Flash Fiction Unit: Process Work Click on the links to access materials and resources
The goal is learning what makes a good story through looking at your taste as a reader, authorial craft, analysis, and writing them yourself.
- Read the poem "This is a Photograph of Me" by Margaret Atwood. Even though this is a poem, it still tells a story about the main character - the narrator and how they feel about themselves. We're doing this is class - and then write a paragraph analyzing the meaning on the back. See my example of not enough detail vs a strong paragraph of analysis here.
- Twitterature, or extremely short form stories / micro-fiction. Read these examples discussed in class and do this writing exercise.
- See this master list of literary codes and conventions (AKA devices, techniques) and/or this quick cheat sheet handed out in class
Week of Sept. 8: "Currents". Read and annotate "Currents" by Hannah Bottomy Voskuil; first published in Quarterly West in 2004. Listen to it here, but pay attention to the print text as you listen since there is at least one significant error. The link above to the story online should be Word Q compatible. Do the note-sheet to this story. Do the writing exercise inspired by this story typed to a minimum of 300 words.
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Since you can write in any genre, here are some reminders for you about the conventions of different genres. See video at right, there is a good section starting at 7:20 with mystery and then covers many more genres quickly. You can also check out these articles: "What Are the Different Genres of Literature? A Guide to 14 Literary Genres" and/or "The 17 Most Popular Genres in Fiction and Why They Matter".
Sauvé example of a detailed notesheet to "The is Photgraph of Me" by M. Atwood |
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Week of Sept. 15: "Likeable". Read and annotate "Likable" by Deb Olin Unferth. If you have Word Q, the link should be compatible. Do the note-sheet to this story. Do the writing exercise inspired by this story.
Week of Sept. 29 “The Coat”. Read and annotate "The Coat" by Lex Williford and do the note-sheet to this story. Do the writing exercise inspired by this story AND complete your Independent Reading Flash Fiction Stories of 4 stories - the long notesheet.
Sauvé example of notemaking to this story.
Sauvé example of notemaking to this story.
Week of Oct. 7 "Taylor Swift”. Read and annotate "Taylor Swift” by Hugh Behm-Steinberg. If you have Word Q, the link should be compatible. The story begins AFTER the review by Steve Almond. Do the note-sheet to this story. Do the writing exercise inspired by this story.