Activity 1: CHARACTERS When Vince got to the party, he was a little bit worried that he couldn't find his friends. Vince wasn't really an awkward person, but he found it a bit awkward to stand around at a party with a bunch of people he hardly knew. Then he bumped into one of the football players, Greg. Greg was a big guy with red hair and he always gave Vince problems. "Hey, Vince? Want a beer?" Vince looked down at his soda. "No thanks, Greg. I've got to drive." Greg walked closer to Vince and puffed out his chest. "C'mon Prince Vince, you're going to turn me down?" Vince didn't have anything against drinking, even though he wasn't of the legal age, but his cousin had died in an alcohol related car accident, and he wouldn't make the same mistake. ”I’m going to have to. Not tonight, Greg," Vince said as he walked passed Greg, noticing that some of his friends had arrived. Greg crushed a beer can in his hand and grunted. 1. Who is the protagonist? __________________ 2. Who is the antagonist? __________________ 3. Is Greg a dynamic character or a static character? __________________ 4. Is Vince a dynamic character or a static character? __________________ 5. Is Greg a flat character or a round character? __________________ 6. Is Vince a round character or a flat character? __________________ Activity 2: CONFLICT Identify what type of conflict is evident in each item. 1. Jim and Mac disagreed about where they should take the dog they found. 2. Carley struggled to walk through the hot, blowing sand. 3. Sarah couldn't decide what to do that night. Should she study or should she go out? 4. In the high winds, the crew was barely able to keep the ship from tilting sideways. 5. After Mary's brother teased her about being afraid, she decided to climb the cliff. Now she stood at the foot of the cliff, wishing she could figure out a way to back out. ACTIVITY 4: POINT OF VIEW Directions: determine from which perspective the passage is narrated. If it is thirdperson, circle each time characters' thoughts or feelings are narrated. Explain your answers in the box. Viewpoints: first-person, second-person, thirdperson objective, third-person limited, and third-person omniscient. 1. The birds were chirping and the sun was shining. Kevin and Juno were sitting on a park bench together. Neither of them was smiling. After a long period of silence, Kevin said, "This isn't going to work. I mean, you're a dog person and I'm a cat person." Juno nodded. A tear rolled down her face. Kevin went on, "If we got married and bought a house, what kind of pet would we get? Some kind of cat-dog? Somebody's going to be unhappy." Juno began sobbing and said, "Ok, let's just end it now. Have fun with your slobbery dogs." She jumped off the bench and ran into the woods. Narrator's Perspective: _________________________________________________________________ Explain how you know: 2. The dew on the grass made my running shoes damp. It didn't bother me. The sound of my feet hitting the street formed a rhythm, a steady pattern of light thumps. I timed my breathing with the rhythm. These sounds filled my head. I thought of nothing other than the next step and keeping my tempo. I soared over the sidewalks like concrete clouds. Narrator's Perspective: _________________________________________________________________ Explain how you know: 3. Red looked across the prairie. He didn't see anything concerning. He wondered why Texas Joe had hollered like that. Texas Joe turned to him. The ghost that Texas Joe had just seen was gone. Texas Joe swatted at the air. Now he felt crazy. "You have to believe me, Red. It was just here," said Texas Joe. Red scowled at him in disbelief. "What was just here, Joe?" he asked. Red was angry with Texas Joe for disturbing his sleep for no apparent reason. Narrator's Perspective: ___________________________ Explain how you know: ACTIVITY 4: SHORT STORY ANALYSIS Now that you already have an idea about the elements of fiction, we are going to read a fiction, The Landlady by Roald Dahl and find out what is the story all about. Take time to read, and reread if you don’t understand it in one sitting. Take an extra effort to comprehend the story so you will enjoy it. Moreover, after the reading the selection, answer the questions that follow. The Landlady By: Roald Dahl The story is set in Bath, England. It begins with 17-year-old Billy Weaver arriving by train in Bath; he has come here from London, for a job that he has never been to bath before and knows no one in the town, other than a local ”Branch Manager” to whom he is expected to report. As Billy is dressed in a suit and carrying a briefcase, we can infer, from Billy’s interior monologue, that he is ambitious; “He was trying to do everything briskly these days. Briskness, he had decided, was the one common characteristic of all successful businessmen”. Billy must find lodging for the night. He inquires at the train station, and is told by a port that there is a pub called the Bell and Dragon not too far from the station. While Billy prefers the idea of staying in a pub to a boarding house, his eye is caught by a “bed-and-breakfast” sign in the window of one of the run-down houses he passes. He is also transfixed by the scene inside the house: he can see a parrot, and a dachshund resting in front of a fireplace. He decides that he should look at the Bell and Dragon before making up his mind; however, he finds himself strangely hypnotized by the sign in the window; “Each word was li9ke a large black eye staring at him through the glass, holding him, compelling him, forcing him to stay where he was and not to walk away from that house. Billy rings the doorbell and is met almost immediately by a pleasantlooking middleaged woman. While not introducing herself, she greets him warmly and invites him in, telling him that she has not had a visitor in a long time. She offers him a cheap rent for lodging, and Billy decides that while she seems a little eccentric-she keeps forgetting his last name, and at the same time seems oddly overjoyed to see him-he can bear her company for the low rent. The landlady shows Billy to his room, and asks him whether he would like some dinner. He tells her that he would prefer to go to bed early, as he has to start work early the next day; she asks him to please sign the guestbook in the living room first. In the guestbook, he sees two other names: Christopher Mulholland and Gregory W. Temple. He feels certain that he has seen these two names before, and moreover that the names are somehow connected; however, when he asks the landlady if her two previous guests were somehow well-known, she demurs. She does, however, tell Billy that the two “boys” were about the same age as him, and rhapsodizes over their charm and handsomeness. The landlady serves Billy tea, which has an odd, bitter taste, reminiscent of almonds. He also notices a strange smell about the landlady herself. “It was not in the least unpleasant, and it reminded him of. Pickled walnuts? New leather? Or was it the corridors of a hospital?” As he sits with the landlady, Billy grows gradually convinced that he has seen the other two names in the guestbook from newspaper headlines. He also notices that the parrot in the living room is, in fact, dead and stuffed. He compliments the landlady on the lifelike aspect of the parrot, and she points out to him that her dachshund, too, is stuffed. Billy’s reaction to this is not one of horror, but rather” deep admiration”. The reader infers the connection between these creature’s fates and his own, but Billy does not, and the story ends with him declining more tea but remaining with the landlady in her parlor. Source: www.teachingenglish.org.uk Answer the following questions. Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write your answers in your Creative Writing Journal. 1. How is the setting best described in the story? a. citing the historical period b. creating the mood or atmosphere c. describing the geographical location d. describing the weather condition 2. What is the mood or atmosphere in the story? a. nostalgic b. melancholic c. grieving d. depressed 3. What point of view is used in the story? a. omniscient b. limited c. innocent eye d. first person 4. Which is the resolution? a. The main character’s reaction was one of horror b. The main character was surprised of what he saw c. The main character’s reaction was not one of horror d. The main character declined to read the story 5. Who is the main character in the story? a. Landlady b. Billy c. Christopher d. Gregory 6. Which characterization best describes the main character? a. witty b. innocent c. persistent d. keen observer 7-11. Reread the story and identify the parts of its plot using Freytag’s Pyramid as guide.
