Arthur Conan Doyle; Reading Strategies; Character Sketch; Crime Prompt

After our short quiz, please visit the link below and take notes on the author Arthur Conan Doyle.

Perhaps the greatest known detective character is the famous Sherlock Holmes, a creation by Arthur Conan Doyle. Please go to Arthur Conan Doyle's website today and in your physical writing journal take notes on key fact about him. You may find helpful links under the heading Arthur Conan Doyle: biography, characters, and film & tv.

Got an idea as to who this guy is/was?

Now: let's act like a detective and jot down in our physical journals details about Doyle's characters from the stories in Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Keep a page open and find:

• What "clues" from our reading do we know or come to understand about the character of Sherlock Holmes? (Indicate story & page # whereupon you found this evidence...):
• Ex. "emotions are abhorrent to him." (Scandal, pg. 1)
• Ex. "He has a cold, precise, and balanced mind." (Scandal, pg. 1)
• Ex. "He was the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that Watson had ever seen." (Scandal, pg. 1)
• Find 5-10 more...
•   Begin reading "The Red-Headed League" (see homework)

You can keep track of major characters in a novel or short story--or film, or play, etc. by writing down details about that character in your journal. Doing this can also help you see how an author sprinkles details about a protagonist or character throughout a story. You may use this technique as well to create your own original character for a story you will write in the future.

How to Create a Great Character (video)

• Our turn: what makes Watson an interesting character?
• What makes Irene Adler an interesting character? (likeability, competency, activity)

Creating Captivating Characters (video tutorial)

• Create an original "captivating" character using the character sketch graphic organizer handout.

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)

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. 

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?

HOMEWORK: Please read the short stories: "The Red-Headed League" & "A Case of Identity". Continue to take notes about the stories in your journal.