The Assignment:
Your task is to choose one of the following prompts and write a short story that is AT LEAST 1000 words in length and no more than 1500 words . Your story should contain the seven elements of narrative writing: plot, setting, atmosphere, characterization, theme, point of view, and use figurative language & literary devices.
Prompts:
- Write a story in which someone finds a secret passageway.
- Write a story about someone who loses their cat.
- Write a story about someone who receives an unexpected phone call.
- Write a story in which the lines between awake and dreaming are blurred.
- Write a story about a character experiencing deja vu.
Extra Credit Opportunity:
Include 10 vocabulary words from the list below. Do not just throw the words in haphazardly. They must be used CORRECTLY. The words must be highlighted in yellow.
Vocabulary List: provocative, Bumpkin, Toady, Culpable, Hortatory, Orotund, Penultimate, Blithe, Soporific, Pervasive, Benign, Frenetic, Recrimination, Indecorous, Corroborate, major-domo, Untenable, Perambulate, Veneer, Timorous, Luminous, Circuitous, Perquisite, Probity, Polemical, Tacit, Largesse, Indolent, Circumlocution, depredate, canard, wont, etymology, cortege, solecism, demotic, simian, impresario, requisite, bulwark, malaise, disingenuous, crescendo, intransigent, dogged, propensity, condescending, compunction, sepulcher, bellicose, pulchritude, wizened, rhapsodize, physiognomy, voluble, revel, umbrage, epiphany, panacea, assiduous
Short Story Graded on:
P:lot: Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action and Resolution/Denouement can be found in the writing. (15 points)
Setting: The story has a clear setting that is described using imagery. (5 points)
Characterization: Characters are described based upon their personalities, actions, appearance, and thoughts. There is a main character who is the most important character in the story and sets the plot in motion [protagonist], and there are minor characters who are not as important to the plot as the main character. There is a character who blocks the protagonist (antagonist). The story contains dynamic, static, round, and flat characters. (20 points)
Dialogue: Dialogue is woven into the story correctly. It is clear who is talking and to whom they are talking. Quotation marks are used correctly. (10 points)
Conflict: There is at least one major conflict (internal or external) that drives the plot forward. (10 points)
Point of View: The story is written from the first, second, or third person and does not waver in its method of storytelling. (10 points)
Theme: At least one theme is present in the writing. This is the underlying focus of the writing. (15 points)
Literary Devices: Present within the writing and used appropriately to add more depth to the story. (5 points)
Conventions: Spelling, Punctuation, Capitalization, Grammar, etc. (5 points)