ELA 9 WRITING ASSIGNMENT: TRAGEDY

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ELA 9 WRITING ASSIGNMENT TRAGEDY

• Romeo Juliet is a Shakespearean tragedy. Your
  assignment is to create a story which follows the
  plot structure of a tragedy.

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Shakespeare is a well known author who wrote in
the 1500's. Many of his plays are classified as
tragedies.
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• According to the Oxford dictionary of current
  English, a tragedy is described as a serious
  disaster or a sad event.
• In Shakespeare plays, tragedy is identified as a
  story that ends unhappily due to the fall of the
  protagonist, which is the tragic hero.
• For a play to be a tragedy, there must be a
  tragic hero. In the play Romeo and Juliet, Romeo
  is the tragic hero.

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Plot Structure of a Tragedy
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CHOOSE YOUR FORM1. 1000 word short narrative
(story)2. 500 word children's book3. 400 word
comic book/graphic narrative
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• CHOOSE YOUR INTENDED AUDIENCE
• For example,
• written for teens or adults
• written for preteens
• written for children ages 8-10
• intended for young children (pre-readers)

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• Your tragedy does not not have to end in the
  death of the protagonist as in Romeo Juliet.The
  catastrophic end to your protagonist must be
  because of their "tragic flaw".

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Example A

• Form Audience 1000 word story for Preteens
• Subject Cyber-bullying
• Protagonist Daniel (tragic flaws - too trusting
  and naive)
• Summary Daniel is a trusting 12 year old who
  befriends a new student. The student uses Daniel
  to gain power and popularity by making Daniel the
  victim of chat room stolen identity. The bully
  pretends to be Daniel and makes fun of other
  students. Daniel confronts the bully about
  pretending to be him, but it only gets worse.
  Daniel thinks about telling his teacher, but
  does't. Daniel's self-confidence and peer
  relationships at the end of the school year are
  not good. He has lost many friends because they
  think Daniel is the one saying bad things in the
  chat room.

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CREATE AN OUTLINE IN POINT FORM

• Characters (identify their tragic flaws)
• Eg. Romeo noble, impulsive, romantic
• Setting (identify time, place, passage of time)
• Exposition
• Exciting (or inciting) force
• Rising Action
• Climax or turning point
• Falling action
• Moment of final suspense
• Catastrophe

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(No Transcript)
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• BECAUSE YOU ARE WRITING
• A TRAGEDY AND MAY INCLUDE
• SENSITIVE ISSUES OR SUBJECTS,
• YOU ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE YOUR PARENT OR GUARDIAN
• APPROVE YOUR OUTLINE
• BEFORE YOU BEGIN YUR DRAFT.

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What Makes a Good Story? Tips for Young
AuthorsBy Aaron Shepard

• Good writers often break rulesbut they know
  theyre doing it! Here are some good rules to
  know.

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• Theme
• A theme is something important the story tries to
  tell ussomething that might help us in our own
  lives. Not every story has a theme, but its best
  if it does.
• Dont get too preachy. Let the theme grow out of
  the story, so readers feel theyve learned it for
  themselves. You shouldnt have to say what the
  moral is.

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• Plot
• Plot is most often about a conflict or struggle
  that the main character goes through. The
  conflict can be with another character, or with
  the way things are, or with something inside the
  character, like needs or feelings.
• The main character should win or lose at least
  partly on their own, and not just be rescued by
  someone or something else. Most often, the
  character learns or grows as they try to solve
  their problem. What the character learns is the
  theme.
• The conflict should get more and more tense or
  exciting. The tension should reach a high point
  or climax near the end of the story, then ease
  off.
• The basic steps of a plot are conflict begins,
  things go right, things go WRONG, final victory
  (or defeat), and wrap-up. The right-wrong steps
  can repeat.
• A novel can have several conflicts, but a short
  story should have only one.

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• Story Structure
• At the beginning, jump right into the action. At
  the end, wind up the story quickly.
• Decide about writing the story either in first
  person or in third person. Third-person
  pronouns are he, she, and itso writing in
  third person means telling a story as if its all
  about other people. The first-person pronoun is
  Iso writing in first person means telling a
  story as if it happened to you.
• Even if you write in third person, try to tell
  the story through the eyes of just one
  charactermost likely the main character. Dont
  tell anything that the character wouldnt know.
  This is called point of view. If you must tell
  something else, create a whole separate section
  with the point of view of another character.
• Decide about writing either in present tense or
  in past tense. Writing in past tense means
  writing as if the story already happened. That is
  how most stories are written. Writing in present
  tense means writing as if the story is happening
  right now. Stick to one tense or the other!

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• Characters
• Before you start writing, know your characters
  well.
• Your main character should be someone readers can
  feel something in common with, or at least care
  about.
• You dont have to describe a character
  completely. Its enough to say one or two things
  about how a character looks or moves or speaks.
• A main character should have at least one flaw or
  weakness. Perfect characters are not very
  interesting. Theyre also harder to feel
  something in common with or care about. And they
  dont have anything to learn. In the same way,
  there should be at least one thing good about a
  bad guy.

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• Setting
• Set your story in a place and time that will be
  interesting or familiar.

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• Style and Tone
• Use language that feels right for your story.
• Wherever you can, use actions and speech to let
  readers know whats happening. Show, dont tell.
• Give speech in direct quotes like Go away!
  instead of indirect quotes like She told him to
  go away.
• You dont have to write fancy to write well. It
  almost never hurts to use simple words and simple
  sentences. That way, your writing is easy to read
  and understand.
• Always use the best possible wordthe one that is
  closest to your meaning, sounds best, and creates
  the clearest image. If you cant think of the
  right one, use a thesaurus.
• Carefully check each word, phrase, sentence, and
  paragraph. Is it the best you can write? Is it in
  the right place? Do you need it at all? If not,
  take it out!

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• The best stories have a strong theme, a
  fascinating plot, a fitting structure,
  unforgettable characters, a well-chosen setting,
  and an appealing style. Try for all of these.

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WRITING PROCESS

• PREWRITING AND ORGANIZING (OUTLINE)
• WRITING DRAFT (DOUBLE SPACE)
• EDITING DRAFT WITH PEER
• REVISING DRAFT
• SHARING TRAGEDY WITH CLASS
• BE AWARE OF DUE DATES!

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PREPARING TO SHARE

• FINAL COPY MUST BE TYPED (SEE FORMAT
  REQUIREMENTS)
• GO THROUGH RUBRIC TO BE SURE YOU HAVE THE BEST
  STORY POSSIBLE
• HAVE FAMILY OR FRIENDS READ YOUR FINAL COPY AND
  GIVE YOU FEEDBACK

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FORMATTING YOUR NARRATIVESTART WITH YOUR TITLE
PAGE1. Set your margins to beTM 1BM
1RM 1LM 12. Choose Center
Justification3. Press enter 10 times4. Key
your title in all caps (use a larger font for the
title)(If you use Word Art place your title 2 ½
from the top)
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5. Change back to the smaller font6. Press
enter 22 times (If you used Word Artyour
should press enter 32times from the top 7 on
the ruler)7. Key your name (not all caps)
enter enter8. Key the name of your course
and teacher enter enter9. Key in the
current date
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• Enhancements to your title page
• Page Border Choose format Choose Borders and
  shading Pick a border for your page
• Graphics (should represent the story) Choose
  insert Choose picture Choose from where
  Single arrows change the size of a graphic
  Double arrows move the graphic
• Your title page should be pleasing to the eye and
  not look too busy.
• 10. Insert a Break Page Break - OK

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• INSERTING PAGE NUMBERS
• Insert Page Numbers
• Keep the position of the number at the bottom of
  the page.
• Uncheck the box that says Show page numbers on
  first page.
• Go into the Format section and change the page
  numbering to Start at 0.
• OK

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• KEYING (TYPING) YOUR STORY
• Format Paragraph Line spacing double
• Choose Left Justification
• Remember to indent paragraphs.
• You also need to indent and start a new paragraph
  every time a character speaks.
• CHOOSE A FONT THAT IS EASY TO READ

CHILDREN AND COMIC BOOKS MUST ALSO INCLUDE A
TITLE PAGE, PAGE BREAKS AND PAGE NUMBERS AND
DEMONSTRATE INFO.PRO. SKILLS.
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YOU WILL BE EVALUATED ON

• WRITING PROCESS
• CHARACTERS
• SETTING
• TRAGIC PLOT
• SENTENCE DIALOGUE FLUENCY
• SPELLING PUNCTUATION
• PRESENTATION
• CHECK THE RUBRIC

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HOW TO INSERT DIALOGUE

• Direct speech can be written in three different
  ways
• 1. Direct speech at the beginning of a sentence.
• I want each student to bring something to
  share, Mr Banks informed the class.

Remember, the speech marks go at the beginning
and end of the spoken words. Punctuation
goes before the last speech mark.
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• 2. Direct speech at the end of a sentence.
• Chelsea put up her hand and asked, How often
  should we bring something?

Notice there is a comma just before the first
speech mark. The punctuation at the end
comes before the final speech mark.
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• 3. Direct speech that is broken in the middle.
• I think once a week is fine, said Mr Banks, or
  else all our time will be taken up with sharing.

Notice there is a comma after the information
about the speaker, followed by a speech mark as
the dialogue continues.
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DIALOGUE CONT

• Writers use a new paragraph for each change of
  speaker.
• Sometimes the writer will tell something about a
  character in a complete sentence and then give
  a separate sentence as direct speech.
• LOOK AT ANY NOVEL FOR EXAMPLES!