteness.

Or a haiku:

Softly falls the snow

Settling on roofs and walls

Bringing winter in.

Creating Your Character

Using the worksheet you got in class, create layers for the character in your mind. What are the details that emerge as the most significant?

Once you have a good sense of your character, create a scene which REVEALS him or her to us. Let their characteristics come out through dialogue, description, and action.

If your character gets out of her car to save a kitten from expressway traffic, we know something about her, just as if she laughs at the animal's plight and drives by we will also learn something about her.

Remember to SHOW us, not to tell us. Give your scene a title.

What's in the Junk Drawer?

This week we'll be starting a discussion about CHARACTER--how to create one, embellish one, make one come alive on the page.

To get us started, follow these steps:

1. Think of any random character. Determine their gender, age, and name.

2. Decide where  this character lives.
(For example: Jenna Carpenter, age 10, lives in Boston, or Augie Maxwell, age 82, lives in Seattle).

3. Once you know the general background of your character, get to know him or her by (in your imagination) opening their junk drawer. What is inside?

For each item you "select" from the drawer, do the following:

--describe it

--explain the story behind it (example: a ticket stub from A Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theater downtown. She saved this because it was a happy holiday excursion which they had followed up with Christmas shopping. It had been snowing, and it was a magical day, and it was the last Christmas she spent with her Aunt Sue.

--do this for at least 8-10 items

--each item should  reveal a little more about your character

Finally: one thing in the drawer bothers your character. What is that item, and why does it bother the person?

Name the Kitten

What is the name of this cute ball of fuzz? Is it a female or a male?

What if you had to view the world through her eyes?

Let's say her name is Feather. You are Feather now, and making a to-do list for the day.

1. I wake, and go back to sleep on the big velvet pillow I'm not supposed to lie on.
2. I wake again and see a sunbeam moving across the floor. Diving off the couch, I attempt to conquer it.
3. I grow hungry. I run into the kitchen and find a few kernels of food left in my bowl. I crunch them, looking at the Big Guardian in a friendly manner. The  Big Guardian barks at me.

Et Cetera. Choose an animal (it could be a pet you have or an imaginary pet) and write the world from their point of view, similar to our Henri the  Cat video from yesterday.

Point of View: The First Important Decision in Your Writing

As we saw with the "land" and "boat" opposition, awareness of point of view is crucial to our understanding of a story, and important in constructing one.

Today you'll look at some point of view worksheets and then generate two point of view exercises: the "famous person" in the restaurant paragraphs, and the "I Don't Understand" poem. In the first assignment, you are asked to get inside the head of a person you dislike, or who opposes some of your beliefs, so that you can shift your lens and your vantage point.

In the second assignment, you will explore your OWN point of view by creating layers of understanding. What don't you understand? What do you understand? How does this affect the way you see the world?

We'll read these in class tomorrow, so BE READY!!

Interpretation, Meaning and Poetry

One of our most revered LIVING American poets is Billy Collins. Here is Collins reading one of his poems, called LITANY.






A poem reaches us for a variety of reasons, and one of those has to do with its interpretation.  Think of Billy Collins' poem as he read it, and then as this boy reads it:





Then think about vantage point and access to the poetic message.

We will think about the poem, as well, through our own interpreations of Collins' form.

Explain What Happened

Sometimes creativity can be found in explaining an absence.

Write about a library without books, a school without children, or a circus without animals. What happened?

Do this in terms of a short-short story, a poem, an essay--whatever suits your idea.