English 221: Intro to Creative Writing
Agenda: February 28

• Leondardo the Terrible Monster & Narrative Design
• Make an Inverted Checkmark Diagram for your freewrite story, assigning each of the following:
  • ground situation (the unstable, but static situation preceding the story)
  • dynamic vehicle (that which jolts the story out of it static state and makes it dynamic)
  • incidents in the rising action sequence (how many are there? name them)
  • turning point (that point in the story where the character clearly changes, often a moment of decision)
  • denouement (the story's resolution)
• Did you leave any of these aspects of story design out of your story? How might you remedy this in revision?
• Do the same diagram, in groups, for Robert Hass's "A Story about the Body".
• Also, discuss answers to the following questions:
  • Who is the protagonist of the story?
  • What is the protagonist's problem rooted in character, not in the situation?
  • For what character do you have the most sympathy? Why?
  • How does the composer change?
  • How does the painter change?
  • Is this the story of someone who goes on a journey or is this a story of a stranger coming to town?
  • How is the story a power struggle?
  • How does the story demonstrate both connection and disconnection?
  • What is the significance of the bowl of rose petals and bees?

FOR NEXT TIME: 3/4

READ: Robert Olen Butler's "Missing" 176-182

WRITE: A 2-3 page reading response on "Missing" in which you assign all the principal elements of the story triangle. For each element, justify your claim, using PIE (Point, Illustration from the text, Explication) to organize your paragraphs. In your reading response, also write individual paragraphs which discuss:

• the protagonist's problem rooted in character
• How the story is a power struggle
• How the story demonstrates connection and disconnection

Please note that I am asking for a reading response of at least 9 fully developed paragraphs:

1. introductory paragraph (includes brief summary)
2. ground situation
3. dynamic vehicle
4. rising action
5. turning point
6. denouement
7. problem rooted in character
8. power struggle
9. connection and disconnection