Paragraph 6

Novel Study: Paragraph 6 

Conflict: Conflict is often expressed in the following terms:

 

 

 

 man vs. self                                        man vs. man

 

                                                                       

 

 

                                                                man vs. society

 

 

 
 
Write a paragraph that identifies the central conflict of the narrative and show how that conflict is both developed and resolved.

 

Remember that your paragraph should contain a hook and clincher (come full circle)!

Ex:       Struggling against the forces of a democratic government can often seem daunting, but that struggle pales in comparison to struggling against the unbridled power of a totalitarian regime. In Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four Winston’s essential conflict is best described as Man vs. Society. Winston sees the injustice in a government that continually alters history by rewriting historical records and destroying the truth. He lives in a state of perpetual angst when confronted daily by the illogical contradictory platitudes, “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery and Ignorance is Strength” (Orwell, 1948, p. 3). Winston is a paranoid individual who is constantly worried that his thoughts will betray him - that he is guilty of “thought crime”. He grapples with blatantly illogical doublespeak and cannot reconcile himself to an easy peace with the political environment in which he exists. In Nineteen Eighty-Four the eventual resolution of Winston’s conflict with society only transpires when he loses the struggle, when he is broken by the indisputable power of the totalitarian state. One learns through the experience of reading this narrative that the power of the state will almost always triumph over the will of the individual. Conflict with society, that entails a struggle to reconcile oneself with an illegitimate state, is not likely to end on a positive note.

 

 

 

           

Paragraph 5

Climax to resolution: like the punch line of a joke or the answer to a riddle, the narrative climax is the point of highest interest in a story. The climax is often followed by a resolution to the conflict(s) of the story and a conclusion.

On Freytag’s Pyramid the climax is shown as the peak of his PLOT GRAPH. The falling action and conclusion show another horizontal line that is somewhat elevated from the horizontal of the introduction. The idea is that after reading the story you, also, are in a heightened state of awareness or understanding.

Write a paragraph that explains why the book you are reading should leave its readers in a heightened state of awareness or understanding. Consider: thematic relevance; vocabulary; literary expression; literary device; development of character

Remember that your paragraph should contain a hook and clincher (come full circle)!

Ex:       In the throes of intimacy Julia and Winston are ambushed and arrested. In Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four the unexpected climax and eventual resolution of Winston’s conflict with society carry such a strong theme that one cannot help but be intellectually stimulated by the story. The climax is as inevitable as his subsequent torture and the final breaking of his spirit. After their arrest both Julia and Winston visit room 101 where they each betray the other and succumb to the totalitarian power of the state. One learns through the experience of reading this narrative that the power of the state will almost always triumph over the will of the individual.

Paragraph 4

Theme

Great stories, like the one you are reading are often great because they convey themes. Theme is defined as a message that the writer wishes you to get from his story.

The central idea may be expressed as a singular encompassing theme, while at the same time there are often lesser themes within the story.

Theme is expressed as a complete thought that is open to interpretation: 

§    War is a futile endeavour that is best avoided by both leaders and their citizens

§  The bonds of blood are often stronger than those forged by friendship.

Prepare a 5 in 1:

Write a thematic statement that you feel best encompasses the author’s central idea in the novel that you are reading.

Write a paragraph that explains how the theme is developed in the novel.

Quote a few lines that you feel best capture the theme. Cite the quotation according to AMA format. (author's last name, year of publication, page #)

Create an image that you feel best captures the theme. (Think of an image that reflects the themes above: bonds of family vs. bonds of friendship or the futility of war. How would you draw these themes?

Write a title that encompasses all of the other elements of this assignment!

Paragraph 3 Novel Study

Novel Study: Paragraph 3
 

Rising Action: often events in a story that lead to heightened suspense will inevitably lead to a point of greatest interest, or climax.

 

Along with Setting, Character and Causative Incident, Rising Action is a part of the dramatic structure of a story. Freytag developed a way to graphically illustrate the dramatic structure of a story in a PLOT GRAPH, which is also referred to as Freytag’s Pyramid.

In a work of fiction there is usually rising action. Write a paragraph that explains how rising action or suspense is created in the story that you are reading. Trace the sequence of 2 or 3 or even 4 events that serve to heighten suspense.

 

Remember that your paragraph should contain a hook and clincher (come full circle)!

 

Example paragraph with some missing lines!

(Hook) When Winston saw the words, “I love you” on the slip of paper that the black haired girl surreptitiously slipped into his hand he knew his life was about to change. The reader also senses at that Winston’s life is about to change. This is one in a series of two more events that Orwell uses to add suspense to his novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four… (here you would include two more events that typify rising action)… You can be sure, as a reader, that when the main character gets a love note from a dark haired stranger, that there’s going to be some action in the story. (clincher)

Novel Study Paragraph # 2

Novel Study: Paragraph 2 

Every story worthy of that name has a conflict, and conflict is the direct outgrowth of a causative incident (CI). From the story that you are reading, identify the CI and write about how that CI came about and what likely conflict it will encourage.

Writing the paragraph: unity and coherence:

A paragraph is unified when it stays on topic.

A paragraph is coherent when the point made is clearly made. 

To achieve unity and coherence write a paragraph that outlines the CI and indicates what likely conflict will transpire. 

The criteria for this paragraph: 

• Maintaining unity
• Achieving coherence
• writing in active sentences
• using at least one correlative conjunction

To add style to your writing play with your words. Add a hook that you return to in the concluding sentence.

 

 

Example:

            (hook) When you look around at others you probably assume that people are all the same - and that only you are different. Well, in that regard we are all the same - we each like to think that we are the different one! In Sherman Alexie’s novel, Part Time Indian, the main character, Junior, likes to think that he is unique. This wildly original thinking, though, is what leads to the causative event in this book. Junior, a Okanagan native boy, leaves his rez school in central Washington to attend a white school in the nearby town of Reardon. Because he’s fought with his teacher at his reservation school, Junior makes the decision to attend Reardon High School, and consequently finds himself between two worlds, the world of his native heritage and his adopted white culture. Without a doubt this causative incident should lead to plenty of conflict, in the variety of both man versus man and man versus self. So, the next time that you are looking around to see that everyone else is the same, give your head a shake and realize that there are as many differences as there are people out there! (clincher)

Paragraph 1 Assignment

Mr. Laven

English 10 Novel Study: Paragraph  1 Blog - section 1 of the novel!

Oct. 21 - Due Oct. 28 

While reading the novel select one quotation which “strikes” you and write it down. Include a proper reference to the quotation you select. 

“To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.”   (Martel, Life of Pi, p.28)

The reason for selecting a specific quotation should be because it… 

Annoys you…
Angers you…
Inspires you…
Frustrates you…
Makes you think…
Confuses you…
Reminds you…

Etc.

1. Copy verbatim the quotation and reference accordingly. State which of the above apply to the selected quotation.
2. Tie the quotation to the story in such a way as to give a bit of background to it.
3. In a clearly structured paragraph respond to the quotation with an explanation about why the quotation addresses one of the above concerns. (topic sentence, developing sentences and concluding sentence)
4. POST your paragraph in your blog!

EXAMPLE 

“To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.”   (Martel, Life of Pi, p.28) is a quotation that greatly inspires me because of its inherent message about agnosticism. Pi is a young boy in India who is searching for his spiritual beliefs and he samples Hindustani, Islam, Christianity and Judaism. He also ponders agnosticism which is the state of being unsure about whether there is a god. When Pi compares agnosticism as a religious option to standing still as a means of movement I'm inspired by both the wit and the humour. Wit, because he is playing with analogies to make a point about a belief system and humour, because the comparison leaves me with the images of a doubtful person trying to believe something and a stationary person trying to get somewhere. Martel is a master of the story because he is able to inspire his readers with thoughtful and funny images that his character conjures up in the telling of his story. In this novel the narrator/hero maintains deep religious convictions which are explored throughout the novel.

Every Picture Tells a Story

The Penticton Art Gallery

In response to the art gallery visit, write a blog about your experience. Please refer to the writing template provided to you on the day of our walk to the art gallery.

     Enjoy your writing. An essay, when well constructed has an introductory paragraph that prepares your author for what's to follow. In the case of this assignment, you will be writing about your trip to the art gallery and about one of the works of art that you wanted to explore in greater depth. If you wish to write whimsically, introduce the essay with humour. If your intent is to be interpretive, begin with a thoughtful observation. What's most important, though, is that as you write the essay, you develop your ideas so that they flow naturally, from one to the next. Each sentence in your paragraphs should serve to develop the goal and expectations of the art gallery trip. A comment on your own walk back to the school might be a good way to conclude the essay. Most importantly, though, enjoy the process of creation, for that is what writing really is - creating.

 

This is a full K (1024 words) or half K (512 words) composition.

Please have your post completed by Wednesday morning.

The Bucket List

Composition: Create a "bucket list" of what you'd like to have accomplished before you are 25. Your list should have at least ten (10) items.

http://bucketlistlesson.wikispaces.com/file/detail/BucketList.ppt

When you have completed the assignment as outlined in the PowerPoint presentation, post your completed bucket list to your blog.