writing the short story

Posts on Thursday (Grades 4-8)

Course Objective: To provide an introduction to the 5 elements of story creation as a starting point for both writing a short story and improving comprehension of classic short stories.                   

Course Description: Students will read classic examples and practice storytelling techniques. Short story writing will be broken down into characterization, setting, plot, and dialogue. By understanding short story construction, students will become proficient in reading and writing skills as they write their own short story.

$175

Course Outline:

Week 1:         Deconstructing a story

                                Snow White and Rose Red: Brothers Grimm

Week 2:         Setting–imagery and descriptive language

                                 Ugly Duckling: Hans Christian Andersen

Week 3:         Characters

                                 sympathetic vs unsympathetic 

                                The Tale of Peter Rabbit: Beatrix Potter

Weeks 4/5:   Plot – Freytag’s Pyramid

                                City Mouse & the Country Mouse Aesop

                                 The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde

Week 6:         Dialogue – direct/indirect, tags 

                                 Tom Thumb: Richard Johnson

Week 7:         Titles and transitions

                                 The Gift of the Magi: O.Henry

Week 8:         Common errors & proofreading

                                Winnie the Pooh Goes Visiting: A.A. Milne

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