English Creative Writing 2011 Short Stories 9 April 2011

Assignment 2 Read the extracts from Diaries of Adam and Eve. Imagine yourself to be one animal living in the Garden of Eden and write one diary entry (300 words). or Imagine you are Mr. Hyde. You have decided to keep a diary to record your feelings about your “new life”. Submit one entry to me in the next lesson (300 words). The new/creative/alternative = fr. a different position

a matter of positioning –Narrator/writer trying to approach from a different position –Who is the owner of the “new” voice? –What does she/he think? –What is the reason for thinking like that? –What will be the implication/consequence if the reason is different?

Animals from the Garden of Eden –What is the animal? size, shape, mobility, appearance, colour, texture, “personality” behaviour fears and likes strengths and weaknesses how is it related to other animals (enemies/friends) or the human beings

Mr. Hyde –how much is he connected to Dr. Jekyll (sharing consciousness? sharing knowledge only? completely separated?) –how does he feel about Dr. Jekyll? (likes? despises? hates? indifferent to?) –what do his actions mean for himself? (related to Jekyll or not? making meaning?)

Today: The short story A narrative Background (character, situation) – development – climax (ending, a twist at the end) An example: “Mr. Bean Rides Again”

Background: –Introduction of the two main characters (Bean and the boy) –Boy traveling alone, needs attention Development: –Bean trying different methods to entertain him –But fails to get him interested Climax: –Finally getting his attention!

Our text today: “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin Background? –Characters –Situation Development? –Events Climax? –Result

Task One Imagine you are one of the characters in the story. A newspaper reporter is asking you to give an account of the death of Mrs. Mallard. Write the account for him. Take one of the following roles: –Brently Mallard –Richards –Josephine –The doctor

Task Two Josephine, Richards, Brently, the doctor, can now share with each other what you have written about this incident. Tell us what you have discovered from the different reports.

Task Three (A) You are Brently Mallard, you have to leave town for a week and your wife will be alone. Write a short note to your friend Richards, asking him to take care of things when you are not there. (B) You are Louise, your husband has to be away for a week starting from tomorrow. What will you write about in your diary tonight before you go to bed?

Perspective –Individual personality –Physical condition –Psychological condition –Knowledge –Position in relation to the event/other people –Gender –Age –…

Other possibilities? Let’s look at what other people have made of “The Story of an Hour”.

Assignment for today Write 300 words about one moment in the story. You may invent anything to suit your purposes, as long as you do not contradict what is already stated in the story. Please submit a hard copy to me next time (16 April 2011).