Literature Workshop Homework

#001: What's in a story?

CLASS Q & A:
1. Describe how the plot moves in both the BME Method, and the Full Method. Which do you think is better, and why?
In the BME method, the plot is a very simple sort of 'three act play'. All it describes is the setting, the climax, and the end.

However, the Full Method describes not only the above, but the events leading up to each section.

In this way, the Full Method helps both you and others to better envision the story. This is why I think the Full Method is better.

2. What do you think is the most important part of the plot? Explain.
If you think about it, a story can't function without the reader knowing the setting, climax, and ending. Even though they're important, the other components of the Full Method are not as necessary as these three.

3. How does the Full Method differ from the BME Method, and why does it work more efficiently?
The Full Method and BME differ in the sense that the full method is much more concise than the BME, and thus is better suited to writing.

HOMEWORK:

Write 3 practice plots following the Full Method.

PLOT 1:
1. A girl is preparing for a violin concert.
2. She breaks up with her boyfriend over a disagreement.
3. The ex-boyfriend, angry about the fact that he's being dumped for a violin, makes plans to get even.
4. Concert night. The lights in the building all go off.
5. The boyfriend is accused of having done this, as he was supposed to be managing the lights.
6. However, he was in the bathroom and left someone else in charge. He tries to prove this.
7. He proves he's innocent.
8. He and she get back together again.

PLOT 2:
1. A young orphan comes to live with her aunt.
2. The girl proves she has a frightening passion for the outside world (which is considered poisonous).
3. As the girl makes friends in the village, she makes more and more children believe as she does-- that the outside is harmless.
4. The girl, along with one of her friends, ventures out into the unknown. The entire village is searching for them frantically.
5. Her friend falls and breaks his leg.
6. the village blames the girl for this turn of events. The girl runs away, with out the protective mask everyone should wear.
7. The aunt and an older friend of hers venture out into the unknown and bring the girl home.
8. The village realizes the outdoors are harmless-- to a point. The aunt gets married.

PLOT 3:
1. A horse is born into a unicorn herd. He's eigored mainle, because his horn hasn't grown in yet.
2. The horse sprouts wings, much to the surprise and anger of the unicorns.
3. As the pegasus tries to cover his wings, the unicorns convene and decide to outlaw him (Pegasi and unicorns are mortal enemies)
4. The pegasus goes to live with the pegasi, but they scorn him as being someone from the enemy.
5. Just as the pegasus tries to prove he has no horn, he sprouts one of those too.
6. All this time he's been searching for his parents. He happens across a cave and finds the secret.
7.
His mother and father were in love, despite being a unicorn and pegasus, and so when she found out she was pregnant, she didn't tell anyone, and he disappeared.
8. The father, having heard tales of a winged unicorn, journeys back, finds the winged unicorn and his mother, and they all live happily ever after!

#002 CHARACTERS:

CLASS : & A:
1. Which part of creating a character is the most defining? Explain.  Motivation: This is what drives the character and allows him/her to bet interesting to follow. You can have the most complex guy on the planet as a character, but if he doesn' want to DO anything, you're never going to have a story.
2. Why do most young writers fall into the 'Sue Trap'?
Most young writers fall into the Sue trap because they want to create the perfect character but don't know how to go about it.
3. Am I being honest about my character? Yes?

HOMEWORK

Write 3 character sheets for a protagonist, antagonist, and major character.

((Sorry if these aren't very in-depth. I absolutely fail at characters until I've written a novel about them. Usually. XD ))
1. Protagonist:
Is a 3-D character.
Motivation: In his own words: "I want to reunite my parents. Number two on my list is to create the perfect world, and third is to visit Hawaii."
He enjoys wearing Hawaiian shirts, sunglasses, and shorts, and he drives his mom crazy because he wears them even when it's snowing outside.
He looks like a stereotypical Irishman, only without the native brogue or red hair. Instead, nature opted for a light blonde.
His parents broke up when he was very young on account of a terrible misunderstanding, which no one is very sure of.

2. Antagonist.
Is a static character.
She wants to marry the protagonist's dad in order to advance her social status.
She wears the latest fashions and has perfectly styled dark red hair.
She's tanned, (if that's possible when you have red hair) and has a butterfly tattoo on her ankle. Her eyes are a very light blue.
She was born to a debutante and is obsessed with nails.

3. Major charcater.
Is a 1-D character.
He wants to go to police school and make tons of money. His second motivation is to help his older brother (protagonist) to get their parents back together.
He enjoys dressing up: wearing suits, ties, and good shoes.
He's led haired, brown-eyed, white-skinned, and freckled.
One of the reasons he wants to be a policeman is because he saw a man getting mugged one day and never got over it.

#003 SETTING:

HOMEWORK
Fill out The List using two different geographical examples.

1) Icy Regions
1. The six defining words of the place: Cold. Snow. Ice. Blizzards. Sub-zero temperatures.
2. The planet is earth-like.
3. Our seasons are: Winter.
Winter. Winter. Winter.
4. Igloos constructed with ice and snow serve as houses.
5. The characteristics defining rich from poor are the well-builtness of the house, hunting abilities-- ah, there isn't really a difening feature between the rich and poor, as they're ALL struggling for survival.
6. Transportation includes dog sleds and snow shoes.
7. Most people eat meat and meat, with fat as a side dish.
8. Water is obtained by boiling snow.
9. The only things you can obtain from frozen ground are snow and ice.

2) Rainforest place
1. Enormous trees, mushrooms, and vines + green, brown red, splendid colors, everything.
2. Earth-likke planet.
3. Seasons are: hot, humid, and hot, wet.
4. Trees are bored into and used as homes.
5. Rich people have beautifully decorated houses with many carvings, wheras the poor have smaller houses with fewer carvings.
6. Vines, ropes, and feet are the main forms of transportation.
7. Fruits.
8. Water is ingested from leaves and/or food.
9. Salts and anything these people want/need come from the trees.

#004 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER:

PLOT:
1. Alice falls down the rabbit hole!
(oh, wait, I have to make something new up. Um…)
THEME: A child falls into a storybook and somehow manages to change his world as well as the story's.

1. Michael, a young boy about 8 years old, loves to read. (How rare is that?) He especially enjoys pirate stories.
2. While reading one of these pirate stories, the poor boy gets sucked in-- literally.
3. He ends up in a story book where pirates rule the world-- and not always well. He's taken up by the pirates and ends up as a captain, many years later.
4. While hijacking a ship, however, he sees a story book which reveals what's happened to him. Frantic, he tries to find his way back home, but…
5. The pirates, cunning and crafty, have closed the story book connections. Now… ALL BOOKS ARE SO BORING YOU CAN'T GET SUCKED IN! INCLUDING the book Michael has found.
6. As Michael tries to find his way back, he happens upon a VERY BIG BOOK, which is full of magic spells. As he reads the book, he gains very, very much knowledge and becomes the smartest pirate ever, with the small exception of still not knowing how to get back home. He attacks the Pirate Captain Captain (that was on purpose), and forces him to make the storybooks interesting again.
7. Michael reads his life story book and lands back in his house, 8 years old again, with a story book that tells of Michael, the daring pirate.
8. Thoroughly shaken, Michael puts the book back on the shelf and scampers off to play. (eye roll).

CHARACTERS:

Michael: Protagonist, 8 years old. He loves pirates, stories, and guns. At first, he just wants to read, then he wants to be the best pirate in the world, then he wants to get back home, and then he wants to go outside and play. (See what I mean when I say I don't have any definite structure to my story? Or its components?) XD.

He's a generic little boy, who then grows into someone who looks sort of like Captain Hook, without the hook. He has soft brown hair, brown eyes, and is rather white.

He enjoys wearing pirate clothes.

Pirate Captain Captain: The evil man who knows exactly what he's doing and how to do it. Mostly. He basically wants to be the only pirate in existence, but in order to do that he has to eliminate all his henchmen, who are actually rather helpful when opening peanut butter jars. (Pirate Captain Captains love peanut butter.)

He enjoys being very well dressed, and often has coats encrusted with jewels to show off.

SETTING:

Piratical is a world where pirates rule.
Mostly, the ships ride the skies and swoop down to the small towns to grab whatever they can of riches, beer, and women.
Most pirates are men, but a few very feared ones are women (they're the pirates you DON'T want swooping down on you).
The towns basically work at their defenses while they wait for the pirates to swoop down and make off with this year's salary.
Pirate ships are often very smart objects which can make split-second decisions faster than split-second decision makers. They're the glue of the world, in a sense, because what's a pirate without a ship?
The land doesn't really matter. It's dotted with villages and fields, villages and fields. Lakes are rather a rare occurence.