“The Lady or the Tiger?”
Writing Assignment
English 8
Quarter 2
Name:
Hour:
Due Date:
You Write the Ending
The author, Frank Stockton gives the reader no resolution to his short story “The
Lady or the Tiger?” Your assignment is to write the ending in 150 to 200 words.
This assignment is worth 40 points.
1. Begin by writing the last line of the next-to-last paragraph of the story:
“She had known she would be asked, she had decided what she would answer, and, without the slightest
hesitation, she had moved her hand to the right.”
2. Continue with your ending while maintaining the integrity of the original
story.
(This means no aliens abducting the man or a gruesome blood bath scene.)
3. Incorporate the following words and underline or highlight them in your
writing:
retribution
destiny
assert
however
whereas
4. Include the following:
- Consistent/appropriate tense
- Two sentences with appositives
- Two complex sentences
- Two compound sentences
- At least three vivid action verbs -- ate vs. devoured
5. Maintain the author’s writing style!
Frank Stockton didn’t just sit down and write a “this-happened-then-thathappened” story; he CRAFTED his story with carefully selected words put
together in an effective, fluent way.
6. Try to match Stockton’s varied sentence structures including…

inverted syntax: “Then it was that his quick and anxious glance asked the question: ‘Which?’”

repetition/parallelism:
“Every heart stopped beating, every breath was held, every eye was fixed
immovably upon that man.”
“Never before had such a case occurred; never before had a subject dared to
love the daughter of a king.”
7. Final draft should be written neatly in ink or typed
(12-point “normal” font, double-
spaced).
8. Rough draft is due ______________.
9. The final draft is due ______________.
NAME_______________________________________________
Due Date______________
Complete the self-assessment part of this checklist and staple it to the top of your final
copy.
SELF-ASSESSMENT
Consistent/Appropriate Verb Tense
5
4
Three vivid action verbs (ate vs. devoured)
3
2
1
3
2
1
Two sentences with appositives
1
2
Two complex sentences
2
1
Two compound sentences
2
1
Vivid Word Choice
5
4
3
2
1
Varied/Effective Sentences
5
4
3
2
1
Vocab incorporated correctly
5
4
3
2
1
5
4
3
2
4
3
2
1
Conventions (grammar, spelling,
1
& punctuation)
Effective/Creative Resolution
5
Colored drawing of the ending scene
1
TOTAL
________/40
TEACHER ASSESSMENT
Consistent/Appropriate Verb Tense
Three vivid action verbs (ate vs. devoured)
5
4
3
2
1
3
2
1
Two sentences with appositives
1
2
Two complex sentences
2
1
Two compound sentences
2
1
Vivid Word Choice
5
4
3
2
1
Varied/Effective Sentences
5
4
3
2
1
Vocab incorporated correctly
5
4
3
2
1
5
4
3
2
4
3
2
1
Conventions (grammar, spelling,
1
Effective/Creative Resolution
& punctuation)
5
Colored drawing of the ending scene
1
TOTAL
________/40