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To access the SOFAD media resource page for English and Written Narratives (ENG-5102-2) go to:

< h t t p : / / c o u r s . s o f a d . q c . c a / r e s s o u r c e s >

Look for Diversified Basic EducationThen click on: <English Language Arts>Look for ENG-5102-2 – English and Written NarrativesThen click on: <Media Resource Page>

If you prefer, you may download these audio and video resources to a device or to an intranet.

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Acknowledgements

Project Manager: Michael Rutka (SOFAD)

Instructional Designers: Pierre Doyon, PHD in Education - McGill University, Teacher with LBPSB, work shop leader with International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) Paul Fournier (SOFAD) Gail Gagnon - Pedagogical Consultant, Place Cartier Adult Centre, LBPSB. Lou Ann Paul, special needs teacher, RSB. Michael Rutka (SOFAD) Wendy Sturton, M.A. and M. Ed. Psych, Teacher - Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board

Writers: Wendy Sturton

Heather Davis

Content Editor: Pat Machin

Copy Editor: Michèle Ortiz

Proofreader: Michèle Ortiz

Graphic Design: Josée Bégin

Graphic Layout: Robin Patterson

Cover Design: Hélène Meunier

Rights Agent: Nicole Cypihot (SOFAD)

Comic Strip:

Illustrator: Julia Haney

Dialogue: Pat Machin

Video Interview with Heather O’Neill: Les Films David Chaumel

Interviewed by: Heather Davis

First Printing: December 2016

© SOFAD (Société de formation à distance des commissions scolaires du Québec)

All rights for translation and adaptation, in whole or in part, reserved for all countries. Any reproduction by mechanical or electronic means is forbidden without the express written consent of a duly authorized representative of SOFAD.

This work is funded in part by the Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur and by the Canada-Quebec Agreement on Minority Language Education and Second Language Instruction.

Legal Deposit—2016

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec

Library and Archives Canada

ISBN: 978-2-89493-530-9 (Print)

ISBN: 978-2-89493-533-0 (PDF)

III

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VI

English and Written Narratives (ENG-5102-2) in Your Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VI

About This Learning Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VI

Structure of the Learning Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VII

Getting Support for Your Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VIII

LEARNING SITUATION 1 • LS 1

A Likely Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

EXPLORE AND DISCOVER Activity 1 The Fine Print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

APPLY AND PRODUCE Activity 2 Flashes of Brilliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

EXPLORE AND DISCOVER Activity 3 Familiar Vibes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Activity 4 Narrative Patterns: Archetypes and Story Shapes . . . . . . . . .16

Activity 5 Puzzles of the Post-Modern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

APPLY AND PRODUCE Activity 6 Outlines of the Post-Modern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Activity 7 Your Spin on Written Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

REFLECT AND EVALUATE Activity 8 Look Back and Reflect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35


The Inside Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

EXPLORE AND DISCOVER Activity 1 The Plot Thickens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Activity 2 Meaning and Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77

Activity 3 Who Are They? Do We Care? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81

APPLY AND PRODUCE Activity 4 Lead the Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84

REFLECT AND EVALUATE Activity 5 Look Back and Reflect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

EVALUATION Evaluation Situation 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

This preview contains:- The Introduction- Part of Learning Situation 1

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IV English and Written Narratives


Tell It Like It Is . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91

EXPLORE AND DISCOVER Activity 1 Something New Under the Sun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92

Activity 2 Beginning, Middle, End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100

APPLY AND PRODUCE Activity 3 Under Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

Activity 4 Living to Tell the Tale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115

REFLECT AND EVALUATE Activity 5 Look Back and Reflect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119


Stepping into a Novel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121

EXPLORE AND DISCOVER Activity 1 The Fine Print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122

Activity 2 Novels That Speak to You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131

Activity 3 Characters and Point of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143

APPLY AND PRODUCE Activity 4 A Fine Web of Narrative Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149

Activity 5 The Novel As a Mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155

REFLECT AND EVALUATE Activity 6 Look Back and Reflect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

EVALUATION Evaluation Situation 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .162


From Cover to Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163

EXPLORE AND DISCOVER Activity 1 Where Are We Now? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164

Activity 2 Focus on Character. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168

Activity 3 Telling It Like It Is: Narrative Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

APPLY AND PRODUCE Activity 4 What’s It All About?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .180

REFLECT AND EVALUATE Activity 5 Selecting Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .190

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V


Novel Ideas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .193

EXPLORE AND DISCOVER Activity 1 Know by Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .194

Activity 2 One Step at a Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .198

APPLY AND PRODUCE Activity 3 The Heart of the Matter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200

Activity 4 An Orderly Arrangement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207

Activity 5 Fill in the Details. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .210

Activity 6 Casting a Critical Eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215

REFLECT AND EVALUATE Activity 7 Look Back and Reflect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .220

EVALUATION Evaluation Situation 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221

GRAMMAR REVIEW

EXPLORE AND DISCOVER Review of Grammar for Secondary V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223

ANSWER KEY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233

LS 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .234

LS 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236

LS 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238

LS 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239

LS 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

LS 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .243

Grammar Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245

AUTHORIZATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246

AUTHORIZATIONS FOR IMAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

STUDENT FEEDBACK SHEET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249

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VI English and Written Narratives

English and Written Narratives (ENG-5102-2) in Your ProgramEnglish and Written Narratives is a 50-hour course. It is the second of three Secondary V courses in the English Language Arts program in Diversified Basic Education.

Two of the three main competencies required by the Ministry will be devel-oped in this course.

Competency 2: Reads and listens to written, spoken and media texts.

Main Features of Competency 2:

y Develops resources to make sense of various written, spoken, and media texts y Extends understanding of various written, spoken, and media texts y Interprets his/her relationship to the text and the context

Competency 3: Produces texts for personal and social purposes.

Main Features of Competency 3:

y Develops resources to produce written and media texts y Follows a process to produce written and media texts y Creates a relationship with his/her audience suitable to the text and context

You will receive two (2) Secondary V credits for passing the final exam for this course in an adult education centre.

Below is a table that lists the Secondary V English Language Arts courses.

Course Name Credits Hours to Complete the Course

English and Plays (ENG-5101-1) 1 25 hoursEnglish and Written Narratives (ENG-5102-2) 2 50 hoursEnglish, Research and Persuasion (ENG-5103-3) 3 75 hours

About This Learning GuideThis learning guide was developed for adult learners who are registered in indi-vidual and classroom learning programs or in distance education.

Icons Used in the Learning Guide

You will encounter several icons in the learning guide.

0 Video clip: This means you have to watch a video.

0 Audio clip: This means you have to listen to an audio clip.

This means Internet sources are available or that you must go online to find resources or to answer questions.

INTRODUCTION

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VII

Internet Access

SOFAD hosts media resources for students enrolled in its courses on the SOFAD server.

Students with access to the Internet can view video clips and listen to audio clips as follows:

y If you are using the PDF version, click on the icon in the learning guide. y If you are using the paper learning guide, go to http://cours.sofad.qc.ca/

ressources/ and follow the Diversified Basic Education links.

If you do not have access to the Internet, use the sources provided by your teacher or tutor. Note that the media resources may be downloaded from a zip file on the SOFAD media resource page for the course. This allows you to view the media resources for times when you do not have access to the Internet.

Structure of the Learning GuideThe learning guide has an Introduction, six content chapters called Learning Situations (LS), and a grammar section. Near the end of the learning guide you will find the Answer Key. If you are using the paper version, these are the coloured pages.

As well, there are three evaluation chapters called Evaluation Situations. The Evaluation Situations do not appear in the learning guide. They are found on the SOFAD website and are free to download for students enrolled in the course. Here is the link for the Evaluation Situations: <http://cours.sofad.qc.ca/ressources/>

Evaluation for Certification Purposes

In order to earn the credits for this course you must obtain a mark of a least 60% on the final examination that will be held in an adult education centre. To be able to write this final examination you should have an average of at least 60% on the evaluations that accompany this learning guide.

Preparing for the Final Exam

Three things will help you prepare for the final exam, the course content, the Evaluation Situations, and the reading log you will create guided by the comic strips of the reading group that discusses the novel.

Evaluation Situations

Evaluation Situations are assignments that will be graded by your teacher or tutor. The Evaluation Situations are designed to help you get ready for the final exam. They are designed to encourage the development of the competencies required to pass the course as well as give you some practice in the textual and linguistic knowledge required to succeed.

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http://cours.sofad.qc.ca/ressources/

http://cours.sofad.qc.ca/ressources/

VIII English and Written Narratives

There are three Evaluation Situations (ES) for this course: after LS 2, after LS 4, and after LS 6. Each Evaluation Situation is graded on 100 and is weighted 30% for ES1, 40% for ES2, and 30% for ES3. For example, if you get a mark of 80/100 on Evaluation Situation 1 and you get a mark of 76/100 on Evaluation Situation 2 and a mark of 86/100 on Evaluation Situation 3, then you would calculate your final mark like this:

(80/100 x .3) + (76/100 x .4) + (86/100 x .3)(80/100 x .3) = 24.0, (76/100 x .4) = 30.4, (86/100 x .3) = 25.8Add 24.0 + 30.4 + 25.8 = 80.2 80.2% is your final mark for the course.

Reading the Novel

The novel for this course is Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill. You may begin your reading as soon as you wish. Remember that you are study-ing the novel; so plan on reading it twice or at the very least reading most of it twice. While reading you must keep a reading log.

The page numbers noted in the learning guide for Lullabies for Little Criminals are from the Harper Perennial, 2006, 1st edition, ISBN-10:0-06-087507-0.

The Page Turners Reading Group Comic Strips

The Page Turners reading group comic strips will guide you in creating a reading log of your thoughts and reflections about the novel used in this course. These comic strips begin in Learning Situation 4. You can bring your reading log and a copy of the novel to the final exam. You may also add handwritten notes in the margins of your own copy of the novel that you bring to the final exam.

Grammar Section

The grammar section covers the grammar points that were not included throughout the learning guide.

Getting Support for Your LearningIn order to help you succeed, your teacher or tutor will offer guidance and support as you work through the course. The teacher or tutor can answer your questions and will grade your Evaluation Situations. Make sure to obtain the schedule, email address, and phone number of your teacher or tutor so that you can communicate when necessary.

Managing Your Time

Managing your time is probably the most important thing you can do to be successful with your studies. The English and Written Narratives course is designed to take 50 hours to complete. It’s important to set aside time on a reg-ular basis for your course work. If you need more hours to complete the course, then take more time. Take the time you need. We recommend that you create a routine for yourself and stick to it.

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Extra Materials

The learning guide for this course is accompanied by:

y video clips y audio clips y Evaluation Situations

The Evaluation Situations and the video and audio clips are available at <http://cours.sofad.qc.ca/ressources/>

Then follow the links to English and Written Narratives media resource page.

Grammar

If you need extra help with grammar, your teacher or tutor may also recom-mend a grammar book or online exercises to help you.

SOFAD has an excellent booklet titled Essential Knowledge Reference Booklet that can be used as a grammar review. While the booklet is intended for use with learners of English as a Second Language (ESL), it still provides an excel-lent overview of the grammar essential for mother tongue learners.

To order a copy and for a description and preview of the booklet go to:

http://www.sofad.qc.ca/fr/outils-apprentissage/anglais-langue-seconde-fbd-33/?language=fr

Students with Children

Having to study while supervising children can be very challenging, and despite your efforts it may be difficult to manage. Here are a few tips for those of you who have children underfoot while you are studying:

y Spend time with your children before you begin your studies. y Allow your children to watch an educational DVD or TV show while you

study. You can teach them to wear headphones while you study. y Ask for cooperation from your children. Reward them with time together

after you have finished studying. y Explain your study schedule to your children. They will be more likely

to cooperate if you have a regular schedule. Reward your children for respecting your schedule.

y Childproof a room so that your children will need less supervision while you study.

y Organize activities for your children that they can do while you study. Such as colouring books, building blocks, and other toys that engage your children’s attention.

y Find a playmate for your children while you study. y Ask other adults to help you out.

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X English and Written Narratives

Study Habits

Make a schedule that you can respect. This is one of the most import-

ant things you can do.

Follow instructions carefully – pay close attention to what you are asked to do. Write the instructions in your own

words.

Ask for help – everyone needs the help of others. We have to pull together to be successful.

Reread texts – you are in a course of study, it makes sense to read everything twice or more. You will retain more if you read everything twice.

Set goals and rewards for yourself – it feels great to meet your goals. Set small and reachable goals. Remember to reward yourself when you meet your goals. For example, you could set the goal of completing one of the learning situations, and when you are finished you relax with your favourite TV show or go out with friends.

Take breaks – everybody needs a break. Do some work, take a break, and then get back to work.

Stay positive – remind yourself of your skills and abilities whatever they are. Avoid comparing yourself with others; this can, and usually does, lead to negative thoughts.

Choose a workspace that will help you focus. You may need a quiet room such as a library, for instance, in order to be free from distractions. Give yourself

enough time and space.

Take notes – writing down in your own words what you have learned is a powerful practice that leads to better under-

standing (and grades!).

Ask yourself how you can improve your learning.

Study H

abits

Your Feedback about the Learning Guide

The writers and other contributors to the learning guide are interested in hearing your feedback on your impressions and experience with this learning guide. There is a page near the end the learning guide that you can fill out and send to us. We will use your insights to help us improve the learning guide for the next printing. ©

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LS 1LEARNING SITUATION Duration: 11 hours

A Likely StoryThrough storytelling, writers use language and form to capture our imaginations. A good short story is a finely crafted, short narrative which moves our emotions and challenges our intellects.

Goal of the Learning Situation:

To investigate written stories of various genres and narrative patterns.

1 The Fine Print V 5 Puzzles of the Post-Modern V

Goal: To consider the question: What are the ele-ments of a good written story?

Goal: To explore how post-modern stories break traditional narrative patterns

2 Flashes of Brilliance V

6 Outlines of the Post-Modern V

Goal: To create story ideas which incorporate ele-ments of good short stories

Goal: To write the outline of a post-modern story

3 Familiar Vibes V 7 Your Spin on Written Narrative V

Goal: To explore short stories within genres such as mystery, romance, crime, horror, adventure, fantasy, sci-fi, or non-fiction

Goal: To express your opinions and preferences in a discussion about how written narratives work

4 Narrative Patterns: Archetypes and Story Shapes V 8 Look Back and Reflect V

Goal: To consider how character archetypes and story shapes emerge in short stories

Goal: To review and to reflect on what you have learned

A C T I V I T I E S VV

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GOAL

In this activity, you will:

◗ Recall your experiences of favorite childhood or personal stories.

◗ Examine the difference between fairy tales and short story form.

To consider the question: What are the elements of a good written story?

1 hourA C T I V I T Y 1 The Fine Print

Task A: Once Upon a Time

“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the

thing we need most in the world.” ~Philip Pullman

Both children and adults like stories because they entertain us and suggest ways to understand the world.

1 When you were a child, what elements made you like a story? Check them off in the list below. At the end, add a few items of your own.

Story Element Yes No Story Element Yes No

Happy endings Quests for a treasure, truth, etc.

Heroes, heroines, princes, princesses Defeat of an evil character

Riddles and tests Characters with similar problems to yours

Wishes being granted Monsters

Magic spells and characters A discovery

A voyage

Risks, adventures, action

Entry into another world

Animal characters

EXPLORE AND DISCOVER

2 LS 1 • A Likely Story

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http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3618.Philip_Pullman

2 Give details about a story that you particularly enjoyed, or that added something important to your life, either as a child or as an adult. Summarize this story briefly and explain why it had an impact on you.

Fiction is created through the imagination of writers. In the classic short story, writers tell short, intense, fictional stories, using between 1,000 and 20,000 words. Stories under 1,000 words (about 3 to 4 pages) are called “short-short stories” or “flash fiction.”

In contrast to fiction, non-fiction is based on history and memoirs. In creative non-fiction, writers use literary techniques to tell stories drawn from real life.

You know us both, even though we are fictional

characters. We appeared in a popu-lar fairy tale you probably heard as a

child. A fairy tale is a very special kind of story, one that was often told orally to

begin with, but was then written down.

Neil Gaiman, short story

writer and novelist, said, “Short stories are tiny windows into other worlds

and other minds and other dreams. They are journeys you can make to the far side of the universe and still be back in time for dinner.”

I like that idea. My story takes you far, but it’s short. You wouldn’t have

to miss dinner.

3ACTIVITY 1

L S1

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My story started with a journey. The great novelist

Leo Tolstoy wrote, “All great litera-ture is one of two stories; a man goes on a journey or a stranger

comes to town.”

In my fairy tale, dramatic things happened. How many

people have to deal with a wolf before visiting Grandma? And I revealed myself by

my actions. Think of how courageous I was. I started out as a little girl, but with a little help,

defeated my enemy like a brave adult.

Or did you see me differently? Some peo-ple think I was a helpless victim, res-

cued by a brave woodsman.

A short story is writ-ten with more discipline than

the fairy tale in which I live. My fairy tale can shift and change with each telling, and many people have retold it. In some versions, I might

be a brave heroine. In others, I could be a helpless victim. However, a short story is written by its author.

It stays the same once it has been written down and published. In a short story, every word,

every sentence has meaning and authority.

“A good story tells you something interesting about someone. Things happen in a good story. People reveal who they are.”

~Heidi Pitlor, an editor of American short stories


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Some good short sto-ries include magical charac-

ters like me and my wolf. If you rewrote my tale as a short story, would you know how to do the

following things?

3 Some good short stories include magical characters like me and my wolf. If you rewrote my tale as a short story, would you know how to do the following things?

Do you know how to: Yes No

tell the story from my point of view?

write a dialogue between me and the wolf, or between other characters?

describe the deep, dark woods in a unique way?

develop my character by hinting at my personal history?

create a mood?

deliver a message or theme?

make the readers continue to read, because they care about how it all ends?

Many of these techniques would help to make my tale into a good short story. In your opinion, which of them would be most important in making any writ-ten story a good one?

Task B: The Magic of a Short Story4 You are probably familiar with the features of a fairy tale. Make a list of what features we expect

by answering the questions below.

a) What kind of unusual characters often appear in a fairy tale?

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b) What kinds of things are heroes expected to do?

c) What personality traits do you expect in fairy tale heroes?

d) What are some of the typical lessons of fairy tales?

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Authors may deliberately borrow fairy tale elements to use in their stories. In a fantasy story, fairy tale qualities could be presented at face value. However, because we all know what a fairy tale is supposed to be like, writers can easily parody them for comic effect. In a parody, a writer imitates a style or genre but exaggerates deliberately, or makes unexpected changes, in order to create humour.

5 Read James Thurber’s short story “The Princess and the Tin Box.”

“The Princess smiled and walked up to the table and picked up the present she liked the most.”

THE PRINCESS AND THE TIN BOX

James Thurber

Once upon a time, in a far country, there lived a king whose daughter was the pret-tiest princess in the world. Her eyes were like the cornflower, her hair was sweeter than the hyacinth, and her throat made the swan look dusty.

From the time she was a year old, the princess had been showered with presents. Her nursery looked like Cartier’s window. Her toys were all made of gold or plati-num or diamonds or emeralds. She was not permitted to have wooden blocks or china dolls or rubber dogs or linen books, because such materials were considered cheap for the daughter of a king.

When she was seven, she was allowed to attend the wedding of her brother and throw real pearls at the bride instead of rice. Only the nightingale, with his lyre of gold, was permitted to sing for the princess. The common blackbird, with his box-wood flute, was kept out of the palace grounds. She walked in silver-and-samite slippers to a sapphire-and-topaz bathroom and slept in an ivory bed inlaid with rubies.


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On the day the princess was eighteen, the king sent a royal ambassador to the courts of five neighboring kingdoms to announce that he would give his daughter’s hand in marriage to the prince who brought her the gift she liked the most.

The first prince to arrive at the palace rode a swift white stallion and laid at the feet of the princess an enormous apple made of solid gold which he had taken from a dragon who had guarded it for a thousand years. It was placed on a long ebony table set up to hold the gifts of the princess’s suitors. The second prince, who came on a gray charger, brought her a nightingale made of a thousand diamonds, and it was placed beside the golden apple. The third prince, riding on a black horse, car-ried a great jewel box made of platinum and sapphires, and it was placed next to the diamond nightingale. The fourth prince, astride a fiery yellow horse, gave the princess a gigantic heart made of rubies and pierced by an emerald arrow. It was placed next to the platinum-and-sapphire jewel box.

Now the fifth prince was the strongest and handsomest of all the five suitors, but he was the son of a poor king whose realm had been overrun by mice and locusts and wizards and mining engineers so that there was nothing much of value left in it. He came plodding up the palace of the princess on a plow horse and he brought her a small tin box filled with mica and feldspar and hornblende which he had picked up on the way.

The other princes roared with disdainful laughter when they saw the tawdry gift the fifth prince had brought to the princess. But she examined it with a great inter-est and squealed with delight, for all her life she had been glutted with precious stones and priceless metals, but she had never seen tin before or mica or feldspar or hornblende. The tin box was placed next to the ruby heart pierced with an emer-ald arrow.

“Now,” the king said to his daughter, “you must select the gift you like best and marry the prince that brought it.”

The princess smiled and walked up to the table and picked up the present she liked the most. It was the platinum-and-sapphire jewel box, the gift of the third prince.

“The way I figure it,” she said, “is this. It is a very large and expensive box, and when I am married, I will meet many admirers who will give me precious gems with which to fill it to the top. Therefore, it is the most valuable of all the gifts my suitors have brought me and I like it the best.”

The princess married the third prince that very day in the midst of great merriment and high revelry. More than a hundred thousand pearls were thrown at her and she loved it.

Moral: All those who thought the princess was going to select the tin box with worth-less stones instead of one of the other gifts will kindly stay after class and write one hundred times on the blackboard “I would rather have a hunk of aluminum silicate than a diamond necklace.”

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6 Answer the following questions.

a) How did you react to the ending of this short story?

b) How is it like a fairy tale, and how is it different?

c) How does it fit the definition of a parody?

d) James Thurber is using humour to target some of our illusions. Which illusions is he aiming for?

e) Pick out the qualities of this story which you could use to argue that it is either a good or a bad one, according to your opinion.

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GOAL


◗ Exercise your imagination by developing stories from six-word ideas.

◗ Write your own definition of a good short story.

To create story ideas which incorporate the elements of good short stories.

1 hourA C T I V I T Y 2 Flashes of Brilliance

Task A: Working with Flash FictionWith the rise of Twitter and its short, limited messages, flash fiction is receiving more attention. In an urban legend told about author Ernest Hemingway, it is said that he invented the short-short story form. Writer friends he was drinking with bet him he couldn’t write a story of six words. He won his bet by writing this on a napkin:

The story goes that after he passed the napkin around the table, his friends paid up the bet!

7 Following are four short-short stories—each only six words long—to stimulate your imagination. If you were to base a longer story on each of them, what story would you tell? Develop the story more fully in four or five sentences.

a) It’s behind you! Hurry before it – by Rockne S. O’Bannon

b) Longed for him. Got him. Shit. – by Margaret Atwood

For sale, baby shoes, never worn .


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GOAL


◗ Exercise your imagination by developing stories from six-word ideas.

◗ Write your own definition of a good short story.

To create story ideas which incorporate the elements of good short stories.

1 hourA C T I V I T Y 2 Flashes of Brilliance

Task A: Working with Flash FictionWith the rise of Twitter and its short, limited messages, flash fiction is receiving more attention. In an urban legend told about author Ernest Hemingway, it is said that he invented the short-short story form. Writer friends he was drinking with bet him he couldn’t write a story of six words. He won his bet by writing this on a napkin:

The story goes that after he passed the napkin around the table, his friends paid up the bet!

7 Following are four short-short stories—each only six words long—to stimulate your imagination. If you were to base a longer story on each of them, what story would you tell? Develop the story more fully in four or five sentences.

a) It’s behind you! Hurry before it – by Rockne S. O’Bannon

b) Longed for him. Got him. Shit. – by Margaret Atwood

For sale, baby shoes, never worn .

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c) Internet “wakes up?” Ridicu - no carrier. – by Charles Stross

d) For sale, baby shoes, never worn. – by Ernest Hemingway

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Task B: Working with Narrative Techniques8 Imagine you have been hired to write and to publish one of the story ideas you just developed.

What story elements would you incorporate in order to ensure that your masterpiece is a good story? Reflect on the list of story elements which appeared at the end of Activity 1, Task A.

Story Element Yes No Story Element Yes No

Happy endings Quests for a treasure, truth, etc.

Heroes, heroines, princes, princesses Defeat of an evil character

Riddles and tests Characters with similar problems to yours

Wishes being granted Monsters

Magic spells and characters A discovery

A voyage

Risks, adventures, action

Entry into another world

Animal characters

a) Which character would be at the centre of your short story and how would you make your readers care about him or her? Remember that caring doesn’t necessarily mean liking!


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b) What question (or questions) would you plant in the readers’ minds, so that they would want to read all the way to the end?

c) What dialogue would be important to develop the readers’ interest in the story?

d) Where would you locate a key scene, to create mood and interest? What would happen there?

e) What other techniques would you use?

Task C: Writing a Short-short Story9 Now write a couple of short-short stories of your own. Remember to limit them to six words!

Task D: Make Your StatementYou are already familiar with editor Heidi Pitlor’s comment, “A good story tells you something interesting about someone. Things happen in a good story. People reveal who they are.”

10 How would you define what a good written story does for you as a reader?

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GOAL


◗ Revisit and expand your knowledge of story genres.

◗ Write your own introductory sentences to two stories of different genres.

To explore short stories within genres such as mystery, romance, crime, horror, adventure, fantasy, sci-fi, or non-fiction.

1.5 hoursA C T I V I T Y 3 Familiar Vibes

Task A: Reading the CluesGenre stories present us with characters, plots and set-tings that follow a familiar pattern. When we read one, we expect certain genre conventions to be followed. Writers don’t have to announce the genres they have chosen. Familiar signals quickly let us know a story’s genre as we read.

Do you prefer rollicking adventure, steamy romance, dark mystery, bone-chilling horror, fantasy or science fiction? Do you prefer the real-life stories that unfold in diaries, memoirs or travel writing? All of these genres give us stories to feed our imaginations.

EXPLORE AND DISCOVER


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11 Below is a list of character types, events, and objects which are more likely to be found in some genres than in others. Match them with all of the story genres where you might find them:

Story Genres

Fairy TaleFableAdventure

Romance Travel WritingScience Fiction

Horror MysteryFantasy Memoirs

a) Talking animals

b) Pretty dresses

c) Near-death experiences

d) Space aliens

e) Objects that move on their own

f) Personal memories of childhood

g) Travel to strange lands

h) Death by poison

i) Feats of heroism

j) An anonymous letter

k) A mountain to climb

l) A mysterious stranger

m) A missing heir

n) Icy drafts of air

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Task B: Clues Help Make Predictions About What We Are ReadingGenre writing is filled with familiar clues that help us make predictions about what we are reading. These are the opening lines of a personal memoir called Gang Girl, written by Isis Sapp-Grant.

This was 1986, and I was 15 years old, living in Brooklyn with my mother, who was a social worker, and my three sisters, who at the time were 18, 14, and 2. My father wasn’t around much; he and my mother were divorced.

12 Because Sapp-Grant’s story of her youth is written as a personal memoir, the genre dictates some elements from the very beginning. For example:

a) Who is the narrator of the story? How does this choice of narrator suit the genre?

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b) What information does the narrator give about the setting—the time and place of her story?

c) What details does the narrator give about her family?

d) The title of this memoir is Gang Girls. Combine this fact with what the narrator tells you in the first two sentences. What guesses can you make about the problems she might write about in her story?

e) When you discuss style, you will be examining how the writer writes: choice of words, sentence length and structure, descriptive qualities, informative or poetic approach, etc. Based on the title and the opening of this story, what could you say about the style of the memoir as a genre?

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13 These are the opening lines of a short story written by Neil Gaiman.

“Time is fluid here,” said the demon. He knew it was a demon the moment he saw it. He knew it, just as he knew the place was Hell.

a) In what genre do you think he could be writing?

b) On which clues do you base your guess about the genre?

c) Do you expect pleasant or unpleasant events to unfold in this story? On which clues do you base your prediction?

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Task C: Writing the Clues14 Here again are the opening lines of Isis Sapp-Grants’s personal memoir.

“This was 1986, and I was 15 years old, living in Brooklyn with my mother, who was a social worker, and my three sisters, who at the time were 18, 14, and 2. My father wasn’t around much; he and my mother were divorced.”

Think of a story you could tell from your own experience of growing up. Think of a title for your story which gives a major clue about its content. Then, in two or three sentences, write your story opening, imitating the style of Isis Sapp-Grant. Just as she did, use these lines to present the basic facts of setting and situation.

15 Look again at the opening lines of Neil Gaiman’s short story.

“Time is fluid here,” said the demon. He knew it was a demon the moment he saw it. He knew it, just as he knew the place was Hell.

Use Neil Gaiman’s story opener as a model to introduce a story in a different genre. Do this by introducing different clues. For example, the following opener is based on the model of his intro-duction, with the original pattern in bold print. However, new clues indicate the story could lead to romance or adventure:

“We’ve waited five years for your arrival,” said the man on the Harley. She knew he was her soulmate the moment she saw him. She knew it, just as she knew she could never leave this place alive.

Now write your own opener, and identify the genre you have chosen:

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GOAL


◗ Identify some character archetypes from photos, based on clues you identify.

◗ Research the qualities of a few character archetypes that interest you.

◗ Identify some TV or movie characters that play an archetypal role.

◗ Become familiar with Kurt Vonnegut’s theory of story shapes, and use them to outline a few of your own stories.

◗ Read a classic short story and use Vonnegut’s theory to identify its shape.

◗ Write your own short story outline and identify its story shape on a graph.

To consider how character archetypes and story shapes emerge in short stories.

2.5 hoursA C T I V I T Y 4 Narrative Patterns: Archetypes and Story Shapes

Task A: Characters: the Great ArchetypesIf you have been involved in gaming, you are familiar with archetypal charac-ters who move the game forward by fulfilling their typical roles. In fact, some psychologists argue that archetypal characters lie deep in our psyches, affect-ing our dreams and our image of ourselves.

Throughout storytelling history and across cultures, male and female arche-types play similar roles, even though details of plot vary.

First, let’s look at archetypal male characters. Often young, the hero is a familiar archetype of great power who may appear as a warrior or as a person of extraor-dinary quality. His role is to rescue people and to resolve problems. The arche-type of the wise old man might appear as a wizard, an aged king or a sage advisor.

Female archetypes are equally powerful figures. The wise old woman might appear as a medicine woman, an old grandmother, or as a healer. Some wise women might appear as ancient, others as mature but not necessarily very old. Because our culture has historically had a male bias, older women also appear as dangerous witches or negative meddlers. The archetype of the maiden appears as a young and beautiful girl, someone to be protected and revered.

Other archetypes project different aspects of human experience. An arche-type of innocence is the child, representing purity and hope for the future. The joker, fool or trickster is a figure who promotes chaos, the one who plays the wild card in events. Of course, an archetypal character of great power is the villain, the evil character who threatens the well-being of all other characters.


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a) How would you identify the archetype represented in this picture?

b) What clues helped you to identify this archetype?

c) Which two archetypes can you recognize in this picture?

d) What clues helped you to identify the archetypes?

e) What archetype do you recognize in the picture below?

f) What clues helped you to identify this archetype?

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Task B: The Role of Archetypes17 In the lines below, explain the role played by some of the other archetypes named above. To do

this, you may research them on the Internet, or use your knowledge of gaming.

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18 Identify three or four characters in TV and movies whose behaviour and appearance suggest they are playing an archetypal role. Below, write down their names, the archetypes they represent and what has led you to this conclusion.

Task C: Story Shapes We RecognizeAnother way of understanding narrative structure is to recognize the patterns repeated in story plots. These patterns have the power to affect how we see stories, and even how we understand our own lives.

“Humans are pattern-seeking storytelling animals, and we are quite adept at telling stories about patterns, whether they exist or not.”

~Michael Shermer

American novelist Kurt Vonnegut felt that story plots could be catalogued into a number of types and presented on a graph. From beginning to end, a story graph can show the movement back and forth between human happiness and unhappiness. In his story graphs, Vonnegut placed happiness on the vertical axis, and the progress of the plot on the horizontal axis. The plot of a typical story would weave up and down from beginning to end, reflecting the happi-ness or misery of the protagonists in the story.

GOOD FORTUNE

ILL FORTUNE

BEGINNING END

Each of the lines in the graph represents a different story type.


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The main character gets into trouble then gets out of it again and ends up better off for the experience.

Arsenic and Old Lace

Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle

The main character comes across something wonderful, gets it, loses it, then gets it back forever.

Jane Eyre

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

The main character starts off poorly then gets continually worse with no hope for improvement.

The Metamorphosis

The Twilight Zone

Humankind receives incremental gifts from a deity, is suddenly ousted from good standing, but then receives off-the-charts bliss.

Great Expectations with revised ending

In many cultures’ creation stories, humankind receives incremental gifts from a deity. First major staples like the earth and sky, then smaller things like sparrows and cell phones. Not a common shape for Western stories, however.

The story has a lifelike ambiguity that keeps us from knowing if new developments are good or bad.

Hamlet

The Sopranos

It was the similarity between the shapes of Cinderella and the New Testament that thrilled Vonnegut for the first time in 1947 and then over the course of his life as he continued to write essays and give lectures on the shapes of stories.

Humankind receives incremental gifts from a deity, but is suddenly ousted from good standing in a fall of enormous proportions.

Great Expectations with original ending

Creation Story

From Bad to Worse

New Testament

Boy Meets GirlMan in Hole

Old Testament

Which Way Is Up?

Cinderella

Kurt Vonnegut gained worldwide fame and adoration through the publication of his novels, includ-

ing Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat’s Cradle, Breakfast of Champions, and more.

But it was his rejected master’s thesis in anthropology that he called his prettiest contribution to his culture.

The basic idea of his thesis was that a story’s main character has ups and downs that can be graphed to reveal the story’s shape.

The shape of a society’s stories, he said, is at least as interesting as the shape of its pots or spearheads. Take a look.

Designer: Maya Ei lam, www.maya e i l am.comSources: A Man without a Country and Palm Sunday by Kurt Vonnegut

The Shapes of Storiesby Kurt Vonnegut

Here, for example, is Maya Eilam’s graphic of one of Vonnegut’s story shapes. In this classic story, the main character moves from contentment—on the happy level of the scale, but not at the top—to unhappy struggle, plunging below into the sector of the graph which represents suffering, tri-als and challenges; and then, at the end, to greater happiness, higher on the happiness scale than at the beginning.

19 Take a look at the young man in this photo. In five or six sentences, outline a “Man in Hole” story in which he is the main character. Remember to go through the three states: contentment, problems, and greater happiness at the end.

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Jane Eyre



The Metamorphosis

The Twilight Zone





Hamlet

The Sopranos




Creation Story

From Bad to Worse

New Testament


Old Testament

Which Way Is Up?

Cinderella








Here is Maya Eilam’s graphic of another Kurt Vonnegut story shape. This shape is presented as a romantic story. However, it could represent any story about a great treasure lost, then won back.

20 Take a look at the couple in this photo. Use the “Boy MeetsGirl” story shape to outline a story about the two of them. Use Vonnegut’s three stages to construct your story: finding something or someone of great value, los-ing the treasured thing or person, and eventually winning the treasure or person at the end.

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Here are other story shapes suggested by Kurt Vonnegut.





Jane Eyre



The Metamorphosis

The Twilight Zone





Hamlet

The Sopranos




Creation Story

From Bad to Worse

New Testament


Old Testament

Which Way Is Up?

Cinderella












Jane Eyre



The Metamorphosis

The Twilight Zone





Hamlet

The Sopranos




Creation Story

From Bad to Worse

New Testament


Old Testament

Which Way Is Up?

Cinderella












Jane Eyre



The Metamorphosis

The Twilight Zone





Hamlet

The Sopranos




Creation Story

From Bad to Worse

New Testament


Old Testament

Which Way Is Up?

Cinderella








21 Suggest movies or written stories which match these shapes:

a) From Bad to Worse

b) Which Way Is Up

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c) Cinderella

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Task D: TitleKurt Vonnegut’s story shapes are fascinating. However, the list you have seen does not include all possible stories. You are about to read a story which does not fit any of the shapes you have considered. However, using the basic graph he devised to chart the progress of a character’s happiness, you can explore the story’s shape yourself.

22 Read Kate Chopin’s classic short story “The Story of an Hour.” As you read this story, keep in mind that when it was written—in 1894—marriage was forever. Divorce did not exist.

“The Story of an Hour”

Kate Chopin (1894)

Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death.

It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing. Her hus-band’s friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard’s name leading the list of “killed.” He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second tele-gram, and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message.

She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandon-ment, in her sister’s arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her.

There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.

She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.


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There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window.

She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.

She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflec-tion, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.

There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air.

Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will—as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been. When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: “free, free, free!” The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.

She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial. She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.

There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination.

And yet she had loved him—sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!

“Free! Body and soul free!” she kept whispering.

Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhole, implor-ing for admission. “Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door—you will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heaven’s sake open the door.”

“Go away. I am not making myself ill.” No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window.

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Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and sum-mer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.

She arose at length and opened the door to her sister’s importunities. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. She clasped her sister’s waist, and together they descended the stairs. Richards stood waiting for them at the bottom.

Some one was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephine’s piercing cry; at Richards’ quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife.

When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease—of the joy that kills.

•


a) What is unusual about Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to the news of her husband’s death?

b) How does the writer use nature to give us an early clue about Mrs. Mallard’s unusual reaction?

c) Mrs. Mallard explains her feelings to no one. Why not?

d) Irony is a complex literary technique which is based on misunderstanding or reversals. In this case, the irony of the story ending is based on misunderstanding. What do characters in the story completely misunderstand at the end?

e) Irony often creates humour based on reversals or surprises, although the humour may be very dark. The endings of “Story of an Hour” and “The Princess and the Tin Box” are both ironic. Compare how they use irony and whether or not they create humour through irony.

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Task E: Chart a Story Shape24 On the graph below, chart the line which plots the happiness of the main character, Mrs. Mallard.

This will give you an idea of how Kurt Vonnegut would visualize the story shape of “Story of an Hour.”

GOOD FORTUNE

ILL FORTUNE

BEGINNING END

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25 Study this picture and develop your own story idea based on it. Use your choice of story shape for your story outline. Record your choice of story shape in the empty graph. If it corresponds to one of Kurt Vonnegut’s story shapes, give it the appro-priate name.

Story Shape:

GOOD FORTUNE

ILL FORTUNE

BEGINNING END

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Story Outline:

GOAL


◗ Discover the post-modern movement and consider how it relates to stories.

◗ Read and respond to a post-modern short story related to the romance genre.

◗ Propose an outline for a post-modern short story in another genre of your choice.

To explore how post-modern stories break traditional narrative patterns.

1.5 hoursA C T I V I T Y 5 Puzzles of the Post-Modern

Task A: Uncertainty, Complexity, ContradictionPost-modernism is a recent movement in the arts which has affected the way stories are written and understood. It is based on the view that any kind of knowledge will vary with perspective. Knowledge, in other words, is not objectively true, but arises from rela-tionships and is uncertain, complex, and even contradictory. Certainty is impossible; com-plexity arises out of contradiction.

This philosophy has had a powerful effect on the way stories are told. The traditional way of writing a story does not work in a post-modern context. Just as the reflection of an ancient cathedral is fragmented in the reflection of a modern building above, the story form is broken into frag-mented and seemingly disconnected parts. The perspective of the reader holds it together and makes sense out of it.

Margaret Atwood’s short story “Happy Endings” begins with these words: John and Mary meet.

What happens next?

If you want a happy ending, try A.


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