The Graveyard Book - Discussion Questions

 In your discussion groups, please answer 5 of the 10 discussion questions. Choose a member of your group to record your answers. Make sure you list the names of students who participate so they receive credit as well. [When discussing, try to be specific. Use the book and reference chapters, characters, passages, page #'s, etc.]

1. Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean are frequent collaborators. How do McKean's illustrations contribute to your reading of the story? Why do books include pictures? Are books better with pictures? Why or why not? 2. There is a rich tradition of orphans in children's literature, as well as a tradition of child-of-destiny themes in fantasy literature. The Graveyard Book is also a book about growing up. Discuss how Bod fits squarely into these categories. 3. The graveyard is populated with characters we typically think of as evil. How does Gaiman play with this idea, particularly in the characters of Silas, Miss Lupescu, and Eliza Hempstock? What do these characterizations suggest about human nature? Which characters are truly evil? What does Gaiman seem to be suggesting about the nature of evil in this book? 4. At the close of the novel, Mrs. Owens sings about embracing the human experience: "Face your life / Its pain, its pleasure, / Leave no path untaken" (Chapter 8). How does this theme resonate throughout the novel? 5. "A graveyard is not normally a democracy, and yet death is the great democracy" (Chp. 1). How is death the great democracy? How does Gaiman explore the relationship between the dead and the living? 6. It is often said that it takes a village to raise a child. How does the graveyard come together to raise this particular child? Describe the special mentoring relationships that Bod has with Silas and Miss Lupescu. 7. Boundaries—between the living and the dead, the graveyard and the world—are an important part of the novel. How does Bod test these boundaries? What are the consequences of Bod's actions? How do teenagers (like yourselves) test boundaries? What are your consequences for crossing boundaries? Discuss. 8. Bod's human interactions are limited to a short-lived friendship with Scarlett (chp. 2, 6 & 7) and a brief stint at school. Discuss how these experiences change Bod. How do our friendships and associations with others affect us? 9. How does The Graveyard Book compare to Gaiman's first novel for young readers, Coraline? What are some similarities and differences in the plot, characters, writing style, etc.? 10. Like much of Gaiman's work, The Graveyard Book manages to fuse elements of humor, horror, fantasy, and mystery into a single story. Identify examples of these genres and elements. Discuss how they work together. How might the story read differently if one or more of these elements were removed?

Baseline Fiction Draft & Coraline

We'll take the first half hour today to look at getting an idea for a story with advice from writer Neil Gaiman on Truth in Fiction, Judy Blume (Finding Ideas, Part 1), and writer David Sedaris on observing the world. As we watch and learn, feel free to take notes on the advice and process these writers use to get ideas for a story. Then, let's start a story. Using the character you created in your character sketch assignment, tell a short story involving this character. How you tell your story is up to you, but you should look over your character sketch design as inspiration. [If you did not complete your character sketch, do that first. You do NOT have to stick with your first idea(s) from the character sketch, but you DO need a character you've thought something about...!] Other considerations: 1. Use restrictions to make your job of telling a story easier. Set limitations or rules for yourself before you begin. If you use this method of coming up with story ideas, include the rules at the top of your draft. 2. Using Neil Gaiman's advice: what "truth" do you want your story to "teach" your reader? If you use Gaiman's advice, include the "truth" you want your reader to know at the top of your draft. 3. If you use Judy Blume's advice and draw your story on your observations or your own experiences (not necessarily your own life, but what you listen to, see, or details you notice). If you use heightened awareness to inspire your story, include a short explanation or list of what you noticed at the top of your draft. 4. Using David Sedaris's advice to find a moment from your life that "feels like a story", use a small event that you can recall about your life and be open to exploring that moment. Take the best you can do and tell a story. If you use David Sedaris' advice, include a short description of the small event you are open to exploring. In any of the 4 cases, apply these ideas to your fictional character. Perhaps your fantasy character, after battling evil demons, needs to do something as mundane and "normal" as finishing homework or studying for a test or learning to drive a car [something you might have also had to experience, for example]. There's no wrong way to write a story draft. Your job is to find a way that works for you. Once you have an idea and a character, begin writing your short story draft.

Coming Up with Story Ideas

YouTube video   ‪3 minutes‬

Please read Neil Gaiman's book Coraline. You can find a PDF copy in the attachments below. As you read, notice how Gaiman establishes his characters, introduces his setting and conflict. Consider what is "true" about the human condition in Coraline.

427977636-Neil-Gaiman-Coraline.pd

The Writer's Journal

 For this class you will need a physical writer's journal. This journal might be a bunch of loose-leaf papers, or a composition notebook, or a fancy "writer's" journal, or even a digital file you name: My Writing Journal as a Google Doc.

Learn more about keeping a writer's journal (let's see the video below...)

Let's begin our writer's journal with up to 200 words on the following topic in 5 minutes: 1. This is what I love about writing... 2. This is what I am most frustrated about writing... Then, turn that page. We'll learn a little more about truth in fiction by master writer Neil Gaiman, then, you guessed it! We'll come back to our writing journal with your SECOND writing task. Here it is... To practice honesty in your writing, choose one of the following moments and write a few paragraphs in your journal about it. As you write, pay attention to your inner register about what you’re writing, noting the particular things that make you uneasy. Try to be a little “more honest than you’re comfortable with.” Remember that being brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared; it means you do it anyway. • A time when you were deeply embarrassed. • When you regret something you did. • The saddest moment of your life. • A secret you are afraid to talk about. Take the work you wrote above and either read it aloud to someone you trust, or read it alone and pretend that you have an audience. Listen to the way you SOUND and pay attention to the sensations in your body as you’re reading the difficult moment. Consider what you’re afraid of being judged for, or afraid of saying out loud. Then write those things down in your journal. You will not need to turn in this writing exercise, but it SHOULD be written in your writing journal.

How To Keep A Writer's Journal - Writer's Saturday

YouTube video   ‪5 minutes‬

Who's Writing This? Borges & I Activity

Who's Writing This? Let's read a short essay by the Argentine writer Jorge Borges. 

"Borges and I" -- Jorge Luis Borges

The other one, the one called Borges, is the one things happen to. I walk through the streets of Buenos Aires and stop for a moment, perhaps mechanically now, to look at the arch of an entrance hall and the grillwork on the gate; I know of Borges from the mail and see his name on a list of professors or in a biographical dictionary. I like hourglasses, maps, eighteenth-century typography, the taste of coffee and the prose of Stevenson; he shares these preferences, but in a vain way that turns them into the attributes of an actor. It would be an exaggeration to say that ours is a hostile relationship; I live, let myself go on living, so that Borges may contrive his literature, and this literature justifies me. It is no effort for me to confess that he has achieved some valid pages, but those pages cannot save me, perhaps because what is good belongs to no one, not even to him, but rather to the language and to tradition. Besides, I am destined to perish, definitively, and only some instant of myself can survive in him. Little by little, I am giving over everything to him, though I am quite aware of his perverse custom of falsifying and magnifying things.

Spinoza knew that all things long to persist in their being; the stone eternally wants to be a stone and the tiger a tiger. I shall remain in Borges, not in myself (if it is true that I am someone), but I recognize myself less in his books than in many others or in the laborious strumming of a guitar. Years ago I tried to free myself from him and went from the mythologies of the suburbs to the games with time and infinity, but those games belong to Borges now and I shall have to imagine other things. Thus my life is a flight and I lose everything and everything belongs to oblivion, or to him.

I do not know which of us has written this page.

 

Borges writes of himself as a writer and person as an objective observer (as opposed to subjective, which is more natural and common). I'd like you to write about your own personality and your own self as a writer from an objective observer's POV. You want to observe yourself from the point of view of an outsider looking at yourself...rather than your own criticisms and hang-ups. You might ask yourself objectively some of these questions:

• What does your writer self think about the world? 
• What does your writer self think about your friends, family, or school? 
• What does your writer self think about writing? 
• What does your writer self choose to write about? 
• What does your writer's self do with their day or how do they occupy their time?
• What is most important for your writer self (perhaps as a contrast to your own opinions...)?
• Who's writing this? Tell me. In writing. 

Use Borges' short essay as a model for your own objective biography. It's a good idea to use your Google drive & Chromebook to write this assignment. When you're done with a draft, please upload it to our Google Classroom. I expect your draft completed by next class. Let's get writing!

If you didn't complete it, please turn in your "baseline writing draft" to Google Classroom!

Survey Results

Survey results from our genre survey: (in order of popularity, # of students who gave the genre a 3 or higher on a 5 point scale)

Mystery/suspense: 15

Fantasy: 14

Horror: 13

Comedy: 12

Realistic/General fiction: 12

Children's Lit: 11

Plays: 11

Romance: 11

Historical Fiction: 10

Science Fiction: 10

Poetry: 10

Autobiography/Memoir: 10

Journalism: 8

Westerns: 8

Thank you for taking the survey! 

Welcome!

Welcome Class of 2024!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Check this blog each class period for agendas, deadlines, educational information, advice about writing, and a whole lot of links to enhance your education. You are responsible for reading and interacting with the material I post on the blog and in our Google Classroom. The blog and classroom are useful resources for the course. 

Assignments will be posted on our Google Classroom. The writing drafts you will be creating will shape your writer's voice and will form your writing portfolio. 

If you're absent or missed something in class, please check the blog or Google Classroom to get caught up. Please ask for help if you need it. If you have a question about an assignment and are too embarrassed to speak to me in public (or you have a question that you think you will forget to ask), feel free to use the comment section or send me an email. It is your responsibility to talk to me about your needs. This is your education. Make it worthwhile.

Task #1: Your Writer's Manifesto

This morning, your first task is to write your writer's manifesto. What do you want to accomplish with your writing this year? Set some goals. When you have completed your list, send me a copy through Classroom site as participation credit. 

Then, with your partners, discuss and complete the following tasks for your group: 

A. Together list ways in which humans communicate (humans communicate through...) 

B. Reasons why humans communicate

This begins our first step as creative writing majors. It is important for us to examine how and why (and when), as human beings, we decide to communicate. Of course, communicating through writing is only one way we, as humans, communicate with one another. This course will cover areas of communication, the communication process, techniques of effective communication, along with performance skills, public speaking, and various writing projects (fiction, poetry, scripts, personal narrative, essays, etc.) If you go on to study the arts, literature, political science, divinity, history, business, advertising, marketing, teaching, law, journalism, communication, or media, you will definitely need a basic understanding of these concepts.

Task: Short Introduction Speech.

Our first speech will be rather short. On a Google doc or a notepad or journal/notebook, jot down any of the following answers to these personal questions:

• What is one thing you want other people to know about you?
• What do you want to do after you graduate?
• What is one event that happened to you that changed your personality/outlook on life forever?
• What is one thing you're proud of that you never told anyone?
• What single event in your life has made you a better person?
• If you could accomplish one thing in your life, what would you like it to be?

Answer some of these questions (at least one) and jot down at least 3 main points (or reasons why you answered in this way) you would want to share with the class about your answers. When you are called, unmute yourself and share your answers in a short introductory speech. 

Start with an introduction: who are you? (what's your name, etc.) then hit your 3 main points. Try to sustain your short speech with some details. End your speech after your details...you can thank us for listening, or leave us with something to remember, or inspire us with an image or detail that helps summarize your main points. 

For homework (due Friday) begin your baseline non-fiction assignment in Google classrooms.

HOMEWORK: Complete a draft of your baseline assignment and submit your work from the system (Google Classrooms) by Friday, Sept. 18.

District News: The Opening of the School Year

 The District has adjusted the start of our school year to include four Superintendent’s Conference Days from Tuesday, September 8 through Friday, September 11. Students will begin their classes online on Monday, September 14. 

See you then!

Agatha Christie & Then There Were None

Agatha Christie's stage play The Mousetrap opened in 1952 in the West End of London (its theater district) and is still running. It is the longest non-musical stage production ever. It began as a radio play based on her short story: "Three Blind Mice."

Information about the author Agatha Christie can be found at this link. Take a moment to get to know her.

A bestselling author for the past eighty or so years, Agatha Christie has sold over two billion books worldwide and her novels and plays have been translated into over 45 languages. The world knows her name and her writing. She has eighty novels, several short story collections and over a dozen plays to her name.

Here are a few clips from various Agatha Christie films:

• Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
• Murder on the Orient Express (1972)
• Death on the Nile (1974)
• Evil Under the Sun
• And Then There Were None (1945)
• 10 Little Indians (1974)
• And Then There Were None (BBC)
• The Mirror Crack'd (1980)
• Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

The queen of the whodunit is undoubtedly Agatha Christie. But various sleuths have graced the pages of British Lit. Among them, the granddaddy of detection is the character Sherlock Holmes, created by Arthur Conan Doyle. Other important sleuths include Inspector Morse (Colin Dexter), Albert Campion (Margery Allingham),  Adela Bradley (The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries by Gladys Mitchell), and Welsh brother Cadfael (Edith Pargeter). For children, you probably know kiddie sleuths like The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, or the Baudelaire children from Lemony Snicket's series.

Basically, a whodunit or mystery story involves a pretty good plot along with compelling characters. Keep some of this advice in mind when reading or writing mysteries:

1. Plot is king. Planning a plot is essential for a mystery. You can't write this kind of thing organically (like you're used to) and therein lies the difficulty (and challenge!)
2. Start with a crime in mind. Research crimes of this sort to get ideas. Choose a crime you'd be interested in exploring. Some basics are: murder, theft, sabotage, treason, manslaughter, breaking and entering, assault, kidnapping, etc.
3. Consider starting with the crime scene, then planning backwards.
4. Outline the story before starting to see if each scene fits (and how) into the plot. Each scene should advance the plot. (Good advice in writing all fiction!)
5. Rearrange necessary scenes in an order. In Agatha Christie's work, for example, she often arranges chapters to revolve around the questioning of a suspect. She cuts back and forth between key, important characters during a chapter or between scenes.
6. Using a flow chart can be helpful too in order to show dead ends.
7. Introduce what is called a "red herring" or "macguffin" (also mcguffin), a goal or object that the protagonist or antagonist is willing to sacrifice almost anything to get or pursue, often with little explanation as to why it is considered important. The macguffin is usually unimportant and leads the reader astray. Very helpful in designing mysteries.
8. Consider the plot as the way in which the problem (the crime) gets solved.
9. Put your protagonist in danger. Allow for dead ends to misdirect the reader.

10. Use minor characters (particularly their motivations) to misdirect or hint or provide clues that lead to the solution of the mystery.

 Please refer to our Google Classroom about a blog post and assignment for Agatha Christie.

Brainstorming Detective/Mystery Fiction

Tips on Writing in the Detective Fiction Mystery Genre

• 5 Tips to Improve Your Critical Thinking
• Writing Detective Fiction

Extra: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes (and become smarter...)
Now try these strategies and solve these riddles/puzzles: 13 Short Detective Stories & Math Riddles to Test Your IQ

Let's pick a crime. Please watch the video, then record a crime & a "country". The crime will be used in the prompt below. The "country" will help you further define your character or victim(s). Most common crimes in the US:

• Theft (the action or crime of stealing)
• Larceny (theft of personal property)
• Burglary (entry into a building illegally with intent to commit a crime)
• Assault (physical attack or violence against a person)
• Robbery (theft using force or threatening force)
• Drug use (illicit drug use)
• Drunk driving (DUI)
• Fraud (a person deceiving others intended to achieve financial or personal gain)
• Blackmail (demanding money or profit in return for not revealing information about the victim)

How to Observe a Person (Things to Look For)--building a clue list. Using the information in this linked video, create a list of 4, 8, or 12 clues that might go along with the kind of crime you have selected.

From: edeverell.com (Eva Deverell)

• Choose 1 of the prompts below.
• Write whatever details come to mind for 5 minutes. Do not leave off your writing or disrupt others or stop writing or leave the room or put your pencil down (or you have "died"). Survivors will receive a prize at the end of this exercise. 
• You may start a new prompt from this list if you finish one before time is called.
• Stories do not have to be linked to events that occurred before you started writing (you do not need to write from beginning to middle to end...)
• This is just an exercise--this is not intended to be the final draft of your mystery story. 

Choose 1 Prompt to Start & Write for 5 Minutes without Stopping:

01	A note is discovered.	Who was the intended recipient?
02	A character who was thought lost or who departed reappears.	Why did they stay away until now?
03	A new (contradictory) clue is discovered.	Is it a red herring?
04	An old clue is reevaluated.	How has the evaluator’s perception changed?
05	Suspicion shifts to another person.	Why were they not previously suspected?
06	The investigator examines the scene of the mystery.	What seems out of place?
07	A previously innocent or unrelated person is connected to the mystery.	Why wasn’t their connection noticed earlier?
08	The investigator explains their own interest in the mystery.	Are they qualified to try and solve this?
09	A character puts two and two together.	What leads them to the connection?
10	A character finds they’ve misread someone’s MOTIVATION.	How were they misled?
	Write a SHORT scene from one of these prompts...this is NOT your mystery draft.

Student Blogs

Elani
Eniyah
Ari
Janiya
Jahna
Kanene
Tashianna
Anthony
Kyla
Roxy
Gabrielle
Fardowsa
Shaolin

Mystery Writing

Click on the links and read/watch the following short videos/articles about writing for the Mystery genre:

• A Short Guide to Mystery Genres
• Writing Detective Fiction
• How to Write a Mystery  
• Thriller Crime Fiction #1 
• Thriller Crime Fiction #2 
• A Short History of Detective Fiction

TASK (homework): On YOUR blog, write a post where you discuss some of the elements of detective fiction that you learned from these videos/websites. What do you think personally as a reader about this genre? Have you read or seen a lot of mysteries? What do you like or dislike about the genre? What are some tropes that good mystery stories usually seem to have in them? Discuss any of these issues on your blog.

See the assignment in our Google Classroom.