Final Portfolio

There are two (2) parts to your final portfolio.

A. A 4-6 page, double-spaced, typed self evaluation essay
B. A variety of your best work chosen from all your CW classes

Your final portfolio will count for both 9th grade creative writing classes and will be reviewed by Mr. Craddock & Ms. Gamzon. It will constitute 20% of your final grade.

Part A. Self Evaluation Essay

Self Reflection Non Fiction - Creative Essay:

During the entire freshman year, we have thrown quite a bit of information, projects, and assignments your way. We did not do this to be cruel, but to see how you react to pressure, deadlines, writing & reading skills, and so that you had the opportunity to grow as a writer and a student. It is true that the most important qualification for writers is that they write. Apart from this, reading is also the most important way to improve your writing at this stage. These introductory courses are designed to get you to know yourself as a student and writer a little better. Part of this is the need to self-reflect. Examine the writing rubrics and the material in your portfolio. Reflect on your work this year.

Reflective piece: 4-6 pages, double-spaced. Write about how you’ve grown as a writer this year, what has been easy/hard for you, what areas you feel you need more work in; reflect on your progress as a writer, a reader, and as a student. Write about each selected piece you have chosen to include in your portfolio (per genre): why did you include these pieces in your portfolio? How does the piece show your growth and development as a writer in this particular genre? What did you learn about yourself concerning writing from this assignment or project? Discuss the writing process you used to create the work, where you got your ideas, what you learned about the form or genre of the work as you wrote and revised it, what you learned about yourself as a writer, etc. Discuss special projects and reading that had an impact on you. What did you learn about writing and about yourself through these assignments this year?

We read the following books/novels/plays in creative writing this year: Montana 1948, The First Part Last, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Zoo Story, Fences, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Stephen King "On Writing", The Glass Menagerie, Streetcar Named Desire, The Martian Chronicles, Without Feathers, And Then There Were None, Snows on Kilimanjaro, Sudden Fiction collection, The Snow Child, Madonna's of Leningrad, American War, The Enchanted, The House on Mango Street, Things Not Seen, etc. What did you think of the book and short stories we read? Comments?

Part B. Portfolio

Select work that you created this year in Ms. Gamzon or Mr. Craddock’s classes. All work should be copies of original work. No journals will be accepted. Follow the guideline below.

Table of contents. Your table of contents should order your portfolio into the following parts:
a. Poetry
b. Fiction
c. Non-fiction
d. Scripts
e. Special projects

Poetry. Choose 6-8 of your best poems. Select work that shows your understanding and growth in the field of poetry. Each poem’s title should be listed on the table of contents.

Fiction. Choose 4-5 of your best fiction pieces. Select work that shows your understanding and growth in the field of fiction. Each fiction piece’s title should be listed on the table of contents.

Non-fiction. Choose 2-3 of your best non-fiction pieces. Select work that shows your understanding and growth in the field of non-fiction. Each non-fiction piece’s title should be listed on the table of contents.

Scripts: Choose 2-3 of your best scripts. Select work that shows your understanding and growth in the field of script writing. Each script’s title should be listed on the table of contents.

Special Projects: Choose 3-4 of your special projects (newsletter, slideshow*, brochure, literary magazine, web design, blog, etc.) which show your growth and creative ability. Each project should be listed on the table of contents. If you have been working on a project not assigned in class, you may include this work in your special projects. (Example: I am working on a novel, and I haven’t told my teachers or I have written a musical, etc.) Please do NOT print your special project, unless you already have an extra copy. Instead, please talk about these projects in your reflection.

Rubric

_____ Table of Contents 10 points
_____ Reflective Essay (4-6 pages) 30 points
_____ Poetry (5-7 poems) 10 points
_____ Fiction (3-4 short stories) 10 points
_____ Non Fiction (1-2 creative essays) 10 points
_____ Special Projects (1-2 special projects) 10 points
_____ Grammar (Work is clean, copy-edited, free of errors) 10 points
Penalty: (-1/2 point for each grammar error. Up to -10 points)
_____ Portfolio turned in complete and on time 10 points

Penalties:
• Late portfolios (-10 points per day late)
• Handwritten work (-1 for each handwritten page)
• Grammar errors (see above)

The final portfolio is due Friday, June 14.

Without Feathers Review; Humorous Writing; The Martian Chronicles (Sci-Fi/Fantasy)

Period 3:

This morning, please take the first 5-10 minutes to review the book Without Feathers on YOUR blog.

Then, it's off to the library to pick up our last book for the year: Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury.

When we return, we'll read the first story or two in that collection, until period 4.

Period 4:

During period 4, please complete any of the following task(s):

1. Finish your humorous story draft. Your draft will be due Tuesday, June 4 by end of day. Once you complete your draft, please upload and submit it to our Google Classroom. You may include this draft in your final writing portfolio/final exam for this course (see above).
2. EXTRA CREDIT: write a science fiction story draft or a fantasy (swords & sorcery only!) draft. See below for tips, tricks, and ideas or prompts. This assignment (if completed) will count as extra credit writing for this marking period. It may also be included in your final portfolio.
3. Work on your final portfolio. Select the pieces that you will be revising and writing about in your evaluation/final portfolio reflection. You will be able to work on this project for the next two weeks in both Ms. Gamzon's and my class periods.

Science Fiction/Fantasy Writing Themes/Tips/Prompts:

Start here:

• How to Build a Fictional World (video, 5 minutes)
• Science Fiction Genre Characteristics (video, 18 minutes)
• BRAINSTORMING (it's good idea to think a bit before you dive in; brainstorming is the first step in the writing process--we've got to come up with an idea first! Follow these steps to help you do that): 
• select sci-fi or fantasy (or a combination of both...?) as your genre. Are you working in the past or future? Consider: how far past? how far in the future?
• Go deeper with your choice. Is your story going to be soft or hard sci-fi, swords & sorcery, science fantasy, or perhaps cyberpunk, steampunk, dystopian sci-fi, space opera, colonization (like The Martian Chronicles), dying planet genre, time travel, apocalyptic science fiction, superhero, or lost worlds? See the video on "science fiction genre characteristics" for details!  
• Create a timeline of important events that helped to shape your imaginary world. Is this after a cataclysmic event, just after the creation of the world, after the death of a king or queen, after the galactic enslavement by the empire, before or after a war, or just before a tribe is threatened by an outside force or roving band of barbarians? Draw your timeline in your journal. 
• What rules are in place in this fictional world? What has changed from the world we know and the physical laws of our Earth? Are there spells, telepathy, space travel, hyperspace travel, laser guns, teleportation, dragons, alien races, etc.? How is the society in your fictional world similar or different from our own reality? Is this culture a monarchy? Are androids hunted down as a threat to society or are the robots hunting humans down as a threat? Is there an ancient evil that threatens the innocent farmers of your land? Is there a terrible disease or plague sweeping the nation or the world? Consider and write down some ideas about the environment of your setting in which you are creating. Who has power and who doesn't? Can everyone cast spells, or only special mutants or people who risk their mortal souls for these powers? What is the technology level of the society you are creating? Can everyone fly a spaceship or colonize a planet? Or are corporations (big business) calling all the shots? What do the people believe or value most in the world? Freedom? Power? Love? Wealth? Knowledge or science? Use your notes to help create a setting. 
• Create and design a protagonist who lives in this imaginary world. Give them a goal to accomplish and then start writing!
• Or take one of these 13 speculative ideas and run with it...(the first item is sci-fi; the second fantasy...):
• All citizens are temporarily neutered at birth. Would-be parents must prove to the government that they’ll be suitable caretakers and providers before they are allowed to procreate; citizens of a kingdom that does not allow magic are marked at birth. When the protagonist reaches a certain age he/she begins to realize he/she has magical powers which must remain hidden to keep his/her family (or self) safe from persecution.
• The government, which analyzes massive amounts of data to predict the success of a person's ability in a competitive field or useful skills, cracks down on a protagonist who is either unskilled or too skilled that he/she poses a threat to the status quo; a knight or wizard's apprentice is challenged to save a village or family or kingdom, but his/her skills have an ancient curse that causes further complications or problems for the society. 
• Global warming prompts rapid mutations in the human species; a dark force threatens the mystical realm, stealing all the magic from the land. A small band of heroes (or at least the protagonist) must face this dark force and defeat it.
• The world’s leaders broker a deal with the alien invaders that many see as unfair; a princess/prince has to accept a marriage proposal from a neighboring kingdom, but there is one big problem...
• Humans have discovered a way to communicate directly with animals, and then the animals start expecting equal rights; a village girl or boy can communicate with animals or a mystical creature (like a unicorn or wyvern, etc.)--then he/she finds out a dark secret....
• Extreme elective surgery is the societal norm, and humans undergo creative modifications that include extra limbs, cartoon-like features, and so on, but then there's a problem with that sort of lifestyle...; wizards alter the physical/emotional or mental capacity of people in the kingdom until they go too far, creating an angry sub-race of beings that threaten to revolt.
• Breeding modern humans with large amounts of Neanderthal DNA leads to interesting results; a princess is betrothed to a barbarian king who is less than perfect husband material...
• People can time travel as an option for a vacation. One family decides to picnic during prehistoric times and there are complications.; At a joust or festival one knight is bested by a mysterious knight who we later find out is actually...
• An alien from a planet where no one else experiences empathy comes to live on Earth, believing they will fit in better there. Do they?; An evil wizard casts a dark spell over a medieval city. Only one hero has the courage to find a cure and break the spell.
• A drug that makes people docile or non-confrontational has been added to the public water supply and to all beverages sold by major corporations. We must find out why the corporations want this to happen...; a plague of some unknown source is threatening the land. A cure must be found. 
• A low-level employee in a bureaucratic government office realizes the paperwork he/she files every day contains codes that determine others’ fates. What does he/she do with this information?
• A human and alien fall in love, causing an interplanetary crisis; a human and a demi-human or monster fall in love (woman & centaur, woman & dragon, boy & unicorn, boy & elf & ghost, etc.) causing a problem for a repressed kingdom.
• Humans colonize an alien planet, thinking that they are alone--but then they find out otherwise; a kingdom goes to war to obtain some magical treasure (which turns out not to be what they expected.)

HOMEWORK: Please read through "The Third Expedition" (complete "Ylla", "The Summer Night", "The Earthmen", "The Taxpayer", and "The Third Expedition" in The Martian Chronicles.

Without Feathers: Day 3

Writing Time: Try one of these humor prompts:

Comedy Techniques to Try: Use incongruity, hyperbole (exaggeration, overstatement, innuendo, or understatement), and ridiculous situations, settings, or characters. 

Some idea prompts include:

1. Your writer's journal has been lost and buried for 100 years. When it is uncovered, what do scientists (or scholars or clergy or the common person) think of you? Do they consider your writing insightful, prophetic, scandalous, inspired, dangerous, etc.? 

2. Like Gorey's "The Unstrung Harp" tell the story of yourself as a famous author. Feel free to include photos or drawings.

3. Pick a favorite or hated non-fiction type of book and write a parody of that form. For example, a game manual, a how-to book, a cookbook, advice about how to raise children, a self-help manual, astrology, a bestiary, a history of some alien or forgotten race, a textbook, an advice column, etc.

4. Write the performance companion notes for a play or opera or musical or the liner notes of an album that should never have been made.

5. Rewrite a well-known scene from a Shakespeare play (perhaps a lost scene from Romeo & Juliet, for example) or rewrite a well-known fairy tale or Bible story with annotations.

6. Write a silly rhyming poem or children's book, like Shel Silverstein or Dr. Seuss. Take a look at these links for inspiration. Silverstein. Dr. Seuss.
7. Rewrite your detective or horror story draft as a comedy. Use comedic writing techniques to change your horror/mystery draft into something ridiculous.
8. Choose an author you hated or loved in school. Write about the "secret life" or the "hidden manuscript" from this author (with writing samples that echo the author's style).
9. Write a short scene or play (or film) in play script format from a one-word title that overdramatizes itself. Ex. LIFE or SICKNESS or ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT or FLOOD or CHAOS or LOVE or MISERY or WORK or BOOK or CAPITALISM or ART or YODEL or PLESIOSAUR. You get the PICTURE. The play can be about anything as long as it's funny (or attempting to be) and uses some of those comedy techniques...
10. We all know what a vampire or tyrannosaurus is, but what about a googledigoo or a parthenogenisaurus or a whatchamacallitopotomus? Make up a few ridiculous monsters or animals or "beasts" and describe them as new cryptozoology specimens.

When time is called, let's return to finish the play "Death" by Woody Allen. With time remaining in class, we'll continue reading the collection. Here's the guide...

• "Fabulous Tales and Mythical Beasts": Bestiaries were an old fashion (Medieval) form of the nature guide. They were all the rage in the 1500’s.
• "But Soft, Real Soft": There is a scholarly debate over who really wrote Shakespeare’s plays. Many critics say that Marlowe (another Elizabethan playwright) wrote Shakespeare’s work. Others say Queen Elizabeth or Francis Bacon wrote the plays. Probably, odd as it may seem, Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare’s plays. The title refers to a line from Romeo and Juliet.
• "If the Impressionists Had Been Dentists": The Impressionist painter Van Gogh kept close correspondence with his brother Theo. Later a song and a movie were made from Van Gogh’s private letters. The title tells the rest of the joke.
• "No Kaddish for Weinstein": Kaddish is a Hebrew prayer of mourning usually recited at a person’s grave. Woody Allen often jokes about Freudian Psychoanalysis or therapy. He is using a comic technique of the non-sequitur (or surprising a reader by saying something unrelated to its subject or something that makes no sense or is nonsensical.)
• "Fine Times: An Oral Memoir": Another parody of a book review and autobiography of a fictional character. This one is about Flo Guinness, a speakeasy owner in the 1920’s. Alcohol was prohibited (illegal) in the early 1920’s and later repealed. Guinness is the name of a popular beer. Allen references many famous 1920’s musicians and people.
• "Slang Origins": The English language has so many weird expressions and sayings. Allen pokes fun at them in this “essay.”

HOMEWORK: Finish the collection in Without Feathers. Bring your books back with you to our next class. Continue to write your humorous draft. These will be due soon. 

Without Feathers (Day 2)

Today we read.

• "The Whore of Mensa": Allen is parodying the hardboiled detective novel made popular by writers like Dashiell Hammett (The Maltese Falcon). Think of Humphrey Bogart as the narrator and you’ll have the idea. Mensa is a national program/club – entry into which is based on I.Q. The idea then of whores who intellectually stimulate their johns is a very funny and creative idea.
• "Death, A Play": Allen was a philosophy major in college. He is also interested in psychology. The two main philosophical ideas this play refers to are existentialism and Nihilism. Existentialism is a type of writing or the study of answering the question: what is the meaning of life? Existentialism tries to explain what the meaning of life is. Some people believe we are alive for a reason, others are Nihilistic and say that there is no point in our existence, that there is no purpose to our lives. Kleinman is representative of everyman. He represents all of us. We sometimes don't know what our purpose in life is (Kleinman doesn't know his purpose in the play, for example). By the way, we are all being "stalked" by death, just as Kleinman is being stalked by the maniac. Death is the great equalizer. All living beings are going to die. Along with LOVE, DEATH is one of the most common themes in literature. Woody Allen made this play into the film: Shadows and Fog.

HOMEWORK: Reading--please read the next 4 pieces in Without Feathers on your own. This includes a second play, as well as some funny brief short pieces. As you read, pay close attention to comedy techniques we've discussed: hyperbole, overstatement/understatement, incongruity, innuendo, irony, etc. The following guide can help you decipher the humor in the selections.

• "A Brief, yet Helpful, Guide to Civil Disobedience": People were protesting the Vietnam War when Woody Allen wrote this book. Even this serious topic is humor-fodder for writers. The allusion to The Trojan Women is referring to a Greek Tragedy (see: God) about the women of Troy banding together to protest the Trojan War.
• "Match Wits with Inspector Ford": In the 70’s books such as 5-Minute Mysteries were very popular. The idea was that the author gave you a very short mystery or crime. The answer to the “riddle” was in the back of the book. A fan of whodunits will enjoy this parody.
• "The Irish Genius": This is a parody (similar to Lovborg) but dealing with the poet William Butler Yeats. Yeats was an Irish culture fanatic and wrote “Irish” lyrics celebrating Gaelic and Irish legends. His poems drip with allusion and Allen plays around with this idea by providing fake “footnotes.”
• "God, a Play": Poking fun at Greek Theatre, Allen is also joking about writers and the process of writing a play and the challenges of performing it. Allen was a playwright before he became a film writer. So you can assume the Writer character is partly autobiographical. Of course, the character of “Woody” is also Allen’s alter-ego in the play. Enjoy the absurdist ideas of the piece. By the way, the machine reference in the play is a reference to: Deus Ex Machina (or God from the machine) referring to a contrived ending of a play (a God comes down and fixes the characters’ problems--the epitome of lazy writing!)

What's coming up and what should you be writing next? Try one of these humor prompts:

Comedy Techniques to Try: Use incongruity, hyperbole (exaggeration, overstatement, innuendo, or understatement), and ridiculous situations, settings, or characters. 

Some idea prompts include:

1. Your writer's journal has been lost and buried for 100 years. When it is uncovered, what do scientists (or scholars or clergy or the common person) think of you? Do they consider your writing insightful, prophetic, scandalous, inspired, dangerous, etc.? 

2. Like Gorey's "The Unstrung Harp" tell the story of yourself as a famous author. Feel free to include photos or drawings.

3. Pick a favorite or hated non-fiction type of book and write a parody of that form. For example, a game manual, a how-to book, a cookbook, advice about how to raise children, a self-help manual, astrology, a bestiary, a history of some alien or forgotten race, a textbook, an advice column, etc.

4. Write the performance companion notes for a play or opera or musical or the liner notes of an album that should never have been made.

5. Rewrite a well-known scene from a Shakespeare play (perhaps a lost scene from Romeo & Juliet, for example) or rewrite a well-known fairy tale or Bible story with annotations.

6. Write a silly rhyming poem or children's book, like Shel Silverstein or Dr. Seuss. Take a look at these links for inspiration. Silverstein. Dr. Seuss.
7. Rewrite your detective or horror story draft as a comedy. Use comedic writing techniques to change your horror/mystery draft into something ridiculous.
8. Choose an author you hated or loved in school. Write about the "secret life" or the "hidden manuscript" from this author (with writing samples that echo the author's style).
9. Write a short scene or play (or film) in play script format from a one-word title that overdramatizes itself. Ex. LIFE or SICKNESS or ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT or FLOOD or CHAOS or LOVE or MISERY or WORK or BOOK or CAPITALISM or ART or YODEL or PLESIOSAUR. You get the PICTURE. The play can be about anything as long as it's funny (or attempting to be) and uses some of those comedy techniques.... 

Comedy Writing Samples; Woody Allen's Without Feathers

Please join the class in reading the short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber. Then, let's discuss the story you read for homework: "The Ransom of Red Chief".

• What makes the story funny or humorous?

After examining the stories, let's discuss some tips about writing humorous stories.

• Use your notebook to record your dark, evil, sad or angry thoughts. Comedy often comes from a dark or hurt place in the human psyche. Start with what makes you cry, what makes you angry, or what makes you scream in frustration. Make a short or long list in your notebook. We'll mine this later for ideas.
• Let's read "Selections from the Allen's Notebooks". Writers, as you know, often write down their thoughts or ideas for stories, poems, or plays in their journal. Sometimes daily observations or diary-like entries get mixed into your journal. Much of comedy comes from incongruity or nonsense. Note how Allen sets up a typical situation, then pokes fun at himself or starts with a sensible or logical thought, then derails this logic with a ridiculous or incongruous or absurd statement. 
• Another good place to look for humor is by parodying any serious literary genre or art form. Non-fiction works are often best to poke fun at in comedy. It's a good idea to parody either that which you love (so much that you can poke fun at it, or something that you hate for the same reason.) Make a list in your journal of fiction books, films, TV shows, or media, or list genres of non-fiction that you love or hate. Get a healthy list going. We'll see some examples of what a comedian can do with these allusions and forms. 
• Let's continue reading Without Feathers. As we read, please note the following:
• The title: Refers to Emily Dickenson’s poem: “Hope is a thing with feathers.” Ergo, if you have no feathers, you have no hope.
• "Selections from the Allen Notebooks & The Early Essays": Both these essays parody the publishing industry’s love affair with memoir, creative non-fiction, and publishing a well-known author’s private writings after they have died. Hence, the humor of these weird insights into the famous “Woody Allen” journals. Traditionally, creative essay form always used the same form: the word “ON” and then the subject of the essay.
• "Examining Psychic Phenomena": The supernatural is always a good subject to parody. In this case, a review of a newly published “non-fiction” book on Psychic Phenomena. Look up Psychic Phenomena on the internet to see the sort of thing Allen is parodying.
• "The Guide to Some of the Lesser Ballets": When you attend an opera or ballet, inside your program, you often get the story synopsis. Since opera is usually in another language, and ballet is hard to follow if you don’t know the story, these sorts of program notes are helpful in interpreting the performance. Allen, of course, is poking fun.
• "The Scrolls": A few years before the book was published, the Dead Sea Scrolls were uncovered. In the early 70’s this sort of thing caused a lot of controversy between religious scholars and scientists. They wondered if these scrolls were part of the Bible. Allen is also Jewish, so the humor relates to this fact as well. Even the Bible can be parodied in comedy.
• "Lovborg’s Women Considered": The playwright Henrick Ibsen is the bane and love of many literary scholars and theatre students. Woody Allen is poking fun of the field of literary criticism (scholars who write about books, authors, and their “private” lives). Eilert Lovborg (a character from Ibsen's play "Hedda Gabler" was a notorious womanizer and sexpot, before he shot himself unheroically.)
• If you are so inclined you might wish to start a comedic story or "essay". Use incongruity, hyperbole (exaggeration, overstatement, innuendo, or understatement), and ridiculous situations, settings, or characters. Some ideas include:

1. Your writer's journal has been lost and buried for 100 years. When it is uncovered, what do scientists (or scholars or clergy or the common person) think of you? Do they consider your writing insightful, prophetic, scandalous, inspired, dangerous, etc.? 

2. Like Gorey's "The Unstrung Harp" tell the story of yourself as a famous author.

3. Pick a favorite or hated non-fiction type of book and write a parody of that form. For example, a game manual, a how-to book, a cookbook, advice about how to raise children, a self-help manual, astrology, a bestiary, a history of some alien or forgotten race, a textbook, an advice column, etc.

4. Write the performance companion notes for a play or opera or musical or the liner notes of an album that should never have been made.

5. Rewrite a well-known scene from a Shakespeare play (perhaps a lost scene from Romeo & Juliet, for example) or rewrite a well-known fairy tale or Bible story with annotations.

6. Write a silly rhyming poem or children's book, like Shel Silverstein or Dr. Seuss. Take a look at these links for inspiration. Silverstein. Dr. Seuss.

HOMEWORK: Please read pg. 11-34 (or what we didn't cover in class today). 

Misery Review; Comedy: Day 1

After the last 5 minutes of the Misery, please review the film in regards to King's (Reiner and Goldman's) use of suspense. In your review on YOUR BLOG, please post a short comment about the film and how the writers used suspense to create an effective horror/suspense film.

At 9:30 or 9:35, please put away your horror toys and let's skip over to comedy writing. To help bridge the gap, take a look at this:

Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies & The Unstrung Harp.

“Being gloomy is easier than being cheerful. Anybody can say, “I’ve got cancer” and get a rise out of a crowd. But how many of us can do five minutes of good stand-up comedy?” — P.J. O’Rourke

After reading "The Unstrung Harp," think about what is funny about this story. In your journal, write down your favorite comedy films, stories, novel or TV series, or comedians.

Then, let's pick up Woody Allen's Without Feathers from the library. Put that to the side a moment and please join the class in reading the short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber.

• What makes the story funny or humorous?

Tips on Comedy Writing & Writing Prompts:

• Use your notebook to record your dark, evil, sad or angry thoughts. Comedy often comes from a dark or hurt place in the human psyche. Start with what makes you cry, what makes you angry, or what makes you scream in frustration. Make a short or long list in your notebook. We'll mine this later for ideas.
• Let's read "Selections from the Allen's Notebooks". Writers, as you know, often write down their thoughts or ideas for stories, poems, or plays in their journal. Sometimes daily observations or diary-like entries get mixed into your journal. Much of comedy comes from incongruity or nonsense. Note how Allen sets up a typical situation, then pokes fun at himself or starts with a sensible or logical thought, then derails this logic with a ridiculous or incongruous or absurd statement.  

HOMEWORK: Write in your journal (you might even attempt to write a similar piece to Allen's "Notebook"); Complete the famous short story "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry. You will be asked to write about the story next class, so please read it. I might even throw in a test.

Please bring your Woody Allen books back with you to our next class. We will be using them.

Misery (Day 2; Conclusion); Horror Story Drafts Due

Your horror/suspense story draft is due today. Please make sure you upload a copy of your story to our Google classroom.

We will complete our viewing of the film Misery by Stephen King today in class. As you watch, keep note of how the filmmakers and author create and use suspense techniques.

HOMEWORK: None.

Author Websites; Stephen King/Suspense & Misery (1990)

10-15 Minutes:

TASK #1:
Today, please take a look at Stephen King's official website. You can find information about the author and his books here. One of the professional duties of authors is to have a website or presence online. This may include blogs, but a website is often a requirement for any author or writer. Please read the following article and in the COMMENT section of this blog post, please identify one bit of advice that you found important or helpful to a young author in regards to marketing his/her work.

TASK #2:

Please take the next 15 minutes (or start when you have completed TASK #1 today) and continue writing and working on your horror story draft. These drafts are due by next class.

Keep in mind that your draft should include suspense, tone, and sustain an effective horror/suspenseful mood for the reader.

Again, some ways to create suspense include:

• Show (describe) the danger or threat
• Hint at possibilities through your diction (careful word choice) and imagery
• Delay gratification by keeping your reader guessing as to what will happen next
• Use description as a way to break up or slow down the resolution of events
• Use dialogue as a way to break up or distract characters from the resolution of events
• Cut to a different scene--use white space to transition from one scene to another
• Cut to the POV of a different character--this is called parallel action
• Stop the scene before you resolve it--this is often called a cliffhanger

End of Period 3/Period 4:

Let's stop writing and begin to watch Misery, one of Stephen King's favorite novels that he wrote. He mentions Misery in the first section of his memoir. Details about the film are here:

Misery (1990) was directed by Rob Reiner. William Goldman (the author who wrote The Princess Bride) wrote the screenplay based on Stephen King's novel. As we view the film, please note how the filmmaker, writer, and cinematographer create and sustain suspense in the film.

Paul Sheldon (the protagonist) is played by James Caan.
Annie Wilkes (the antagonist) is played by Kathy Bates.
More cast/crew information about the film can be found at IMDB.com at this link.

HOMEWORK: Continue to work on and complete a draft of your horror story. We will finish our screening of Misery on Wednesday. 

King & Lovecraft; Write your Horror Draft

After viewing the video advice from Stephen King, please use the time given to you today to do the following:

1. On YOUR blog, please choose one of Stephen King & one of H.P. Lovecraft's stories you were to have read (or that we read in class) and comment on what you learned about how to write horror stories and/or comment on what you thought about the story. Include a short summary of the 2 stories you are writing about. You may include a picture if you wish.

2. Work on your horror story draft. Remember to use some of the advice you learned from Stephen King or H.P. Lovecraft and remember to use suspense as a feature for your story draft.

HOMEWORK: Please read the short story by Stephen King. 

Writing Your Horror Draft; Discussion "On Writing" & Stephen King's Advice

See the previous post for details. Today, we'll start off with a discussion about the book and/or observations about your homework reading.

After gathering some (more) advice from King and our discussion, continue writing your story draft.

When you need a break from writing, use the time in class to begin reading your homework (see below).

Remember: To create suspense:

Suspense: delaying the reader's gratification. The intense feeling (often of anxiety) a reader feels when characters in stories/films, etc. are either in danger, threatened or the outcome of the story is in question. This uncertainty creates a feeling of suspense. The feeling a reader gets is called MOOD. The way the writer uses words (diction) to create that mood is called TONE. Tone is your job as a writer. With the proper tone (say a suspenseful tone) your mysteries, horror, and suspense stories will be more effective.

As writers, we want to make sure our readers ask: what's going to happen to my favorite character in this situation or what will happen because this is happening to my favorite character? Which means, that your characters need development (particularly your protagonist!) If a reader doesn't care what happens to your protagonist, your reader will not feel the mood of "suspense" when reading. If we didn't care about Harry Potter or Katniss Everdeen or Bilbo the Hobbit, we would not worry when they are put in dangerous situations. To build your character, you need characterization! See how everything just comes back again and again to the same literary terms? Get to know these literary tools!

Some ways to create suspense:

• Show (describe) the danger or threat; avoid revealing "the monster" completely in a horror story until the end of your story. Hint before you show.
• Hint at possibilities through your diction (careful word choice) and imagery
• Delay gratification by keeping your reader guessing as to what will happen next
• Use description as a way to break up or slow down the resolution of events
• Use dialogue as a way to break up or distract characters from the resolution of events
• Cut to a different scene--use white space to transition from one scene to another
• Cut to the POV of a different character--this is called parallel action
• Stop the scene before you resolve it--this is often called a cliffhanger

HOMEWORK: Please read the short stories "Night Shift" by Stephen King and "The Rats in the Walls" by H.P. Lovecraft. Compare the two stories. Be prepared to write about the stories next class. Keep working on your horror story draft.

Stephen King's On Writing: Discussion; Writing our Horror Story Draft

We will complete the last 2 pages of Lovecraft's story "The Colour Out of Space", check in on his advice, then switch over to discussing Stephen King's advice on writing in "On Writing".
After our discussion, let's take a look at some more advice about how to succeed in a project:

Philosopher's Notes: On Writing: 5 Big Ideas in Stephen King's On Writing
Stephen King's Writing Tips (from Latenight)
Creative Writing Tips from Stephen King
Stephen King Biography: The Man Who Almost Didn't Become a Writer (16 min.)
and for those of you who can't get enough...H.P. Lovecraft: A Titan of Terror (21 min.)
22 Lessons from Stephen King on How to Be a Great Writer (article)

And then get writing. Use the prompts and exercises we have tried and begin writing your horror draft. If you get stuck, instead of bothering your neighbor, read your homework (see below) or watch the 2 biography videos we didn't watch in class.

1. Choose one of your fears or a disturbing image. For a fear, personify that fear or use the fear as a metaphor for a "monster" or threat in your story. And/Or: Place the disturbing image as the end of your story. Then walk back to the events that might have occurred before the horrible/disturbing image. Write that first. Put it to the side.
2. Go back and start your story. Write only the scenes you can--if you don't know your beginning scene, skip it for now. If you don't know your middle, skip it for now...etc. Once you have an idea, write what you can. Skip over the scenes in your story that you can't imagine yet.
3. Or use Lovecraft or King's methods to write a short story.

• Start with a mood, idea, or image and mull it around in your brain a bit.
• Create a list of plot occurrences of basic events that COULD happen in the story. Write the order of the plot events. This happened, then this happened, etc. Connect the dots. Use the outline you create, but start your story in a different place than a chronological order of events. For ex. the surveyor narrator in "The Colour Out of Space" is the second to LAST event that happens in the story, yet Lovecraft starts the story with him arriving in town and meeting Ammi Pierce. 
• Write out your story rapidly. Then fix it later.
• Tell the truth as you see it. Don't fixate on "scaring" anyone. Instead, use suspense and good writing tips...(see blog posts below on how to create suspense)
• Don't be afraid to rewrite...
• Remember that all stories should have a beginning, middle, end. 
• Length does not matter. Your effort does.

HOMEWORK: Read the short story from Stephen King: "Night Surf" (compare to "The Colour Out of Space") & "The Boogeyman".  Continue to write your horror draft.