Write about an idea for a story that you might want to tell.
Minimum 5 sentences
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Objective By the end of this lesson you should be able to
identify the following ideas about fiction: Protagonist Antagonist
Conflict Complications Shifts of power Crisis Falling action
Resolution
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Draw a face that is missing a vital feature.
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Form A story is a form of literature. Like a face, it has
necessary features in a necessary harmony.
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What a story must include: Conflict Crisis Resolution
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Conflict Only trouble is interesting Example: the picnic
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Conflict: discuss 3-D: Drama = desire + danger Desire = want
Want leads to danger
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Desire Think about three possible desires that could drive a
story.
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Danger Great dangers are not always the most spectacular
Therefore, the greatest wants dont have to be spectacular, they
just need to spectacularly felt. Not shock dangers
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Write Write about the possible dangers, no matter how
unspectacular, each desire could produce.
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What is the conflict of each story? Now that youve got the
desire, describe the conflict of that this story could have. What
is the want?
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Conflict Categories Wo/man against wo/man Wo/man against nature
Wo/man against society Wo/man against machine Wo/man against God
Wo/man against her/himself
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Where does your story fit? Into which category does your desire
fit? Why?
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Crisis and Resolution Once conflict is established and
developed in a story, the conflict must come to a crisisthe final
turning pointand a resolution Why does a story need order?
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Order Order implies that the subject has been brought to
closure Reader leaves with a sense of completion
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The Arc of the Story The decision points that lead to a final
choice Change, change, change!
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Story as a War 1. Get your fighters fighting Start the conflict
right away in order to get your readers attention.
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Story as a War 2. Have somethingthe stakeworth fighting over
The stake over which wars are fought is usually a territory. It is
vital to your story that the territory around which the conflict is
centered is as important as your own home.
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Story as a War 3. Have the fight drive into a series of battles
with the last battle in the series being the biggest and most
dangerous of all. Each battle in the story is a complication that
adds to the tension of the conflict Each battle should have more at
stake and should be bigger than the last Each complication is a
change in the story
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Story as a War 4. Have a walking away from the fight Permanent
change Resolution
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Apply Look at the outline and the desire/want surrounding it.
Describe how one of your potential stories fits into each of the
four points of The Story as a War example.
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PART II: POWER
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Patterns of Power Protagonist: central character Antagonist:
opponent Give me three example of each from the last three movies
you have seen
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Power Each antagonist is given equal power so the reader is
left in doubt about the outcome The antagonist must represent a
real and potent danger The pattern of the storys complications will
be achieved by shifting the power back and forth from protagonist
to antagonist, until the power shift irretrievably in one
direction
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How to think about power Identify a source of power for each
antagonist surrounding the characters conflict If power is one
sided, suspense will be lost Power is anything that prevents the
protagonist from reaching what he/she desires
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Freitags pyramid of five actions
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Check Mark In a compact story form, the falling action and the
expository are going to be almost nonexistent, so we need another
form Think of the story form not as a pyramid with sides of equal
length but as an inverted check mark.
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Cinderella
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Conflict in Cinderella Cinderellas mother dies and her father
marries a brutal woman with two horrific daughters. Cinderella must
do all the dirty jobs.
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Power Pattern Stepmother (starts out with more power) Ugliness
Evil Numbers (daughters) Parental Authority Cinderella Beauty
Goodness
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First Complication/Event The first event/battle of the story is
that an invitation arrives from the Prince, which explicitly states
that all ladies of the land are invited to the ball. Where does the
power shift because of this event?
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Second Complication Stepmother takes back power by blunt force
YOU CANT GO!
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Third Complication The Fairy Godmother appears. Very powerful
to have magic on your side!
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Fourth Complication Magic only last until Midnight. Be home by
twelve or risk exposure and defeat.
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Fifth Complication Prince falls in love with Cinderella. Love
is even more powerful in Literature than magic
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Sixth Complication Clock strikes 12 Loses her slipper
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Seventh Complication Prince sends out a royal decree that
everyone must try on the slipper. A dramatic repetition of the
original invitation Cinderella given her rights again
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Eight Complication YOU MAY NOT! The stepmother also repeats her
assumption of brute authority by hiding Cinderella away Delay by
grotesque comedy: one sister cuts off her toe, the other cuts off a
heel
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Crisis The slipper fits! Magic, love, and royalty join to
recognize the heroines true self; evil, numbers, and authority are
powerless against them. The power struggle has been decided. When
the slipper fits, no further action can occur that will deprive
Cinderella of her desire. The change that occurs is significant and
permanent.
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Brief Falling Action Wedding Walking away from the fight
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Resolution And they live happily ever after.
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Read: The Use of Force By William Carlos Williams
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Answer Answer questions 1-3 at the end of your reading. Write
your answers on the back of your starter.
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Question 2 Using question 2 as your guide, plot the story by
points with an upside-down-checkmark story-form chart. Be sure you
highlight: Protagonist Antagonist Conflict Complications Shifts of
power and points Crisis Falling action Resolution