<p>Fiction Project Overview page 1</p><p>Summary: Read a fiction book. Complete a reading log. Write your own story. Due NAME: Mo/Tu, October 24/25.</p><p>September October November Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 1 1 2 3 4 Q2 4 H 6 7 8 9 10 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 9 H 11 12 13 14 15 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 25 26 27 28 29 30 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 30 31 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2</p><p>Suggested schedule:  By Fr, Sep 2: Check out ≥ 3 books; read ≥ 10 pages of each.  By Fr, Sep 9: Select book & show me for approval; fill in WEEK 1 of Reading Log.  By Fr, Sep 16: Read ¼ of book; complete WEEK 2 of Reading Log.  By Fr, Sep 23: Read ½ of book; complete WEEK 3 of Reading Log.  By Fr, Sep 30: Read ¾ of book; complete WEEK 4 of Reading Log.  By Fr, Oct 7: Finish reading book; complete WEEK 5 of Reading Log.  By Fr, Oct 14: Complete Story Map.  Mo/Tu, Oct 24/5: Complete Story.</p><p>What to Read  Any fiction novel (including realistic fiction), but not part of a series. No short stories.  ≥ 100 (honors, 200) pages. Too much? Ask your parents for a note. May not read part of long book.  May not have read book before or been > 20 pages through book before beginning of this quarter.</p><p>What to turn in, in this order, stapled & hole-punched: this whole project-handout, your essay. May not submit by email; may email files to yourself, open & print at school, and hand to me.</p><p>Grading Rubric Reading Log | sloppy / not quite complete 1 pt | 0 Story Map | illegible / not quite complete 1 pt | 0 Story | sloppy / not quite complete 2 pts | 0 Sloppy Submission (missing/extra page, not hole-punched/stapled, wrong order, etc.) -½ pt You may fix mistakes and resubmit until the end of the quarter. Projects submitted late (or on-time with significant errors / deficiencies) cannot receive an A; if you earn all the points, your grade will be 3.5 out of 4 (4 minus slightly more than 10%). Reading Log page 2</p><p>Write extra neatly; handwriting counts! If you need more space, you may write part of the answer on another page. If typing, lay out the page as below and retype everything that’s bold below.</p><p>WEEK 1 Title: Author:</p><p>#Pages: ¼: ½: ¾: </p><p>This is the TOTAL ÷ 4 on calculator; then round ONE FOURTH times ONE FOURTH times “TOTAL”. up. This is “ONE FOURTH”. 2. 3.</p><p>WEEK 2 Setting: Describe (≥ 1 sentence). If there are multiple setting describe the main ones.</p><p>Protagonist: Describe the protagonist & explain how you know s/he is the protagonist (≥ 2s).</p><p>WEEK 3 Antagonist: Explain who / what the antagonist is and how you can tell (≥ 2s). Remember: antagonist may not be a person; may be a place/thing/situation/personality flaw of the protagonist.</p><p>Supporting character: Pick one and describe one action (≥ 1s).</p><p>Reading Log page 3</p><p>WEEK 4 Conflict: Summarize (2-4s).</p><p>Rising action: Give 1 example of rising action and explain how it relates to solving the problem or making the problem worse (≥ 2s).</p><p>WEEK 5 Climax: Tell when it happens and how you know the conflict has been solved (2-4s).</p><p>Falling action: Give 1 example of falling action and explain how it ties up loose end (≥ 2s). If you believe there is no falling action (very unusual), explain why you believe that.</p><p>Resolution: Describe (exactly 1s).</p><p>Reading Log – EXAMPLE page 4</p><p>WEEK 1 Title: “Darmok” episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation Author: Gene Roddenberry</p><p>#Pages: 200 ¼: 50 ½: 100 ¾: 150 </p><p>WEEK 2 Setting: Describe (≥ 1 sentence). If there are multiple setting describe the main ones.</p><p>It takes place on the Enterprise space-ship and on the surface of an alien planet.</p><p>Protagonist: Describe the protagonist & explain how you know s/he is the protagonist (≥ 2s).</p><p>The two protagonists are the human and alien captains. At first the alien seems like a bad guy, but eventually you realize that he’s trying to make friends with the humans. Most of the story focuses on these two.</p><p>WEEK 3 Antagonist: Explain who / what the antagonist is and how you can tell (≥ 2s). Remember: antagonist may not be a person; may be a place/thing/situation/personality flaw of the protagonist.</p><p>The root cause of everyone’s problems is the language barrier, the fact that they can’t talk. The humans and aliens both have good intentions, but the language barrier makes them fear each other.</p><p>Supporting character: Pick one and describe one action (≥ 1s).</p><p>Deanna Troi is one of the humans, and she figures out how the alien language works.</p><p>Reading Log – EXAMPLE page 5</p><p>WEEK 4 Conflict: Summarize (2-4s).</p><p>The main conflict is that humans and aliens both want to become friends, but they don’t know how, because they can’t understand each other. The aliens kidnap the human captain (Captain Picard) so that he and the alien captain (Dathon) can fight against an electric monster; they hope that this will force them to become friends. This creates two new, minor conflicts: the captains want to kill the monster, and the other humans want to get Captain Picard back.</p><p>Rising action: Give 1 example of rising action and explain how it relates to solving the problem or making the problem worse (≥ 2s).</p><p>The monster attacks and almost kills Dathon, which would seem to make the problem (learning how to communicate) worse. But as Dathon lies dying by the campfire, he and Captain Picard are able to bond emotionally, which leads to communication, so actually this piece of rising action helps solve the conflict.</p><p>WEEK 5 Climax: Tell when it happens and how you know the conflict has been solved (2-4s).</p><p>When Dathon is dying by the campfire, the two captains reach out to each other emotionally and start telling stories. Captain Picard finally understands what Dathon is saying – not just individual words, but whole thoughts. You know the conflict has been solved because the remaining issues – getting off the planet, preventing a battle between the space-ships – are easy to solve, now that communication is possible. You can also tell that this is the climax because it’s a heart-warming scene that feels more important than what came before it; after getting choked up when the alien dies, I had no more emotional energy and wanted the story to come to a close.</p><p>Falling action: Give 1 example of falling action and explain how it ties up loose end (≥ 2s). If you believe there is no falling action (very unusual), explain why you believe that.</p><p>Even after the climax, we’re still wondering if there’s going to be an accidental war between the humans and aliens. Captain Picard beams up and talks to the aliens, and war is prevented.</p><p>Resolution: Describe (exactly 1s).</p><p>Now the humans and aliens have taken the first step toward friendship.</p><p>Story Map page 6</p><p>You must write your own story using the literary techniques you identified in your Reading Log. To get started, complete this Story Map. If you need more space, you may write part of the answer on another page. If typing, lay out the page as below and retype everything that’s bold below.</p><p>Title of your story: </p><p>Setting: (≥ 1 sentence):</p><p>Protagonist: Describe appearance and personality (≥ 2s):</p><p>Antagonist: Explain how the antagonist is creating a problem for the protagonist (≥ 2s). Remember: antagonist may not be a person; may be a place/thing/situation/personality flaw of the protagonist.</p><p>Supporting character: May be good or bad. Describe one action they will take in the story (≥ 1s):</p><p>Conflict: Summarize using the pattern “(Protagonist) wants ____ but ____” (2-4s):</p><p>Story Map page 7</p><p>Rising action: Give 3 examples of rising action that relate to solving the problem or making the problem worse (≥ 2s). Number them “1.”, “2.”, “3.”:</p><p>Climax: What will happen to finally solve the problem? (2-4s).</p><p>Falling action: 1 minor thing that will happen after the climax (≥ 1s):</p><p>Resolution: How will your story end up? (exactly 1s).</p><p>Story Map – EXAMPLE page 8</p><p>Title of your story: ADOPTED (also considered writing a story called “The Girl Who Couldn’t Stop Farting”)</p><p>Setting: (≥ 1 sentence): The story will take place in a normal town in America, in the present day. Andy will find himself in a new foster home.</p><p>Protagonist: Describe appearance and personality (≥ 2s): Andy is a troubled middle schooler. He has been an orphan since he was a baby, living in one foster home after another. He is mistrustful of people.</p><p>Antagonist: Explain how the antagonist is creating a problem for the protagonist (≥ 2s). Remember: antagonist may not be a person; may be a place/thing/situation/personality flaw of the protagonist.</p><p>The antagonist is Andy’s lack of a family. However, he also creates his own antagonist by not being able to trust people and trust himself and by falling in with a bad crowd.</p><p>Supporting character: May be good or bad. Describe one action they will take in the story (≥ 1s): Andy will meet up with a “friend” named Cecilia, who will encourage him to commit crimes for fun with her friends.</p><p>Conflict: Summarize using the pattern “(Protagonist) wants ____ but ____” (2-4s): Andy wants to find somewhere to belong, but he’s “looking for love in all the wrong places”, as the saying goes. He tries too hard to fit in with a bad crowd.</p><p>Rising action: Give 3 examples of rising action that relate to solving the problem or making the problem worse (≥ 2s). Number them “1.”, “2.”, “3.”:</p><p>1. Andy will go to a party where he’ll meet Cecilia and her friends. He’ll have a great time and develop a crush on Cecilia. 2. They’ll all go out late at night and smash car windows with baseball bats. 3. Andy will be busted by the cops and thrown in jail.</p><p>Climax: What will happen to finally solve the problem? (2-4s): Andy’s new foster father will come to the jail and, in an emotionally intense scene, forgive Andy and accept him for the troubled youth he is and decide to adopt him. Note: make sure to have a scene in the beginning where I characterize the foster father – when he shows up in jail, the reader should already know about him. This will solve Andy’s problem: he finally has the family he always wanted. I think I’ll focus mainly on the father instead of the whole family – there’ll be a mother and a sister too, but it’ll be more intense and personal if I focus on Andy’s relationship with just one person, the father.</p><p>Falling action: 1 minor thing that will happen after the climax (≥ 1s): In the car ride home, at night, Andy will look out the window and think about everything. He won’t be able to completely accept that his long loneliness is over, but he’ll start to allow himself to hope. He’ll want to cry but hold it back. I think this inner-confusion will be easier to describe if I narrate in 1 st person.</p><p>Resolution: How will your story end up? (exactly 1s): Andy has found what he’s looking for, but he still needs to learn to trust. Story page 9</p><p>On your own paper, neatly, write a story that includes everything on your story map, more or less; you may make changes as you write. Draw a box around your climax.</p><p>“How did school go?” That’s what they all ask. At least, the ones that try to bond with you. “Fine,” I say and head upstairs to my room. My new room. My new “home”. My new “family”. Jim and Sue have an apartment in the city. I cross over to the window and stare out, feeling empty inside. Out there – the honking cars, the broken glass on the sidewalks, the ambulance sirens at night – that’s real. Inside this apartment, it’s a make-believe land. Candyland. Andyland. This is how it always goes. The first few days, foster parents, at least the ones that try to bond with you, act like they love you, and their home is happy happy happy, and you’re all going to live happily ever after. Then you start to get on their nerves. They find out you’re not the loveable puppy they thought they were taking in. They scream at you and call the agency and have you removed. “Andy, can I come in?” Jim calls through the door. I get up, open it, and sit back down on the bed without saying anything. “How are you… settling…?” He’s trying to bond with me. I know how to play the game: you pretend you’re really happy and grateful to have a new home. The sooner you act real and show them that you know the game is phony, the sooner they ship you off. “Everything’s great!” I say. I’m good at lying. “Did you make any friends at school?” – “Yeah,” I lie. But Jim can tell I’m lying. “How many schools have you been to?” – “I don’t know.” This is my 13th school. There’s a long silence. Go away! “OK. I’ll call you when dinner is ready.” O no, she caught me looking at her! I’m in the cafeteria of my new school, sitting next to Roberto, the biggest dork ever, who has been assigned as my buddy. [Notice how I jumped directly from the interesting part of one scene to the interesting part of the next, without bothering with the boring parts in between: eating dinner, going to bed, waking up, going to school, etc. This keeps the story interesting.] Roberto and his friends are blabbing about something, but they all go completely quiet and look scared when this girl walks up to our table. This girl! Wow. “You don’t look like as much of a dork as these guys, new boy. What’s your name?” I can’t speak. “Beat it, nerds!” Roberto and his nerd-crew pick up their lunches and move to the other end of the table. “I said, what’s your name, new boy?” “How did school go?” There’s Jim again on his stupid exercise bike. Give it up, Jim: you’re fat. “Great. I got invited to a sleepover by my new friend Roberto. Can you drive me after dinner?” That sounds a lot better than saying “I got invited to a party by this girl Cecilia I met today”. “That’s great!” Jim stops pedaling and walks over to the kitchen table. “What’s Roberto like? Sit down and tell me how your day went!” O no, now I have to sit here and make up a story about Roberto. Why won’t you just let me go get ready? Leave me alone! “It’s time to go.” Jim is standing outside the bathroom door. My hair looks so dorky – I can’t get it right. I’ve been trying on different shirts and messing with my hair for about an hour. Why do I have to have a huge zit today?! When I come out, Jim looks at me funny. “Why’d you get all dressed up for a sleepover?” I think he knows I’m lying about where I’m going. The music is so loud I can’t even hear people. But that’s fine, because I have nothing to say. Who are all these people? I don’t know anyone. I feel like such a loser. I actually wish Roberto were here. Someone’s hands are over my eyes! “Guess who!” Cecilia spins me around, grabs my hand, and pulls me after her. “Where are we going?” I shout, but she ignores me and leads me into another room with a few people I don’t know and closes the door. “Are you cool?” she asks me. What? “He doesn’t look cool,” says a tough-looking boy. “Shut your idiot mouth, Steven!” Cecilia snaps. “If I say he’s cool, he’s cool.” She turns back to me and grins. She’s so cute! “Do you want to have some fun?” This is crazy! It’s the middle of the night, we’re walking down an empty street, and Steven has a baseball bat. “Wazzuuuup!” says Steven as he smashes the windshield of a car. The alarm shrieks and blares. There’s broken glass all over me. We’re running. I’m laughing. I’m laughing! After a while we stop and catch our breath. “OK, new kid, show me what you got,” says Steven, handing me the bat. But he’s not being mean like before. He’s being nice to me. He’s so cool – they all are! I’m scared, but I don’t want Steven to turn mean again. And he knows Story page 10 what he’s doing: he looks like he’s done this hundreds of times. I take a swing, and a car’s side-mirror comes loose. “What a little baby!” Steven laughs to the others. “He can hardly even lift the bat!” I feel so humiliated. “Freeze!” O no! “See you later, little baby,” laughs Steven as he takes off. I’m on the pavement with a knee in my back, and someone is tearing my arms out. No, he’s handcuffing me. Like on TV – handcuffs? – what? Where’s Cecilia? Am I going to jail? Flashing lights – someone talking on a radio. I’m in the back of a police car. What’s going to happen to me? Where are Cecilia and Steven? I can’t stop myself from crying. I guess I really am a little baby. There’s a buzz, and the cell-door unlocks. A woman in uniform tells me to follow her. O no, it’s Jim in the waiting room. I look at my shoes. He’s talking to someone, signing some papers. We get in the car and start moving. “Are you OK?” I don’t say anything. There’s no point in playing this happy-family game any longer. Soon we’ll be at the agency, where Jim will drop me off. There’s some stuff in the back seat: he probably packed all my stuff so he wouldn’t even have to take me back to his perfect little home one more time, to mess up his perfect little world. But we pull into the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant. “What are we doing here?” – “I’m hungry,” says Jim. He wasn’t lying about that: he puts away three burgers and a large shake. Why are we having one last meal together before he drops me off, and we never see each other again? Why did I have to do something so stupid? I feel completely empty. I try to fill up my emptiness with food, but I can’t even taste it. “We called the agency.” This is it. He called to tell them he doesn’t want me. “Earlier today.” Earlier today? – before I went to the party? What’s he talking about? “It’s official, as soon as you sign.” He pulls out a folded piece of paper. “What’s official?” – “Do you still want to live with us? This is the adoption paper.” I look down at my food. “Why would you want me to live with you?” Jim puts his burger down and looks at me in a way that makes me look back at him. “Because we like you.” Pause. “Because I want a son.” Pause. “But don’t you want a better son?” Jim plays with his French fries. “O I don’t know, you seem like a nice person to me. And you remind me of myself. What, do you think I never did anything dumb when I was a kid?” – “You don’t get it, Jim. I can’t be your perfect son. I’m not a nice person. I’ll mess up your home and your life!” Jim smiles a little. “Maybe.” He pauses. “I don’t really want a perfect life. I do want a son. I wish I could have had one years ago, but Sue and I couldn’t. You probably wish you could have had a family years ago, but you couldn’t. So it seems like we can help each other out.” We get up to go. I don’t know what’s happening inside me, but I hug him, right in the middle of the restaurant. I think he’s crying. I almost cry too. But the moment passes. In the car on the way home, neither of us says much. I’m suddenly very tired. I stare out the window. A police car flies by with lights flashing and siren blaring, and then everything’s quiet except the hum of the road. I notice my reflection in the window. I feel like there are two me’s: one outside in the dark, in the night, on the street, with the sirens and the broken glass, feeling angry and scared; one in this car with this guy and his wife and home, feeling… I’m not sure what I’m feeling. I look out the window and listen to the hum of the road for a while, until I fall asleep.</p>