ENGL1302--Storytelling: The Dark Side: Your Assignments

Requirements:

• 200 words of character analysis
• MLA format, including Works Cited for any sources, including the story itself (See this site for information on how to use MLA format: https://library.austincc.edu/help/mla/ 
• Clear and underlined thesis statement which declares a specific understanding of this character and their conflict(s)
• Multimodal: use of at least 2 modes (analytical writing plus another mode)
• Story List: “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson; “Miriam” by Truman Capote

Purpose: to develop a specific and unique take on a character from the story list, including their particular conflicts as a revelation of that character.

Audience: Someone who has also read the story, but not from your perspective; someone who needs a bit of help to understand the ways in which this character helps readers in the 21st century to understand why this character is relatable, relevant, or intriguing.

Tone: calm and relaxed, but carefully organized, to maintain clarity

This is a multimodal assignment, which means that you will complete it using a few different methods. All of the options for this paper also will include some (short) writing of around 200 words (1 page, 2 paragraphs, basically). 

You should be creative, as much as possible, in order to highlight your ideas about one of the characters in your chosen story. In your description and analysis of the character, you will also uncover and explain the main conflicts that this character undergoes and how these conflicts help readers to understand this character. 

You must include at least one of the following modes, in addition to the writing. Ideas in brackets are merely suggestions about how to use a particular mode for this assignment.

• Video [dress up as the character and create a monologue using wording from the story]
• Sound recording [podcast of one character discussing a topic of interest with another character—you might do this with a classmate, or by yourself.]
• Visual collage [visual “board” representing the character’s hopes, dreams, fears, feelings; identities of the character, pictures of their house, clothing, etc.]
• Slides [narrated slide show of around 8-10 slides containing important ideas and background information about your interpretation of the character]
• Letters to/from said character [a few letters in the voice of the character to another character in the story, or to the author or another person in history that relates to your interpretation of the character]

Suggested outline:

1. Analytical paragraph explaining the key ideas you want us to understand about your chosen character and their conflicts [100 words]
2. Explanation  paragraph on  how your other mode supports/illustrates these character and conflict ideas [100 words] Think of this part as the connection between your ideas and how they are manifesting in the other mode you are using. Think about how you can provide “footnotes” to explain the connections clearly.
3. Other mode (video, slides, etc.)  will  need to be attached as a separate file, along with the written portion’s file.

In this assignment, you will explore the literary element of point of view in a creative way by taking one of the stories we are reading and re-writing some scenes from it, as imagined in a different point of view than the one used in the original story. 

Purpose: Your goal is to confront, using  creative writing, how the story’s point of view supports or subverts certain readings and meanings. 

Audience: Someone who has read the original story, but not from the perspective of your approach

Tone: calm and a little bit formal in the analytical section, less formal/completely informal in the creative section

Requirements:

• Length: 800-1000 words total (no more than half of length for the creative portion)
• MLA formatting, including a Works Cited
• Notes/drafts turned in with final version
• Sustained analytical discussion of why point of view matters in the story
• Underlined thesis statement
• Quotes from the original story (in both the creative and analytical sections)
• Creative section that contains scenes from the original story as well as (potentially) scenes/characters/settings etc. you add to the story due to the alternate point of view
• Analytical section that specifies how the shift in point of view in your creative section allows you to see various ideas in the original story, and how those ideas emerge due to the way the original author handled point of view
• Brief conclusion where you discuss why this approach is helpful in understanding the story and (potentially) allowing the story to stay relevant to a 21^st century audience.

OPTIONAL Add Ons (could contribute to the creative aspects of the assignment):

• Art to illustrate your creative writing (self-created or public domain)
• Film stills/ “casting” the characters with your dream cast
• Costumes/makeup/ music score (sound files, pictures, slides)

Materials:

• Slides and videos on POV (read and watch for background understanding of pov)
• Stories — choose one of these stories  or contact me about  why another story from our syllabus would work for this assignment. You should not work on the same story twice. You will need to get approval from me if you choose a story that’s not on the list below.
  • “Axolotl” by Julio Cortazar
  • “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe
  • “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
  • “Miriam” by Truman Capote

Basic suggested outline:

1. Introduction:  1 short paragraph that outlines what you plan to accomplish in this hybrid paper.
2. Creative section that presents a few scenes from the original story, told from an alternate point of view (2-4 paragraphs)
3. Analytical section (2-3 paragraphs) that details how viewing the story from an alternate point of view allows you to see certain ideas in the original story more clearly. 
4. Conclusion : 1 short paragraph that discusses why this creative approach led to a deeper understanding of the story’s point of view as well as how the approach might create more meaningful connections to 21^st century readers

NOTE: If you have other creative ideas for how you would like to approach this assignment, please discuss it with me! I’m interested in your ideas.

Requirements for the Research Assignment:

• 800-1000 words required length
• Full use of MLA format, including in-text citations AND  Works Cited for all sources, including the story and/or the film itself
• Underlined thesis statement
• Carefully organized paragraphs, each paragraph includes a topic sentence, specific quotes taken directly from the story/film, and commentary on those examples

• 3 total sources: 1 source is the film and/or the story as a primary source; 2 other sources are about the work or provide historical/contextual information about the work—the sources will be from the ACC Library or need approval from your instructor EARLY in the research process

• Intro section that provides context for the thesis and doesn’t just summarize the film and/or story
• Topic sentences in every paragraph
• Parts of draft, shown during class for daily grades

Purpose of the Assignment: To develop a well-organized theory about this story/film and defend that theory with specific examples and a few outside sources. Your thesis will demonstrate why the research adds to a particular understanding of the film/story.

Audience for the assignment: Others who have seen or read the film/story but who don’t have any specific historical or contextual knowledge about the background to the work.

Tone for the assignment: calm and clear, focused, and detailed

Potential options: visual arts (collage, painting, drawing, etc.) that illustrate some aspects of your ideas about the story/film. 

Topics for The VVitch (director: Robert Eggers)

1. Watch The VVitch on Kanopy database (You will need to set up a free account, with your ACC e-id via the Kanopy database on the ACC Library website). 

• Use it (and  a few other sources) to explore a common witch trope or stereotype. What does the storytelling in The VVItch imply about views of witchcraft in early New England? Why? Make an argument about why the film constructs (or deconstructs) a certain stereotype about witches.

2. Research folk horror (definitions, tropes and specific texts, films) via
3.  watching “Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror” on Kanopy database  (Sign up for free account via your ACC e-id, via the A to Z list of databases on the ACC Library website)
4. and/or listening to this podcast (The Final Girls: A Horror Film Podcast, Season 1, Episode 7, “Here Be Witches 07 The Witch” Dec. 20, 2019) : https://podcasts.apple.com/pa/podcast/here-be-witches-07-the-witch-2015-with-chlo%C3%AB-wicks/id1484614975?i=1000460430523  

• What common tropes are found in folk horror and how do they get handled in The VVitch? Why is having a working knowledge of folk horror helpful when watching this film? 
• Make an argument about why understanding folk horror elements helps you to see the film in  a more subtle and nuanced way (basis of your thesis).

Topics for The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

1. Research the history of the rest cure (Gale E-books database) and explore why that informs the horror found in the story. What does learning about this part of medical history add to your understanding of why/how the story retains its ability to frighten readers?
2. Research Gilman’s feminist history and her lecture “tours” of reading this story to women’s groups. What is it she hoped to achieve by writing her story this way and then performing it for groups of women? How does this story continue to speak to a 21^st century audience, because of the way it emphasizes women’s mental and physical health issues being ignored or discounted by authority figures?
3. Watch a film version of “The Yellow Wallpaper” (either the 2022 film on Amazon or the 1989 version on Films On Demand database through the ACC Library) and compare several elements and how they are handled similarly or differently in the story.

Topics for a ghost story, “Harry” by Rosemary Timperley [only use if other two topics don’t work for you]

1. Read the basic definitions of a ghost story (Edith Wharton) and see why they do or don’t apply (on a point by point basis) to this story. What did you expect the outcome of the story to be? Why did the story surprise you? Research the history of Victorian ghost story traditions (Christmas, etc.) and figure out how that helps you understand certain details in this story better. 
2. What happens to character development when one of the main characters in the story isn’t “real” in the world of the story? How does a quite common experience (a child having an imaginary friend) get reimagined in this story? Do some research on current theories or treatments for imaginary friends in the 21^st century and compare it to how this is handled in the story (mid-20^th century).