Mr. Pender - Language Arts 7 = Short Stories

Mr. Keith Pender

Short Story Unit

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→ Questions, Journals, and Assignments for Short Stories Studied in Class

→ Story Book Assignment - Major Project

Stories Studied in Class

The Jade Peony / User Friendly / A Wish named Arnold / The Yellow Ball

The Fog Horn / Visit to the Twilight Zone / The Monkey’s Paw / Laura and the Lilies

The Phantom Dog Team / Four Men and a Box / Brother Leon / Alfred the Great / The Tubeteika Affair

Running Lava Falls / The Friday Everything Changed / I Go Along

The Jade Peony, by Wayson Choy, Page 1
Journal:
Imagine that you are one of the characters in the story “The Jade Peony.” What might you have thought felt or said on the day the grandmother died?

Questions:
1. How are the family’s values and beliefs revealed throughout the story? How do these values cause problems in Sek-Lungs family?
2. Write a character sketch of the grandmother in the story. Give three indicators.
3. What is the significance of the title of the story?
4. How does this story reflect the theme of “Mystery and Wonder”?

5. Where does the flashback begin?
6. Why is the introduction important to this story?

7. Where did Grandmama keep the Jade Peony?

8. Why was Kiam mad when their family was in the alley way?

9. Find the meaning of the following terms: Hyphenated, Decoction, Diminutive, Dissension, Abomination, Ostensibly, Precariously, Dejected, Cabalistic

User Friendly, by T. Ernesto Bethancourt, Page 80
Journal:
Imagine that you are Kevin, writing a diary entry after the story ends. How do you feel about loving your computer’s “Louise” personality? Will you prefer working with regular major electronics Model Z-11127? Do you tell anyone about “Louise”? What happens in the next encounter with Ginny Linke?

Questions:

1. What is the setting of this story?
2. Who was Louise named after?
3. What happened to Kevin on the bus?
4. What things did Louis do to make Kevin happy?
5. How did Kevin’s dad fix Louise?
6. What point of view is used in the story? Explain.

7. What is the major conflict that occurs in the story? Explain.

Assignment:
Design the personality of your ideal personal computer. Use your imagination when deciding how your computer will look, sound, and act, gender, personality, age, traits. Describe any special super powers that the computer has.

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A Wish named Arnold, by Charles de Lint, Page 46
Journal:
Imagine that you have been granted a wish. What would you wish for?

Questions:
1. Why did the author write some of the text in Italics?

2. Name all the wishes that Marguerite thought about.

3. What was the theme of this story? Explain.

Comparing Two Stories

“User friendly” and “A Wish Named Arnold” are both unusual friendships. Use the following questions to compare the stories for various literary elements.

1. What did you like best about each story?
2. How are the plots of the stories alike? How are they different?
3. Do Kevin and Marguerite seem like real people? Which narrator’s voice do you like better? Why?
4. How are the computer’s “Louise” personality and Arnold’s alike? How are they different?
5. What is each story’s message about the nature of human friendship? How do the two messages differ?
6. What do you think would happen if the two narrators became classmates?
7. Which seems more like a friend in the story, “Louise” or Arnold? Which would you rather have as a friend? Why?

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The Yellow Ball, by Phillia Pearce, Page 55
Questions:
1. Describe the ways in which Lizzie and Con act like a real brother and sister.
2. Is something about their relationship not believable?
3. Which of each character’s traits make the relationship strong?
4. How is their relationship important to the plot?

5. What point of View is used? Explain. (6 - 8 Sentences)

Identify what type (1st Person, 3rd Limited or 3rd Omniscient) and give definition

Give examples of how it is this point of view

6. Explain the conflict that occurs with

A) Dog

B) Con

Give Definition

__ VS __

Explain with examples (3 - 4 sentences)

Tell how it is resolved. (2 sentences)

Journal:
Imagine that you are Lizzie or Con and write a journal entry that the character might write two years after the story ends. How might the character then feel about the ghost-dog?

Writing Assignment

Write a descriptive story on a childhood experience. (300 - 500 words)

Focus on elaborating details and describing the relationships between characters. You may not remember all the details of the experience, therefore you have the "artistic license" to create or invent details as needed.

Things that are needed

A) Jot notes or thought web for ideas

B) Rough Draft (done in pen)

C) Complete Revising Sheet

D) Editing (done in pencil or different color pen)

E) Final Copy (either hand written or typed)

The Fog Horn, by Ray Bradbury, Page 94
Questions:
1. Find different examples of figurative language in the “Fog Horn”.

Simile = a figure of speech in which a comparison is made between two things usually thought of as being unlike except in one unusual way and using the words “like” or “as”

Metaphor = an implied comparison between two unlike things. “Like” or “as” are not used

Personification = a figure of speech in which a thing, an idea, or an object is given the qualities or characteristics of a human being

Simile | Metaphor | Personification

2. Describe the way the fog horn was to be made (page 97).

3. What drew the monster to the lighthouse? Why?

Group Writing Assignment:
Using the story as a model, think of a setting, a mood, and the personalities of two characters in a situation.
Example: two people in an elevator / first date
Both Speakers must have five sessions of talking each.
Present the assignment in a role-playing activity

Visit to the Twilight Zone - “Truck Stop”, by Phillis Griffiths, Page 130
Questions:
1. Find clues that suggest the truck stop might be out of the ordinary.
2. At what point in the story did the station seem unusual?
3. Do the details add up to a believable experience? Why or Why not?

Representing Assignment
Create a cover for this story.
    - color
    - focal point
    - title
    - author

The Monkey’s Paw, by W. W. Jacobs, Page 113
Journal:
If you had three wishes, what would they be and why.

Questions:
1. Where did the Paw come from?
2. What conflict is present in “The Monkey’s Paw”?
3. How does a writer create suspense in a story? Scan “The Monkey’s Paw” for the details & techniques that the author uses to create suspense. Identify the details and techniques like the one below.

Writing Assignment: Write an alternative ending to this story.
Group Project

Process Writing Piece Rough / Peer Edit / Final
Begin in the story where it says
“The bolt…..come down. I can’t reach it”.

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Laura and the Lilies, by K. Reed Needles, Page 11
Journal:
Think about a time when you or someone you know did something to cover up a mishap. Was the mishap ever discovered? Why might people hide a mishap? What might happen if they didn’t try to hide it?

Questions:
What point of view is used in the story?
What is the major conflict in the story? How was it resolved?
What is the theme of “Laura and the Lilies”?

Assignment:
Write this story from a different point of view for
A) Laura
B) Mother
C) Mrs. Brett

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The Phantom Dog Team, by Harry Paddon, Page 20
Predictions: What is going to happen next?
A) run to home would be safely done before any bad weather moved in.
B) Bill and Jane began to freeze quite badly
C) the strange team ahead in a burst of speed
D) he waited for some sight from within

Questions:
1. What is the purpose of the first three paragraphs?
2. What is the setting?
3. What was the conflict in the story? Explain.
4. What point of view is the story told?
5. What did each child do to pass the time while their parents were absent?
6. Why did Joe answer his father “there was no team”?

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Four Men and a Box, by Leslie Gordan Barnard, Page 27
Predictions: What do you think the story might be about from the title?

What is in the box How will the story end
A) he’d packed and sealed it when he knew, he himself was doomed
B) eye on the map to which Sykes the sailor clung
C) I can only thank you

Questions:
1. What is the setting?
2. What is the major conflict?
3. What does each character in the story do for a living?
4. Why does the box seem lighter when they exit the forest?
5. What is the symbolism of the box?

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Brother Leon, by Robert Cormier, Page 34
Journal:
Have you ever seen or heard of someone being bullied or mistreated in front of others? What did people around the situation do? What happened?

Predictions: page 39 the bell rang…get out of that terrible place

Questions:
1. What lesson was Brother Leon trying to teach?
2. Did the lesson Brother Leon was trying to teach his students justify his techniques?
3. What is the major conflict? Is it resolved? Explain.
4. Write an extension to the story from the point of view of either Jerry or Bailey. How would they explain their experiences to peers? What would their friends think of what happened?

Assignment:
Stereotyping - assigning characteristics to an entire group
False Analogy - making an inaccurate comparison between two people or things
Overgeneralization - drawing a conclusion about an entire group from a small sample
Oversimplification - attributing something to only one cause when there are many

“But look at the evidence, Bailey. Your marks - all A’s, no less. Every test, every paper, every homework assignment. Only a genius is capable of that sort of performance”.
“I’ll admit you look like {a genius} - those glasses, that pointed chin, that wild hair…”
“Only God is perfect, Bailey….Do you compare yourself with God?”
“If god is perfect and you are perfect, Bailey, does that suggest something to you?”
“The other alternative, Bailey, is that you are not perfect…..Which leaves us with only one conclusion …. You cheat!”

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Alfred the Great, Mary B. Smith, Page 41
Journal:
List problems that some students encounter in school. What can peers do to convince others that they are good at something?

Questions:
1. How did Mrs. Brown use Alfred to strip away Gerald’s pretenses?
2. How did she get Gerald to admit that he was alliterate?
3. How did Mrs. Brown convince him that he was capable of reading?
4. What is the theme of this story?
5. What is the major conflict in the story?
6. What is the surprise ending to this story?

Assignment:
As a book cover - illustrate the scene on page 41

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The Tubeteika Affair, by Vytaute Zilinskaite, Page 83
Journal:
Think of a time when you or someone else lost something important to a person? Did you/they replace it? Did you/they let the person know you/they lost it? Did the person react? How would you make it up to the person?

Questions:
1. What was Dota’s personality like?
2. Why did his peers ask him for advice?
3. Explain how “reaching beyond borders” is a good theme for this story.

Assignment:
Write a Dear Dota letter about a real or imaginary problem. The problem can be serious or humorous. After writing your letter to Dota, exchange papers with another student and write an answer to the partners letter.

Running Lava Falls, by China Galland, Page 94
Journal:
Would you be willing to risk your life to accomplish a feat like white water rafting, sky-diving, bungee jumping or mountain climbing? Why or Why not? What things if any are worth risking one’s life over?

Questions:

1. What is the setting?
2. What is the major conflict in the story?
3. Reexamine the story, noting descriptive details that make the experience easier to visualize and understand.
4. Explain how “teamwork triumphs” is a good theme for this story?

Representing Assignment:
Create a cover for this story.
    - color
    - focal point
    - title
    - author

The Friday Everything Changed, by Anne Hart, Page 114
Questions:
Why do you think the girls in this story were successful in bringing about change?
How would this story be different if the A) teacher had been male B) fouled out instead of hitting a home run C) Alma hadn’t questioned why girls never get to carry water
Has Miss Ralston’s decision changed the way her students think about themselves and about gender roles.
What is the theme of the story?
What is the major conflict in the story? Is it resolved? How?

Assignment:
Questions for Grandparents
1. What was school like when you went to school? Activities.
2. How were schools heated? Was there running water?
3. What did you normally eat at school?
4. How did you get to school?
5. What things are different than what it is today?

I Go Along, by Richard Peck, Page 34
Questions:
1. What point of view is used in the story? Explain.

2. Is the writer happy at the end of the story? Explain.

3. What conflict is Gene going through? Explain.

4. Identify the examples of stereotypes given in this story.