Beginning a new unit of study is always difficult. Trying to determine how much your students already know, and where you need to start teaching the fundamental foundations that will be integral for everything that follow can be a make or break decision.

And, it’s not an easy decision. You don’t want students who are ready to hit the ground running to disengage, but you can’t have students who are new to the material try to press on without even knowing where the first step is.

I always side with the idea that we should build from the group up to each everyone the basics, while refreshing the concepts for those who think they know where we’re headed. But, prepare some twists and turns along the way to help welcome their knowledge to the center of the discussion, so their passions don’t make them feel disengaged, but rather fully engaged.

English Course Pack: Unit Four – Creating Writing and Choose Our Way Tales

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4.01 – Introducing the Elements of a Story

Slides 3 – 7: The Basic Parts of a Story

These first few slides help ensure that students are fully away of everything they will need to know to create the most basic, or the most advanced, short story.

• Genre
• Protagonist
• Setting

Slide 5: Talking about Genre

Sure, the slide itself is pretty basic. But that’s by design. It lists a few basic genres, and as each one is revealed on the screen, students should be prompted to provide an example of a really good text they have engaged with in that genre, and one that they don’t quite like.

By doing this, students will understand that it’s ok to say there are good stories, and bad stories. Students may even disagree on things, showing that there are different people who enjoy what other people dislike. This is an important speaking point too, because it highlights the fact that not everything can please everyone.

For example, some people may really like the movie Halloween for being a groundbreaking suspense film. Others may think it’s the most boring movie ever created.

Some may claim there is no video game superior to Mass Effect, as a ground breaking science fiction expansive reality. Others might dislike it because there’s too much taking.

Perhaps The Notebook is the best romance novel ever written. Or perhaps it’s just sappy nonsense.

People don’t have to agree on everything. And, notice how a text can be a book, but it can also be a movie or a video game. Let your students explore the concept of stories through the formats and mediums hat they are comfortable with. A story is a story no matter how it’s told.

Slide 6 – The Types of Protagonists

Similar to Slide 5, as each type appears on screen, provide students with an opportunity to discuss the definitions, and then come up with a list of all the ones they can think of.

A protagonist can be a…

• Hero
  A hero is a protagonist who chooses to do things to protect or help others. Heroes might also possess abilities beyond those of other characters – they could be powers, or just a strong sense of justice and the belief in doing what is right. They may also be role models, as they look to help others.
  
  
• Antihero
  An anti-hero lacks some of the qualities of a hero. They may not be selfless, or they may not hold to strict standards of right and wrong. They are often morally ambiguous and flawed. However, they too find themselves in situations where they face challenges, either by choice, or by being forced into the circumstances. And, at the end, their choices lead to positive impacts.
  
  
• Villain
  A villain is an often opposes heroes and anti-heroes. They can embody evil, or they can be shown as being misunderstood by a society that does not align with their own moral compass. They can be driven by a number of different things: selfishness, a desire for power, an enjoyment of causing chaos. They may be bullies with personal vendettas, or grandmasters plotting world domination. The way they see the world is very different from that of a hero or an anti-hero, but they are still characters that can be change on a large level.
  
  
• Support
  The every man character is an interesting one. Very often stories will start with the protagonist as an every man, but they quickly become one of the others. An event sets their path. But that doesn’t have to be the case. In life so many people are not heroes, antiheroes or villains. Many people just… are. And, stories can represent that. The protagonist can provide assistance, guidance, or support to the heroes or villains’ of the story. Or, they might never interact at all. Think of the tavern keeper in a fantasy realm who knows better than to go out into wilds, and has lived to be many decades old, watching heroes and villains trade places. They must have a story or two to tell, and they must be wise as in all that time, few have ever survived as long as they have. The way they would speak of the killing of the great dragon who was let lose by the evil wizard would be very different than anyone else. They weren’t there. They watched the lands change as the wizard took power, they served the heroes drinks, they watched many groups not return. But their life keeps going. They’re telling their story, which is full of the stories of others.
  

Once students have heard and understood the definitions, ask them to add or update their lists. Then ask them which one seems the most interesting. Finally give them a scenario – it could be something from science fiction like “The evil emperor has launched an attack on the home planet of Xarbella with her great fleet!” or something as simple as “A fire broke out in the middle of Centre Street, causing the 68 bus to shut down for the day.”

Ask students to write a brief paragraph of the event for each of the four protagonist types and then share them. Then ask them which type they think is most interesting, and why. After this discussion it’s time to move on to the next slide.

Slide 7 – Different Settings

There is nothing that says a story has be set in a world we understand. A dreamscape, or the inside of bubble may have different rules than we are used to. But, it should be set somewhere, even if that somewhere is nowhere. The examples provided in the slide deck are:

• An Urban Environment
• A Long-forgotten Forest
• The Endless Prairies
• Deep Below the Sea
• High Atop a Mountain
• Within your own Home

Have students brainstorm a number of different settings and then discuss what makes a setting interesting, and how the story they briefly wrote from four perspectives would be altered if the setting was changed so one of the others on the list. The bus deep below the sea would likely be a very different tale, and the fire would be of great interest. As for the evil emperor, what would she be like high atop o mountain – or even more interesting, within you own home?

Slides 8 – 11: Understanding Plot Graphs

There is no way to tell the same story twice is mirrored by t idea that there are only three types of stories – or that all stories are essentially the same story. Whatever helps you write, hold onto it, and go from there. But know that there are some things that make a story more interesting.

Is it because those thing are more interesting? Or, is it simply because we’re accustomed to seeing stories that way, and the predictive nature allows us to feel comfortable with them, and then delighted by the slight changes that take us off a mostly-familiar path?

Who can say. But that mostly-familiar path is well defined.

Slide 9: The Basic Plot Graph

Understanding the basic plot graph requires understanding the elements. Provide students with an opportunity to draw the graph, then label it, then understand the definitions and meaning of those labels, as well as the impact that telling a story in this order has.

• Introduction
  In the introduction, the story’s setting, main characters, and initial situation are established. It sets the stage for the events that will unfold.
  
  Example: There’s a bus that travels underwater, piloted by a biologist named Sarah, and packed with her colleagues who are on a research expedition to study deep-sea creatures. They seem excited about their potential discoveries.
  
  
• Inciting Incident
  The inciting incident is the event that disrupts the normal situation and sets the story into motion.
  
  Example: A sudden malfunction causes the bus to lose power and it begins to sink too deep! Now there’s a sense of urgency and danger as the characters try to find a way to survive and escape from the bus.
  
  
• Rising Actions
  The rising actions are a series of events that develop the story and build suspense and tension. They involve obstacles, conflicts, and character development.
  
  Example: The characters trying to repair the bus encounter aggressive deep-sea creatures, and then have to deal with their limited oxygen supply. Facing these obstacles evolve their relationships and shed light on who they are.
  
  
• Climax
  The climax is where the tension reaches its peak and the outcome of the story is determined.
  
  Example: The bus cannot be repaired in time and the characters must make a daring escape. They find a small escape craft and abandon the bus to navigate through treacherous underwater caves before reaching the surface.
  
  
• Falling Actions
  The falling actions follow the climax and show the effects and consequences of the climax. They resolve the remaining conflicts and tie up loose ends.
  
  Example: The characters navigate the underwater caves, encountering some danger, but also making new discoveries. They lose some of their equipment but manage to reach the surface and are rescued by a passing research vessel.
  
  
• Denouement
  The denouement is the final part of the story where the story comes to a close, and the characters find themselves in their “new normal” which will continue until the next inciting incident in their lives.
  
  Example: Sarah is safely back on land, reflecting on how her experience, and the knowledge she gained provided her with new insight into the waters below. She celebrates and decides to share the story in a scientific journal or lecture.
  

The structure of this plot graph creates an engaging narrative with a distinct beginning, middle, and end, while keeping the readers hooked, as they flip page after page to learn more about the characters’ struggles and triumphs.

Slide 10: Goldilocks

Next, demonstrate that you’re telling the truth about the plot graph. Show students that there is a structure to stories, even the most basic ones that many of them were likely read as children.

Make your way through the labels revealing the different pieces of the story, as it relates to the graph. Ask students if they can think of other stories that follow similar trajectories. They likely can, because most do.

Slide 11: The Surprise Reveal

Finally, show students the elements of a potential story, without revealing what it is. Ask them to consider what the setting for uch a story would be, and what genre they thnk it might best fit. Some will know what the story really is, right away, but others will have their own ideas. for this reason, it’s best to have them write down their thoughts on a sheet of paper, silently.

Then, have them discuss what they think, and why. After the dicussion reveal that it is the action-adventure, science fiction story Star Wars.

Invite student to use the rest of the class writing a story based on that plot graph that isn’t set in space, or that isn’t even science fiction. Show them that while stories all follow similar paths, they can be very different, too.

The Impact

Sure, maybe there’s no way to tell a new story, and maybe at their heart, all stories are the same. But, despite that, haven’t your students just seen that they can never write the same story twice, after all?

At the end of the day it’s not that only one of those two things needs to be true. Both are true, even though that seemed impossible at first. That is the beauty of stories and story writing.

That’s why they’re engaged in this lesson and this unit.

They’re creating new worlds, and reshaping the ones they already have.

Next up? Creative Writing and Choose Our Way Tales (COWtales)

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English – Unit Four: Creative Writing & Choose Our Way Tales

English Course Packs: Full Units

Unit One: Literacy Skills
Unit Two: Poetry
Unit Three: Literature Circles
Unit Four: Creative Writing & Choose Our Way Tales (In Progress)
Unit Five: Essay Writing (In Progress)
Unit Six: Culminating Tasks (In Progress)

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