AGENDA
Vocabulary 5-9
Discussion: A Well-Told Story
In-Class Writing
Focus on the climax of your event. Use the strategies we have discussed so far—dialogue, description, metaphors and similes, and sentence length—to make it dramatic and meaningful.
The Game
• Get into your teams• Discuss the words on the next slide for five or so
minutes and prepare to compete• Each team will send one member to the board in
rotation. • I will read a definition• The first team member to write the correct definition
on the board scores a point for their team. • Teams earn participation points for each correct
answer• The team with the highest score at the end of the
game earns not only the glory of winning but also five additional participation points.
REVIEW: This is what we have all ready written!
Introduction and long quotation
Transition and intro to your event
The thesis
Description of place(s) and people
A dialogue or two
The significance of your event
Your framing plan.
A Well-Told Story
To keep readers’ interest, even the most exciting stories, like Dillard’s story of being chased through city streets and backyards, need to be organized in a way that builds suspense and tension. A common way to represent the dramatic organization of a narrative is with a pyramid:
Exposition: Background information is presented, the scene set, and characters introduced.
Rising Action: The basic conflict is set off by an inciting incident, arousing curiosity and suspense, and possibly leading to other conflicts and complications.
Climax: The emotional high point, often a turning point marking a change for good or ill, is reached.
Falling Action: Tension subsides and conflicts unravel, but may include a final surprise.
Resolution: Conflicts come to an end, but may not be fully resolved.
Use short and long sentences to control the intensity of your narrative.
Use dialogue to convey immediacy and drama
Use description so the reader can see the scene or people in the scene
Use metaphors and similes to explain quickly how someone is acting or feeling.
1. Focus on the climax of your event. Write a paragraph describing the action (the emotional high point of your story)
Strategy Review
HOMEWORK Write: Work on your draft. Post #14: Start integrating the pieces into one coherent essay.
The Beginning Set the frame: Long quotation; explanation; transition; thesis
The Body Exposition: descriptions of places, people, and dialogue worked into a
narrative form. The Rising Action: Events or tension leading to the climax The Climax: The emotional high point! (short and long sentences for
suspense) The Falling Action: Tensions subside
The Ending The Resolution The significance of the event The framed conclusion