This week, you'll be reading a couple more short stories (the last readings of the semester!) that will hopefully help you map out the plot of your own short story. Next Wednesday the 29th, you'll turn in your prewriting for your stories. Each of your assignments will include three parts: a blow-by-blow of the events of your story, a decision on how you will structure your story, and another decision on tense and POV. Let's look at each of these. Some Thoughts on Plotting + Example from "Mariner's Revenge"You'll turn in your plots as a simple bullet point list of stuff that happens in chronological order. Simple, and yet also very challenging. Here's an example of how I would ask the Decemberists to plot the events of their song "Mariner's Revenge."
Story Structure I want you to consciously decide how you will structure your story. We've talked about two types: chronological structure and in media res. Chronological structure follows time. Your scenes move forward through time just like we do, moment after moment after moment. In media res starts in the middle of the action, and it can create interesting suspense and questions in the reader's mind. For example, "Mariner's Revenge" starts in media res. Instead of the first verse talking about the main character as an 18 year old, we start in the belly of the whale. This plants a question for the reader: "How the heck did these two guys end up inside a whale?" You can use whichever structure serves your story the best, but I want you to be ready to explain how the structure affects your narrative. POVOk, let's think about point of view. You will need to select one for your story. Let's look at some of the POV's from the stories we've read over the course of the semester:
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