Page 23 - Journeys C1 (Workbook)

Lıterature 2

E. Discuss the following sentences in groups. F. You are going to have a class debate about
whether modern or old stories should be taught
1. What messages and morals can be taught
through fairy tales and fables? in literature classes. Follow these steps:
2. What can you learn about a culture from 1. Divide into groups, for and against old stories.
reading its epics, sagas, myths and legends? 2. Discuss why your group agrees/disagrees with
3. What kinds of old stories do you enjoy teaching old stories.
reading? 3. List some types of modern stories. Discuss why
4. Are old stories as relevant to modern life as your group agrees/disagrees with teaching
new books? modern styles of story-writing.
4. Join another group with an opposing idea
and argue your case.

Writing

A. Discuss the questions in pairs.

1. Which short stories have you enjoyed and why?
2. What features make a good short story?
3. Have you ever written a short story?
4. What problems can you encounter when writing short stories?

B. You are going to read some tips for writing short stories. Before you read, brainstorm some ideas that
you think will be included.

C. In pairs, Student A, reads the tips in the left column. Student B, reads the tips in the right column. Then
close your books and report the information that you read.

Student A Student B

• Read lots of short stories before you start • Grab your reader’s interest by setting up a unique
writing, and while you are writing, especially problem from the get-go. The type of problem will
the classics. As you read, you will become depend on your genre, be it a thriller, romance
more familiar with elements of structure, style or mystery. Providing a perplexing conundrum
and characterisation, and you’ll learn from the at the start will keep your reader interested.
best.
• Know your character well, because their flaws,
• The best short stories evoke emotions in the relationships and preconceptions drive the
reader, so reach for themes that will move story, and you only have limited words to convey
people, such as love, loss, justice, sacrifice and these to your reader.
so on.
• Ensure that the story concludes satisfactorily.
• Narrow your scope. You can’t tell an epic story Don’t force it or make it appear unnatural.
in 2000 odd words, but your story still needs a • Complete a draft as soon as you can. It needn’t
beginning, a middle and an end, so you will be very good. Once you have your story arc
need to focus on a slither of your character’s and characters down on paper, you can start
life, such as one incident or relationship.
editing and polishing them so that they can
• Tighten your writing. Avoid long descriptions really shine.
and eliminate unnecessary scenes such as • Edit and keep editing. As well as correcting
those in which a character gets from one grammatical errors, look out for inconsistencies,
place to another. The best writers allow the find the best words to portray your image and
reader to fill in some of the extraneous details cut superfluous words.
in their imaginations.

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