EWC4U1-Herd
Activities for Student Written Short Stories
1) PLOT
 Categorize the plot of your story as one of Milieu, Idea, Character, or Event (MICE). Explain
why. If your story does not fit one of these categorizes, explain how you will change the plot in
order for it to become one of the MICE categories.
2) STRUCTURE
 Choose one of the short story structure diagrams and plot your story on the diagram.
3) CHARACTER
 Using the information page given, write a character profile for two of your characters.
4) DIALOGUE
 Choose one of the characters in your story. Write a dialogue using this character, placing him/her
in two different situations: one in which the character is comfortable, and one in which he/she is
not (these two sets of dialogues could be directly from your story or they could be separate). Note
how your character sounds and speaks in each situation.
 Consider the combination of “showing” and “telling” information about characters. Have you
used this in your story? Where can this be added or changed? Experiment with a section of your
story, incorporating both showing and telling.
5) PERSPECTIVE
 What is the perspective or point of view of your story? Is it effective? Could it be changed to be
more effective?
 Take a part of your story and change the perspective. Rewrite that section of the story from a
different perspective. Examine the differences in the story as a result of the new perspective.
6) SETTING
 Consider the Setting as Symbol Chart. Are any of the symbols listed evident in your story
already? If so, do the symbols match the meanings in the chart? Explain. If not, can you add any
of the symbols to enhance your story? Explain.
 Identify whether your setting is an essential setting, a generic setting, a symbol, a character, or an
atmosphere. Explain.
7) LANGUAGE
 Examine the language you have used in your story. Consider imagery, symbolism, figures of
speech, sentence structure, grammar, and word choice. Ask yourself: “Did I, as a writer, mean to
do it?” Did you intend to use certain aspects of language or were there any accidental elements?
How can you manipulate the language you have used in order to create different effects in the
story? Focus on three aspects of language and incorporate them into your story (eg. imagery,
word choice, and 1-2 figures of speech).