A SHORT STORY

By Megan Boyd
Revised Edition (years 8 – 11)
Plus worksheets (Deconstruction)

CHOICES

Megan Boyd is a secondary

English teacher currently
working in NSW Australia
 A Short Story by M Boyd

1. Read the short story below

2. Deconstruction Task: After the class reading make a note of the Characters, Themes, Setting,
Audience, Purpose, Structure and language – use dot points to do this so you have a clear view of
these features.

3. Using the handouts provided (and instructions from the teacher) attempt to write a short exposition
essay about the story.
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Choices

It is nearly finished and I step back to have a proper look. The brick wall at the side of my house is the perfect canvas.
My friends think it’s a waste of time but what else are you supposed to do in the holidays when you have nowhere
to go and no money. I spent my last ten bucks on this paint and I certainly wasn’t going to waste it. My mobile phone
starts ringing and I jump off the ladder. ‘Oh Hi Dan’...’yup it’s nearly finished’...’Ok see you soon’. Dan’s coming over
to have a look. We’ve been friends since forever, since grade one, that’s a bit embarrassing really to think that we
used to play in the sandpit together. That was a long time ago though; I can’t believe we are still hanging out after
ten years.

‘Ah wickeeed Amber’! Dan blasts at me ‘that looks AWSOME’ ...he’s been a little hyperactive lately... a little too
much energy. His new friend Kevin follows close behind, I can smell him before he gets within six feet of me. ‘Hi
guys, don’t touch it ok...it’s still a bit wet’, Dan pretends to poke at it, Kevin sticks his finger on it anyway and it
comes away crimson red ‘yer whatever guys’ I push them away ‘hands off ok...Mum said it was ok to do it as long as
I did a good job so don’t blow it ok’ I was starting to get annoyed. Kevin could be a bit of a handful, he is new to town
and I’m not sure I like him hanging around with Dan, there is something about him that I don’t trust...and Dan has
been acting differently since he came along.

‘Ah don’t freak out chicky babe’ Kevin slurs. My skin starts crawling. Dan can see that I’m getting annoyed and tries
to keep the peace. ‘It’s ok Amber, we won’t wreck it...hey it really is quite good you know...you’ve got real talent’ he
punches me in the arm and I can’t help myself smiling ‘thanks grub’, it’s my nickname for Dan when we are kidding
around. It was a while before we noticed that Kevin had disappeared, and so had my paint! Dan and I looked at each
other and called out for him. My stomach lurched; somehow I knew what was unfolding.

Dan and I walked around the side of the house and there was Kevin across the road, paintbrush in hand, writing
something on the neighbour’s front fence. It was old Mr Gragger, his name sounds like his personality, very cranky
and very deaf! ‘Hey what are you doing?’ We yell at Kevin “STOP IT!!’...he laughs dementedly and keeps on sloshing
the paintbrush up and down on the green iron, red paint dripping down like the fence is bleeding in protest. ‘Stupid
old man...called me a bloody turd the other day’ Kevin was unstoppable ‘ well... I’ll give him a turd’. He finishes and
backs away to admire his handiwork. I gasp and hear Dan suck in his breath behind me ‘DIE OLD MAN’ is written
across the fence in large red letter, drips still making their way down to the rough pavement below. ‘Oh shit’ Dan
says. ‘HEY...it’s MY paint’ I shriek...’they will think it was ME’. I stood there with paint on my hands and clothes,
looking terribly guilty.

It was then that I notice a familiar red car coming around the bend. It is the police... and they have spotted us. The
light goes on and we all freeze, all of us ...except Kevin.... HE’S GONE!!! Must have jumped the fence when he saw
the red car...damn! It is obvious that he has been in this situation before. I look pleadingly at Dan. Surely he’s not
going to let me take the wrap for this? Dans hand opens and closes in agitation, a sure sign that he is in the middle of
some internal battle with himself. ‘you’re going to tell them it wasn’t me aren’t you?’ Dan doesn’t look at me but
says in a hurried voice ‘Kevin will kill me if I lag on him...you don’t understand!’ I whisper back, ‘What don’t I
understand egghead??...that you would rather see me in jail over something I didn’t do...a criminal record jackass
that what’s staring in my face right now!’...Dan looks at me, a pained expression on his face, he says very slowly in a
voice I had to strain to hear ‘ Kevin... will ...KILL ...me... if ...I ...lag’ I know all of Dans expressions... but this one was
something I hadn’t seen before. It was fear...REAL fear. I knew then that Dan was in trouble and Kevin was not just a
naughty kid. ‘Sorry Amber..I’m really sorry’, a small wet tear falls down his face as he looks at his feet. I stand there
dumbstruck. A loud voice booms in our direction, ‘POLICE...STOP WHERE YOU ARE!’
Exposition Essay

The purpose of an exposition essay is to provide some background and inform the
readers about the plot, character, setting, and theme of the story. A well-written
exposition remains focused on its topic (in this case the short story) and lists events
in chronological order. The use of first person pronouns for example ‘I’ and ‘us’ should
be avoided. Expository essays will not reveal the opinion of the writer

Characters
Amber – teenage girl, artistic, sensible, good relationship with parents protagonist (main character)
Dan – Amber’s childhood friend, good guy at heart, in with the wrong crowd
Kevin – new guy in town, smelly, disrespectful, criminal antagonist

Setting
Country Australian town – in the main characters home street

Themes
Friendship
Peer pressure
Getting involved with the wrong crowd
Teenage Crime
Loyalties/disloyalties

Audience
Teenagers

Purpose
To entertain
moralistic

Structure
Short Story
Paragraphs

Language
Informal writing style, narrative prose
swearing, dialogue, descriptive language, stream of consciousness (SOC) writing technique

Plot
Exposition – introduction of characters and setting
Rising Action – Breaking the law
Climax – Getting caught/framed
Falling Action – Friends letting you down
Resolution – Taking the wrap

The following worksheets could come in handy

 DECONSTRUCTING THE TEXT

Deconstruction or deconstructing a text means to pull the text

apart and look at all the different things that make it what it is. It
is a bit like pulling apart a television to see what’s inside. How
does it work? When you pull a text apart you get to see inside
the text and how different things have been done to make it
‘what it is’.

Characters an imaginary person represented in a work of fiction (play or film or story);

"she is the main character in the novel"

The setting includes the time, location, and everything in which a story takes place, it
Setting describes the main backdrop and mood for a story. For example, ‘a Graveyard at
midnight is the perfect setting for a ghost story’.

Themes The main idea of an essay, paragraph, or a book. For example an idea about life can
be revealed in a story, the message may be about love, society, relationships,
hardships and many other real life situations.

A term meaning ‘who’ the text is directed at, for example a novel directed at young
Audience people will have language that is appropriate to the age group and themes that
young people can relate to. For example ‘the magazine editors have told their writers
to target a teenage audience’.

Purpose This means the ‘why’ of a text. Why has the text been produced or written. Is it for
entertainment or for educational purposes? For example a major newspapers
purpose is to inform its audience about day to day events at home and in the world.

Dictates what kind of writing it is ...look at how it is written and certain features.
Structure These features include words, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, whether it is novel,
a short story a poem or an essay. For example a short story will generally have
between 1000 and 20,000 words, a work of fiction with 50,000 words or more would
fall into the category of a novel.

If we look at the language of a text we are being asked to look at ‘how’ it has been
written. For example most short stories and novels are written in narrative prose.
Language Narration meaning ‘to narrate’ or to tell story and ‘prose’ which literally translates as
'straight-forward.' The purpose of narration is to tell a story or to narrate an event or
series of events. In this context, all written fiction may be viewed as narration

A plot is all the parts of a story that lead towards emotional or artistic effects and
themes. Plot is often designed with a narrative structure and storyline. It usually
Plot starts with the exposition, meaning the introduction of the character and the
setting. The writer will then include some kind of rising action to build
suspense and gain readers interest, some kind of climax and then the steady
spiral (or falling action) towards the stories resolution or end.
, CLASS ACTIVITY:

1 - Using the information sheet ‘Deconstructing the Text’, match the words up with
the correct summarised definition

Audience Setting Plot Purpose

Characters Structure Language Theme

I am looking at the style of writing, how the story

has been written.
I am looking at who the story is directed at, what
kind of person would like this story.
I am looking at why the story has been written.

I am looking at the main idea of the story, what

is it trying to tell me.
I am looking at where the story is taking place
and at what time.
I am looking at who is in the story

I am looking at all the events of the story that

make it a story
I am looking at how the story has been put
together as a whole.

2 – Using the same words, write a sentence using each of them in context. I have
done the first one for you...make sure you underline the key word.

1. I did not find the magazine very interesting as it was directed at an audience
that likes fishing.
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