To Show Or Not

To Say Tell Show Or Not to Say Tell Show

Creative Writing Class Outline for 22-26 September 2008

ASSIGNMENT: This week you need to be focused on the goal of turning in a well revised, finished story on Monday, 29 October. (Please write that in your planner now!) What is a story? CONLICT One good definition of a story is that a

STORY = CHARACTER + CONFLICT ➮ RESOLUTION Literature teachers like to talk about kinds of conflict (the following is Wikipedia’s description of categories of conflict): Person vs. Self is the theme in literature that places a character against their own will, confusion, or fears. Person vs. Self can also be where a character tries to find out who they are or comes to a realization or a change in character. Although the struggle is internal, the character can be influenced by external forces. Person vs. Person is when, in a novel, there is a conflict of two forms of like beings. An example is the hero's conflicts with the central villain of a work, which may play a large role in the plot and contribute to the development of both characters. There are usually several confrontations before the climax is reached. The conflict is external. Person vs. Society is a theme in fiction in which a main character's, or group of main characters', main source of conflict is social traditions or concepts. In this sense, the two parties are: a) the protagonist(s); b) the society of which the protagonist(s) are included. Society itself is often looked at as a single character, just as an opposing party would be looked at in a Person vs. Person conflict. Person vs. Nature/Environment is the theme in literature that places a character against forces of nature. Many disaster films focus on this theme, which is predominant within many survival stories. Person vs. Supernatural is a theme in literature that places a character against supernatural forces. When an entity is in conflict with his, her, or itself, the conflict is categorized as internal, otherwise, it is external. Such stories are often seen in Freudian Criticism as representations of id vs. superego. Person vs. Machine/Technology This is really just Person vs. Person with a metal person!

The important thing to realize here is that ALL stories have a conflict. As a class you should brainstorm examples of each of these kinds of conflicts from literature and popular stories (including film, song, etc.) Conflict creates TENSION in a story. As you read the story “Exposed” today you be analyzing the story to see what conflict or conflicts there are, and how this creates dramatic tension. MONDAY NIGHT HOMEWORK Tonight you homework is to read “Exposed”. As you read the story you are to write a number fom 1 to 100 next to each paragraph according to how much tension there is in the story. There are about 20 paragraphs. After you have read the story you are to make a graph showing how the level of tension in the story changes over those 20 paragraphs. On the back of the graph (or attached) describe what conflicts there were in the story, and which conflicts seemed to create the most tension and why. TUESDAY NIGHT HOMEWORK Using examples from the “Who Kept One Hand In Her Pocket” and “Bidding” (this may mean using a quote!), respond again to the question: What is more powerful: telling or NOT telling. WEDNESDAY/ THURSDAY NIGHT HOMEWORK bring the story that they are going to turn in on Monday to class. WEEKEND HOMEWORK Bring a well revised story that has a conflict and resolution and uses the elements of story telling to class Monday.

Zartler / Creative Writing / 2008