Choose...Choose the Form of Writing...

Hello Creative Writing Class!
Your task today is to create a 500 word story based on one of the following starters...some are silly so be prepared. This assignment should be posted to my Blog so that the class may read it NO LATER than November 19th (next Wednesday). Part two of the assignment begins on Wednesday (and is due Friday). Everyone is assigned a partner (read below) and after posting each partner must read the story and then comment (by Friday!) You should include both positive and negative critiques. Good luck!

Partners:
Duckey and Sleeps
Angel and LearnDreamDiscover
Predator Princess and Zebralikescandycorn
Nicholas Richard and Gryffandor and Cheyanne (Nicholas you'll read Gryffandor, Gryffandor you'll read Cheyanne, Cheyanne you'll read Nicholas)

Possible Topics:
1. A random cleaning up of the house leads to the discovery of an old diary.
2. A new home owner discovers an old photograph in the attic.
3. "This pendant is the only way that you can enter the castle."
4. Police Officer McCarthy finds a body. There are no clues except for an elaborate gold key lying beside the body.

What If...Blog #10

Please answer 10 of the following questions (in at least a paragraph each):

• What would happen if you could fly whenever you wanted? When would you use this ability?
• What would happen if there were no television? Why would this be good? bad?
• What would happen if everyone lived in space? What type of houses would they live in? What type of clothing would they wear? What type of food would they eat? How would they travel?
• What if cows gave root beer instead of milk?
• What if all the streets were rivers? What would be different?
• What would happen if people never co-operated? Why do you think it is important to co-operate?
• What would happen if it really did rain cats and dogs?
• What would happen if animals could talk? What are some of the questions you would like to ask animals?
• What would happen if you could become invisible whenever you wanted to? What are some of the things you could do that you cannot do now?
• What would happen if everyone wore the same clothes?
• What would happen if you threw a piece of trash on the ground? What if everyone did?
• What if you could walk up walls and across ceilings?
• What would happen if you loved your neighbour as yourself? What if everyone did?
• What would happen if you grew taller than trees? How would this change your life?
• What would happen if children ruled the world?
• What would happen if there were no cars, buses, trains, boats, or planes? How would this change your life?
• What if everyone lived under water? Where would people live? What games would children play? What would school be like?
• What would happen if you found gold in your backyard?
• What would you do if a bully bothered you on your way home?
• What would you do if you did very poorly of a test?
• What would you do if a friend borrows things from you but never returns them?
• What would you do if You were the teacher and everyone forgot his homework?
• What would you do if you were in the middle of the lake and your boat began to leak?
• What would you do if Your friend had a broken leg? How would you cheer him up?
• What would you do if you saw little bugs in your salad?
• What would you do if you woke up in another country and no one could understand you?
• What would you do if you ordered an ice cream cone and you forgot to bring money?
• What would you do if someone got in front of you when you were in line at the movies?
• What would you do if your jelly sandwich fell upside down on the floor?
• What would you do if only one veggie dog is left and neither you nor your friend have had one?
• What would you do if two of your best friends went to the movies without inviting you?
• What would you do if the surprise party was for you but you weren't surprised?
• What would you do if you got a present you didn't like?
• What would you do if you were at home and your homework was at school?
• What would you do if you dropped the cookie jar and it broke?
• What would you do if you were invited to two parties on the same day?
• What would you do if you promised to feed your pet and you didn't?
• What would you do if someone said you did something wrong and you didn't?
• What would you do if your new shoes felt fine in the store but now they are hurting?
• What would you do if someone told you a joke that you don't think is funny?
• What would you do if an hour before the party you remember you don't have a gift?
• What would you do if a friend comes to your house and his/her mom doesn't know he's/she's there?
• What would you do if you had four math problems marked wrong that were right?
• What would you do if you found a magic wand?
• What would you do if you wanted to be friends with someone who spoke no English?
• What would you say if someone told you it was all right to steal from a large department store?
• What would you do if you saw a friend cheating--report it, confront the friend, nothing--and why?

(This assignment is due October 23rd. Plus, Assignments 7-9 can all be found at CAN TEACH on line as journal topics.)

What Do You Think...Blog Assignment #9

What do you think...(Please answer at least five of the following "What do You Think Questions")

What do you think of 3D movies?
What do you think someone your age can do to help reduce the amount of pollution in our environment?
What do you think the world needs now?
What do you think your friends say to each other when you're not around?
What do you think about the amount of violence on T.V.?
What do you think about people polluting the environment?
What do you think about having set rules for people to follow?
What do you think about people who are inconsiderate of others?
What do you think should be done to keep people who are under the influence of alcohol off the road?
What do you think the world will be like when you are a grown up?
What do you think about ghosts?
What do you think of someone who has bad manners?
What do you think about people who take advantage of others?
What do you think about when you can't fall asleep?
What do you think courage means?
What do you think makes a good friend?
What do you think makes a happy family?
What pollutants do you think do the most damage and why?
What things do you think are beautiful?
(This assignment is due October 15th!)

Character Descriptions

Character Descriptions:
Please fill in the following character descriptions for both your antagonist and your protagonist.

Name:

Nickname:

Address:

Rural/Urban

Home life (what does it look like…)

Sex:

Age/birthdate:

Height:

Weight:

Eye Color:

Hair Color:

Hair Style:

One striking feature either psychological or physical:

Nationality:

Family background:

Language:

Marital/Relationship Status:

Level of Education:

Job:

Sports:

Pastimes/Activities:

Religion:

Favorite
Clothes:

Food:

Songs:

Books:

Movies:

Television:

Race:

Most important accomplishment:

Most tragic life experience:

Goals:

Relationship between protagonist and antagonist:

What is...Blog Assignment #8

The following list is a group of questions asking "What is...". Choose 10 questions and answer them on your blog in the next week. Please make sure to use proper spelling/punctuation/grammar and give me at least one paragraph for each question. This assignment is due Tuesday October 7th!

What is...
What is something you dislike about yourself?
What is something you do well?
What is your favorite room in your home and why?
What is a good neighbor?
What is the worst thing parents can do to their children?
What is your favorite time of day?
What is your idea of a dull evening?
What is the best way to treat meddlesome people?
What is something you are optimistic about?
What is something you are pessimistic about?
What is your most indispensable possession and why?
What is the meaning of "He laughs best who laughs last"?
What is your favourite song and why?
What is the best birthday present you ever received?
What is the best birthday present you could receive?
What is something that makes you feel sad?
What is your favorite book and why? (Nick, you can't answer this as we already know!)
What is something that really bugs you?
What is something that really makes you angry?
What is the best advice you ever received?
What is your favourite holiday? What makes this holiday special?
What is your favourite day of the week?
What is your favourite month? Why?

Scavenger Hunt- Assignment Six

This assignment has two parts.

Part One: For the next week (plus), you're on a scavenger hunt. Usually, when you have a scavenger hunt, you physically gather objects on a list. Instead of gathering the objects on your list, write complete descriptions of the items as you find them or come across them in your daily life. Most of these shouldn't be difficult to find in your everyday dealing in high school. You'll use each of these descriptions in the second part of the assignment.

1. an angry exchange
2. something unpleasant
3. an out-of-place object
4. something fresh, new, or unused
5. a well-loved object
6. a lost or forgotten object
7. something well-used (careful here...be good)
8. a home-made or hand-made or hand-me down object
9. someone out of place (or out of sorts)
10. a heated debate
11. dramatic exchange
12. a person talking with their hands (again...clean only please)

Part Two: Write a short story incorporating at least half of the descriptions that you found in your scavenger hunt. Weave in details, words, and phrases from your descriptions, but be discriminating -- use the details, words, and phrases that fit well and help your story. Rewrite and revise the original description as necessary. Feel free to break them up, rearrange them, or add more information.

This assignment is due September 30th (Tuesday).

Random Words Epigraph: Assignment 5

Step One: Randomly choose 15 entries from your dictionary. Just flip through the pages, close your eyes, and put your finger down on the page. Copy down the word that is closest to your finger. If your finger lands on a word that you don't know, you can choose the word just above or just below it. For the purposes of this assignment, count paired words as a single entry (for instance, "melting pot" is listed as a single entry).

Step Two: Shape your list of dictionary entries into a poem, using at least ten of the entries (you can, of course, use them all if you want). You can add articles, helping and "to be" verbs, coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions, etc.

Step Three: Use your poem as an epigraph for a short story. Compose a story that incorporates the themes and images that are included in your poem. The relationship between the poem and your short story should be clear to your readers, but it should not be stated explicitly in your story. Your job is to use the poem as a jumping off point. You can add more images and themes, but those that are included in your poem should be the major images and themes in your story. The story should be about 1 page typed.

This assignment is due: September 25th (Thursday)!