1|Page

Rafael B. Lacson Memorial High School

Felipe-Lacson St., Talisay City
Senior High School Department
Humanities and Social Sciences -Specialized Subject
CREATIVE WRITING

Prepared by: MS. ANGELINE MARIE S. LIMBAGA

Course Description: This course aims to develop practical and creative skills in reading and writing;
introduce students to the fundamental techniques of writing fiction, poetry, and drama; and discuss
the use of such techniques by well-known authors in a variety of genres. Each class will be devoted
to the examination of techniques and to the workshop of students’ drafts toward the enrichment of
their manuscripts. Students learn how to combine inspiration and revision, and to develop a sense of
form.
No. of Hours: 80 hours/semester

Grading System:
Written Works: 25%
Performance Tasks: 45%
Quarterly Assessment 30%
100%
Creative Writing
Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, the students are expected to:
1. Differentiate imaginative writing from among other forms of writing
2. Cull creative ideas from experiences
3. Utilize language to evoke emotions and intellectual responses from readers
4. Use imagery, diction, figures of speech, and specific experiences
5. Read closely as writers with a consciousness of craft
What is
Task # 1
Answ‘Werr:iting’?
Answer:

Nunan (2003) defines writing in three different ways.

1. Writing is both physical and mental acts. It is about discovering ideas, thinking about
how to communicate and develop them into statements and paragraphs that will be
comprehensible to a reader.
2. Writing has dual purpose – to impress and to express. Writers must select the most
advantageous medium for their writing. Each type has a different level of difficulty which is
determined by its objective.
3. Writing is a process and also a product. The writer creates plans, writes various drafts,
revises, edits and publishes. The audience reads the product.

Amslt17 Digitally signed by Amslt17

Date:
2017.0A6m.19s1l1t:1587:
18
2|Page
+08'00'
Lesson 1.1
An Introduction to Creative Writing

Creative Writing expresses the writer’s thoughts and feelings in an imaginative and often
poetic way. Creative writing is guided by the writer’s need to express feelings and ideas than by the
restrictive demands of factual and logical progressions of expository writing.
Writing can be grouped into three basic forms.
1. Technical Writing – conveys specific information about a technical subject to a specific
audience for a specific purpose.
2. Creative Writing – is fiction – poetry, short stories, plays, and novels – and is most different
from technical writing.
3. Academic Writing – refers to the forms of expository and argumentative prose used by
university students, faculty, and researchers to convey a body of information about a
particular subject. It is expected to be precise, semi-formal, impersonal, and objective.

Imaginative vs. Technical vs. Academic Writing

Imaginative Technical Academic
Audience General Public Boss, supervisor, team, Professors, students
committee, general
public
Purpose Emotion-oriented Situation- oriented Assignment-oriented
To entertain To teach how to use a To present results
To provoke feelings device gained from research
To captivate the To describe procedures To present a point-of-
audiences view
Style Artistic Uses graphs and lists Follows conventions
Uses figurative Uses colours and Adheres to the rules of
language varying fonts style guides
Informal Formal Formal
Vocabulary General, Evocative Specialized Specialized

Amslt17
3|Page
Think you got everything figured out?
Let’s check. Answer the exercises

I. Identify the form of writing used.

1. 'Alone one is never lonely,' says the poet and author May Sarton in praise of living alone. Most
people, however, are terrified of living alone. They are used to living with others - children
with parents, roommates with roommates, friends with friends, husbands with wives. When
the statistics catch up with them, therefore, they are rarely prepared. Chances are high that
most adult men and women will need to know how they live alone, briefly or longer, at some
time in their lives.’

2. To install a blade, turn the adjuster on the handle or frame until there is slack and the holes at
each end of the blade can be inserted into the spigots. Make sure that the teeth are pointed
away from the handle. Tighten the adjuster.To safely use a hacksaw, firmly place the material
to be cut into a vice (if possible). Place the saw's central teeth on the line to be cut and push
the saw in a short stroke to start the cut. Continue the cut, making sure the end of the object
being cut is held and will not crack due to the unsupported weight. For safety, keep hands
and other objects away from the sharp teeth.
3. “Then there was the bad weather. It would come in one day when the fall was over. We would
have to shut the windows in the night against the rain and the cold wind would strip the
leaves from the trees in the Place Contrescarpe. The leaves lay sodden in the rain and the
wind drove the rain against the big green autobus at the terminal and the café des amateurs
was crowded and the windows misted over from the heat and the smoke inside.”

II. Do the following.

1. Write a 5-step procedure on how to cook an egg.

2. Describe the things you do after you wake up in the morning in 5 sentences. Use adjectives,
adverbs, and figurative language.

Amslt17
4|Page

Lesson 1.2
Sensory Experience in Creative Writing

Descriptive details allow sensory recreations of experiences, objects, or imaginings. In other

words, description encourages a more concrete or sensory experience of a subject, one that allows
the reader to transport himself or herself into a scene. Writing that lacks description is in danger of
being plain or overly general.

The most effective way to incorporate sensory details is to use all five senses in harmony.
The senses of sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste work together to strengthen writing. The sensory
experience help create the paragraph’s imagery.

Example Text: Paragraph Without Sensory Detail

GrandmotherWorkmanreachedoverandgrabbedhergrandson’sarm.Hewasnervous
becausethestaircasewassosteep,butsheleanedagainsthimandtheybegantoclimb.
Example Text: With Sensory Detail

Grandmother Workman lurched over and grabbed the pale skin of Randal’s thin forearm with
her leathery hand. The folds and creases beneath her skin coiled themselves out like electrical wiring,
like the bloated, roughly-textured relief map of the world that his mother just posted above his
bedside table. Randal looked ahead toward the winding spiral staircase, fidgeted with a small hole in
his baseball jersey, and bit his lip. His mouth filled with the sweet, coppery taste of blood as she
leaned in closely toward him, breathing her hot breath on the damp hair at the base of his neck. She
smelled of wet cigarettes and bacon. As they slowly climbed the long, steep staircase, the only sound
was his grandmothers’ labored breathing and the mournful creak of the wooden stairs.

Task #2 Identify the words/phrases that show sensory details for the following.

1. Sight

2. Sound

3. Smell

4. Touch

5. Taste

Amslt17
Keep the following lists of words to help you improve your writing. Using sensory words can help y
 Lesson 1.3
Language in Creative Writing

writer, is to allow the reader to flesh out your sketch into a portrait.”
em. The next time you look at a picture, think about the
portray an image using words. As a writer you will discover that the image will come alive; it will appear in your mind and will

Imagery refers to the use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, places, or
ideas. It is a painting with words. A well written description should arouse a particular response or
emotion in the reader’s imagination.

Figures of Speech are also known as non-literal language. They are words that deviate from their
exact/precise definitions in order to achieve a new, altered, or more complicated understanding.

a. Personification – giving human traits to inanimate things

b. Metaphor – a comparison without using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’
c. Simile – a comparison using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’
d. Hyperbole – exaggeration to create emphasis or effect

Diction refers to the level of words used by the author in writing. It refers to the style of writing
which is based on word choice and usage.

There are six types of diction that authors use in their writing.
a. Formal Diction – used when the reader is highly educated. The words used are polysyllabic
and professional jargons.
b. Informal Diction – more ‘laid back’ and used in every day conversation. The average
person can understand it with no trouble.
c. Figurative Language – used to create an effect or feeling. The speaker is not saying what
he/she means directly.
d. Literal Language – when someone is saying what they actually mean in the most direct
way.
e. Concrete Diction – language that describes the qualities that can be literally detected by
the five senses
f. Abstract Diction – language that describes qualities that cannot be literally detected by the
five senses.

Vignette is a short impressionistic scene that focuses on one moment or character and gives a
trenchant impression about that character, an idea, setting, and/or object. It's a short, descriptive
passage that's more about evoking meaning through imagery than it is about plot.
 Example:

The glistening sunlight burst through the rippling crystal clear water and hugged the jagged
rock on the sharp sea bottom.

Lesson 1.4
Vignettes by well-known local and foreign writers

James Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941)

James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist, short story writer, and poet. He contributed to
the modernist avant-garde and is regarded as one of the most influential and important authors of
the 20th century.Joyce is best known for Ulysses(1922), a landmark work in which the episodes
of Homer's Odysseyare paralleled in an array of contrasting literary styles, perhaps most prominent
among these the stream of consciousness technique he utilised.
MasterBrunnyLynamranacrosstheroadandputFatherCon
mee’slettertofatherprovincialintothe
mouthofthebrightredletterbox,FatherConmeesmiledandn
oddedandsmiledandwalkedalong
Mountjoysquareeast.
MrDenisJ.Maginni,professorofdancing,&c.,insilkhat,
slatefrockcoatwithsilkfacings,white
kerchieftie,tightlavendertrousers,canaryglovesandp
ointedpatentboots,walkingwithgrave
deportmentmostrespectfullytookthecurbstoneash
epassedladyMaxwellatthecornerof
Dignam’scourt.
WasthatnotMrsM’Guinness?
MrsM’Guinness,stately,silverhaired,bowedtoFatherConme
efromthefartherfootpathalongwhich
shesmiled.AndFatherConmeesmiledandsaluted.Howdids
hedo?–anexcerptfromUlysses

Tim O’Brien (born October 1, 1946)

William Timothy "Tim" O'Brien is an American novelist best known for his work of fiction, TheThings
TheyCarried(1990), a critically acclaimed collection of semi-autobiographical, interrelated short
stories inspired by O'Brien's experiences in the Vietnam War. In addition, he is known for his war
novel, GoingAfterCacciato(1978), also written about wartime Vietnam.

InthefirstweekofApril,beforeLavenderdied,LieutenantJimmyCrossreceivedagood-luckcharm
fromMartha.Itwasasimplepebble,anounceatmost.Smoothtothetouch,itwasamilkywhite
colorwithflecksoforangeandviolet,oval-shaped,likeaminiatureegg.Intheaccompanyingletter,
MarthawrotethatshehadfoundthepebbleontheJerseyshoreline,preciselywheretheland
touchedwaterathightide,wherethingscametogetherbutalsoseparated.Itwasthisseparate-but-
togetherquality,shewrote,thathadinspiredhertopickupthepebbleandtocarryitinherbreast
pocketforseveraldays,whereitseemedweightless,andthentosenditthroughthemail,byair,as
atokenofhertruestfeelingsforhim.LieutenantCrossfoundthisromantic.Buthewonderedwhat
hertruestfeelingswere,exactly,andwhatshemeantbyseparate-but-together.
Tim O’Brien’s collection of short stories shares a name with the first story of the book, “The Things
They Carried.” This story contains many concrete examples of things that men in Vietnam carried
with them during the Vietnam War. The list of things that O’Brien presents is surrounded with short
vignettes showing the importance of some of the more sentimental objects they carried.
JK Rowling (born 31 July 1965),
Joanne "Jo" Rowling, OBE, FRSL pen names J. K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith, is a
British novelist, screenwriter and film producer best known as the author of the HarryPotterfantasy
series.
“Apparentlywizardspoketheirnosesineverywhere!”saidPetunia,nowaspaleasshehadbeen
flushed.“Freak!”shespatathersister,andsheflouncedofftowhereherparentsstood...
Thescenedissolvedagain.SnapewashurryingalongthecorridoroftheHogwartsExpressasit
clatteredthroughthecountryside.Hehadalreadychangedintohisschoolrobes,hadperhapsta
ken
thefirstopportunitytotakeoffhisdreadfulMuggleclothes.Atlasthestopped,outsidea
compartmentinwhichagroupofrowdyboysweretalking.Hunchedinacornerseatbeside
thewindowwasLily,herfacepressedagainstthewindowpane.
Snapeslidopenthecompartmentdoorandsatdownopposit
eLily.Sheglancedathimandthen
lookedbackoutofthewindow.Shehadbeencrying.
(HarryPotterandtheDeathlyHallowsbyJ.K.
Rowling)
One of the magical devices in J. K. Rowling’s HarryPotterseries is called a “pensieve,” in
which someone can look into another person’s memory. At the end of the final book, Harry is able
to collect a series of memories from his arch-nemesis, Professor Snape. These vignette examples
last only a few moments, but construct a different narrative of Snape’s life than Harry had
previously known.
Test your knowledge of Vignette.

1. Which of the following statements is the best vignette definition?

A. A subplot in a novel.
B. A brief but significant scene.
C. A poetic form with nineteen lines with two refrains and two repeating rhymes in
a standardized way.
2. Why was the word vignette adopted as a literary device?
A. There was a famous old fable in which a vine killed a character, and that scene was so
memorable that “vignette” came to mean any short, emotional scene.
B. Modern filmmakers often show short scenes, and this technique was picked up by authors.
C. In older books there were often small illustrations at the beginning of the book of the
upcoming narrative surrounded by small vines of ivy; vignette came to refer to short scenes as
well.
3. Which of the following situations would qualify as an example of vignette?
A. J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter looks into a pensieve and sees a short scene of something
that happened in the past.
B. Tim O’Brien’s narrator meditates on the horrors of war in an abstract way.
C. Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf, which presents a full narrative, with rising
action and falling action, about the exploits of the Old English hero Beowulf.
Name & Section: Date:

Write Shop #1 Time Started: Ended:

1. Describe a pair of shoes in such a way that a reader will think of death. Do not mention
‘Death’ in the vignette. Make use of imagery, diction, or figures of speech.

2. Write a vignette based on the images below. Choose only one image. There should be at least
two figures of speech in your vignette.
(Fall Shower)

(Fallen Damsel)

(The Venture)
10 | P a g e

Write Shop #1
Mechanics:
I. Vignette Pair-Share
1. Read your shoes vignette to your partner.
2. Without showing your partner your printed image, read your vignette draft aloud to him/her.
Partner: consider and discuss what you notice, what you liked, any suggestions.
3. Then, share the image and discuss. How does the writer use imagery to paint a picture in
your mind?

II. Vignette Revision

1. Check the rubric below and revise your vignette to meet all the requirements.
2. Re-write your vignette in your journal.
3. Make a title for your ‘shoe’ vignette.
4. Indicate the title of the image you have chosen.
5. Write your name, date, the name of your partner, time started and ended

Reading and Writing Poetry

Amslt17
 Objectives:
1. Identify the various elements, techniques, and literary devices in poetry
2. Determine specific forms and conventions of poetry
3. Use selected elements of poetry in short exercises
4. Explore innovative techniques in writing poetry
5. Write a short poem applying the various elements, techniques, and literary devices

Lesson 2.1
Task #1
How do you interpret the quote below? Share your thoughts to class.

human race. And the human race is filled with passion, and medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble p

Poetry is considered to be the oldest form of literature. It started as spoken by our forefathers but
modern poetry is written but sometimes, also performed. It is a form of literature that uses aesthetic
and rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meanings. Poetry has elements that help it produce
meaning.
ELEMENTS of POETRY
Read the poem below.
O Captain! My Captain!
BY WALT WHITMAN
OCaptain!myCaptain!ourfearfultripisdone,
Theshiphasweather’deveryrack,theprizewesoughtiswo
n,
Theportisnear,thebellsIhear,thepeopleallexulting,
Whilefolloweyesthesteadykeel,thevesselgrimanddaring
;
ButOheart!heart!heart!
Othebleedingdropsofred,
WhereonthedeckmyCaptainli
es,
Fallencoldanddead.

OCaptain!myCaptain!riseupandhearthebells;
Riseup—foryoutheflagisflung—foryouthebugletrils,
Foryoubouquetsandribbon’dwreaths—foryoutheshoresa-crowding,
Foryoutheycall,theswayingmass,theireagerfacesturning;
HereCaptain!dearfather!
Thisarmbeneathyourhead!
Itissomedreamthatonthedeck
,
 You’vefallencoldanddead.

MyCaptaindoesnotanswer,hislipsarepaleandstil,
Myfatherdoesnotfeelmyarm,hehasnopulsenorwil,
Theshipisanchor’dsafeandsound,itsvoyageclosedanddone,
Fromfearfultripthevictorshipcomesinwithobjectwon;
ExultOshores,andringObells!
ButIwithmournfultread,
WalkthedeckmyCaptainlies,
Fallencoldanddead.

The Tone of the poem reflects the attitude of the poet towards the subject matter. The mood and
atmosphere of the poem refer to the general feeling or emotion of the poem which is created by the
poet’s tone, and the language, imagery and sound of the poem. A poem’s tone is also dynamic. It
sometimes changes as the poem progresses.
 Identifythewordsfromthepoemwhichaccuratelydescribesitstone.

 Whatisthetoneorattitudeofthepoet?Whatwordsrevealthisfeeling?Isthelanguageof
thepoemdirectedsquarelyatthereaderorisitmoredescriptive,impersonalorphilosophical?

 Isthespeakerinvolvedordetached(uninvolved,unemotional?)Howdoesshe/heseemto
feelabouther/hissubjectmatter?Isthespeakerseriousorjoking,ironicorstraightforward,
condemning,approvingordispassionate,lightheartedordepressed,lovingorangry?

The Theme is the main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary work that may be stated directly
or indirectly.
There are two levels of meaning to consider:
1 Theliteral,surfacesubjectofthepoem– often an event, a situation, a person,
an experience, an observation, a story, or a description.
2 Theunderlyingmeaningorthemeofthepoem, which is usually more abstract – an
idea, a feeling or belief.
One way to determine a theme is to
1) askyourselfwhatthepoemisabout;
2) comeupwithsomeone-wordanswerstothatquestion(subjectsofthepoem);and
3)askwhatgeneralattitude(tone)istakentowardsthosesubjectsinthepoem.
Note:
1. “Purity” is a subject, not a theme; “purity is vulnerability” is a theme.
2. Remember that the theme of any work of literature is stated in a complete sentence.

 Whatisthepoet’spurpose?Whatisthepoet’smessage?Whoisspeaking?Whosefeelings
andpointsofviewarebeingexpressed?Whoisbeingaddressed?Howdoyouknow?

 Arethereanycharactersthatneedtobeconsidered?Thismayberelevantifthepoemdeals
withastory(egballad,epic)oraparticularpersonwhosemotivationsneedtoberecognised
inordertounderstandthepoem’sfullmeaning.

 Whatisthepoemsayingaboutthehumanexperience,motivation,orcondition?Whatsubject
orsubjectsdoesthepoemaddress?Whatdoyoulearnaboutthosesubjects?Whatideadoes
thepoetwantyoutakeawaywithyouconcerningthesesubjects?
out the Author:
n in Long Island, New York to parents of low economic status
en the Civil War broke out, Whitman’s brother, George joined the Union Army; this ultimately helped open Whitman’s eyes to the bloody
never intended to go back to New York after his experiences, and stayed in Washington D.C. throughout the Civil War.

Lesson 2.2
Elements of Conventional Forms of Poetry

Let’s review our Poetry Vocabulary.

1. Line : a unit of meaning (1 word, a phrase, or even a sentence)

2. Stanza: lines that are grouped together (usually has the same number of lines)
3. Rhyme: the repetition of sounds at the end of lines or within lines
4. Rhyme Scheme: the pattern of rhyme in a poem (aabb or abab)

Rhyme Scheme

 Uses the letters of the alphabet to represent sounds to be able to visually “see” the pattern
 Are labeled according to their rhyme sounds (aabbcc)
 1st rhyme sound in a poem is “a” and each time the 1st rhyme sound is heard, it is “a
 2nd rhyme sound in a poem is “b” and each time the 2nd rhyme sound is heard, it is “b”
 The pattern continues with “c”, “d”, etc.
Label the poem with its rhyme scheme.
I Like My Nose

Bruce Lansky
I’m glad that my nose
points down to my toes,
and doesn’t point up to the sky.
For now I can sneeze
just as much as I please,
without getting goo in my eye.

Free Verse
  Written without rhyme or rhythm
 Is very conversational – sounds like someone talking with you
 Some do not use punctuation or capitalization, or other ways of breaking the rules of grammar.
 A more modern type of poetry
 Use your “senses” when writing

What makes this poem free verse?

I Dream’d in a Dream

Walt Whitman

I DREAM’D in a dream I saw a city

invincible to the attacks of the whole of
the rest of the earth,
I dream’d that was the new city of Friends,
Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust love, it led to rest,
It was seen every hour n the actions of the men of that city,
And in all their looks and words.
Couplet
 A unit of verse consisting of 2 lines that usually rhymes
 A couple = 2 people, 2 things, 2 of everything
 May be humorous or serious
 Can be song lyrics, jokes, Dr. Seuss books, etc.

Example:
Chocolatecandyissweetandyummy
Itgoesdownsmoothlyinmytummy!
Bed in Summer
Robert Louis Stevenson
In winter I get up at night Or hear the grown-up people’s feet
And dress by yellow candle-light. Still going past me in the street.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day. And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
I have to go to bed and see And I should like so much to play,
The birds still hopping on the tree, To have to go to bed by day?

 Labelthepoemaccordingtoitsrhymescheme.
 Howmanycoupletsareinthepoem?
 Whatisthetoneofthepoem?
 Whatisthethemeofthepoem?
Meter

 A unit of rhythm in poetry, the pattern of the beats

  Also called a foot.
 Each foot has a certain number of syllables in it, usually two or three syllables
 The difference in types of meter is which syllables are accented and which are not (stressed
and unstressed)
1. Iamb meter has the first syllable unstressed and the second stressed.

- / - / - / - /
Today I had a rotten day.
- / - / - / - /
As I was coming in from play,
- / - / - / - /
I accidentally stubbed my toes
- / - / - / - /
and tripped and fell and whacked my nose.

2. Trochee meter has the first syllable stressed and the second unstressed.
Tell me | not in | mournful | numbers
3. Dactyl meter has the first syllable stressed and the second and third syllable unstressed.
This is the | forest pri | meval, the | murmuring | pine and the | hemlocks
4. Anapest meter has the first and second syllable unstressed and the third syllable stressed.
And the sound | of a voice | that is still

Acrostic Poetry

 The first letters of each line form a word or message relating to the subject
 The letters of the subject written vertically
 Each line begins with a word or phrase that starts with that letter
 Does not have to rhyme
 Simple, based upon one word
Example:
Elizabeth it is in vain you say
'Love not' — thou sayest it in so sweet a way:
In vain those words from thee or L.E.L.
Zantippe's talents had enforced so well:
Ah! if that language from thy heart arise,
Breath it less gently forth — and veil thine eyes.
Endymion, recollect, when Luna tried
To cure his love — was cured of all beside —
His follie — pride — and passion — for he died.

-- 'An Acrostic', by Edgar Allan Poe

Haikus
 Ancient Japanese form of poetry  Usually has nature themes
 Typically expresses a single  Does not rhyme
thought, feeling or idea
  A 3 line poem consisting of 17 syllables. 2nd line = 7 syllables
(5-7-5 pattern) 3rd line = 5 syllables
1st line = 5 syllables

Worm The Light of a Candle

At night, quietly, The light of a candle

a worm under the moonlight is transferred to another candle—
digs into a nut. spring twilight.

-Matsuo Basho -Yosa Buson

Limericks
 Funny or silly poems with 5 lines Example:
 Meant to be humorous Therewasayoungladywhosebo
 Lines 1,2, and 5 rhyme with each other nnet
 Lines 3 and four rhyme with each other Cameuntiedwhenthebirdssatup
 Rhyme scheme of aabba onit.
 Pioneered by Edward Lear (1812-1888) Butshesaid,“Idon’tcare!
Allthebirdsoftheair
Arewelcometositonmybonnet!”
Quatrain By:EdwardLear

 Has 4 lines with a rhyming pattern of aabb, abab, aaaa, or abcd

 One of the most common forms of
poetry Example:
ShallIcomparetheetoasummer’sday
Thouartmorelovelyandmoretemperate
RoughwindsdoshakethedarlingbudsofMay
Andsummer’sleasehathalltooshortadate(W.Sh
akespeare)

Line Break
A line break is a poetic device which is used at the end of a line and the beginning of the next
line in a poem. It could be employed without traditional punctuation.
Example:
My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drain..:….
That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees
In some melodious plot
Of beechen green, and shadows numberless,
Singest of summer in full-throated ease
(Ode to the Nightangale, John Keats)
 What is the impact of line breaks in poetry?
Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence or a clause over a line-break. It is a term used in
poetry to refer to lines that end without punctuation and without completing a sentence or clause.
Example:

Yourskin,
Ohyeahyourskinandbones,
Turninto
Somethingbeautiful,
Youknow,
YouknowIloveyouso,
YouknowIloveyouso.
(Yellow by Coldplay)
Concrete Poetry

 Includes words and phrases arranged on paper to capture and extend meaning
 The print of the poem takes the shape as a collage or picture that conveys meaning
 Each line is a complete unit of thought
he met
in the
house,
'Let us
both go
to law:
I will
prosecute
you.—
Come, I'll
take no
denial;
We must
have a
trial:
For
really
this
morning
I've
nothing
to do.'
"Fury said to Said the
mouse to
a mouse, That the cur,
 'Such a I'll be
trial, jury,'
dear sir, Said
With no cunning
jury or old Fury;
'I'll try
judge, the whole
would be cause,
wasting and
our breath.' condemn
'I'll be you
judge, to
death.' "

 How does a concrete poem work closely with imagery?

Cinquai
n  A poem with the following format:
The first line consists of two syllables (the title)
The second line consists of four syllables (describes the title)
The third line consists of six syllables (states an action)
The fourth line consists of eight syllables (expresses a feeling)
The last line consists of two syllables (another word for the title)
Example:

Parrot
Beautiful bird
Squawking very loudly
Flying in canopy
layers.
Alphabet Poem Pretty
 a poem where the first letter of each line is the subsequent letter of the alphabet.
 Each line focuses on building upon the central topic of the poem, creating a specific
mood, feeling, or picture in the reader’s mind.

An Alphabet poem, Bombs exploding, back to back

By definition, Children crying, adults too
Clearly “Down the cellar – after you”
Dictates Evacuees on the train
Every letter’s position. Farewells said in pouring rain
Gone to live in some strange place
Air raid shelters, damp and black Hoping for a friendly face……
Name & Section: Date:
Write Shop #2.1
1. Using the templates, write limericks by filling in the blanks with your own
rhyming words. Use the past tense.
Time Started: Ended:

A. There was once a from .

All the while s/he hoped to .
So s/he .
And .
That from .

B. I once met a from .

Every day s/he .
But whenever s/he .
The .
The strange from .

2. Write a haiku about your favourite food, thing, person, or animal.

Time Started: Ended:

3. Try to write your own concrete poem in the shape of the subject of the poem.
Time Started: Ended:

4. Write an acrostic poem using your name.

 Time Started: Ended:

5. Write a cinquain about your S.O. (special someone).

Time Started: Ended:

6. Write an alphabet poem. Use at least 8 letters of the alphabet. Free verse or
rhyme, your choice.
Time Started: Ended:

Write Shop #2.1

 Mechanics:
1. Do the following tasks independently. You may refer to your notes for the format of each
poetry type.
2. Write however you are comfortable.
3. Refrain from making too much noise.
4. Ask your teacher if you have any questions.
5. Check the rubric below.

Rubric for Poetry

4
-Focused on topic
-Excellent creativity in presenting the topic
-Good understanding of poetic devices
-Used appropriate poetic form guidelines

3
-Focused on topic
-Good creativity in presenting the topic
-Some understanding of poetic devices
-Used appropriate poetic form guidelines with few errors

2
-Somewhat focused on topic
-Poor creativity in presenting the topic
-Poor understanding of poetic devices
-Poor use of poetic form guidelines
-Illustration is not appropriate

1
-Not focused on topic
-No creativity in presenting the topic
-No understanding of poetic devices
-No following of poetic form guidelines

Lesson 2.3
Experimental Poetry

Experimental poetry makes a special point of innovation, sometimes in the belief that current poetry
is stereotyped and inadequate. Typography, or the way the text is written is one of the aspects of
experimental poetry.

Loop Poetry
Loop Poetry is a poetry form created by Hellon. There are no restrictions on the number of stanzas
nor on the syllable count for each line. In each stanza, the last word of the first line becomes the first
word of line two, last word of line 2 becomes the first word of line 3, last word of line 3 becomes the
first word of line 4. This is followed for each stanza. The rhyme scheme is abcb.

Variations:
1. Stanzas, writers choice on the number, no rhyming, the last word, first word scheme is maintained.
2. One long stanza, no limit on number of lines, no rhyming scheme, the last word, first word scheme
is maintained.
3. Couplets mixed with 4 line stanzas, the last word, first word scheme is maintained in the
stanzas. It can also be used in the couplets. Rhyme scheme is ab, cc, defg, hh, ii, jklm, nn, oo.

Bloody eyes
Bloody eyes..watching..waiting
waiting in gloomy shadows
shadows of night
night so...still
still they watch, still they wait
wait for you
you..the next victim
victim of evil
evil that lurks
lurks in silence
silence then...screams
screams...then silence
silence of night
night of shadows
shadows of gloom..waiting
waiting...watching
watching..bloody eyes

The Tableau
The Tableau, a poetry form created by Emily Romano in October of 2008, consists of one or more
verses, each having six lines. Each line should have five beats. There is no set rhyme scheme,
although rhyme may be present. The title should contain the word tableau.

Since the dictionary states the word tableau means picture or representation, the poem should reflect
this. A picture should come to mind as the poem is read.
 Graveside Tableau

Sunlight cannot warm

The corpse of the bairn
Who drowned in the loch;
Stoic the father,
Silent the mother,
While a spinster weeps

Visual Poem

Visual poetry is a literary verse written on page with intentional form to add meaning to the poem.
The form may take on a recognizable shape, or may use a free formed pattern to create a new
rhythm when reading the poem out loud. These shapes and rhythms are typically tied to the central
ideas and themes contained within the poems, and often serve to reinforce those concepts.

Concrete poem is an example of a visual poem in which the typography in which the words are
written shape up to the image of the poem.

Prose Poetry
A prose poem appears like prose but is read as poetry. It lacks the line breaks, however, makes use
of fragmentation, compression, repetition and rhyme.
Be Drunk
By Charles Baudelaire
Andifsometimes,onthestepsofapalaceorthegreengrassofaditch,inthemournfulsolitudeof
yourroom,youwakeagain,drunkennessalreadydiminishingorgone,askthewind,thewave,the
star,thebird,theclock,everythingthatisflying,everythingthatisgroaning,everythingthatis
rolling,everythingthatissinging,everythingthatisspeaking...askwhattimeitisandwind,wave,
star,bird,clockwilansweryou:“Itistimetobedrunk!Soasnottobethemartyredslavesoftime,
bedrunk,becontinuallydrunk!Onwine,onpoetryoronvirtueasyouwish.”
Performance Poetry
Performance poetry means reading or declaiming poetry in a way that acknowledges the presence of
an audience. This can be anything from a bit of eye-contact to fully blown histrionics.

Spoken Word Poetry

Spoken word is a performance art that is word based. It is an oral art that focuses on the aesthetics
of word play and intonation and voice inflection. It is a 'catchall' which includes any kind of poetry
recited aloud.

Guidelines in Writing

1. Tell a Story. There are many ways to start a story. You can follow the conventional
plot type. Or you can start with a gateway line. A gateway line is a single line that
captures your theme. For example, “Practice is failing on purpose.”
2. Flesh it Out. After your gateway line, continue with your plot, with either a story of a little
boy learning to ride a bike or a girl putting on make-up for the first time.
3. Read it Out Loud. This allows you to evaluate your work. Does it sound right? Do you like
what you hear?
4. Revise. Tighten your diction. Make it sound firmer. Use poetic devices to make it
more pleasing to the ear.
5. Perform. Decide on your reading pace. Do you want it to appear hip-hop, upbeat, or
dramatic? Practice your piece.
Guidelines in Performing

1. Practice Enunciation. Exaggerate the shape of your mouth. It helps control your pace so
that your audience can understand you.
2. Practice Diaphragmatic Breathing. Practice your breathing. It will help you not to lose
your breath while performing.
3. Consider pacing, sound, and intonation to better tell your story. Anticipate the
emotional reaction you want your audience to have. Slow down in places, emphasize words,
alter your tone and volume according to your material.
4. Stand up straight. Standing up straight while speaking is essential to getting the sound
out. Elongate the spine in your neck as to not constrict the breath in your throat. Lift your
chin slightly and imagine a string pulling the top of your head up. Plus when you stand up
straight and assume a strong, confident stance, it is reflected in your voice.
5. Give the microphone room. The microphone should be three inches away from your
mouth.

Name & Section: Date:

Write Shop #2.2 Time Started: Ended:

With a pair, write a 2-minute spoken poetry script. Follow the guidelines in writing your
script.

Write Shop #2.2

Mechanics:
1. The poem must be the poet’s own.
2. Poems can be on any subject and in any style.
3. Each poet gets a maximum of three minutes.
4. Props, music, or costumes are not allowed.
5. Collaborative pieces in which two or more poets perform together are not only permitted,
but also encouraged.

Reading and Writing Fiction

Objectives:

1. Identify the various elements, techniques, and literary devices in fiction

2. Determine various modes of fiction
3. Write journal entries and other short exercises exploring key elements of fiction
4. Write a short scene applying various elements, techniques, and literary devices

Lesson # 3.1 Elements of Fiction

 Many of us love literature, the complexity of it, the messages we get from it. But often it can be
confusing and overwhelming, so if we know the tools that writers use—the elements of fiction—we
can break down a piece of fiction, analyze it, to understand and enjoy it more fully.

In the same way that a painter uses shape, color, perspective, and other aspects of visual art
to create a painting, a fiction writer uses character, setting, plot, point of view, theme, and various
kinds of symbolism and language to create artistic effect in fiction. These aspects of fiction are known
as the formal elements. An understanding of the formal elements will enhance the reader’s
appreciation of any piece of fiction, as well as his or her ability to share perceptions with others.
These elements provide a basic vocabulary and set of critical tools that can be used in conjunction
with many other critical approaches.

Character
In fiction, character refers to a textual representation of a human being (or occasionally
another creature). Most fiction writers agree that character development is the key element in a
story's creation, and in most pieces of fiction a close identification with the characters is crucial to
understanding the story.

Protagonist is the central agent in generating its plot, and this individual can embody the
story’s theme.
Antagonist is the character or force in conflict with the protagonist.
Round Character is a complex, fully developed character, often prone to change. They are
true to life characters described in more detail, with many different and sometimes contradictory
traits.
Flat Character is a one-dimensional character, typically not central to the story. They are
stereotyped, shallow, and often symbolic. They have only one or two personality traits.
Dynamic Characters undergo some type of change or development in the story.
Static Characters do not change in the course of the story.
Example:

Mrs. Mallard, in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” though developed in relatively few words,
is a round character because she shows complex feelings toward her husband, and her character
develops when she envisions the freedom of being widowed.

Characterization refers to the process used by the author to create fictional characters.

Methods of Characterization

Characters are revealed to us by means of the following techniques.

 Action. How the character acts or behaves throughout the story.
 Appearance. What types of clothes the character wears. His/her hygiene.
 Dialogue. What the character says and how the character says it.
 Thoughts and Feel. By what the character thinks and feels.
 Relationships. The types of personal relationships, such as friends and acquaintances the
character has.

Characterization is the process by which the fiction writer reveals a character’s personality to the
reader. This process is very similar to the process real people go through when they encounter new
situations or person. People form an initial opinion about a situation based upon what they see and
hear. The fiction writer can reveal a character in the following ways:
1. By telling the reader directly what the character is like (not a very subtle approach and not
used often by writers);
2. By describing how the character looks and dresses (What type of clothing does the character
wear?
3. By letting the reader hear how the character speaks (Does the character speak with a
dialect? Is the character loud or soft-spoken?);
4. By revealing the character’s private thoughts and feelings (What does the character think about
other people? About himself?);
5. By revealing the character’s effect on other people (Do people want to associate with the
character? Do people do whatever the character asks?)
6. By showing the character’s actions (Does the character treat people who respect and courtesy?
Does the character make good decisions or poor ones?).

Author Nancy Lamb wrote in “The Art and Craft of storytelling” that the challenge of the writer is to
create characters that live and breathe on the page. To achieve this, the writer must create
characters that are:
 Authentic.
 Grab the attention of the reader.
 Believable.
 Appealing to the reader.

Task #1
Think of a character you want to have in a story. You may opt to have protagonist or an
antagonist. Create a character sketch or profile for your character. Draw your character and complete
the profile below.

For your profile, include the following: Draw your character here...

 Age
 Sex
 Name
 Education
 Job
 Interests
 Likes and dislikes
 Important traits
 Clothes
 Body language
 Character’s social environment
 Goal

Point of View
Point of view is the angle or perspective from which the story is told. There are four basic points
of view which fall into two categories (first person and third person):
Point of View Types
First Person
 the author disappears into one of the characters, who tells the story in the first person, in
the "I" (the "I" must also exist outside of dialogue)
 this character may be either a major or minor character, or observer (bystander), and it will
make considerable difference whether the protagonist tells the story or someone else tells it
 often, the very heart of the story may lie in the difference between what the narrator perceives
and what the reader perceives
 care must be taken to differentiate between the author's attitude and the narrator's
attitude: the attitudes and perspectives are not always synonymous
 pros: it offers, sometimes, a gain in immediacy and reality since the author as intermediary is
eliminated; it also offers excellent opportunities for dramatic irony and for studies in limited or
blunted human perceptivity
 cons: it offers no opportunity for direct interpretation by the author; there is constant danger
that the narrator may be made to transcend his/her sensitivity, knowledge, or powers of
language in telling the story
Second Person
Second-person describes writing that is from the point of view of a narrative onlooker who is
writing about you, the reader: "You went to school that morning."
The second-person point of view is rarely used in fiction. It is difficult to develop a set
of characters and a story in which the second person is appropriate, and it is not easy to maintain a
second-person narrative in a longer piece of writing.
This example of second-person writing comes from her story "How to Become a Writer:"
"The next semester the writing professor is obsessed with writing from personal experience. You
must write from what you know, from what has happened to you. He wants deaths, he wants
camping trips. Think about what has happened to you. In three years there have been three things:
You lost your virginity, your parents got divorced, and your brother came home from a forest 10
miles from the Cambodian border with only half a thigh, a permanent smirk nestled into one corner
of his mouth."
WhatSecond-PersonPointofViewIsNot
It's important to know that addressing the reader is not the same thing as writing from the second-
person point of view.
Many major authors, including classic writers such as Charles Dickens and Jane Austen, actually
speak directly to the reader with commentary on the plot or characters. Contemporary writers of
blogs and non-fiction often write to "you" with advice or insights.
When a writer addresses the reader, however, the writer is writing from the third-person point of
view.
"Do you enjoy pot roast as much as I do?" is a question asked by a pot-roast loving third-person
narrator. "You love pot roast, so you plan to cook it tonight," is a use of the second-person point of
view.
WhyWouldanAuthorChoosetoUseIt?
While most people naturally write in the first- or third-person, it takes real effort and intention to
write in the second-person. Generally, people decide to write in the second person because:
 They want to immerse the reader in the experience of "being" the protagonist.
 They want to engage the reader in an extremely rich sensory experience, which can best be
accomplished by forcing the reader to imagine himself as part of the experience.
  They want to write a particularly persuasive or engaging passage that will be most effectively
written in the second-person
 They want to try a new and different style of writing.
Third Person Omniscient
 the author or narrator tells the story, using the third person (he, she, they)
 s/he knows all and is free to tell us anything, including what the characters are thinking or
feeling, and interpret their behavior (reveal why they do what they do)
 an omniscient narrator may sometimes comment on the significance of the story s/he is telling
 stories told from the omniscient point of view may differ widely in the amount of omniscience
the author allows her/himself
 the omniscient point of view is the most flexible and permits the widest scope; skillfully used, it
enables the author to achieve simultaneous breadth and depth
 the omniscient point of view is most subject to abuse; unskillfully used, it can destroy the
illusion of reality that the story attempts to create.
Third Person Limited Omniscient
 the author tells the story, using the third person, BUT
 he/she limits her/himself to a complete knowledge of one character in the story and tells us
only what that one character thinks, feels, sees, or hears: the author places her/himself at the
elbow of this one character, so to speak, and looks at the events of the story through his/her
eyes and through his/her mind; the author moves both inside and outside this character but
never leaves her/his side; and the author may interpret the character's thoughts and behavior.
 the author knows everything about the character—more than the character knows about
her/himself—but author shows no knowledge of what other characters are thinking, feeling, or
doing except for what the chosen character knows or infers
 the chosen character may be either a major or a minor character, a participant or an observer,
and this choice is important
 pros: since limited omniscient point of view acquaints readers with the world through the mind
and senses of only one person, it approximates more closely than the omniscient the
conditions of real life; it also offers a ready-made unifying element since all details of the
story are the experience of one person
 cons: it offers a limited field of observation, for the readers can go nowhere except where the
chosen character goes, and there may be difficulty in having the character naturally
cognizant of all important events
Third Person Objective (or Dramatic)
 author disappears into a kind of roving sound camera that can go anywhere but can record
only what is seen or heard
 the author tells the story, using the third person, but limits him/herself to reporting what the
characters say or do
 cannot comment, interpret, or enter a character's mind: the author is not there to explain
 the reader is placed in the position of a spectator at a movie or play, seeing what the
characters do and hear what they say but only inferring what they think or feel or what they
are like
 the purest example of a story told from the objective point of view is one written entirely in
dialogue, for as soon as the author adds words of his/her own, s/he begins to interpret
through his/her very choice of words
  very few stories using this point of view are antiseptically pure, for the limitations it imposes on
the author are severe
 pros: quick and action packed, forces readers to make their own interpretations
 cons: must rely heavily on external action and dialogue, offers no opportunities for
interpretation by the author (may be pro, too), forces readers to make their own
interpretations
Point of View Hints
To determine point of view, ask:

 Who tells the story?

 How much is this person allowed to know?
 To what extent does the author look inside the characters and report their thoughts
and feelings?

To determine point of view's importance:

 Know whether events of the story are being interpreted by the author or by one of the
characters. If interpreted by one of the characters:

o ask how this character's mind and personality affect his/her interpretations
o ask whether the character is perceptive or imperceptive
o ask whether the character's interpretation can be accepted at face value or discounted
because of ignorance, stupidity, or self-deception

 Know whether the writer has chosen his point of view for maximum revelation of his/her
material or for another reason:
o ask whether author has chosen his/her point of view mainly to conceal certain
information until the end of the story and thus maintain suspense and create surprise
o ask whether author deliberately misleads readers by presenting the events through a
character who falsely interprets them and whether this misdirection is justified (might it
lead eventually to more effective revelation of character and theme, for instance)

 Know whether the author has used her/his selected point of view fairly and consistently:
o ask whether the person to whose thoughts and feelings we are admitted has pertinent
information that s/he does not reveal
o ask whether the point of view is consistent, and, if it is not, whether the author shifts it
for a just artistic reason
Task #2

Choose from the following scenarios and write 5-8 sentence story using the first person point of
view.

 An engagement party. The mother of the groom-to-be is talking to the brother of the
bride.
 Two strangers in a company waiting area are both interviewing for the same job
 Two acquaintances run into each other (at a party, in the library, doing laundry.) They
have only been casual acquaintances so far, but one wants to ask the other for a date.
 A landlord/landlady telling a tenant that he/she must move.
  A dating couple. One has just received his/her acceptance into the best
graduate program in the country, but it is far away.

Now rewrite the same story in the third person. Choose from either of the third person types.

Plot

Plot is the structure of the action of a story. In conventional stories, plot has three main parts: rising
action, climax, and falling action leading to a resolution or denouement (Harris & Hodges, 1995, p.
189).

“Plot is a sequence of events that occurs to characters in situations in the beginning, middle, and end
of a story” (Hancock, 2004, p. 136).

There are four primary types of plots (modified from Anderson, 2006, & Lukens, 2007):

1. Linear – plot is constructed logically and not by coincidence. There are three major parts to a
linear plot:
  Beginning – the characters and setting are introduced, and the central conflict/problem of the
story is revealed. Usually the main character sets a goal to overcome the conflict/problem, or
s/he may set a goal that creates a conflict/problem.

 Middle – the main character participates in a series of events or attempts to reach the goal that
leads to a resolution of the conflict/problem.

 End – the main character may or may not reach his/her goal, thus resolving the
conflict/problem. The linear plot is common in folktales, such as
GoldilocksandtheThree Bears.
2. Episodic – “one incident or short episode is linked to another by common characters or a
unified theme” (Lukens, 2007, p. 121).
 An episodic plot features distinct episodes that are related to one another but that also
can be read individually, almost as stories by themselves (e.g., the chapters in Frogand
ToadAllYear, Lobel, 1976). The chapters of short books with episodic structure like
FrogandToadcan be used to teach narrative structure as one would with a picture
storybook, because each chapter functions like a story that can stand alone.
 Most novels involve more complex plots, in which the story builds on itself, so that each
episode evolves out of a previous one and produces another one (e.g., Beverly Cleary
books, such as RamonatheBrave,and Judy Blume books, such as Superfudge, etc.).
3. Cumulative – plots with lots of repetition of phrases, sentences, or events with one new
aspect added with each repetition. TheGingerbreadManand
TheGreat,Big,EnormousTurnip are examples of cumulative plots.
4. Circular – the characters in the story end up in the same place that they were at the
beginning of the story. Examples of circular stories are IfYouGiveaMouseaCookie
(Numeroff, 1985) and WheretheWildThingsAre(Sendak, 1963).
The Traditional Parts of a Plot

Gustav Freytag was a Nineteenth Freytag's Pyramid

Century German novelist who saw
common patterns in the plots of
stories and novels and developed a
diagram to analyze them. He
diagrammed a story's plot using a
pyramid like the one shown here:
1. Exposition: setting the scene. The writer introduces the
characters and setting, providing description and
background.
2. Inciting Incident: something happens to begin the
action. A single event usually signals the beginning of the
main conflict. The inciting incident is sometimes called 'the
complication'.
3. Rising Action: the story builds and gets more exciting.
4. Climax: the moment of greatest tension in a story. This
is often the most exciting event. It is the event that the
rising action builds up to and that the falling action follows.
5. Falling Action: events happen as a result of the
climax and we know that the story will soon end.
6. Resolution: the character solves the main
problem/conflict or someone solves it for him or her.
7. Dénouement:
(aFrenchterm,pronounced:day-noo- moh)the ending. At this point,
any remaining secrets,
 questions or mysteries which remain after the resolution are
solved by the characters or explained by the author.
Sometimes the author leaves us to think about the THEME
or future possibilities for the characters.
You can think of the dénouement as the opposite of
the exposition: instead of getting ready to tell us the story
by introducing the setting and characters, the author is
getting ready to end it with a final explanation of what
actually happened and how the characters think or feel
about it. This can be the most difficult part of the plot to
identify, as it is often very closely tied to the resolution.

Setting and Atmosphere

Carefully written, setting and atmosphere have a similar effect on your characters, and also on plot.
Although they work together, setting and atmosphere are not interchangeable. Before we go further,
let’s take a moment to define the terms:

Setting: specific place, time period, and weather and time of day in which the story takes place.

Atmosphere: refers to the surrounding mood, generally established through setting

The Fundamental Elements of Setting

Here is a list of the specific elements that setting encompasses:

1. Locale. This relates to broad categories such as a country, state, region, city, and town, as
well as to more specific locales, such as a neighborhood, street, house or school. Other locales
can include shorelines, islands, farms, rural areas, etc.
2. Time of year. The time of year is richly evocative and influential in fiction. Time of year
includes the seasons, but also encompasses holidays, such as Hanukkah, Christmas, New
Year’s Eve, and Halloween. Significant dates can also be used, such as the anniversary of a
death of a character or real person, or the anniversary of a battle, such as the attack on Pearl
Harbor.
3. Time of day. Scenes need to play out during various times or periods during a day or night,
such as dawn or dusk. Readers have clear associations with different periods of the day,
making an easy way to create a visual orientation in a scene.
4. Elapsed time. The minutes, hours, days, weeks, and months a story encompasses must be
somehow accounted for or the reader will feel confused and the story will suffer from a lack
of authenticity. While scenes unfold moment by moment, there is also time to account for
between scenes, when a flashback is inserted, and when a character travels a long distance.
5. Climate. Climate is linked to the geography and topography of a place, and, as in our real
world, can influence events and people. Ocean currents, prevailing winds and air masses,
latitude, altitude, mountains, land masses, and large bodies of water all influence climate. It’s
especially important when you write about a real setting to understand climatic influences.
Harsh climates can make for grim lives, while tropical climates can create more carefree
lifestyles.
 6. Geography. This refers to specific aspects of water, landforms, ecosystems, and topography
in your setting. Geography also includes climate, soil, plants, trees, rocks and minerals, and
soils. Geography can create obvious influences in a story like a mountain a character must
climb, a swift-running river he must cross, or a boreal forest he must traverse to reach safety.
No matter where a story is set, whether it’s a mountain village in the Ifugao or an opulent
resort on the Boracay coast, the natural world with all its geographic variations and influences
must permeate the story.
7. Man-made geography. There are few corners of the planet that have not been influenced by
the hand of humankind. It is in our man-made influences that our creativity and the
destructiveness of civilization can be seen. Readers want visual evidence in a story world, and
man-made geography is easily included to provide it. With this in mind, make certain that your
stories contain proof of the many footprints that people have left in its setting. Use the
influences of humankind on geography to lend authenticity to stories set in a real or famous
locale. These landmarks include dams, bridges, ports, towns and cities, monuments, burial
grounds, cemeteries, and famous buildings. Consider too the influences of mankind using the
land, and the effects of mines, deforestation, agriculture, irrigation, vineyards, cattle grazing,
and coffee plantations.
8. Eras of historical importance. Important events, wars, or historical periods linked to the
plot and theme might include the Civil war, World War II, or Spanish Colonization.
9. Social/political/cultural environment. Cultural, political, and social influences can range
widely and affect characters in many ways. The social era of a story often influences
characters’ values, social and family roles, and sensibilities.
10.Population. Some places are densely populated, such as Manila, while others are lonely
places with only a few hardy souls. Your stories need a specific, yet varied population
that accurately reflects the place.
11.Ancestral influences. In many regions of the United States, the ancestral influences of
European countries such as Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Poland are prominent. The cities and
bayous of Louisiana are populated with distinctive groups influenced by their Native American,
French-Canadian, and African American forebears. Ancestral influences can be depicted in
cuisine, dialogue, values, attitudes, and general outlook.

Possible Functions of Settings

Jack Hodgins lists seven roles for settings in his book APassionforNarrative.
Each makes more use of setting than the last, and the final role is truly the most memorable
when it is used by a capable writer.
Generic: The setting is without unique features, implying that the story could happen anywhere. The
problem with this is that all real places have their own cultural and physical characteristics and these
characteristics influence characters. A generic setting will not seem real and may actually detract
from the story.
Backdrop: The setting merely provides us with a way of knowing where we are and, though it may
have unique characteristics, it does not affect the characters or action. It is a place, but it doesn't do
anything.
Local Color: The story is flavoured by attention to the unique details of the setting, which may give
the impression that the story could not have happened anywhere else. The writer may be tempted to
make the setting entertaining without really giving it any significance.
Atmosphere/Mood: Setting can be used to set the mood or atmosphere for the whole story or
novel. In addition, the settings of individual scenes may reflect the state of mind of the characters.
Affects Action and Character: Characters are more real if they have a historical and geographical
context; the place where a person grew up will affect their attitudes and behaviour for their whole
lives. For example, someone raised in a big city will think and act differently from someone raised in
a tiny rural village.
Place as Character: One example of this is in the old "man versus nature" plot, where the main
struggles the protagonist faces are with the environment. In this situation, the setting itself is the
antagonist. In stories of this sort, changing elements of the setting would change the entire story.
Can you imagine a story about a woman's struggle to climb a mountain unaided being set on the
prairies? That story wouldn't work without a mountain, and so the mountain becomes a central
character. The story's plot, then, is largely determined by its setting.

Metaphor/Symbol: The setting becomes symbolic of the theme of the story.

How would living in this place make you feel? What kind of people would live in this place? What are their pro

Conflict

In storytelling, conflict is an inherent incompatibility or struggle between the goals of two or more
characters or forces.

→ - Conflict creates tension and interest in a story.

→ - A narrative is not limited to a single conflict.
→ - Conflict is a vital part of narrative; it drives the story and maintains interest!

Major types of conflict:

1. Person vs. Nature
→ This type of conflict occurs when a character finds themselves pitted against the forces of
nature.
→ Stories featuring this conflict often involve characters fighting for their lives.
2. Person vs. Person
→ This type of conflict occurs when one character struggles with another character. There
may be a psychological, emotional, verbal, or physical struggle.
3. Person vs. Society
→ This type of conflict occurs when a character disagrees with societal values, laws, or
beliefs.
→ This is often the main conflict in social satires as well as Dystopian science fiction stories.

4. Person vs. fate

This type of conflict can involve almost any supernatural force. This is a “catch-all” term for:
Person vs. Deity
Person vs. Ghost or monster
Person vs. Alien
Person vs. Fate

5. Person vs. him/herself (e.g. facing a difficult personal choice or a dilemma)

→ This type of conflict involves a character who faces an inner struggle. This character is
typically the protagonist, or main character, of the story. They may often struggle to choose
between good or evil, or to overcome certain feelings and emotions.

Thefirstfourtypesaresaidtobe"externalconflicts",whilethelastis"internalconflict".

Theme

The theme is a recurring social or psychological issue, like aging, violence, alienation or
maturity. The author or poet weaves the theme into the plot, which is used as a vehicle to convey it.
The title of the story or poem is often of significance in recognizing the theme.

 It's the unifying or central concept of a story.

 It's a theory of life which acts as the unifying force in a story, or the universal truth which the
story illustrates.
 The simplest way of defining theme is this: it is the description of the basic challenges of
mankind (e.g. "the human condition").
 In most stories it's not just a simple moral, which is usually what an author thinks aboutthe
theme.
 Dramatic Premise is the relationship between two ideas linked by an active verb.
o Love conquers everything
o Jealousy kills the one we love
o Kindness soothes the pain of reality

Techniques and Literary Devices

A. Mood/Tone
Tone is the author’s attitude toward a subject while Mood is the atmosphere of a piece of
writing; it’s the emotions a selection arouses in a reader.
B. Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is the art of layering clues to build tension. For example, if a story has a
prowler on the loose and there is a scene with an open window in an otherwise locked house,
that is foreshadowing.
C. Symbolism
 A symbol is a person, place, or thing comes to represent an abstract idea or concept -- it is
anything that stands for something beyond itself. For example, a book could represent
knowledge. A caged bird could represent oppression or imprisonment.
D. Motif
A motif can be defined as any recurring image, object, idea, or element within a particular
work.

Motif vs. Symbol

As motifs are often symbolic in nature, they can often be mistakenly identified as mere symbols. The
key difference to note between motifs and symbols is the element of repetition. As we’ve already
established, a motif is an item that reoccursthroughout a text. In contrast, a symbol may only
appear once. Beyond this, a motif often contributes toward developing the themes of a text, whereas
a symbol’s significance may be limited to the particular scene. In this way, a motif may be a symbol,
but a symbol is notnecessarily a motif.

Modes of Fiction

Every novel or story consists of five modes. They are dialogue, thought, action, description and
exposition.

Dialogue and Thought

Dialogue and thought serve three purposes: first, they reveal something about the character. Second,
they build tension. Third, they help advance the story. The difference between the two is that
dialogue is spoken aloud, while thought is internal monologue. Often, the two can play off each other
to create interesting effects.
For instance, in a conversation between John and girlfriend Marie, John might say—
“I can’t wait to see you at dinner.”
SoIcanripthetongueoutofthatprettylittlemouthofyours, he thought.

Action
Action is the driving force of your narrative, used not only to advance the story, but also to reveal
information about your characters.
For example,
Johnreachedunderneathhiscarseatandfeltaroundforthebutcherknife.Itwasstil there,readyandwaiting.
John is doing something, however minor, and we learn a little about his motives while moving the
story forward.

Description
Description is all those deep sensory images you want your reader to experience. At its best, it
should invoke an emotional response by setting the mood of your story. One of the cardinal rules
when working with description is not to over describe. Remember that your story comes first, and if
your description is not serving the story, then it’s got to go.

Let’s check back with our pal Johnny, who has his heart set on murdering Marie after dinner. To
create the proper mood you might describe the scene at the restaurant something like:
Hewasassaultedbythesmellsofburntonionsandbodyodor
asheentered.Theplacewasbursting
withpeoplewantingto“feellikefamily,”asthesloganonTVsug
gests,andthefloorwasstickywith
spileddrinksfromthechildrenscurryingaroundlikeaninfestatio
n,waitingtobepressedintothe
groundbyacarelessfoot.
Not something I would open my wallet for, but you can see the description is brief and there is a
definite mood created here, one that is obviously not happy.

Exposition
Exposition is the most dangerous of the narrative modes. It refers to the details the narrator gives
about a character. This can be sometimes a flashback or flashforward, or just a piece of background
information or commentary. The problem with exposition is that readers like to draw their own
conclusions about the characters, and exposition, because of its very nature, forces you to tell
instead of show. A good rule is to limit exposition to incidental information, like a character’s age, or
the fact that the character prefers apples to oranges, or, in good ol’ Johnny’s case …

Todashoutthiswoman’sbrainswhilethefamilynexttohimstuffedyetanotherbowlofthefree
saladandbreadintotheirfaces.Nowthatwouldmakehimsmile.
Task #3

Choose 2 scenarios from the following and write a short narrative that shows foreshadowing.

 The breakup (scene charged with emotion)

 Drunkenness (psychological changes)
 Complicated by Valium (loss of conscience)
 Weapon (opportunity)
 Decides she will win boyfriend back (twisted reasoning)
 Devilish mood (hate and anger, about to be acted out)
 Store scene (high tension)
 Selection of victim

Task #4 (For Project)

Create a 20-card tarot deck. Draw your symbols on the cards and on a separate sheet; write the
interpretation for each card.
Name & Section: Date:

Write Shop #3 Time Started: Ended:

SHORT STORY ELEMENTS WORKSHEET (Pre- Writing)

- Fill in the following as appropriate:
SETTING –
a) Place – d) Social conditions –
b) Time – e) Mood or atmosphere –
c) Weather conditions –
PLOT –
a) Introduction –
b) Rising Action –
c) Climax –
d) Falling action –
e) Denouement –
CONFLICT—
Types:
1) External –
2) Internal –
Kinds:
1) Man vs. Man (physical) –
2) Man vs. Circumstances (classical) –
3) Man vs. Society (social) –
4) Man vs. Himself/Herself (psychological) –
CHARACTER –
Describe the characteristics of the main characters in one to two informative sentences
Character 1 -

Character 2 -

Character 3 -

Which characters from the story fit these descriptions and why?
1. Static
2. Dynamic
POINT OF VIEW –
Point of view, or p.o.v., is defined as the angle from which the story is told. Circle which point of view
is reflective of the story are writing, and write a sentence explaining why this is the best choice.
1. First Person
2. Third person (omniscient or limited)
THEME –
Describe the theme of the story you will write in a couple of words, then, in two to three sentences,
explain why these words best describe the theme.
One possible theme of this story is
The reason is because:
SHORT STORY ELEMENTS WORKSHEET (Writing)
Write a one striking scene based on the story in your pre-writing worksheet. Refer to the rubric below.

(Title)

Amslt17
Digitally signed by Amslt17
Date: 2017.06.19 11:56:56
+08'00'