Tuesday, October 6, 2009

The Hit Man (& Others)

After our journal writing time, let's take a look at a short story from your Sudden Fiction collection entitled "Hit Man". T.C. Boyle tells the entire story of his character from early childhood to death. Stories that cover the entire life of a character are often called "EPIC".

1. From your journal, create a character and name this person. His/her name will be your title.
2. Jot down a list of important and non important details or events from this character's life in your journal. Include "early years", important life events (like marriage or buying a first house), non-important life events (like going to the dentist or buying soap), and characteristics or important quirks for your character (like allergies, poor eye sight, personality flaws, etc.), finally, include actions the character does (like baking a cake or playing softball, etc.)
3. Include how the character dies or where the person is at the end of their life (you do not actually have to have your character die)
4. From this longer list, pick about 10 or so items from your list and order them from "Early years" to "Death or the end of useful life"
5. Then for each item, give the section an interesting/intriguing title. Write a sentence or up to a few paragraphs for each section detailing what happens.

Call this the "Hit Man" story on your heading. Save. DO NOT PRINT.

HOMEWORK: Please read the stories on page: 83-105 in Sudden Fiction. Pick the top three you liked from this selection and in a paragraph explain what you liked about each story. This will be considered participation credit and is due next class.

No comments:

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...