Well, we've made it to the end of our second unit,
and we've read some great short stories along the way. What did you think of our little book club?
Hey, Mia, what was your favorite short story? [Mia beeps enthusiastically]
Ah, yes, you were a very big fan of "The Masque of the Red Death." That's a classic,
but it's a little too dark for my taste. I think my favorite was "The Hunter's
Lodge Case." I love a good mystery. What about you? What was your favorite story?
You know, all the stories we read were written a long time ago. There's parts of them that I
just can't relate to that well, and there are some stories that just don't suit my personal
preference. I can think of a few things I would change about some of these stories if I were
the author. Oh, oh! This is actually what we'll be doing with our final project. Now, this is a
great time to reflect before we move on. In your PDF, answer the following question: If you could
change one story from this unit, which story would you change, and what would you change about it?
Pause the video now and resume when you're ready to continue.
What did you come up with? You'll have the opportunity to take that
story and make it your own, so let's get started.
In today's lesson, we'll go over the final project you'll complete for Unit 2 of this
course. Our objectives for today are to develop an understanding of the narrative
writing project and brainstorm and plan a reimagined version of a short story.
This week, you'll be completing a narrative writing project. The goal of your project is
to write a reimagined version of one of the short stories from this unit.
This means you will use the original story as a roadmap for your own story,
but you'll be able to change key elements of the story however you would like.
The elements of stories that you'll be able to change for this project are setting,
characters, conflict, and point of view. You may choose two to three of these elements to change
for your version of the story while keeping other elements intact. Your finished project
should still be recognizable as the story you selected while being unique and your own creation.
Before we get started brainstorming, you'll need to decide which story to focus on. You
may want to consider your overall understanding of the story, the length of the story, and your
personal preference when making this decision. Pause the video now and decide what story you'd
like to reimagine. Indicate your choice in your PDF and then resume when you're ready to move on.
Are you excited to make that story your own? Let's start brainstorming.
The
first aspect of your story that we'll be considering is the setting.
Do you remember when we talked about all the places that reading can take us
to? To review, the setting of a story refers to the location where and the time when the story
takes place. For example, "The Masque of the Red Death" takes place in a castle-like monastery, a
long time ago. Can you imagine how different that story would be if it were set in modern times?
Where could it take place? A billionaire's private island? A powerful CEO's mansion? Now consider,
how would the story itself be different if we changed the setting?
Well, it could really impact the characters and conflict,
but we'll talk more about that later. Now, take a few minutes to think about
the setting of the story you selected. Will you keep the setting or change it?
If you're choosing to change the setting, when and where will you change it to?
Pause the video now and complete the brainstorming activity for the setting of your story.
What did you come up with? Whether you change the setting or kept it the same,
I know your story will turn out great.
Now it's time to talk about characters. To review, characterization is the method
used by an author to bring a character to life by revealing their traits, emotions, and behaviors.
In your reimagined story, you can change the traits of some of the characters if you want to.
Think about the last story you read: "The Hunter's Lodge Case," by Agatha
Christie. What if the renowned detective Hercule Poirot was actually a kid? That's
right, Hercule Poirot: Boy Detective. How could changing Poirot's age change the story?
When we're considering changes to the characters in our reimagining, we should make sure to look
closely at the setting, especially if we decide to change it from the original story. For example,
if I changed the setting of "The Masque of the Red Death" to be a billionaire's mansion in present
day, I would probably change the main character as well. Instead of Prince Prospero, maybe I would
have the main character be a wealthy businessman named Paul Prospero. [Mia chimes in with an idea]
That is a great point, Mia. Why not change the gender? So, we could have a powerful
female CEO. Let's call her Paula Prospera. After all, these days, women can achieve
the same levels of success and wealth as men can. Now, take a few minutes to think
about the characters in the story you selected. Will you change anything about the characters?
If you want to change the setting, how will that impact the characters?
Pause the video now and, in your PDF, record the main characters that you will include in
your story, along with any details about them you plan to change from the original story.
Now that you've recorded the characters in your story, let's talk about conflict.
Remember, in stories, conflict is a problem or challenge that a character has to face.
Conflicts can be internal, like a character who's struggling to make a decision, or external,
like a conflict between two characters in the story. Stories can have more than one conflict,
but there is usually a primary conflict that drives the plot of the story forward.
For instance, the main conflict in "The Emperor's New Clothes" is an
external conflict between the emperor and the imposter weavers who trick him.
But maybe your version of the story will be "The Emperor's New Nose," in which the emperor
is self-conscious about his nose and is trapped in an internal conflict with himself over whether
or not he should have a powerful wizard change it. Hey, it's your story. It can be as silly as
you want it to be. And just think, maybe at the end, the emperor would learn to love himself just
the way he is. Pause the video now and, in your PDF, plan the major conflict of your story. You
may choose to keep the conflict the same or change it, but be sure to indicate what the conflict is.
Wow, I'm sure that conflict is really going to drive the plot forward.
That brings us to the last element of short stories that we'll brainstorm today.
Point of view is the perspective an author uses in writing and the lens through which the reader
experiences a text. For your reimagined short story, you'll want to decide between first-person
point of view and third-person point of view. Remember, a story told from first-person point
of view is told by a character in the story. The audience only knows the internal thoughts
and feelings of that character. First-person point of view uses pronouns like "I," "me," "my," "we,"
"us," and "our." On the other hand, a third-person story has a narrator that exists outside of the
story. Depending on the type of third-person point of view that's used, we may know the internal
thoughts and feelings of all the characters, just one character, or none of the characters.
Third-person point of view uses pronouns like "he," "she," "they," "his," and "her." Most of
the stories we've read were originally written in third-person point of view,
with the exception of "The Hunter's Lodge Case," which is written in first-person.
Changing a story's point of view can really alter the reader's perspective, so,
think carefully about the point of view you want to use for your reimagined short story. You know,
if "The Open Window" were told from a first-person point of view, I think it would totally change
the whole story. Imagine if we only had Framton Nuttel's point of view! We'd have a real ghost
story on our hands. There would be no way for the audience to know that the spooky story was just a
lie to scare Framton. Pause the video now and, in your PDF, choose a point of view for your story.
Be sure to answer the follow-up question depending on the point of view you choose.
Now, we're almost ready to wrap up today's lesson, but first, we should take one last look at all the
brainstorming we did. First, make sure that you changed two to three elements of the story. As you
review the changes you've decided to make to the story, make sure that everything works together.
For example, if you chose to change the conflict or point of view,
will it have any impact on the setting and characters that you've planned?
Pause the video now and take a moment to review the brainstorming that you've completed today,
making note of any additional changes you may have to make.
Wow, look at all the planning you did for your narrative writing project. You've done
some solid brainstorming today, and you're off to a great start on your reimagined short story.
You'll continue to work on this story for the rest of the week. Then, it's on to Unit 3. Well,
that's all for today's lesson. Farewell, literary adventurers. Read, write, and inspire.