Writing Homework Help

Discuss the assigned short story

http://www.webdelsol.com/Crazyhorse/STORIES/65Auth…

discussion questions:

• Identify two examples of figurative language in the story. (Be sure to read through the posts that come before yours, so you don’t repeat one!)
• What is the narrative arc breakdown in this story (conflict, crisis/turning point, resolution)?
• What is the author’s tone (or attitude toward the subject matter) in this story?
• Are you left with resonance at the end? If so, consider how the author accomplishes this. If not, rewrite the ending for us!
• When you read a few paragraphs of your own story, does the “voice” sound like you? If not, what can you do to remedy that?

part 2 respond to 3 of your peers’ writing exercises.

1. From Rog:”

• What is the author’s tone (or attitude toward the subject matter) in this story?

The author uses a tone that is surprisingly frank and direct. She gives her readers full detail and whereabouts regarding the fatal incident happened to her and her fiancé. Her voice let me believe that this is her memoir rather than a story or fiction. Perhaps in the past, she felt desperate and grieved about the incident. But contemporarily, we see a calm female who live through a tragedy. She has accepted what happened to her life. The opening of the last chapter ‘I couldn’t have saved him’ is really well written. This sentence resonates with me during those moments when I’m thinking about my past without compassion or remorse.”

2. From Char:”

• Are you left with resonance at the end? If so, consider how the author accomplishes this. If not, rewrite the ending for us!
• Yes, I understand the feeling. She thought everything was like that in the movie. She could swim, so could her boyfriend, and even if he couldn’t, she could save him. Unfortunately, this is reality, not Hollywood. She can save herself at most, she can’t save him. Everything in front of her looks like she’s trying to get out of the shadows, like she even wants to have sex with a terrible person. But in fact, she just felt guilty. She loved him very much, but she couldn’t save him.
  At the end of the story, it’s an open ending. Because the protagonist has been standing in the water, you don’t know whether she is going to drown herself, or the soul of this “resurrected” dark green eyed boy has saved her. This is a sad love story. The choice of the ending depends on what the readers think. If the readers are optimistic, the protagonist will not die. If the readers are pessimistic, the protagonist has sunk into the bottom of the lake.
  In short, in any case, for all readers, this is a tragedy, but also a love story that makes us think deeply.”

3.From Ally:

“When you read a few paragraphs of your own story, does the “voice” sound like you? If not, what can you do to remedy that?

I’d love to hear folks chime in on this question of whether the writing in their story sounds like them. This is sort of a tricky thing to revise if you think your voice doesn’t sound like you. You likely have to do it one paragraph at a time. That’s how I approach it when a story of mine just doesn’t quite sound like me. Usually it’s a matter of being more casual and nuanced and “real” in terms of how the characters think and speak. I try to pretend I’m on the phone with someone, explaining the story to a pal. Then I try re-wording one paragraph by reading it and then re-writing it from memory.”