Yeah, so, we were eclipsed. Like an hour and a half ago, based on the time of the writing. I've seen two partial eclipses—the one last October and the one in 2017—and they have all been really powerful. When the temperature drops, that's the creepiest thing for me. And the quality of the light. And this time, of course, seeing the ring of fire. Anyways, I hope you were able to experience it yourselves. This Eclipse Monday marks the last of the missed school days for Unit 3. From here on out, according to my calculations, we should be actually having all the remainder of our scheduled classes together. This week is also the last week of Unit 3. Wednesday, you will be turning in your Conflict Creation for your creative project you've been piecing together all semester. And on Saturday, the final draft of your Self-Directed Research Essays are due. In class on Wednesday, I'm hoping to do a thesis workshop and get in some quality drafting time for everyone to get a head start on their final drafts. So, this post will focus on:
Conflict CreationTime to start some trouble. In your stories. When we first started talking about conflict, I told you that some kind of internal conflict is present in all good literature. As you think about your own stories, I want you to have both internal and external conflict represented. So you will need to choose an internal struggle for your main character to grapple with. And you will need to choose one (or more) forms of external conflict to strike against your main character in some kind of a way. For your Conflict Creation assignment, you will choose three of the following questions to answer. Pick three that you think match the character and setting of the short story you've built so far. Ok, here's the list: 1. What does your protagonist want more than anything, and what or who is stopping them from getting it? Conflict often arises from a character’s desires clashing with obstacles. Is your character in love with someone who doesn't love them back? Do they want money, status, or a career that they don't have? Do they experience jealousy? This prompt can help you figure out both internal conflict (what the character wants) and external (what part of their world is standing in their way.) 2. What are your characters' greatest fears, and how can these fears manifest as external obstacles or internal struggles? During your short story presentations, I couldn't help but notice that horror is a popular genre for us. Fear is a vital component of horror. Fear can be a very interesting way to explore both internal and external conflict. Is your character afraid of another person? Of humiliation? Of themselves? Is your main character a villain? 3. Is there a secret someone is keeping? How would the story change if this secret were revealed? Secrets can drive conflict both internally for characters and externally in their relationships. 4. Can you introduce a character with opposing goals to your protagonist? Maybe you want to really lean into Character vs. Character for your external conflict. That means you're going to need an antagonist as well. Think about how the interactions between these two characters could escalate tensions. 5. What societal or environmental pressures could complicate your characters' lives? Consider how larger forces might influence or exacerbate personal conflicts. 6. How might your characters' flaws or weaknesses lead them into conflict? Sometimes it can be easy to forget to give our characters weaknesses. But this is a really good place to go mining for some quality internal conflict. Personal growth often comes from facing and overcoming aspects of ourselves. 7. Is there a moral or ethical dilemma that could put your characters at odds with themselves or others? Dilemmas with no clear right or wrong answer can create compelling internal conflict. And if your character ends up on a different side of the dilemma from the rest of their community, it can be a good way to generate some external conflict, too. Revisiting the Ladder of Abstraction: Diction EditionI've been noticing something in our essays that I want to explicitly teach a little minilesson on. It all goes back to that Ladder of Abstraction that we talked about at the beginning of the semester. I encourage you to go back and reread that post, because I'm going to be applying that principle to the diction of our essays. Diction means "word choice." And I've noticed that in many of our essays, a word that tends to get chosen a lot is the word "people." As in: "People [do this thing/believe this thing/are wrong about this thing]." I'm open to hearing alternative opinions, but I can't think of a time when "people" used like this is appropriate for a academic essay. Usually, sentences that start with the word "people" are so abstract they are basically meaningless. Another thing also happens when the word "people" is being used as a subject of a sentence in an academic essay—the author of that essay has seriously compromised their credibility. A generalization made with the word "people" is basically saying that this particular thing is true for all human beings who have died, who are alive now, and who will be born. The human race is very diverse. Generalizations like this have the effect of stripping humanity of its diversity. Whatever trust the author has built with the reader becomes compromised. I'm going to challenge all of you to write your second drafts without the word "people." Instead, replace this noun with a more concrete noun, closer to the bottom of the ladder, so to speak. Let's see what you guys come up with. Rubric for our Second DraftsThe rubric for your second drafts will assess the four skills from your first draft:
In our conferences on Wednesday, we'll focus on these skills. If any of you got binged on one of these areas on our first drafts, you will have an opportunity to revise and strengthen this aspect of your essay. Comments are closed.
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