Wed. 9/24 Conflict

That's a picture of one vicious cassowary (part of the main conflict in the story "The Adventures of Mega Chicken" by Rikke Jorgensen)

Handout: Travel Writing Conflict

1. Wrote about a conflict from our lives.
2. Watched travel video clip: Justine and the Guinea Pig; wrote a descriptive paragraph about her experience
3. Discussed/reviewed these essential elements to writing a good climactic moment:
a. internal dialogue
b. similes and metaphors (these are actually good for all kinds of writing, but we happened to talk about them today to take your descriptive writing one step further.)

4. Had time in class to polish one descriptive paragraph and get comments from a classmate in preparation for the homework.

5. AM only: stand up and vote activity with cultural taboos.

If you were absent:
Complete the Conflict worksheet - pasted below. Check out the notes on internal dialogue and similes/metaphors below.

Metaphors and Similes -
Similes: Use like/as
“I howl like a dog with his tail caught in the door and gallop toward the birds.” (from “The Adventures of Mega Chicken” by Rikke Jorgensen)

Metaphors: direct comparisons
My fear, a clenched fist knotted tight in the pit of my stomach, kept me silent…for the moment. But, the next thing I knew…

Internal Dialogue:
“For God’s sake, it’s just an eighteen-inch-high chicken,” I told myself sternly.
(from “A Bird in the Hand…” by Linda Christie)
OR:
For God’s sake, it’s just an eighteen-inch-high chicken, I told myself sternly.

Writing Practice Sheet: Conflict Name ________________________

Notes Sample Conflict Paragraph
“Now after five hours’ struggle though this pungent sauna, three hungry-looking birds are eyeing me with apparent malicious purpose and I don’t know what to do. But the decision makes itself when one bird struts forward with regal composure. After a deep breath and a quick brow swipe to get the drenched hair out of my eyes, both halves of the adrenal “fight or flight” reaction kicks in. I run and yell. Making noise, I hope, will both confuse the enemy and propel my escape velocity, so I howl like a dog with his tail caught in the door and gallop toward the birds. One quickly retreats into the brush, but two hold firm on the trail, seemingly taken aback by the development of the events. Before they have a chance to kill me, I sprint between them. My arms brush against feathers and I catch a whiff of their sharp, foreign bird-smell, then I am gone, gasping toward safety.” (from “The Adventures of Mega-Chicken” by Rikke Jorgensen”)

Conflict + Consequences = Suspense
Consider the following list of conflicts:
• A punishment
• An accusation
• A lie
• Hurting someone’s feelings
• Sneaking into a theater, the circus, etc.
• Avoiding someone, something
• A scary encounter
• A theft
• An encounter with a rival
• An encounter with an authority
• A close game, match, meet, etc.
• An accident
• Getting caught in a storm
• Getting out of something
• Attempting to achieve a goal
• A fight
• Giving something up
• An embarrassing moment
• An unexpected arrival
• Having to make a difficult decision


Pick one of the examples of conflict from above that you’ve experienced in your own life. Describe the height of the conflict in a paragraph below. You don’t need to explain all the details of the conflict, just pinpoint the climax, and describe the emotions and/or actions of that moment. Describe the moment in slow motion by using sensory details!
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Travel Story Conflict: Research
Now that you’ve selected a setting for your travel story, research some potential conflicts for your travel story. Your conflict should be closely related to your setting and tell the reader something about the culture. Make a list of at least 5 possibilities below. Look into cultural rules or superstitions, common modes of travel, and/or other elements of your setting in order to come up with some realistic possibilities. Make sure that the conflict is simple enough that you will be able to describe it in your short (2 – 3 pages) story.

1. ____________________________________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________________________________

4. ____________________________________________________________________________

5. ____________________________________________________________________________

Grading:

____/10 Five conflicts
• all realistic possibilities for the setting
• all short enough for a 2-3 page story
• all reveal something about the culture where the story takes place


Travel Story Conflict: Slow Motion Point-of-no-Return Paragraph

Circle one of the possible conflicts from your brainstorm list above. Write a paragraph that could be the climax scene of your story. Make sure to describe the moment in slow motion using sensory details and active language to show what’s happening (internally and/or externally.)

Your work will be graded as follows:

___/2 Formatting: Typed, double-spaced, 12 point font, 1” margins, appropriate heading (Name, section, date, assignment name)

___/9 Effectively uses sensory details to describe the point of no return (a.k.a. climax) happening in slow motion
• Includes internal dialogue
• Includes at least one metaphor or simile

___/9 Fluency (Uses a variety of sentence structures, beginnings, patterns; uses commas appropriately – for introductory clauses and avoids comma splices)