Thursday, January 31, 2008

Short story blog assignment comment criteria

I would like your short story comments to answer the following five questions:

I - Describe your personal reaction to the story. How do you feel after reading it? What do you remember? What images do you see? What concepts or ideas are in your head? What did the story make you think about?

II - Does the main character change over the course of the story? If so, what is his or her great insight or epiphany? How is this change important to the story? How would the story be different if the character didn't change?

If the main character does not change, explain why it was important that he/she remain static throughout the tale. How was the story arc dependent on the main character's personality?

III. What was your favorite part of the story? Did it occur in the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, or resolution? Pick a line that you liked, copy and paste it into the comment box, put quotes around it, and explain what it was about it that stood out to you.

IV - Overall, what is this tale's best quality? It could be its characters, the conflict, the resolution, the description of the setting, the story arc, use of dialogue, etc. Use specific details and references to the story to explain why you thought this was its best strength.

V - What is one piece of advice that the author might consider for future writing assignments? This should be phrased constructively (try doing ------- next time, consider --------) or inquisitively (what do you think would happen if you -------------?)

Comments should be two to three paragraphs (8 to 12 well-written, informative sentences). Your comments should appear below the story you are responding to. When asked to choose an identity, click "nickname," then sign your comment with your first name and last initial. Comments not posted according to these instructions will be deleted.

I would like you to respond to a minimum of two essays per class (6 total). The essays will be up by the end of school on Thursday, Jan. 31st.

* Please bring a printed copy of your comments to class on Monday, Feb. 4th, as I will check them then. Your classmates and I thank you for your valuable feedback.
Six comments = a "check"
Nine comments = a "check plus"

For general information about posting blog comments, please click here.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Cool stuff. My site http://www.shadowdaily.com has some short stories, too. We're like sister sites, you and me. Nice to meet you, Neighbor.

Anonymous said...

If you like to share stories, you should check out StoryPassers.com. You can join in and help make the story come to life, by adding your part of the ongoing story. Or you can start your own story. It's really fun!

Anonymous said...

If you like to share stories, you should check out StoryPassers.com. You can join in and help make the story come to life, by adding your part of the ongoing story. Or you can start your own story. It's really fun!

Anonymous said...

Very Nice Post!
Thanks a lot for your blog!