Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
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Standards by Activity
Activity
Standards
Pre-assessment with
reading, story map
Assess students’ understanding of the structure and elements of a
short story and how they relate.
SL.7.2. Analyze the main ideas and supporting details presented in
diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and
explain how the ideas clarify a topic, text, or issue under study.
W.7.10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for
research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single
sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks,
purposes, and audiences.
YouTube storyteller
activity (Stephanie
Summerville) with Tchart and text of How
Our Brains Are Wired
For Stories
SL.7.1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions
(one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on
grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly.
RI.7.1. Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of
what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the
text.
RI.7.10. By the end of the year read and comprehend literary
nonfiction in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently with
scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
RI.7.1. Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of
what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the
text.
Close readings of
informational selections
on Langston Hughes, O.
Henry, discrimination
Against MexicanAmericans
RI.7.3. Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and
ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence individuals or events, or how
individuals influence ideas or events).
RI.7.10. By the end of the year read and comprehend literary
nonfiction in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently, with
scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
SL.7.1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
2
diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on
others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly
W.7.10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for
research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single
sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks,
purposes, and audiences.
RL.7.1. Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of
what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the
text.
RL.7.3. Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact
(e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).
Anticipation guides,
vocabulary in context,
and close reading of
expositions of Thank
You M’am;Scholarship
Jacket; Reformed
Reformation
RL.7.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used
in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the
impact of rhymes and other repetitions of sounds (e.g., alliteration) on
a specific verse or stanza of a poem or section of a story or drama.
RL.7.6. Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of
view of different characters or narrators in a text.
RL.7.10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature,
including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades6–8 text
complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high
end of the range.
W.7.10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for
research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single
sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks,
purposes, and audiences.
L.7.4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple
meaning words and phrases based on grade 7 reading and content ,
choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
L.7.5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word
relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
RL.7.1. Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of
what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the
text.
RL.7.3. Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
Setting worksheet,
STEAL worksheet, 3step interview, “What’s
Your Problem?”
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(e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).
SL.7.1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions
(one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on
grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly.
RL.7.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used
in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the
impact of rhymes and other repetitions of sounds (e.g., alliteration) on
a specific verse or stanza of a poem or section of a story or drama.
Sentences in action
L.7.1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English
grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
L.7.3. Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing,
speaking, reading, or listening.
RL.7.1. Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of
what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the
text.
RL.7.3. Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact
(e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).
Close reading of rising
action in Thank You,
M’am;
Scholarship Jacket;
Reformed Reformation,
conflict PowerPoint with
guided notes, conflict
bubbles, circle map with
vocabulary
RL.7.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used
in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the
impact of rhymes and other repetitions of sounds (e.g., alliteration) on
a specific verse or stanza of a poem or section of a story or drama.
RL.7.6. Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of
view of different characters or narrators in a text.
RL.7.10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature,
including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades6–8 text
complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high
end of the range.
W.7.10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for
research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single
sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks,
purposes, and audiences.
Character analysis chart,
one-pager for types of
RL.7.1. Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of
what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
characters
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text.
RL.7.3. Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact
(e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).
RL.7.6. Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of
view of different characters or narrators in a text.
W.7.10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for
research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single
sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks,
purposes, and audiences.
RL.7.1. Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of
what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the
text.
Close reading of climax,
falling action, resolution
in Thank You, M’am;
Scholarship Jacket;
Retrieved Reformation,
theme worksheet
Silently act out with a
narrator
RL.7.3. Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact
(e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).
SL.7.1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions
(one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on
grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly.
SL.7.6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks,
demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or
appropriate.
RL.7.1. Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of
what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the
text.
RL.7.2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its
development over the course of the text; provide an objective
summary of the text.
RL.7.3. Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact
(e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).
RL.7.6. Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of
view of different characters or narrators in a text.
RL.7.10. By the end of the year read and comprehend literature,
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
Y-chart poster activity
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including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6–8 text
complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high
end of the range.
W.7.2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and
convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection,
organization, and analysis of relevant content.
W.7.10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for
research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single
sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks,
purposes, and audiences.
SL.7.1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions
(one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on
grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly.
SL.7.4. Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a
focused, coherent manner with pertinent descriptions, facts, details,
and examples; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and
clear pronunciation.
RL.7.1. Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of
what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the
text.
RL.7.2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its
development over the course of the text; provide an objective
summary of the text.
Final project/assessment
RL.7.3. Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact
(e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).
RL.7.6. Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of
view of different characters or narrators in a text.
RL.7.10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature,
including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades6–8 text
complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high
end of the range.
W.7.2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and
convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection,
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
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organization, and analysis of relevant content.
W.7.10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for
research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single
sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks,
purposes, and audiences.
SL.7.5. Include multimedia components and visual displays in
presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient
points.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
Name: _________________________
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CLIMAX:
8
Plot Diagram Pre-Assessment
The Dinner Party by Mona Gardner
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Rising
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EXPOSITION
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THEME:
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Falling Action ______
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Action
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Unit created by Leslie Baldwin,
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Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
Name: ___ANSWER KEY__
Plot Diagram Pre-Assessment
The Dinner Party by Mona Gardner
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CLIMAX:
Twenty people sit like stone while American counts until the
snake leaves out onto the veranda.
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American gets everyone to sit still by playing a game.
Host agrees with colonel about control.
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American realizes snake is under the table.
American protests & asks Hostess about cobra.
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American realizes there is a snake and looks.
Hostess has a faint smile
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Falling Action _____
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Boy puts milk on the Veranda.
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Hostess sends boy out of room.
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India,
Dinner
Party,
Dining
Room,
Marble
Floors,
Veranda,
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across her foot.
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Any
of
the
characters
introduced
(Colonial
official
and
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wife,
American
naturalist,
guests),
a
discussion
between
a
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young
girl and a colonel about women’s reactions.
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___MAIN CONFLICT: THERE IS A SNAKE IN THE ROOM.
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THEME: WOMAN HAVE JUST AS MUCH SELF CONTROL AS MEN.
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Unit created by Leslie
__ Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
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Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
9
“The Dinner Party” by Mona Gardner
The country is India. A colonial official and his wife are giving a large dinner party. They are seated
with their guests —army officers and government attaches1 with their wives, and a visiting American
naturalist2 —in their spacious dining room. It has a bare marble floor, open rafters, and wide glass
doors opening onto a veranda3.
A spirited discussion springs up between a young girl who insists that women have outgrown the
jumping-on-a-chair-at-the-sight-of-a-mouse era and a colonel who says that they haven’t.
“A woman’s unfailing reaction in any crisis,” the colonel says, “is to scream. And while a man may
feel like it, he has that ounce more of nerve control than a woman has. And that last ounce more is
what counts.”
The American does not join in the argument but watches the other guests. As he looks, he sees a
strange expression come over the face of the hostess. She is staring straight ahead, her muscles
contracting slightly. With a slight gesture, she summons the native boy standing behind her chair and
whispers to him. The boy’s eyes widen, and he quickly leaves the room.
Of the guests, none except the American notices this or sees the boy place a bowl of milk on the
veranda just outside the open doors.
The American comes to with a start. In India, milk in a bowl means only one thing—bait for a snake.
He realizes there must be a cobra in the room. He looks up at the rafters —the likeliest place —but
they are bare. Three corners of the room are empty, and in the fourth the servants are waiting to serve
the next course. There is only one place left —under the table.
His first impulse is to jump back and warn the others, but he knows the commotion would frighten
the cobra into striking. He speaks quickly, the tone of his voice so arresting that it sobers everyone.
“I want to know just what control everyone at this table has. I will count to three hundred — that’s
five minutes —and not one of you is to move a muscle. Those who move will forfeit fifty rupees4.
Ready!”
The twenty people sit like stone images while he counts. He is saying “two hundred and eighty”
when, out of the corner of his eye, he sees the cobra emerge and make for the bowl of milk. Screams
ring out as he jumps to slam the veranda doors safely shut.
“You were right, Colonel!” the host exclaims. “A man has just shown us an example of perfect
control.”
“Just a minute,” the American says, turning to his hostess. “Mrs.Wynnes, how did you know the
cobra was in the room?”
A faint smile lights up the woman’s face as she replies. “Because it was lying across my foot.”
1
People who assist a government person sent to another country to keep the two countries in good relationships.
A person who studies living things by observing them directly.
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A long porch, usually roofed, along the side of a building or house.
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Indian units of money.
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Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
10
Stephanie Summerfield
What makes a great story?
What I think…
In the storyteller’s words…
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RkEOK32nfk
Stephanie Summerfield
What makes a great story?(answer key)
What I think…
In the storyteller’s words…
You have to “unpack” it and find
the stepping stones
(keep what’s important and
discard irrelevant details)
Hit all the plot points
Create tension and drama
(It should be like a rollercoaster
ride – “not a kiddie ride”)
Must have meat
Must have heart
Must be epic
Carries the audience on an
emotional journey
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
Listening to a Story
Events/descriptions
How I felt while
from the story
listening to this part
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Reasons for my
response (based on
text)
Description of Stephanie
Summerville’s father and
teaching her to perfect
her signature
Her feelings
about/description of
Robert “Buster”
Townsend III
Her father’s reaction to
holding hands with a boy
Slamming the car door
Buster’s kiss and
Stephanie’s reaction to it
Returning home and
finding her father ill
Reaction to her father’s
illness and death
How she feels about
kisses now
Resolution of her feelings
about her father’s death
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
13
What Listening to a Story Does to Our Brains
Written by Leo Widrich 2012
In 1748, the British politician and aristocrat John Montagu, the
4th Earl of Sandwich used a lot of his free time for playing
cards. One of the problems he had was that he greatly enjoyed
eating a snack, whilst still keeping one hand free for the cards.
So he came up with the idea to eat beef between slices of toast,
which would allow him to finally eat and play cards at the same
time. Eating his newly invented “sandwich”, the name for 2
slices of bread with meat in between, became one of the most popular meal inventions in the
western world.
What’s interesting about this is that you are very likely to never forget the story of who invented
the sandwich ever again. Or at least, much less likely to do so, if it would have been presented to
us in bullet points or other purely information based form.
For over 27,000 years, since the first cave paintings were discovered, telling stories has
been one of our most fundamental communication methods. Since recently a good friend of
mine, gave me an introduction to the power of storytelling, I wanted to learn more.
Here is the science around storytelling and how we can use it to make better decisions every day:
Our brain on stories: How our brains become more active when we
tell stories
We all enjoy a good story, whether it’s a novel, a movie or simply something one of our friends
is explaining to us that they’ve experienced. But why do we feel so much more engaged when
we hear a narrative about events?
It’s in fact quite simple. If we listen to a PowerPoint presentation with boring bullet points, a
certain part in the brain gets activated. Scientists call this Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area.
Overall, it hits our language processing parts in the brain, where we decode words into meaning.
And that’s it, nothing else happens.
When we are being told a story though, things change dramatically found researchers in Spain.
Not only are the language processing parts in our brain activated, but any other area in our
brain, that we would use when experiencing the events of the story are too.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
14
If someone tells us about how delicious certain foods were, our sensory cortex lights up, if it’s
about motion, our motor cortex gets active:
“Metaphors like “The singer had a velvet voice” and “He had leathery hands” roused the sensory
cortex. […] Then, the brains of participants were scanned as they read sentences like “John
grasped the object” and “Pablo kicked the ball.” The scans revealed activity in the motor cortex,
which coordinates the body’s movements.”
A story can put your whole brain to work. And yet, it gets better:
When we tell stories to others that have really helped us shape our thinking and way of life, we
can have the same effect on them too. The brains of the person telling a story and listening to it,
can synchronize, says Uri Hasson from Princeton:
“When the woman spoke English, the volunteers understood her story, and their brains
synchronized. When she had activity in her insula, an emotional brain region, and the listeners
did too. When her frontal cortex lit up, so did theirs. By simply telling a story, the woman
could plant ideas, thoughts and emotions into the listeners’ brains.”
Anything you’ve experienced, you can get others to experience the same. Or at least, get their
brain areas that you’ve activated that way, active too:
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
15
Evolution has wired our brains for storytelling-how to make use of it
Now all this is interesting. We know that we can activate our brains better if we listen to stories.
The still unanswered question is: Why is that? Why does the format of a story, where events
unfold one after the other have such a profound impact on our learning?
The simple answer is this: We are wired that way. A story, if broken down into the simplest
form is a connection of cause and effect. And that is exactly how we think.
We think in narratives all day long, no matter if it is about buying groceries, whether we think
about work or our spouse at home. We make up (short) stories in our heads for every action and
conversation. In fact, Jeremy Hsu found:
“Personal stories and gossip make up 65% of our conversations.”
Now, whenever we hear a story, we want to relate it to one of our existing experiences. That’s
why metaphors work so well with us. Whilst we are busy searching for a similar experience in
our brains, we activate a part called insula, which helps us relate to that same experience of pain,
joy, disgust or else.
The following graphic probably describes it best:
Photo credit: Nytimes
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
16
Langston Hughes Biography
Many people see Langston Hughes as one of America’s most important
poets and the most important African-American poet in US History.
As early as grade school, Langston Hughes knew he was going to be a
writer. This was not an easy task during his day and age, because of people who
were, not only, full of prejudice, but also against people from single parent homes.
Yet, he was able to rise to the challenge and still reach his dreams.
Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. His
parents were Carrie and James Hughes. During a time when African-Americans
weren’t allowed to become lawyers in a variety of states, James Hughes had been
studying law. Eventually, James moved to Toluca, Mexico due to his feelings
about the racial beliefs of people in Missouri.
Langston’s mother, Carrie, refused to go to Mexico. Instead, she stayed and
worked to support herself and Langston. Though times were often tough, Carrie
managed to survive. It was during this time, early in Langston’s life that Langston
developed a love a reading, which his mother passed to him. By the time he had
completed grammar school, Hughes had written his first poem. The poem honored
his graduation.
In order to get through college, which his mother couldn’t afford, Langston
found several odd jobs, including work as a deckhand, dishwasher and laundry
worker. At one point, he even went to his father’s ranch in Mexico to earn money.
“The Negro Speaks of Rivers” was written on the train ride to Mexico. Langston
sent it to a New York City magazine. While in Mexico, Langston’s father, James,
decided to pay for Langston’s education. However, James said he would pay only
if his son went to study engineering. James changed his mind only after the poem
by Langston was published before returning to college.
Langston Hughes’ works included poetry, plays, short stories, articles, and a
series of books based on one particular character, named Simple. On top of all the
literary works he produced, he also started theater companies throughout the
United States. He wanted places where young people could develop skills to write
plays and act.
Langston Hughes died on May 22, 1967.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
17
Questions for Langston Hughes Article
1. For what is Langston Hughes is best known in the literary world?
2. At what point in Langston Hughes’ life did he decide to become a writer?
3. According to the article, what obstacles did Langston Hughes face?
4. Why did James Hughes go to Mexico?
5. What was the important thing Carrie Hughes gave Langston Hughes?
6. Name the first poem published by Langston Hughes.
7. What stipulation did Hughes’ father have for paying Langston’s college education?
8. What was the result of Langston having his first poem published?
9. What other contributions had Langston Hughes made during his lifetime?
10. When did Langston Hughes die?
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
18
Fighting Discrimination in Mexican American Education
With the annexation of Texas in 1848 at the end of the Mexican-American War, Tejanos
– Texans of Mexican descent – lost property rights and political power in a society dominated by
Anglos. Through both discriminatory practices and violent methods, Tejanos were kept at the
bottom of the new political and socio-cultural order. From 1900-1930, as more and more
immigrants from Mexico came north to meet a growing demand for cheap labor in the
developing commercial agriculture industries, Tejanos experienced continued discrimination in
employment, housing, public facilities, the judicial system, and educational institutions.
Many school districts segregated Tejano and Anglo children into separate facilities. The
Mexican schools were grossly underfunded and often offered only a grade school education. In
1930, when 90% of the schools in South Texas were segregated, the League of United Latin
American Citizens (LULAC), a Tejano advocacy group, supported a court challenge to school
segregation. The Texas Court of Appeals, however, ruled that school districts could use such
criteria as language and irregular attendance due to seasonal work to separate students.
The struggle of Mexican Americans to end discriminatory practices accelerated
following World War II. In 1948, LULAC and the newly formed American G.I. Forum, an
advocacy group of Mexican American veterans, assisted in a lawsuit that eventually resulted in a
federal district court decision prohibiting school segregation based on Mexican ancestry.
Localities evaded the ruling, however, so in fact, segregation continued.
In 1955, LULAC and the Forum initiated a lawsuit protesting the practice of placing
Tejano children into separate classes for the first two grades of school and requiring four years to
complete these grades. Ed Idar of the Forum, in an interview below, discussed this practice,
which was finally outlawed in 1957. Student protests in the late 1960s – supported and
complemented by a new civil rights organization, the Mexican American Legal Defense and
Educational Fund (MALDEF) – achieved an end to more discriminatory practices and the
introduction of bilingual and bicultural programs into schools. In the second interview, Pete
Tijerina, the founder of MALDEF, related a successful student protest against discrimination.
According to Idar, in a lot of school districts, when a Mexican child first went to school,
he was put in what they called a pre-primer. The child spent a whole year there. In the second
year, he was put in the primer. In the third year, he would enter the first grade. By this time he
was two years older than the average first grader – and already behind. That’s why you had so
many kids dropping out of school when they got to be teenagers, said Idar, adding that their
Anglo counterparts were already two to three grades ahead of them. In addition, many of the
facilities in the Mexican barrios had inferior teachers and buildings and handed-down textbooks.
Some Mexican-American students protested the inequities. According to Tijerina,
sometime in the early 1970s, high school Mexican-Americans walked out in protest claiming
discrimination by the Abilene High School. The girls were bypassed for cheerleaders and various
other school programs. When they walked out, the school expelled them. MALDEF filed a
lawsuit in Abilene in Federal court. For a week, the case was tried before a jury. Finally, the two
sides reached an agreement whereby the children were reinstated in school. All of the students
went back and finished school, according to Tijerina, with the group leader continuing on to
college and medical school and becoming a brain surgeon.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
19
(Adapted from History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web)
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/)
Source: Oral History courtesy of U.S. Latinos & Latinas and World War II Oral History Project,
University of Texas, Austin. Interview with Ed Idar, organizer/volunteer for the American G.I.
Forum and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, December 2, 2000, in
San Antonio, Texas, by Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez. Interview with Pete Tijerina, League of United
Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational
Fund, December 2, 2000, in San Antonio, Texas, by Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez and Maro Robbins.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
20
Text-dependent questions for “Fighting Discrimination in Mexican American
Education”
1. What happened to Tejanos following the Mexican-American War?
2. What types of discrimination did Tejanos face as they continued to cross over the border?
3. How did the schools for Mexican children differ from traditional American schools?
4. Name three groups that advocated (supported) the rights of Mexican Americans.
5. What percent of schools were segregated in the 1930s in South Texas?
6. What is meant by the word “evaded” in the sentence that states, “Localities evaded the
(court) ruling, however, and…segregation continued.”?
7. What type of segregation continued?
8. How much older were Mexican children entered First Grade? What was the reason for
this?
9. What happened as a result of student protests in the 1960s?
10. List two things happened at Abilene High School in the early 1970s.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
21
William S. Porter
William Sidney Porter was born September 11, 1862 in North Carolina. Most people
better know him by his pen name “O. Henry”, one of America’s treasured short story
writers. Porter was educated briefly by his Aunt Lina. During this time, it is believed
he formed a lifelong love of books. It was also during this time he became a licensed
pharmacist at his uncle’s store.
Porter moved to Texas originally for health issues. Eventually, in 1884, Porter moved
to Austin. For the next few years, he lived in the home of Joseph Harrell and held
several odd jobs. This is the time when it is said he began using is pen name, O.
Henry, after hearing the family of Joseph Harrell constantly refer to the cat in those
terms: “Oh, Henry”.
Around 1887, Porter was working for a family friend, Richard Hall, serving in a
public office. When that ended, he began working as a telling with the First National
Bank in Austin, TX. Only a few years passed before he left the bank and started
writing on his own for newspapers.
Eventually, Porter was accused of embezzling $3000 dollars. He left his wife and
daughter in Austin, fleeing to New Orleans and Honduras. However, he returned
quickly when his wife’s health began to deteriorate. Shortly after his return, she died.
In 1898, Porter was found guilty and was to serve five years in prison.
After his release from prison, it took him three years before his new persona as “O.
Henry” emerged, protecting him from his past. He, then, moved to New York City
and published over 300 stories to gain fame as one of the most favorite American
short story writers.
O. Henry wrote with realistic detail based on his first hand experiences both in Texas
and in New York City.
O. Henry was almost penniless when he died in June of 1910, in New York City. He
was only forty-seven years old.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
22
Close Reading Questions
1. Who is O. Henry?
2. How did Porter receive his education?
3. What was Porter’s reason for moving to Texas?
4. How did Porter find his pen name?
5. What did Porter do after he left public office?
6. Why did Porter return from Honduras?
7. Why did Porter go to prison?
8. Why did Porter eventually become O. Henry?
9. What was O. Henry known for?
10. What happened at the end of O. Henry’s life?
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
23
Anticipation Guide: “Thank You, M’am”
Name______________________________
Date________________
Before reading: In the space to the left of each statement, place a check mark (√) if you agree or
think the statement is true.
During or after reading: Add new check marks or cross through those about which you have
changed your mind. Keep in mind that this is not the traditional “worksheet.” You may have to put
on your thinking caps and “read between the lines.” Use the space under each statement to note
the paragraph(s) where you are finding information to support your thinking.
___ 1. It is okay to steal something if it is a necessity.
___ 2. Main characters and the setting are often included in the exposition of a short story.
___ 3. It is easy to take advantage of older people.
___ 4. Rising action is all of the action leading up to the story’s ending.
___ 5. People sometimes have to do things they know are wrong.
___ 6. Spending time with the person you hurt can be more of a punishment.
___ 7. The narrator is a confident student who is proud of her looks and accomplishments.
___ 8. The climax is the most exciting part of the story.
___ 9. People will only change if they get caught doing something wrong.
___ 10. Roger will behave himself after this.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
24
Anticipation Guide: “The Scholarship Jacket”
Name______________________________
Date________________
Before reading: In the space to the left of each statement, place a check mark (√) if you agree or
think the statement is true.
During or after reading: Add new check marks or cross through those about which you have
changed your mind. Keep in mind that this is not the traditional “worksheet.” You may have to put
on your thinking caps and “read between the lines.” Use the space under each statement to note
the paragraph(s) where you are finding information to support your thinking.
___ 1. Mexican-Americans sometimes experience prejudice in the U.S.
___ 2. The word “scholarship” always means money given for college.
___ 3. Main characters and the setting are often included in the exposition of a short story.
___ 4. Rising action is all of the action leading up to the story’s ending.
___ 5.The valedictorian of a class is a scholar-athlete who exemplifies team spirit.
___ 6. School principals are never swayed by the conflicts and concerns of parents.
___ 7. The narrator is a confident student who is proud of her looks and accomplishments.
___ 8. The climax is the most exciting part of the story.
___ 9. Only athletes deserve to wear lettered jackets.
___ 10.The narrator’s straightforward honesty earns the respect of her principal.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
25
Anticipation Guide: “A Retrieved Reformation”
Name______________________________
Date________________
Before reading: In the space to the left of each statement, place a check mark (√) if you agree or
think the statement is true.
During or after reading: Add new check marks or cross through those about which you have
changed your mind. Keep in mind that this is not the traditional “worksheet.” You may have to put
on your thinking caps and “read between the lines.” Use the space under each statement to note
the paragraph(s) where you are finding information to support your thinking.
___ 1. People who are released from prison don’t commit the same crimes.
___ 2. Once people get a reputation for being bad, they are always seen that way.
___ 3. Main characters and the setting are often included in the exposition of a short story.
___ 4. Rising action is all of the action leading up to the story’s ending.
___ 5. It only takes one moment for a person to change.
___ 6. People are rarely judged by what other people see in them.
___ 7. Sometimes, people have to lie to help them change who they are.
___ 8. The climax is the most exciting part of the story.
___ 9. Skills that are used for evil can also be used for good.
___ 10.People expect the worse for good reason.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
26
Exposition Thank You, M'am by Langston Hughes
She was a large woman with a large purse that had everything in it but hammer and nails.
It had a long strap, and she carried it slung across her shoulder. It was about eleven o’clock at
night, and she was walking alone, when a boy ran up behind her and tried to snatch her purse.
The strap broke with the single tug the boy gave it from behind. But the boy’s weight and the
weight of the purse combined caused him to lose his balance so, instead of taking off full blast as
he had hoped, the boy fell on his back on the sidewalk, and his legs flew up. The large woman
simply turned around and kicked him right square in his blue-jeaned sitter. Then she reached
down, picked the boy up by his shirt front, and shook him until his teeth rattled.
After that the woman said, “Pick up my pocketbook, boy, and give it here.” She still held
him. But she bent down enough to permit him to stoop and pick up her purse. Then she said,
“Now ain’t you ashamed of yourself?”
Firmly gripped by his shirt front, the boy said, “Yes’m.”
The woman said, “What did you want to do it for?”
The boy said, “I didn’t aim to.”
She said, “You a lie!” By that time two or three people passed, stopped, turned to look,
and some stood watching. “If I turn you loose, will you run?” asked the woman.
“Yes’m,” said the boy.
“Then I won’t turn you loose,” said the woman. She did not release him.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
27
Exposition The Scholarship Jacket
By: Marta Salinas
The small Texas school that I attended carried out a tradition every year during the eighth
grade graduation; a beautiful gold and green jacket, the school colors, was awarded to the class
valedictorian, the student who had maintained the highest grade for eight years. The scholarship
jacket had a big gold S on the left front side and the winner’s name was written in gold letters on
the pocket.
My oldest sister Rosie had won the jacket a few years back, and I fully expected to win
also. I was fourteen and in the eighth grade. I had been a straight A student since the first grade,
and this last year I had looked forward very much to owning that jacket. My father was a farm
laborer who couldn’t earn enough money to feed eight children, so when I was six I was given to
my grandparents to raise. We couldn’t participate in sports in school because there were
registration fees, uniform costs, and trips out of town; so even though we were quite agile and
athletic there would never be a school sports jacket for us. This one, the scholarship jacket, was
our only chance.
In May, close to graduation, spring fever had struck as usual with a vengeance. No one
paid any attention in class; instead we stared out the windows and at each other, wanting to speed
up the last few weeks of school. I despaired every time I looked in the mirror. Pencil thin, not a
curve anywhere. I was called “beanpole” and “string bean,” and I knew that’s what I looked like.
A flat chest, no hips, and a brain, that’s what I had. That really wasn’t much for a fourteen-yearold to work with, I thought, as I absentmindedly wandered from my history class to the gym.
Another hour of sweating in basketball and displaying my toothpick legs was coming up. Then I
remembered my P.E. shorts still in a bag under my desk where I’d forgotten them. I had to walk
all the way back and get them. Coach Thompson was a real bear if someone wasn’t dressed for
P.E. She had said I was a good forward and even tried to talk Grandma into letting me join the
team once. Of course Grandma said no.
I was almost back at my classroom’s door when I heard voices raised in anger as if in
some sort of argument. I stopped. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop; I just hesitated, not knowing what
to do. I needed those shorts and I was going to be late, but I didn’t want to interrupt an argument
between my teachers. I recognized the voices: Mr. Schmidt, my history teacher, and Mr. Boone,
my math teacher. They seemed to be arguing about me. I couldn’t believe it. I still remember the
feeling of shock that rooted me flat against the wall as if I were trying to blend in with the graffiti
written there.
“I refuse to do it! I don’t care who her father is, her grades don’t even begin to compare
to Martha’s. I won’t lie or falsify records. Martha has a straight A plus average and you know it”
That was Mr. Schmidt and he sounded very angry. Mr. Boone’s voice sounded calm and quiet.
“Look, Joann’s father is not only on the Board, he owns the only store in town: we could
say it was a close tie and…”
The pounding in my ears drowned out the rest of the words, only a word here and there
filtered through. “… Martha is Mexican… resign… won’t do it…” Mr. Schmidt came rushing
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
28
out, and luckily for me went down the opposite way toward the auditorium, so he didn’t see me.
Shaking, I waited a few minutes and then went in and grabbed my bag and fled from the room.
Mr. Boone looked up when I came in but didn’t say anything. To this day I don’t remember if I
got in trouble in P.E. for being late or how I made it through the rest of the afternoon. I went
home very sad and cried into my pillow that night so grandmother wouldn’t hear me. It seemed a
cruel coincidence that I had overheard that conversation.
The next day when the principal called me into his office, I knew what it would be about.
He looked uncomfortable and unhappy. I decided I wasn’t going to make it any easier for him, so
I looked him straight in the eyes. He looked away and fidgeted with the papers on his desk.
“Martha,” he said, “there’s been a change in policy this year regarding the scholarship
jacket. As you know, it has always been free.” He cleared his throat and continued. “This year
the Board has decided to charge fifteen dollars, which still won’t cover the complete cost of the
jacket”.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
29
Exposition A Retrieved Reformation by O. Henry
A guard came to the prison shoe-shop, where Jimmy Valentine was assiduously stitching uppers,
and escorted him to the front office. There the warden handed Jimmy his pardon, which had been
signed that morning by the governor. Jimmy took it in a tired kind of way. He had served nearly
ten months of a four year sentence. He had expected to stay only about three months, at the
longest. When a man with as many friends on the outside as Jimmy Valentine had is received in
the "stir" it is hardly worthwhile to cut his hair.
"Now, Valentine," said the warden, "you'll go out in the morning. Brace up, and make a man of
yourself. You're not a bad fellow at heart. Stop cracking safes, and live straight."
"Me?" said Jimmy, in surprise. "Why, I never cracked a safe in my life."
"Oh, no," laughed the warden. "Of course not. Let's see, now. How was it you happened to get
sent up on that Springfield job? Was it because you wouldn't prove an alibi for fear of
compromising somebody in extremely high-toned society? Or was it simply a case of a mean old
jury that had it in for you? It's always one or the other with you innocent victims."
"Me?" said Jimmy, still blankly virtuous. "Why, warden, I never was in Springfield in my life!"
"Take him back, Cronin!" said the warden, "and fix him up with outgoing clothes. Unlock him at
seven in the morning, and let him come to the bull-pen. Better think over my advice, Valentine."
At a quarter past seven on the next morning Jimmy stood in the outer office. He had on a suit of
the villainously fitting, ready-made clothes and a pair of the stiff, squeaky shoes that the state
furnishes to its discharged compulsory guests.
The clerk handed him a railroad ticket and the five-dollar bill with which the law expected him
to rehabilitate himself into good citizenship and prosperity. The warden gave him a cigar, and
shook hands. Valentine, 9762, was chronicled on the books, "Pardoned by Governor," and Mr.
James Valentine walked out into the sunshine.
Disregarding the song of the birds, the waving green trees, and the smell of the flowers, Jimmy
headed straight for a restaurant. There he tasted the first sweet joys of liberty in the shape of a
broiled chicken and a bottle of white wine--followed by a cigar a grade better than the one the
warden had given him. From there he proceeded leisurely to the depot. He tossed a quarter into
the hat of a blind man sitting by the door, and boarded his train. Three hours set him down in a
little town near the state line. He went to the cafe of one Mike Dolan and shook hands with
Mike, who was alone behind the bar.
"Sorry we couldn't make it sooner, Jimmy, me boy," said Mike. "But we had that protest from
Springfield to buck against, and the governor nearly balked. Feeling all right?"
"Fine," said Jimmy. "Got my key?"
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
30
He got his key and went upstairs, unlocking the door of a room at the rear. Everything was just
as he had left it. There on the floor was still Ben Price's collar-button that had been torn from that
eminent detective's shirt-band when they had overpowered Jimmy to arrest him.
Pulling out from the wall a folding-bed, Jimmy slid back a panel in the wall and dragged out a
dust-covered suit-case. He opened this and gazed fondly at the finest set of burglar's tools in the
East. It was a complete set, made of specially tempered steel, the latest designs in drills, punches,
braces and bits, jimmies, clamps, and augers, with two or three novelties, invented by Jimmy
himself, in which he took pride. Over nine hundred dollars they had cost him to have made at ---, a place where they make such things for the profession.
In half an hour Jimmy went down stairs and through the cafe. He was now dressed in tasteful and
well-fitting clothes, and carried his dusted and cleaned suit-case in his hand.
"Got anything on?" asked Mike Dolan, genially.
"Me?" said Jimmy, in a puzzled tone. "I don't understand. I'm representing the New York
Amalgamated Short Snap Biscuit Cracker and Frazzled Wheat Company."
This statement delighted Mike to such an extent that Jimmy had to take a seltzer-and-milk on the
spot. He never touched "hard" drinks.
A week after the release of Valentine, 9762, there was a neat job of safe-burglary done in
Richmond, Indiana, with no clue to the author. A scant eight hundred dollars was all that was
secured. Two weeks after that a patented, improved, burglar-proof safe in Logansport was
opened like a cheese to the tune of fifteen hundred dollars, currency; securities and silver
untouched. That began to interest the rogue-catchers. Then an old-fashioned bank-safe in
Jefferson City became active and threw out of its crater an eruption of bank-notes amounting to
five thousand dollars. The losses were now high enough to bring the matter up into Ben Price's
class of work. By comparing notes, a remarkable similarity in the methods of the burglaries was
noticed. Ben Price investigated the scenes of the robberies, and was heard to
remark:
"That's Dandy Jim Valentine's autograph. He's resumed business. Look at that combination
knob--jerked out as easy as pulling up a radish in wet weather. He's got the only clamps that can
do it. And look how clean those tumblers were punched out! Jimmy never has to drill but one
hole. Yes, I guess I want Mr. Valentine. He'll do his bit next time without any short-time or
clemency foolishness."
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
31
Sentence Starters for Active Reading
(Cite which portion of the text for each box)
Based on the title or this
paragraph, I predict that the
story will be about…
After reading this chunk of text, I
can make a mental picture of
(visualize)…
One question I have after reading Based on this part of the story, I
this portion of the text is…
can connect because…
One thing I would like to clarify
my understanding of is…
So far, my evaluation of the main
character is…
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
32
Setting Worksheet
Thank You, M’am
Scholarship Jacket
A Retrieved Reformation
Where does the story
take place? Does it
occur in only one
place? If not, where
else does the story
happen?
How do the places
influence the way the
reader views the text?
How do the places
influence the
characters?
What is the timeframe
of the story? What
year does it take
place? Does it happen
at night or in the day?
How does the
timeframe affect the
reader? How does the
timeframe affect the
characters?
When does the story
take place in the
characters’ lives?
How old are the
characters? What
grade are they in?
How does the
character’s age
determine the way the
reader looks at them?
How does age
determine how they
behave in the story?
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
33
Phrases in Context for
Thank You, M’am
Word or
Phrase
Context
“…everything in
it but hammer
and nails in it.”
“She was a large
woman with a
large purse that
had everything in
it but hammer and
nails.”
“…taking off
full blast….”
“…his bluejeaned sitter.”
“…turn you
loose….”
StudentFriendly
Definition
When someone
has everything in
it but hammer
and nails, it
means the purse
is big and full of
tons of things.
“But the boy’s
When something
weight and the
takes off at full
weight of the purse
blast, it starts
and caused him to out going as fast
lose balance so,
as it can.
instead of taking
off full blast as he
had hoped, the boy
fell on his back on
the sidewalk, and
his legs flew up.”
“The large woman
A blue-jeaned
simply turned
sitter is the place
around and kicked
on your body
him right square
you use to sitin his blue-jeaned
your buttocks
sitter.”
(butt).
“’If I turn you
loose, will you
run?’”
To be turned
loose is to be set
free from
something.
Additional
Context
Student
Interaction with
word or phrase
The teacher
was so upset he
threw
everything,
including the
hammer and
nails.
Superman took
off full blast,
hoping he
would get there
in time to save
Lois Lane’s
life.
Think about a
phrase or saying
that means the same
thing. Explain what
the phrase is and
how it is used the
same way.
Explain how the
context sentence
would be different if
he hadn’t tried to
take off full blast.
His mother
spanked him so
hard; he
couldn’t use his
blue-jeaned
sitter for a
week.
Develop a phrase
like blue-jeaned
sitter to describe
some other part of
the body. Then,
create a sentence
and a student
friendly definition.
Complete the
following sentence
with a logical
thought.
“If I were turned
loose in a jungle,
…”
The boy only
wanted the
dolphin to be
turned loose in
its natural
habit, instead
of being stuck
at the
aquarium.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
34
Vocabulary in Context for
The Scholarship Jacket
Word
Context
StudentFriendly
Definition
Additional
Context
Student
Interaction with
word
valedictorian
“…a beautiful
gold and green
jacket…was
awarded to the
class valedictorian,
the student who
had maintained
the highest grade
for eight years.”
The
valedictorian is
the person who
is at the top of
the class
academically.
My high
school’s
valedictorian
was not able to
give the speech
at graduation
because she
was sick.
How would you feel
if you were your
class valedictorian?
What lessons would
you include in a
graduation speech?
agile
“…even though we
were quite agile
and athletic there
would never be a
school sports
jacket for us.”
A person who is
agile is able to
move easily and
gracefully.
Dancers and
acrobats must
be very agile to
perform as they
do.
Name a time when
you have had to
demonstrate your
own agility.
despaired
“I despaired every
time I looked in
the mirror. Pencil
thin, not a curve
anywhere, I was
called, ‘beanpole’
and ‘string bean.’”
Someone who
despairs has lost
all hope.
When
tornadoes
swept through
Oklahoma, the
residents
despaired over
their ruined
homes.
Give another
example of when
someone might feel
despair.
absentmindedly
“…I thought as I
absentmindedly
wandered from my
history class to the
gym.”
When someone
is not thinking
what they are
doing they are
being
absentminded.
The mother
absentmindedly
stroked her
child’s hair as
she told her a
story.
Tell what might
happen if you
absentmindedly
took a test.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
35
Vocabulary in Context for
A Retrieved Reformation
Word
Context
StudentFriendly
Definition
Additional
Context
Student
Interaction with
word
Assiduously
Doing something
assiduously is
doing it with
care and
persistence.
When the
principal
entered, she
noticed the
students were
working
assiduously.
Describe something
you do assiduously?
Explain why.
Compulsory
“A guard came to
the prison shoeshop, where Jimmy
Valentine was
assiduously
stitching uppers,
and escorted him to
the front office.”
“He had on a suit of
the villainously
fitting, ready-made
clothes and a pair of
the stiff, squeaky
shoes that the state
furnishes to its
discharged
compulsory guests”
When something
is compulsory,
you have to do it.
Taking Health
and PE are
compulsory
classes in
CharlotteMecklenburg
Schools.
Come up with an
activity you think
should be
compulsory for all
students at your
school. Explain why.
Balked
“’Sorry we couldn't
When someone
balks, they stop
suddenly and
refuse to go on.
The teacher
balked when
the principal
entered the
room and the
class wasn’t
being taught.
Think of something
that might cause
you to balk.
Describe what it
would be and why it
would make you
balk.
When someone
receives
clemency, they
have been given
forgiveness for
their crimes.
The President
of the United
States granted
clemency to a
former
President.
Explain a time you
think it is important
for clemency to be
given.
make it sooner,
Jimmy, me boy,’
said Mike. ‘But we
had that protest
from Springfield to
buck against, and
the governor nearly
balked. Feeling all
right?’”
Clemency
“He'll do his bit
next time without
any short-time or
clemency
foolishness.”
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
SPEECH: What does the character say? How
does the character speak?
Effect on others:
What do we learn
about the character
based on how others
act toward that
character?
36
THOUGHTS: What is
revealed by a character’s
private thoughts?
Looks: Draw what
the character looks
like and how the
character dresses.
Actions: What does
the Character do?
How does the
character behave?
STEAL Worksheet
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
37
Three-Step Interview:
Ask students to sit in groups of four. The two students next to each other will be
students A and B. The two other students sitting across from them will be students C
and D. Explain that you will provide two questions and that students will interview each
other. Tell students that the person conducting an interview needs to listen carefully as
he or she will report to the group. Explain, and post, the steps to the interview:
Step One: At the same time, and using the questions provided, students A and C
interview students B and D, who respond providing their personal information.
Step Two: Now students B and D request the same information from students A and C
simultaneously.
Step Three: Working as a group of four, each student reports to the other three the
information provided by their partners.
The questions for this interview are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What is your favorite movie?
Who is the main character in the movie?
What is the big problem the character has to face?
Why is this problem so big for the character?
How was this problem solved?
Explain to students that they will have six minutes to conduct the first and second
interviews, and that you will signal when three minutes has expired. Tell students that
they will have no more than eight minutes for the sharing, and that you will signal at the
four-minute mark.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
38
What’s Your Problem?
I got caught trying to steal because I wanted to by myself something.
My face and clothes are not clean.
I was pulled up the street by an old lady.
I don’t have anyone at home to watch over me.
I struggle to make a decision to run away when given the opportunity.
I have the police hunting me.
I have to make a decision to stop stealing or keep stealing.
Right before I am going to get married, the police arrive in town.
A child gets locked in a vault when I am in a bank.
I have to decide between saving a child and keeping my past a secret.
I am not going to receive a reward I deserve.
I have forgotten something I need for one of my classes.
I can’t come up with money to pay for the reward I deserve.
I wasn’t allowed to play sports in school.
I had to move in with my grandparents.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
39
Sentences in Action
Group A:
Firmly gripped by his shirt front, the boy said, “Yes’m.”
The woman said, “What did you want to do it for?”
The boy said, “I didn’t aim to.”
Group B:
The small Texas school that I attended carried out a tradition every year during the
eighth grade graduation; a beautiful gold and green jacket, the school colors, was awarded to
the class valedictorian, the student who had maintained the highest grade for eight years.
Group C:
"Now, Valentine," said the warden, "you'll go out in the morning. Brace up, and make a
man of yourself. You're not a bad fellow at heart. Stop cracking safes, and live straight."
"Me?" said Jimmy, in surprise. "Why, I never cracked a safe in my life."
"Oh, no," laughed the warden. "Of course not.”
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
40
Sentences in Action worksheet
Sentence
Group
What are
your
sentences
talking
about?
Who is
telling the
story in you
sentences?
Who is
speaking in
your
sentences?
What do
you notice
about the
way the
sentences
are put
together?
What do
you notice
about the
language?
Is there
anything
else you
can see in
your
sentences?
Group
A
Group
B
Group
C
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
41
Rikki-tikki-tavi by Rudyard Kipling
ASSESSMENT I
This is the story of the great war that Rikki-tikki-tavi fought single-handed, through the
bath-rooms of the big bungalow in Segowlee cantonment. Darzee, the Tailorbird, helped him,
and Chuchundra, the musk-rat, who never comes out into the middle of the floor, but always
creeps round by the wall, gave him advice, but Rikki-tikki did the real fighting.
He was a mongoose, rather like a little cat in his fur and his tail, but quite like a weasel in
his head and his habits. His eyes and the end of his restless nose were pink. He could scratch
himself anywhere he pleased with any leg, front or back, that he chose to use. He could fluff up
his tail till it looked like a bottle brush, and his war cry as he scuttled through the long grass was:
"Rikk-tikk-tikki-tikki-tchk!"
One day, a high summer flood washed him out of the burrow where he lived with his
father and mother, and carried him, kicking and clucking, down a roadside ditch. He found a
little wisp of grass floating there, and clung to it till he lost his senses. When he revived, he was
lying in the hot sun on the middle of a garden path, very draggled indeed, and a small boy was
saying, "Here's a dead mongoose. Let's have a funeral."
"No," said his mother, "let's take him in and dry him. Perhaps he isn't really dead."
They took him into the house, and a big man picked him up between his finger and thumb
and said he was not dead but half choked. So they wrapped him in cotton wool, and warmed him
over a little fire, and he opened his eyes and sneezed. "Now," said the big man (he was an
Englishman who had just moved into the bungalow), "don't frighten him, and we'll see what he'll
do."
It is the hardest thing in the world to frighten a mongoose, because he is eaten up from
nose to tail with curiosity. The motto of all the mongoose family is "Run and find out," and
Rikki-tikki was a true mongoose. He looked at the cotton wool, decided that it was not good to
eat, ran all round the table, sat up and put his fur in order, scratched himself, and jumped on the
small boy's shoulder. "Don't be frightened, Teddy," said his father.
"That's his way of making friends." "Ouch! He's tickling under my chin," said Teddy.
Rikki-tikki looked down between the boy's collar and neck, snuffed at his ear, and
climbed down to the floor, where he sat rubbing his nose. "Good gracious," said Teddy's mother,
"and that's a wild creature! I suppose he's so tame because we've been kind to him."
"All mongooses are like that," said her husband. "If Teddy doesn't pick him up by the tail,
or try to put him in a cage, he'll run in and out of the house all day long. Let's give him
something to eat." They gave him a little piece of raw meat. Rikki-tikki liked it immensely, and
when it was finished he went out into the veranda and sat in the sunshine and fluffed up his fur to
make it dry to the roots. Then he felt better.
"There are more things to find out about in this house," he said to himself, "than all my
family could find out in all their lives. I shall certainly stay and find out." He spent all that day
roaming over the house. He nearly drowned himself in the bath-tubs, put his nose into the ink on
a writing table, and burned it on the end of the big man's cigar, for he climbed up in the big man's
lap to see how writing was done. At nightfall he ran into Teddy's nursery to watch how kerosene
lamps were lighted, and when Teddy went to bed Rikki-tikki climbed up too. But he was a
restless companion, because he had to get up and attend to every noise all through the night, and
find out what made it. Teddy's mother and father came in, the last thing, to look at their boy, and
Rikki-tikki was awake on the pillow.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
42
"I don't like that," said Teddy's mother. "He may bite the child."
"He'll do no such thing," said the father. "Teddy's safer with that little beast than if he had
a bloodhound to watch him. If a snake came into the nursery now--" But Teddy's mother
wouldn't think of anything so awful.
Early in the morning Rikki-tikki came to early breakfast in the veranda riding on Teddy's
shoulder, and they gave him banana and some boiled egg. He sat on all their laps one after the
other, because every well-brought-up mongoose always hopes to be a house mongoose some day
and have rooms to run about in; and Rikki-tikki's mother (she used to live in the general's house
at Segowlee) had carefully told Rikki what to do if ever he came across white men.
Then Rikki-tikki went out into the garden to see what was to be seen. It was a large
garden, only half cultivated, with bushes, as big as summer-houses, of Marshal Niel roses, lime
and orange trees, clumps of bamboos, and thickets of high grass. Rikki-tikki licked his lips. "This
is a splendid hunting-ground," he said, and his tail grew bottle-brushy at the thought of it, and he
scuttled up and down the garden, snuffing here and there till he heard very sorrowful voices in a
thorn-bush.
It was Darzee, the Tailorbird, and his wife. They had made a beautiful nest by pulling
two big leaves together and stitching them up the edges with fibers, and had filled the hollow
with cotton and downy fluff. The nest swayed to and fro, as they sat on the rim and cried.
"What is the matter?" asked Rikki-tikki.
"We are very miserable," said Darzee. "One of our babies fell out of the nest yesterday
and Nag ate him."
"H'm!" said Rikki-tikki, "that is very sad--but I am a stranger here. Who is Nag?" Darzee
and his wife only cowered down in the nest without answering, for from the thick grass at the
foot of the bush there came a low hiss--a horrid cold sound that made Rikki-tikki jump back two
clear feet. Then inch by inch out of the grass rose up the head and spread hood of Nag, the big
black cobra, and he was five feet long from tongue to tail. When he had lifted one-third of
himself clear of the ground, he stayed balancing to and fro exactly as a dandelion tuft balances in
the wind, and he looked at Rikki-tikki with the wicked snake's eyes that never change their
expression, whatever the snake may be thinking of.
"Who is Nag?" said he. "I am Nag. The great God Brahm put his mark upon all our
people, when the first cobra spread his hood to keep the sun off Brahm as he slept. Look, and be
afraid!" He spread out his hood more than ever, and Rikki-tikki saw the spectacle-mark on the
back of it that looks exactly like the eye part of a hook-and-eye fastening. He was afraid for the
minute, but it is impossible for a mongoose to stay frightened for any length of time, and though
Rikki-tikki had never met a live cobra before, his mother had fed him on dead ones, and he knew
that all a grown mongoose's business in life was to fight and eat snakes. Nag knew that too and,
at the bottom of his cold heart, he was afraid.
"Well," said Rikki-tikki, and his tail began to fluff up again, "marks or no marks, do you
think it is right for you to eat fledglings out of a nest?" Nag was thinking to himself, and
watching the least little movement in the grass behind Rikki-tikki. He knew that mongooses in
the garden meant death sooner or later for him and his family, but he wanted to get Rikki-tikki
off his guard. So he dropped his head a little, and put it on one side.
"Let us talk," he said.
"You eat eggs. Why should not I eat birds?"
"Behind you! Look behind you!" sang Darzee.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
43
Rikki-tikki knew better than to waste time in staring. He jumped up in the air as high as
he could go, and just under him whizzed by the head of Nagaina, Nag's wicked wife. She had
crept up behind him as he was talking, to make an end of him. He heard her savage hiss as the
stroke missed. He came down almost across her back, and if he had been an old mongoose he
would have known that then was the time to break her back with one bite; but he was afraid of
the terrible lashing return stroke of the cobra. He bit, indeed, but did not bite long enough, and he
jumped clear of the whisking tail, leaving Nagaina torn and angry.
"Wicked, wicked Darzee!" said Nag, lashing up as high as he could reach toward the nest
in the thorn-bush. But Darzee had built it out of reach of snakes, and it only swayed to and fro.
Rikki-tikki felt his eyes growing red and hot (when a mongoose's eyes grow red, he is
angry), and he sat back on his tail and hind legs like a little kangaroo, and looked all round him,
and chattered with rage. But Nag and Nagaina had disappeared into the grass. When a snake
misses its stroke, it never says anything or gives any sign of what it means to do next.
Rikki-tikki did not care to follow them, for he did not feel sure that he could manage two
snakes at once. So he trotted off to the gravel path near the house, and sat down to think.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
44
Rising Action Thank You, M'am by Langston Hughes
“I’m very sorry, lady, I’m sorry,” whispered the boy.
“Um-hum! And your face is dirty. I got a great mind to wash your face for you. Ain’t you
got nobody home to tell you to wash your face?”
“No’m,” said the boy.
“Then it will get washed this evening,” said the large woman starting up the street,
dragging the frightened boy behind her.
He looked as if he were fourteen or fifteen, frail and willow-wild, in tennis shoes and
blue jeans.
The woman said, “You ought to be my son. I would teach you right from wrong. Least I
can do right now is to wash your face. Are you hungry?”
“No’m,” said the being dragged boy. “I just want you to turn me loose.”
“Was I bothering you when I turned that corner?” asked the woman.
“No’m.”
“But you put yourself in contact with me,” said the woman. “If you think that that contact
is not going to last awhile, you got another thought coming. When I get through with you, sir,
you are going to remember Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones.”
Sweat popped out on the boy’s face and he began to struggle. Mrs. Jones stopped, jerked
him around in front of her, put a half-nelson about his neck, and continued to drag him up the
street. When she got to her door, she dragged the boy inside, down a hall, and into a large
kitchenette furnished room at the rear of the house. She switched on the light and left the door
open. The boy could hear other roomers laughing and talking in the large house. Some of their
doors were open, too, so he knew he and the woman were not alone. The woman still had him by
the neck in the middle of her room.
She said, “What is your name?”
“Roger,” answered the boy.
“Then, Roger, you go to that sink and wash your face,” said the woman, whereupon she
turned him loose—at last. Roger looked at the door—looked at the woman—looked at the
door—and went to the sink.
“Let the water run until it gets warm,” she said. “Here’s a clean towel.”
“You gonna take me to jail?” asked the boy, bending over the sink.
“Not with that face, I would not take you nowhere,” said the woman. “Here I am trying to
get home to cook me a bite to eat and you snatch my pocketbook! Maybe, you ain’t been to your
supper either, late as it be. Have you?”
“There’s nobody home at my house,” said the boy.
“Then we’ll eat,” said the woman, “I believe you’re hungry—or been hungry—to try to
snatch my pocketbook.”
“I wanted a pair of blue suede shoes,” said the boy.
“Well, you didn’t have to snatch my pocketbook to get some suede shoes,” said Mrs.
Luella Bates Washington Jones. “You could of asked me.”
“M’am?”
The water dripping from his face, the boy looked at her. There was a long pause. A very
long pause. After he had dried his face and not knowing what else to do he dried it again, the boy
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
45
turned around, wondering what next. The door was open. He could make a dash for it down the
hall. He could run, run, run, run, run!
The woman was sitting on the day-bed. After a while she said, “I were young once and I
wanted things I could not get.”
There was another long pause. The boy’s mouth opened. Then he frowned, but not
knowing he frowned.
The woman said, “Um-hum! You thought I was going to say but, didn’t you? You
thought I was going to say, but I didn’t snatch people’s pocketbooks. Well, I wasn’t going to say
that.” Pause. Silence. “I have done things, too, which I would not tell you, son—neither tell God,
if he didn’t already know. So you set down while I fix us something to eat. You might run that
comb through your hair so you will look presentable.”
In another corner of the room behind a screen was a gas plate and an icebox. Mrs. Jones
got up and went behind the screen. The woman did not watch the boy to see if he was going to
run now, nor did she watch her purse which she left behind her on the day-bed. But the boy took
care to sit on the far side of the room where he thought she could easily see him out of the corner
of her eye, if she wanted to. He did not trust the woman not to trust him. And he did not want to
be mistrusted now.
“Do you need somebody to go to the store,” asked the boy, “maybe to get some milk or
something?”
“Don’t believe I do,” said the woman, “unless you just want sweet milk yourself. I was
going to make cocoa out of this canned milk I got here.”
“That will be fine,” said the boy.
She heated some lima beans and ham she had in the icebox, made the cocoa, and set the
table. The woman did not ask the boy anything about where he lived, or his folks, or anything
else that would embarrass him. Instead, as they ate, she told him about her job in a hotel beautyshop that stayed open late, what the work was like, and how all kinds of women came in and out,
blondes, red-heads, and Spanish. Then she cut him a half of her ten-cent cake.
“Eat some more, son,” she said.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
46
Rising Action The Scholarship Jacket by Marta Salinas
I stared at him in shock and a small sound of dismay escaped by throat. I hadn’t expected
this. He still avoided looking in my eyes.
“So if you are unable to pay the fifteen dollars for the jacket, it will be given to the next
one in line.” I didn’t need to ask who that was.
Standing with all the dignity I could muster, I said, “I’ll speak to my grandfather about it,
sir, and let you know tomorrow.” I cried on the walk home from the bus stop. The dirt road was a
quarter of a mile from the highway, so by the time I got home, my eyes were red and puffy.
“Where’s Grandpa?” I asked Grandma, looking down at the floor so she wouldn’t ask me
why I’d been crying. She was sewing on a quilt as usual and didn’t look up. “I think he’s out
back working in the bean field.”
I went outside and looked out at the fields. There he was. I could see him walking
between the rows, his body bent over the little plants, hoe in hand. I walked slowly out to him,
trying to think of how I could best ask him for the money. There was a cool breeze blowing and
a sweet smell of mesquite in the air, but I didn’t appreciate it. I kicked at a dirt clot. I wanted that
jacket so much. It was more than just being a valedictorian and giving a little thank you speech
for the jacket on graduation night. It represented eight years of hard work and expectation. I
knew I had to be honest with Grandpa; it was my only chance. He saw my shadow and looked
up.
He waited for me to speak. I cleared my throat nervously and clasped my hands behind
my back so he wouldn’t see them shaking. “Grandpa, I have a big favor to ask you” I said in
Spanish, the only language he knew. He still waited silently. I tried again. “Grandpa, this year
the principal said the scholarship jacket is not going to be free. It’s going to cost fifteen dollars,
and I have to take the money in tomorrow, otherwise it’ll be given to someone else.” The last
words came out in an eager rush. Grandpa straightened up tiredly and leaned his chin on the hoe
handle. He looked out over the field that was filled with the tiny green bean plants. I waited,
desperately hoping he’d say I could have the money.
He turned to me and asked quietly, “What does a scholarship jacket mean?”
I answered quickly; maybe there was a chance. “It means you’ve earned it by having the
highest grades for eight years and that’s why they’re giving it to you.” Too late I realized the
significance of my words. Grandpa knew that I understood it was not a matter of money. It
wasn’t that. He went back to hoeing the weeds that sprang up between the delicate little bean
plants. It was a time-consuming job; sometimes the small shoots were right next to each other.
Finally he spoke again as I turned to leave, crying.
“Then if you pay for it, Marta, it’s not a scholarship jacket, it is? Tell your principal I will
not pay the fifteen dollars.”
I walked back to the house and locked myself in the bathroom for a long time. I was
angry with grandfather even though I knew he was right; and I was angry with the Board,
whoever they were. Why did they have to change the rules just when it was my turn to win the
jacket? Those were the days of belief and innocence.
It was a very sad and withdrawn girl who dragged into the principal’s office the next day.
This time he did look me in the eyes.
“What did your grandfather say?”
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
47
I sat very straight in my chair.
“He said to tell you he won’t pay the fifteen dollars.”
The principal muttered something I couldn’t understand under his breath and walked over
to the window. He stood looking out at something outside. He looked bigger than usual when he
stood up; he was a tall, gaunt man with gray hair, and I watched the back of his head while I
waited for him to speak.
“Why?” he finally asked. “Your grandfather has the money. He owns a two-hundred acre
ranch.”
I looked at him, forcing my eyes to stay dry. “I know, sir, but he said if I had to pay for it,
then it wouldn’t be a scholarship jacket.” I stood up to leave. “I guess you’ll just have to give it
to Joann.” I hadn’t meant to say that, it had just slipped out. I was almost to the door when he
stopped me.
“Martha—wait.”
I turned and looked at him, waiting. What did he want now? I could feel my heart
pounding loudly in my chest and see my blouse fluttering where my breasts should have been.
Something bitter and vile tasting was coming up in my mouth; I was afraid I was going to be
sick. I didn’t need any sympathy speeches. He sighed loudly and went back to his big desk. He
watched me, biting his lip.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
48
Rising Action A Retrieved Reformation by O. Henry
Ben Price knew Jimmy's habits. He had learned them while working on the Springfield case.
Long jumps, quick get-aways, no confederates, and a taste for good society--these ways had
helped Mr. Valentine to become noted as a successful dodger of retribution. It was given out that
Ben Price had taken up the trail of the elusive cracksman, and other people with burglar-proof
safes felt more at ease.
One afternoon Jimmy Valentine and his suit-case climbed out of the mail-hack in Elmore, a little
town five miles off the railroad down in the black-jack country of Arkansas. Jimmy, looking like
an athletic young senior just home from college, went down the board side-walk toward the
hotel.
A young lady crossed the street, passed him at the corner and entered a door over which was the
sign, "The Elmore Bank." Jimmy Valentine looked into her eyes, forgot what he was, and
became another man. She lowered her eyes and coloured slightly. Young men of Jimmy's style
and looks were scarce in Elmore.
Jimmy collared a boy that was loafing on the steps of the bank as if he were one of the
stockholders, and began to ask him questions about the town, feeding him dimes at intervals. By
and by the young lady came out, looking royally unconscious of the young man with the suitcase, and went her way.
"Isn' that young lady Polly Simpson?" asked Jimmy, with specious guile.
"Naw," said the boy. "She's Annabel Adams. Her pa owns this bank. Why'd you come to Elmore
for? Is that a gold watch-chain? I'm going to get a bulldog. Got any more dimes?"
Jimmy went to the Planters' Hotel, registered as Ralph D. Spencer, and engaged a room. He
leaned on the desk and declared his platform to the clerk. He said he had come to Elmore to look
for a location to go into business. How was the shoe business, now, in the town? He had thought
of the shoe business. Was there an opening?
The clerk was impressed by the clothes and manner of Jimmy. He, himself, was something of a
pattern of fashion to the thinly gilded youth of Elmore, but he now perceived his shortcomings.
While trying to figure out Jimmy's manner of tying his four-in-hand he cordially gave
information.
Yes, there ought to be a good opening in the shoe line. There wasn't an exclusive shoe-store in
the place. The dry-goods and general stores handled them. Business in all lines was fairly good.
Hoped Mr. Spencer would decide to locate in Elmore. He would find it a pleasant town to live in,
and the people very sociable.
Mr. Spencer thought he would stop over in the town a few days and look over the situation. No,
the clerk needn't call the boy. He would carry up his suit-case, himself; it was rather heavy.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
49
Mr. Ralph Spencer, the phoenix that arose from Jimmy Valentine's ashes --ashes left by the
flame of a sudden and alterative attack of love--remained in Elmore, and prospered. He opened a
shoe-store and secured a good run of trade.
Socially he was also a success, and made many friends. And he accomplished the wish of his
heart. He met Miss Annabel Adams, and became more and more captivated by her charms.
At the end of a year the situation of Mr. Ralph Spencer was this: he had won the respect of the
community, his shoe-store was flourishing, and he and Annabel were engaged to be married in
two weeks. Mr. Adams, the typical, plodding, country banker, approved of Spencer. Annabel's
pride in him almost equaled her affection. He was as much at home in the family of Mr. Adams
and that of Annabel's married sister as if he were already a member.
One day Jimmy sat down in his room and wrote this letter, which he mailed to the safe address of
one of his old friends in St. Louis:
Dear Old Pal:
I want you to be at Sullivan's place, in Little Rock, next Wednesday night, at nine o'clock. I want
you to wind up some little matters for me. And, also, I want to make you a present of my kit of
tools. I know you'll be glad to get them--you couldn't duplicate the lot for a thousand dollars.
Say, Billy, I've quit the old business--a year ago. I've got a nice store. I'm making an honest
living, and I'm going to marry the finest girl on earth two weeks from now. It's the only life,
Billy--the straight one. I wouldn't touch a dollar of another man's money now for a million. After
I get married I'm going to sell out and go West, where there won't be so much danger of having
old scores brought up against me. I tell you, Billy, she's an angel. She believes in me; and I
wouldn't do another crooked thing for the whole world. Be sure to be at Sully's, for I must see
you. I'll bring along the tools with me.
Your old friend,
Jimmy.
On the Monday night after Jimmy wrote this letter, Ben Price jogged unobtrusively into Elmore
in a livery buggy. He lounged about town in his quiet way until he found out what he wanted to
know. From the drug-store across the street from Spencer's shoe-store he got a good look at
Ralph D. Spencer.
"Going to marry the banker's daughter are you, Jimmy?" said Ben to himself, softly. "Well, I
don't know!"
The next morning Jimmy took breakfast at the Adamses. He was going to Little Rock that day to
order his wedding-suit and buy something nice for Annabel. That would be the first time he had
left town since he came to Elmore. It had been more than a year now since those last professional
"jobs," and he thought he could safely venture out.
After breakfast quite a family party went downtown together--Mr. Adams, Annabel, Jimmy, and
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
50
Annabel's married sister with her two little girls, aged five and nine. They came by the hotel
where Jimmy still boarded, and he ran up to his room and brought along his suit- case. Then they
went on to the bank. There stood Jimmy's horse and buggy and Dolph Gibson, who was going to
drive him over to the railroad station.
All went inside the high, carved oak railings into the banking-room-- Jimmy included, for Mr.
Adams's future son-in-law was welcome anywhere. The clerks were pleased to be greeted by the
good-looking, agreeable young man who was going to marry Miss Annabel. Jimmy set his suitcase down. Annabel, whose heart was bubbling with happiness and lively youth, put on Jimmy's
hat, and picked up the suit-case. "Wouldn't I make a nice drummer?" said Annabel. "My! Ralph,
how heavy it is? Feels like it was full of gold bricks."
"Lot of nickel-plated shoe-horns in there," said Jimmy, coolly, "that I'm going to return. Thought
I'd save express charges by taking them up. I'm getting awfully economical."
The Elmore Bank had just put in a new safe and vault. Mr. Adams was very proud of it, and
insisted on an inspection by everyone. The vault was a small one, but it had a new, patented
door. It fastened with three solid steel bolts thrown simultaneously with a single handle, and had
a time-lock. Mr. Adams beamingly explained its workings to Mr. Spencer, who showed a
courteous but not too intelligent interest. The two children, May and Agatha, were delighted by
the shining metal and funny clock and knobs.
While they were thus engaged Ben Price sauntered in and leaned on his elbow, looking casually
inside between the railings. He told the teller that he didn't want anything; he was just waiting for
a man he knew.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
51
Sentence Starters for Active Reading
(Cite which portion of the text for each box)
Based on the title or this
paragraph, I predict that the
story will be about…
After reading this chunk of text, I
can make a mental picture of
(visualize)…
One question I have after reading Based on this part of the story, I
this portion of the text is…
can connect because…
One thing I would like to clarify
my understanding of is…
So far, my evaluation of the main
character is…
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
52
Guided Notes on Conflict
There are two types of conflict in literature: EXTERNAL and ____________.
External conflict takes place ____________ the body. Internal ____________ takes place inside
the body.
There are ___ types of EXTERNAL conflict:
1. Man vs. __________
2. Man vs. ___________
3. Man vs. _____________
There is one type of INTERNAL conflict:
1. Man vs. _______________
The most straightforward type of ______________ pits the _________________ directly against
another _______________ with opposing ________.
Man vs. Nature pits a story’s main _________________ or characters against a
_______________ force such as a flood, predatory animal, or disease epidemic.
In many stories, the ________________ battles an unjust element of __________________ or
_______________.
Some literary _________________ take the form of a character ___________________ to
overcome fear, addiction, emotional ______________ or other personal issue.
Write down which type of conflict each slide in the PowerPoint presentation represents:
Pictures
Text
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
4.
4.
5.
5.
6.
6.
7.
7.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
53
Conflict Bubbles Poster for Rising Action
In each bubble, students will have the
character involved in the conflict and
the type of conflict. They will also
have one comment about how this
conflict affects the action of the story
or the characters in the story. Then,
students will cut them out and post
them to their posters, which will have
the title of the story. Then, students
will draw arrows showing the
sequence of conflicts in the story.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
54
Circle Map-Vocabulary II
What Else Do I Need to Know About This Word?
Word Parts:
Related Words:
Synonyms:
Context Clues:
VOCABULARY
WORD:
Definition:
Illustration:
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
55
Vocabulary II Words
1. He looked as if he were fourteen or fifteen, frail and willow-wild, in tennis shoes and
blue jeans.
2. He looked as if he were fourteen or fifteen, frail and willow-wild, in tennis shoes and
blue jeans.
3. “I wanted a pair of blue suede shoes,” said the boy.
4. When she got to her door, she dragged the boy inside, down a hall, and into a large kitchenette
furnished room at the rear of the house.
5. Maybe, you ain’t been to your supper either, late as it be.
6. I stared at him in shock and a small sound of dismay escaped by throat.
7. Standing with all the dignity I could muster, I said, “I’ll speak to my grandfather about it, sir, and
let you know tomorrow.”
8. There was a cool breeze blowing and a sweet smell of mesquite in the air, but I didn’t appreciate
it.
9. He looked bigger than usual when he stood up; he was a tall, gaunt man with gray hair, and I
watched the back of his head while I waited for him to speak.
10. Something bitter and vile tasting was coming up in my mouth; I was afraid I was going to be sick.
11. Long jumps, quick get-aways, no confederates, and a taste for good society--these ways had
helped Mr. Valentine to become noted as a successful dodger of retribution.
12. Jimmy collared a boy that was loafing on the steps of the bank as if he were one of the
stockholders, and began to ask him questions about the town, feeding him dimes at intervals.
13. Jimmy collared a boy that was loafing on the steps of the bank as if he were one of the
stockholders, and began to ask him questions about the town, feeding him dimes at intervals.
14. He leaned on the desk and declared his platform to the clerk.
15. Mr. Ralph Spencer, the phoenix that arose from Jimmy Valentine's ashes --ashes left by the
flame of a sudden and alterative attack of love--remained in Elmore, and prospered.
16. He met Miss Annabel Adams, and became more and more captivated by her charms.
17. Mr. Adams, the typical, plodding, country banker, approved of Spencer.
18. On the Monday night after Jimmy wrote this letter, Ben Price jogged unobtrusively into Elmore
in a livery buggy.
19. The vault was a small one, but it had a new, patented door.
20. Mr. Adams beamingly explained its workings to Mr. Spencer, who showed a courteous but not
too intelligent interest.
21. While they were thus engaged Ben Price sauntered in and leaned on his elbow, looking casually
inside between the railings.
22. Suddenly there was a scream or two from the women, and a commotion.
23. Unperceived by the elders, May, the nine-year-old girl, in a spirit of play, had shut Agatha in the
vault.
24. “...There isn't enough air, and, besides, she'll go into convulsions from fright."
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
56
Character Analysis Chart
Story
Who is the
character?
Thank You,
M’am
Roger
Thank You,
M’am
Ms. Luella Bates
Washington
Jones
The
Scholarship
Jacket
Marta
The
Scholarship
Jacket
The Principal
The
Scholarship
Jacket
Grandpa
A Retrieved
Reformation
Jimmy
Valentine
A Retrieved
Reformation
Ralph Spencer
A Retrieved
Reformation
Ben Price
What one
word
describes him
or her?
What does
he or she
look like?
How is this
character
significant to
the story?
Do you know
another
character or
anyone who
is similar?
Who?
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
57
One Pager- Types of Characters
For this activity, students will pick one of the characters from the Character
Analysis Chart and create a one pager. On the one pager students will identifying
the type of character, using notes from a PowerPoint presentation. On the poster,
the students will have to determine if the character is a main character or a minor
character, whether the character is static or dynamic, whether the character is
the protagonist or the antagonist and if the character is a foil character. They will
then have to include an important passage from the text, an important quote
from the character and an important quote about the character. The students will
also need to write an explanation for each of the evidence they have take from
the text. Students will then have to include a picture that best represents this
character. As an example, using The Dinner Party by Mona Gardner, the hostess
might be represented by a pillar or a statue. In addition, each student must write
their own personal response to the character on the paper.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
58
Rikki-tikki-tavi by Rudyard Kipling
ASSESSMENT II
It was a serious matter for him. If you read the old books of natural history, you will find they
say that when the mongoose fights the snake and happens to get bitten, he runs off and eats some
herb that cures him. That is not true. The victory is only a matter of quickness of eye and quickness
of foot--snake's blow against mongoose's jump--and as no eye can follow the motion of a snake's
head when it strikes, this makes things much more wonderful than any magic herb.
Rikki-tikki knew he was a young mongoose, and it made him all the more pleased to think
that he had managed to escape a blow from behind. It gave him confidence in himself, and when
Teddy came running down the path, Rikki-tikki was ready to be petted. But just as Teddy was
stooping, something wriggled a little in the dust, and a tiny voice said: "Be careful. I am Death!"
It was Karait, the dusty brown snakeling that lies for choice on the dusty earth; and his bite is
as dangerous as the cobra's. But he is so small that nobody thinks of him, and so he does the more
harm to people. Rikki-tikki's eyes grew red again, and he danced up to Karait with the peculiar
rocking, swaying motion that he had inherited from his family. It looks very funny, but it is so
perfectly balanced a gait that you can fly off from it at any angle you please, and in dealing with
snakes this is an advantage.
If Rikki-tikki had only known, he was doing a much more dangerous thing than fighting Nag,
for Karait is so small, and can turn so quickly, that unless Rikki bit him close to the back of the head,
he would get the return stroke in his eye or his lip. But Rikki did not know. His eyes were all red, and
he rocked back and forth, looking for a good place to hold.
Karait struck out. Rikki jumped sideways and tried to run in, but the wicked little dusty gray
head lashed within a fraction of his shoulder, and he had to jump over the body, and the head
followed his heels close.
Teddy shouted to the house: "Oh, look here! Our mongoose is killing a snake." And Rikkitikki heard a scream from Teddy's mother. His father ran out with a stick, but by the time he came
up, Karait had lunged out once too far, and Rikki-tikki had sprung, jumped on the snake's back,
dropped his head far between his forelegs, bitten as high up the back as he could get hold, and rolled
away. That bite paralyzed Karait, and Rikki-tikki was just going to eat him up from the tail, after the
custom of his family at dinner, when he remembered that a full meal makes a slow mongoose, and if
he wanted all his strength and quickness ready, he must keep himself thin.
He went away for a dust bath under the castor-oil bushes, while Teddy's father beat the dead
Karait. "What is the use of that?" thought Rikki-tikki. "I have settled it all;" and then Teddy's mother
picked him up from the dust and hugged him, crying that he had saved Teddy from death, and
Teddy's father said that he was a providence, and Teddy looked on with big scared eyes.
Rikki-tikki was rather amused at all the fuss, which, of course, he did not understand. Teddy's
mother might just as well have petted Teddy for playing in the dust. Rikki was thoroughly enjoying
himself. That night at dinner, walking to and fro among the wine-glasses on the table, he might have
stuffed himself three times over with nice things. But he remembered Nag and Nagaina, and though
it was very pleasant to be patted and petted by Teddy's mother, and to sit on Teddy's shoulder, his
eyes would get red from time to time, and he would go off into his long war cry of "Rikk-tikk-tikkitikki-tchk!"
Teddy carried him off to bed, and insisted on Rikki-tikki sleeping under his chin. Rikki-tikki
was too well bred to bite or scratch, but as soon as Teddy was asleep he went off for his nightly walk
round the house, and in the dark he ran up against Chuchundra, the musk-rat, creeping around by the
wall. Chuchundra is a broken-hearted little beast. He whimpers and cheeps all the night, trying to
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
59
make up his mind to run into the middle of the room. But he never gets there. "Don't kill me," said
Chuchundra, almost weeping. "Rikki-tikki, don't kill me!" "Do you think a snake-killer kills
muskrats?" said Rikki-tikki scornfully.
"Those who kill snakes get killed by snakes," said Chuchundra, more sorrowfully than ever.
"And how am I to be sure that Nag won't mistake me for you some dark night?"
"There's not the least danger," said Rikki-tikki. "But Nag is in the garden, and I know you
don't go there."
"My cousin Chua, the rat, told me--" said Chuchundra, and then he stopped.
"Told you what?"
"H'sh! Nag is everywhere, Rikki-tikki. You should have talked to Chua in the garden."
"I didn't--so you must tell me. Quick, Chuchundra, or I'll bite you!"
Chuchundra sat down and cried till the tears rolled off his whiskers. "I am a very poor man,"
he sobbed. "I never had spirit enough to run out into the middle of the room. H'sh! I mustn't tell you
anything. Can't you hear, Rikki-tikki?" Rikki-tikki listened. The house was as still as still, but he
thought he could just catch the faintest scratch-scratch in the world--a noise as faint as that of a wasp
walking on a window-pane--the dry scratch of a snake's scales on brick-work. "That's Nag or
Nagaina," he said to himself, "and he is crawling into the bath-room sluice. You're right,
Chuchundra; I should have talked to Chua."
He stole off to Teddy's bath-room, but there was nothing there, and then to Teddy's mother's
bathroom. At the bottom of the smooth plaster wall there was a brick pulled out to make a sluice for
the bath water, and as Rikki-tikki stole in by the masonry curb where the bath is put, he heard Nag
and Nagaina whispering together outside in the moonlight.
"When the house is emptied of people," said Nagaina to her husband, "he will have to go
away, and then the garden will be our own again. Go in quietly, and remember that the big man who
killed Karait is the first one to bite. Then come out and tell me, and we will hunt for Rikki-tikki
together."
"But are you sure that there is anything to be gained by killing the people?" said Nag.
"Everything. When there were no people in the bungalow, did we have any mongoose in the
garden? So long as the bungalow is empty, we are king and queen of the garden; and remember that
as soon as our eggs in the melon bed hatch (as they may tomorrow), our children will need room and
quiet."
"I had not thought of that," said Nag. "I will go, but there is no need that we should hunt for
Rikki-tikki afterward. I will kill the big man and his wife, and the child if I can, and come away
quietly. Then the bungalow will be empty, and Rikki-tikki will go."
Rikki-tikki tingled all over with rage and hatred at this, and then Nag's head came through the
sluice, and his five feet of cold body followed it. Angry as he was, Rikki-tikki was very frightened as
he saw the size of the big cobra. Nag coiled himself up, raised his head, and looked into the bathroom
in the dark, and Rikki could see his eyes glitter. "Now, if I kill him here, Nagaina will know; and if I
fight him on the open floor, the odds are in his favor. What am I to do?" said Rikki-tikki-tavi.
Nag waved to and fro, and then Rikki-tikki heard him drinking from the biggest water-jar that
was used to fill the bath. "That is good," said the snake."Now, when Karait was killed, the big man
had a stick. He may have that stick still, but when he comes in to bathe in the morning he will not
have a stick. I shall wait here till he comes. Nagaina--do you hear me?--I shall wait here in the cool
till daytime."
There was no answer from outside, so Rikki-tikki knew Nagaina had gone away. Nag coiled
himself down, coil by coil, round the bulge at the bottom of the water jar, and Rikki-tikki stayed still
as death.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
60
After an hour he began to move, muscle by muscle, toward the jar. Nag was asleep, and
Rikki-tikki looked at his big back, wondering which would be the best place for a good hold. "If I
don't break his back at the first jump," said Rikki, "he can still fight. And if he fights--O Rikki!"
He looked at the thickness of the neck below the hood, but that was too much for him; and a
bite near the tail would only make Nag savage. "It must be the head"' he said at last; "the head above
the hood. And, when I am once there, I must not let go."
Then he jumped. The head was lying a little clear of the water jar, under the curve of it; and,
as his teeth met, Rikki braced his back against the bulge of the red earthenware to hold down the
head. This gave him just one second's purchase, and he made the most of it. Then he was battered to
and fro as a rat is shaken by a dog--to and fro on the floor, up and down, and around in great circles,
but his eyes were red and he held on as the body cart-whipped over the floor, upsetting the tin dipper
and the soap dish and the flesh brush, and banged against the tin side of the bath. As he held he
closed his jaws tighter and tighter, for he made sure he would be banged to death, and, for the honor
of his family, he preferred to be found with his teeth locked. He was dizzy, aching, and felt shaken to
pieces when something went off like a thunderclap just behind him. A hot wind knocked him
senseless and red fire singed his fur. The big man had been wakened by the noise, and had fired both
barrels of a shotgun into Nag just behind the hood. Rikki-tikki held on with his eyes shut, for now he
was quite sure he was dead.
But the head did not move, and the big man picked him up and said, "It's the mongoose
again, Alice. The little chap has saved our lives now." Then Teddy's mother came in with a very
white face, and saw what was left of Nag, and Rikki-tikki dragged himself to Teddy's bedroom and
spent half the rest of the night shaking himself tenderly to find out whether he really was broken into
forty pieces, as he fancied.
When morning came he was very stiff, but well pleased with his doings. "Now I have
Nagaina to settle with, and she will be worse than five Nags, and there's no knowing when the eggs
she spoke of will hatch. Goodness! I must go and see Darzee," he said. Without waiting for breakfast,
Rikki-tikki ran to the thornbush where Darzee was singing a song of triumph at the top of his voice.
The news of Nag's death was all over the garden, for the sweeper had thrown the body on the
rubbish-heap. "Oh, you stupid tuft of feathers!" said Rikki-tikki angrily. "Is this the time to sing?"
"Nag is dead--is dead--is dead!" sang Darzee. "The valiant Rikki-tikki caught him by the
head and held fast. The big man brought the bang-stick, and Nag fell in two pieces! He will never eat
my babies again."
"All that's true enough. But where's Nagaina?" said Rikki-tikki, looking carefully round him.
"Nagaina came to the bathroom sluice and called for Nag," Darzee went on, "and Nag came
out on the end of a stick--the sweeper picked him up on the end of a stick and threw him upon the
rubbish heap. Let us sing about the great, the red-eyed Rikki-tikki!" And Darzee filled his throat and
sang.
"If I could get up to your nest, I'd roll your babies out!" said Rikki-tikki. "You don't know
when to do the right thing at the right time. You're safe enough in your nest there, but it's war for me
down here. Stop singing a minute, Darzee."
"For the great, the beautiful Rikki-tikki's sake I will stop," said Darzee. "What is it, O Killer
of the terrible Nag?"
"Where is Nagaina, for the third time?"
"On the rubbish heap by the stables, mourning for Nag. Great is Rikki-tikki with the white
teeth." "Bother my white teeth! Have you ever heard where she keeps her eggs?"
"In the melon bed, on the end nearest the wall, where the sun strikes nearly all day. She hid
them there weeks ago."
"And you never thought it worthwhile to tell me? The end nearest the wall, you said?"
"Rikki-tikki, you are not going to eat her eggs?"
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
61
"Not eat exactly; no. Darzee, if you have a grain of sense you will fly off to the stables and
pretend that your wing is broken, and let Nagaina chase you away to this bush. I must get to the
melon-bed, and if I went there now she'd see me."
Darzee was a feather-brained little fellow who could never hold more than one idea at a time
in his head. And just because he knew that Nagaina's children were born in eggs like his own, he
didn't think at first that it was fair to kill them. But his wife was a sensible bird, and she knew that
cobra's eggs meant young cobras later on. So she flew off from the nest, and left Darzee to keep the
babies warm, and continue his song about the death of Nag. Darzee was very like a man in some
ways.
She fluttered in front of Nagaina by the rubbish heap and cried out, "Oh, my wing is broken!
The boy in the house threw a stone at me and broke it." Then she fluttered more desperately than
ever.
Nagaina lifted up her head and hissed, "You warned Rikki-tikki when I would have killed
him. Indeed and truly, you've chosen a bad place to be lame in." And she moved toward Darzee's
wife, slipping along over the dust.
"The boy broke it with a stone!" shrieked Darzee's wife.
"Well! It may be some consolation to you when you're dead to know that I shall settle
accounts with the boy. My husband lies on the rubbish heap this morning, but before night the boy in
the house will lie very still. What is the use of running away? I am sure to catch you. Little fool, look
at me!"
Darzee's wife knew better than to do that, for a bird who looks at a snake's eyes gets so
frightened that she cannot move. Darzee's wife fluttered on, piping sorrowfully, and never leaving the
ground, and Nagaina quickened her pace.
Rikki-tikki heard them going up the path from the stables, and he raced for the end of the
melon patch near the wall. There, in the warm litter above the melons, very cunningly hidden, he
found twenty-five eggs, about the size of a bantam's eggs, but with whitish skin instead of shell. "I
was not a day too soon," he said, for he could see the baby cobras curled up inside the skin, and he
knew that the minute they were hatched they could each kill a man or a mongoose.
He bit off the tops of the eggs as fast as he could, taking care to crush the young cobras, and
turned over the litter from time to time to see whether he had missed any. At last there were only
three eggs left, and Rikki-tikki began to chuckle to himself, when he heard Darzee's wife screaming:
"Rikki-tikki, I led Nagaina toward the house, and she has gone into the veranda, and--oh, come
quickly--she means killing!" Rikki-tikki smashed two eggs, and tumbled backward down the melonbed with the third egg in his mouth, and scuttled to the veranda as hard as he could put foot to the
ground.
Teddy and his mother and father were there at early breakfast, but Rikki-tikki saw that they
were not eating anything. They sat stone-still, and their faces were white. Nagaina was coiled up on
the matting by Teddy's chair, within easy striking distance of Teddy's bare leg, and she was swaying
to and fro, singing a song of triumph.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
62
Climax, Falling Action, Resolution Thank You, M'am by Langston Hughes
When they were finished eating she got up and said, “Now, here, take this ten dollars and
buy yourself some blue suede shoes. And next time, do not make the mistake of latching onto my
pocketbook nor nobody else’s — because shoes come by devilish like that will burn your feet. I
got to get my rest now. But I wish you would behave yourself, son, from here on in.”
She led him down the hall to the front door and opened it. “Good-night! Behave yourself, boy!”
she said, looking out into the street.
The boy wanted to say something else other than “Thank you, m’am” to Mrs. Luella
Bates Washington Jones, but he couldn’t do so as he turned at the barren stoop and looked back
at the large woman in the door. He barely managed to say “Thank you” before she shut the door.
And he never saw her again.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
63
Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution The Scholarship Jacket by Marta Salinas
“Okay. We’ll make an exception in your case. I’ll tell the Board, you’ll get your jacket.”
I could hardly believe my ears. I spoke in a trembling rush. “Oh, thank you, sir!”
Suddenly I felt great. I didn’t know about adrenalin in those days, but I knew something was
pumping through me, making me feel as tall as the sky. I wanted to yell, jump, run the mile, do
something. I ran out so I could cry in the hall where there was no one to see me.
At the end of the day, Mr. Schmidt winked at me and said, “I hear you’re getting a
scholarship jacket this year.”
His face looked as happy and innocent as a baby’s, but I knew better. Without answering
I gave him a quick hug and ran to the bus. I cried on the walk home again, but this time because I
was so happy. I couldn’t wait to tell Grandpa and ran straight to the field. I joined him in the row
where he was working, and without saying anything I crouched down and started pulling up the
weeds with my hands. Grandpa worked alongside me for a few minutes, and he didn’t ask what
had happened. After I had a little pile of weeds between the rows, I stood up and faced him.
“The principal said he’s making an exception for me, Grandpa, and I’m getting the jacket
after all. That’s after I told him what you said.”
Grandpa didn’t say anything; he just gave me a pat on the shoulder and a smile. He pulled
out the crumpled red handkerchief that he always carried in his back pocket and wiped the sweat
off his forehead.
“Better go see if your grandmother needs any help with supper.”
I gave him a big grin. He didn’t fool me. I skipped and ran back to the house whistling
some silly tune.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
64
Climax, Falling Action, Resolution A Retrieved Reformation by O. Henry
Suddenly there was a scream or two from the women, and a commotion. Unperceived by the
elders, May, the nine-year-old girl, in a spirit of play, had shut Agatha in the vault. She had then
shot the bolts and turned the knob of the combination as she had seen Mr. Adams do.
The old banker sprang to the handle and tugged at it for a moment. "The door can't be opened,"
he groaned. "The clock hasn't been wound nor the combination set."
Agatha's mother screamed again, hysterically.
"Hush!" said Mr. Adams, raising his trembling hand. "All be quite for a moment. Agatha!" he
called as loudly as he could. "Listen to me." During the following silence they could just hear the
faint sound of the child wildly shrieking in the dark vault in a panic of terror.
"My precious darling!" wailed the mother. "She will die of fright! Open the door! Oh, break it
open! Can't you men do something?"
"There isn't a man nearer than Little Rock who can open that door," said Mr. Adams, in a shaky
voice. "My God! Spencer, what shall we do? That child--she can't stand it long in there. There
isn't enough air, and, besides, she'll go into convulsions from fright."
Agatha's mother, frantic now, beat the door of the vault with her hands. Somebody wildly
suggested dynamite. Annabel turned to Jimmy, her large eyes full of anguish, but not yet
despairing. To a woman nothing seems quite impossible to the powers of the man she worships.
"Can't you do something, Ralph--try, won't you?"
He looked at her with a queer, soft smile on his lips and in his keen eyes.
"Annabel," he said, "give me that rose you are wearing, will you?"
Hardly believing that she heard him aright, she unpinned the bud from the bosom of her dress,
and placed it in his hand. Jimmy stuffed it into his vest-pocket, threw off his coat and pulled up
his shirt- sleeves. With that act Ralph D. Spencer passed away and Jimmy Valentine took his
place.
"Get away from the door, all of you," he commanded, shortly.
He set his suit-case on the table, and opened it out flat. From that time on he seemed to be
unconscious of the presence of anyone else. He laid out the shining, queer implements swiftly
and orderly, whistling softly to himself as he always did when at work. In a deep silence and
immovable, the others watched him as if under a spell.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
65
In a minute Jimmy's pet drill was biting smoothly into the steel door. In ten minutes--breaking
his own burglarious record--he threw back the bolts and opened the door.
Agatha, almost collapsed, but safe, was gathered into her mother's arms.
Jimmy Valentine put on his coat, and walked outside the railings towards the front door. As he
went he thought he heard a far-away voice that he once knew call "Ralph!" But he never
hesitated.
At the door a big man stood somewhat in his way.
"Hello, Ben!" said Jimmy, still with his strange smile. "Got around at last, have you? Well, let's
go. I don't know that it makes much difference, now."
And then Ben Price acted rather strangely.
"Guess you're mistaken, Mr. Spencer," he said. "Don't believe I recognize you. Your buggy's
waiting for you, ain't it?"
And Ben Price turned and strolled down the street.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
66
Sentence Starters for Active Reading
(Cite which portion of the text for each box)
Based on the title or this
paragraph, I predict that the
story will be about…
After reading this chunk of text, I
can make a mental picture of
(visualize)…
One question I have after reading Based on this part of the story, I
this portion of the text is…
can connect because…
One thing I would like to clarify
my understanding of is…
So far, my evaluation of the main
character is…
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
67
Silently Acting It Out With a Narrator
After finishing the reading from the climax to the resolution, students will take roles in
acting out the rest of the story for the class. The idea behind this is to have two of the students,
maybe a struggling student, silently act out the roles of the two big characters. For Thank, You
M’am, they will be Ms. Luella Bates Washington Jones and Roger. For The Scholarship Jacket,
they will be Marta, the principal and grandpa (one will have to play both grandpa and the
principal). For A Retrieved Reformation, they will be Jimmy Valentine (aka- Ralph Spencer) and
Ben Price. The remaining two members of the group will narrate to the audience what each of
the characters is doing. One will narrate for the first character, and one will narrate for the
second character.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
68
Theme Worksheet
Theme is the central idea or message in a literary work. It is not the subject of the work. It is an
insight about human life.
2. Themes are rarely written directly in the text. They usually must be inferred.
3. The theme is identified by the way characters change in a story, conflicts in the story, and
statements made by the narrator or characters.
4. Understanding theme involves understanding plot, characters, and setting.
1.
Story
Thank You, M’am
The Scholarship
Jacket
A Retrieved
Reformation
Which character is the
Main Character?
What is the main
conflict in the story?
What is the Main
Character’s motive?
How does the setting
affect the Main
Character?
What is the Main
Character like at the
beginning of the story?
What is the Main
Character like at the
end of the story?
How does the Main
Character change?
What does this
character learn that
causes this change?
What do learn about
life from the Main
Character and main
conflict in the story?
Re-write the statement
above as a life lesson.
(Example- The Dinner
Party- Women have
just as much self
control as men.)
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
69
Climax Index Cards
The goal of this activity is to create a list of reasons the climax is often defined as the
most exciting part of the story and get them to realize it is because they are interested in how the
main conflict gets solved.
Students will be given the following statement and question “The climax, usually,
considered the most exciting part of the story. Why do you think this is the case?” They will take
a moment and really think about why this true. Then, they will Free Write for 5 minutes about
this. During this time, they are not to worry about neatness or spelling. Let the students know
they are to get down as many thoughts and explanations during the 5 minutes as possible.
Students will take their best answer and write their final opinion on an index card, taking care to
explain their thoughts. Then, they will fold the index card twice and drop it in the box. Each
student will then pull out an index card and read what was written. Then, the class will begin to
build a list of the classes’ opinion. This list will be used to guide students into creating a new
definition for climax, which includes the main conflict being solved.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
70
Students will create a Y-Chart Poster to compare and
contrast the features of two stories. In the left arm of
the Y, they will put the first story. In the right arm of
the Y, they will put the second story. In the trunk they
will put the similarities. Hopefully, students will see
the features of the stories, like exposition through
resolution, dialogue, characterization, and such are
the same throughout the stories, when they share with
the class.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
71
Story 2
Story 1
Similarities between Stories
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
72
Letter to a Character
Write a letter to the protagonist of one of the stories we have read (Thank You, M’am,
The Scholarship Jacket, or A Retrieved Reformation) responding to their actions, feelings, etc.
and relating them to something from your own experience. (How would you have reacted in a
similar situation? What does the situation/person, etc. remind you of? What advice would you
give the protagonist?) Your letter should include at least three paragraphs. The first paragraph
should address the exposition of the story; the second paragraph should deal with the rising
action portion of the story, and the third paragraph should address the climax, falling action and
resolution.
For example:
Dear ___________,
You must have felt __________when…_______________________________________. I
understand your feelings because one time I…______________________________. If I had
been in your shoes, I probably would
have…__________________________________________.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
73
Rikki-tikki-tavi by Rudyard Kipling
ASSESSMENT III
"Son of the big man that killed Nag," she hissed, "stay still. I am not ready yet. Wait a
little. Keep very still, all you three! If you move I strike, and if you do not move I strike. Oh,
foolish people, who killed my Nag!"
Teddy's eyes were fixed on his father, and all his father could do was to whisper, "Sit
still, Teddy. You mustn't move. Teddy, keep still."
Then Rikki-tikki came up and cried, "Turn round, Nagaina. Turn and fight!"
"All in good time," said she, without moving her eyes. "I will settle my account with you
presently. Look at your friends, Rikki-tikki. They are still and white. They are afraid. They dare
not move, and if you come a step nearer I strike."
"Look at your eggs," said Rikki-tikki, "in the melon bed near the wall. Go and look,
Nagaina!"
The big snake turned half around, and saw the egg on the veranda. "Ah-h! Give it to me,"
she said.
Rikki-tikki put his paws one on each side of the egg, and his eyes were blood-red. "What
price for a snake's egg? For a young cobra? For a young king cobra? For the last--the very last of
the brood? The ants are eating all the others down by the melon bed." Nagaina spun clear round,
forgetting everything for the sake of the one egg.
Rikki-tikki saw Teddy's father shoot out a big hand, catch Teddy by the shoulder, and
drag him across the little table with the tea-cups, safe and out of reach of Nagaina.
"Tricked! Tricked! Tricked! Rikk-tck-tck!" chuckled Rikki-tikki. "The boy is safe, and it
was I--I--I that caught Nag by the hood last night in the bathroom." Then he began to jump up
and down, all four feet together, his head close to the floor. "He threw me to and fro, but he
could not shake me off. He was dead before the big man blew him in two. I did it! Rikki-tikkitck-tck! Come then, Nagaina. Come and fight with me. You shall not be a widow long."
Nagaina saw that she had lost her chance of killing Teddy, and the egg lay between
Rikki-tikki's paws. "Give me the egg, Rikki-tikki. Give me the last of my eggs, and I will go
away and never come back," she said, lowering her hood.
"Yes, you will go away, and you will never come back. For you will go to the rubbish
heap with Nag. Fight, widow! The big man has gone for his gun! Fight!" Rikki-tikki was
bounding all round Nagaina, keeping just out of reach of her stroke, his little eyes like hot coals.
Nagaina gathered herself together and flung out at him. Rikki-tikki jumped up and
backward. Again and again and again she struck, and each time her head came with a whack on
the matting of the veranda and she gathered herself together like a watch spring.
Then Rikki-tikki danced in a circle to get behind her, and Nagaina spun round to keep her
head to his head, so that the rustle of her tail on the matting sounded like dry leaves blown along
by the wind. He had forgotten the egg. It still lay on the veranda, and Nagaina came nearer and
nearer to it, till at last, while Rikki-tikki was drawing breath, she caught it in her mouth, turned to
the veranda steps, and flew like an arrow down the path, with Rikki-tikki behind her.
When the cobra runs for her life, she goes like a whip-lash flicked across a horse's neck.
Rikki-tikki knew that he must catch her, or all the trouble would begin again. She headed straight
for the long grass by the thorn-bush, and as he was running Rikki-tikki heard Darzee still singing
his foolish little song of triumph. But Darzee's wife was wiser. She flew off her nest as Nagaina
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
74
came along, and flapped her wings about Nagaina's head. If Darzee had helped they might have
turned her, but Nagaina only lowered her hood and went on.
Still, the instant's delay brought Rikki-tikki up to her, and as she plunged into the rat-hole
where she and Nag used to live, his little white teeth were clenched on her tail, and he went
down with her--and very few mongooses, however wise and old they may be, care to follow a
cobra into its hole. It was dark in the hole; and Rikki-tikki never knew when it might open out
and give Nagaina room to turn and strike at him. He held on savagely, and stuck out his feet to
act as brakes on the dark slope of the hot, moist earth.
Then the grass by the mouth of the hole stopped waving, and Darzee said, "It is all over
with Rikki-tikki! We must sing his death song. Valiant Rikki-tikki is dead! For Nagaina will
surely kill him underground." So he sang a very mournful song that he made up on the spur of
the minute, and just as he got to the most touching part, the grass quivered again, and Rikki-tikki,
covered with dirt, dragged himself out of the hole leg by leg, licking his whiskers.
Darzee stopped with a little shout. Rikki-tikki shook some of the dust out of his fur and
sneezed. "It is all over," he said. "The widow will never come out again." And the red ants that
live between the grass stems heard him, and began to troop down one after another to see if he
had spoken the truth.
Rikki-tikki curled himself up in the grass and slept where he was--slept and slept till it
was late in the afternoon, for he had done a hard day's work. "Now," he said, when he awoke, "I
will go back to the house. Tell the Coppersmith, Darzee, and he will tell the garden that Nagaina
is dead."
The Coppersmith is a bird who makes a noise exactly like the beating of a little hammer
on a copper pot; and the reason he is always making it is because he is the town crier to every
Indian garden, and tells all the news to everybody who cares to listen. As Rikki-tikki went up the
path, he heard his "attention" notes like a tiny dinner gong, and then the steady "Ding-dong-tock!
Nag is dead--dong! Nagaina is dead! Ding-dong-tock!" That set all the birds in the garden
singing, and the frogs croaking, for Nag and Nagaina used to eat frogs as well as little birds.
When Rikki got to the house, Teddy and Teddy's mother (she looked very white still, for
she had been fainting) and Teddy's father came out and almost cried over him; and that night he
ate all that was given him till he could eat no more, and went to bed on Teddy's shoulder, where
Teddy's mother saw him when she came to look late at night.
"He saved our lives and Teddy's life," she said to her husband. "Just think, he saved all
our lives."
Rikki-tikki woke up with a jump, for the mongooses are light sleepers. "Oh, it's you,"
said he. "What are you bothering for? All the cobras are dead. And if they weren't, I'm here."
Rikki-tikki had a right to be proud of himself. But he did not grow too proud, and he kept
that garden as a mongoose should keep it, with tooth and jump and spring and bite, till never a
cobra dared show its head inside the walls.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
75
Think-Pair-Share
Question
What I thought
What my partner
thought
What we will share
Why do we tell stories?
How can stories help persuade?
What impacts you most when
reading or hearing a story or
watching a video?
What keeps you most
interested in a story? (a
riveting plot? well-drawn
characters? an interesting
setting? a memorable theme or
something else?)
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
76
Read the following speech and mark any narrative elements you find in it. (Where does Severn
Suzuki tell parts of her own story? Why do you think she included some of her own story in this
speech?)
Speech by Severn Suzuki
Hello, I'm Severn Suzuki speaking for E.C.O. - The Environmental Children's Organization.
We are a group of twelve and thirteen-year-olds from Canada trying to make a difference:
Vanessa Suttie, Morgan Geisler, Michelle Quigg and me. We raised all the money ourselves to
come six thousand miles to tell you adults you must change your ways. Coming here today, I
have no hidden agenda. I am fighting for my future.
Losing my future is not like losing an election or a few points on the stock market. I am here
to speak for all generations to come.
I am here to speak on behalf of the starving children around the world whose cries go
unheard.
I am here to speak for the countless animals dying across this planet because they have
nowhere left to go. We cannot afford to be not heard.
I am afraid to go out in the sun now because of the holes in the ozone. I am afraid to breathe
the air because I don't know what chemicals are in it.
I used to go fishing in Vancouver with my dad until just a few years ago we found the fish
full of cancers. And now we hear about animals and plants going extinct every day -- vanishing
forever.
In my life, I have dreamt of seeing the great herds of wild animals, jungles and rainforests
full of birds and butterflies, but now I wonder if they will even exist for my children to see.
Did you have to worry about these little things when you were my age?
All this is happening before our eyes and yet we act as if we have all the time we want and
all the solutions. I'm only a child and I don't have all the solutions, but I want you to realize,
neither do you!
You don't know how to fix the holes in our ozone layer.
You don't know how to bring salmon back up a dead stream.
You don't know how to bring back an animal now extinct.
And you can't bring back forests that once grew where there is now desert.
If you don't know how to fix it, please stop breaking it!
Here, you may be delegates of your governments, business people, organizers, reporters or
politicians - but really you are mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles - and
all of you are somebody's child.
I'm only a child yet I know we are all part of a family, five billion strong, in fact, 30 million
species strong and we all share the same air, water and soil -- borders and governments will
never change that.
I'm only a child yet I know we are all in this together and should act as one single world
towards one single goal.
In my anger, I am not blind, and in my fear, I am not afraid to tell the world how I feel.
In my country, we make so much waste, we buy and throw away, buy and throw away, and
yet northern countries will not share with the needy. Even when we have more than enough, we
are afraid to lose some of our wealth, afraid to share.
In Canada, we live the privileged life, with plenty of food, water and shelter -- we have
watches, bicycles, computers and television sets.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
77
Two days ago here in Brazil, we were shocked when we spent some time with some children
living on the streets. And this is what one child told us: "I wish I was rich and if I were, I would
give all the street children food, clothes, medicine, shelter and love and affection."
If a child on the street who has nothing, is willing to share, why are we who have everything
still so greedy?
I can't stop thinking that these children are my age, that it makes a tremendous difference
where you are born, that I could be one of those children living in the Favellas of Rio; I could be
a child starving in Somalia; a victim of war in the Middle East or a beggar in India.
I'm only a child yet I know if all the money spent on war was spent on ending poverty and
finding environmental answers, what a wonderful place this earth would be!
At school, even in kindergarten, you teach us to behave in the world. You teach us: not to
fight with others, to work things out, to respect others, to clean up our mess, not to hurt other
creatures to share - not be greedy.
Then why do you go out and do the things you tell us not to do?
Do not forget why you're attending these conferences, who you're doing this for -- we are
your own children. You are deciding what kind of world we will grow up in. Parents should be
able to comfort their children by saying "everything's going to be alright", "we're doing the best
we can" and "it's not the end of the world".
But I don't think you can say that to us anymore. Are we even on your list of priorities? My
father always says "You are what you do, not what you say."
Well, what you do makes me cry at night. You grown-ups say you love us. I challenge you;
please make your actions reflect your words. Thank you for listening.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
78
Introduction:
It is important for us to get a sense of what the learners gained through this unit. This will
serve as an assessment for the students to demonstrate their understanding of storytelling, as well
as their abilities in writing those texts.
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Introduce yourself
Give a full explanation of one big event in your life
Write a conclusion that fully explains the purpose or meaning of this life event
Your audience will be your teacher and other educators. You will write the three page typed
narrative under teacher supervision. You will not be able to take your writing home.
Your writing will be assessed on how well you develop:
-Your exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and conclusion
-The settings
-The main character and minor characters
-The main conflict and minor conflicts
-The organization of your ideas
-Use of dialect, dialogue and point of view
-The development of a theme
-Your use of language that is appropriate for your audience and purpose
***Remember the key to a good story is that it comes from some experience in the author’s
background and that it is original and unique.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
79
Task 1: Think about the story you have selected and plan your writing in the area below. You
will have only 10 minutes. Your plan should contain:
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A main problem, some minor problems that will occur and how the main problem is solved
A Protagonist and an Antagonist, and a description of each
Details about the places this story will occur
The purpose or meaning behind telling this story
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
80
Task 2: Write a rough draft of the story. Remember to include the setting, main character, minor
characters, the main problem, minor conflicts, and the climax. You will have 40 minutes to
write.
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Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
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Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
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Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
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Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
84
Task 3: Exchange your writing with a partner
Directions to partner: Read the first draft your partner’s story. Based on your knowledge
of storytelling, write a few comments telling your partner what he/she has done well and one
suggestion for revising the writing make it more effective. Write your first and last name on the
space provided and use the box below to write your feedback.
YOUR NAME:_________________________________________________________________
Task 4: Based on my partner’s feedback, I will revise my first draft by doing the following:
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
85
Task 5: It’s time to write the final draft. Using your partner’s feedback and your revisions, write
the final story ready to be sent to a publisher.
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Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
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Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
87
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Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
88
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Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
89
Activity Descriptions
Pre-Assessment Plot Map
Students will read The Dinner Party by Mona Gardner. They will fill out the plot map to
see how much they understand how an author builds a narrative.
What Makes a Good Story
Students will complete “What Makes a Good Story” activities. They will first write
down on the left side of the T-Chart the things they think make a good video. The students will
then share with their groups and then with the class what they think makes for a good story.
Then, they will watch Stephanie Summerfield’s explanation,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RkEOK32nfk. After watching the video, they will complete
the right side of the T-Chart. The students with share the right side with their groups and circle
anything they found in common between both sides. Then, the class will have a brief class
discussion about the T-Chart.
Listening to a Story & What Listening to a Story Does to Our Brains
The students will then complete the left side of the “Listening to a Story” worksheet
while watching the video for a second time. During this watching, the teacher will stop after the
specified parts, so the students can write down their answers. Then, the students will read “What
Listening to a Story Does to Our Brains” by Leo Widrich. While reading, they will be looking
for reasons they felt how they did when watching the video on Stephanie Summerfield. When
this is completed, the students will share with their groups and then share with the class.
Langston Hughes Biography, Fighting Discrimination, William S. Porter
Students will be separated from their home groups into expert groups. They should be
gathered according to skill level. The lowest group will read the “Langston Hughes Biography”
in preparation for “Thank You, M’am” by Langston Hughes. The Average readers should be
given the background information on “Fighting Discrimination in Mexican American
Education” in preparation for “The Scholarship Jacket” by Martha Salinas. The advanced
readers should be given the background information on “William S. Porter” in preparation for
“A Retrieved Reformation” by O. Henry. The students will then complete a close reading and
complete the close reading questions. After completing the close readings the students will use
their answers to report to the class what they learned about in their readings.
Anticipation Guides
Students will complete the Anticipation Guides for their stories. The purpose of this activity
is to get the students thinking about the types of things they will see in their reading, whether it
be a moral issue or some overriding theme. Each student will complete it on their own in their
expert groups, then come back to it at the end of the unit and re-evaluate their decisions. After
completing it the first time, they will discuss it with a partner in their group, explaining what led
them to their decisions for each statement.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
90
Sentence Starters for Active Reading I
After each selection, these sentence starters are placed for students to complete their
readings. The first time they use them students will read the exposition to their stories. The
second time will be after they read the rising action. The third time will be after they read the
climax through the resolution. While reading, after each paragraph or chunked section (which the
teacher may have to model), the students will use one of the “Sentence Starters for Active
Reading” for that paragraph. On their handouts, the students will “Get it Dirty” (this simply
means write their answers for the sentence starters right next to the paragraph or chunk they just
read).
***EC Modification- Students will only use the first three boxes to help them answer questions
about what they have read.
Setting Worksheet
Students will complete the “Setting Worksheet” based on the exposition in their expert
groups, and then return to their home groups to share with each other. After that, the students
will share with the class.
Phrases in Context for Thank You, M’am, Words in Context for The Scholarship Jacket, and
Words in Context for A Retrieved Reformation
Students will complete the “Phrases in Context for Thank You, M’am”, “Words in
Context for The Scholarship Jacket”, and “Words in Context for A Retrieved
Reformation” worksheets in expert groups. Then, each expert member will share with a partner
their interaction with the words. The partners will trade off until each partner has shared with
every group member. Finally, each group member will take a word and add it to the word wall.
STEAL worksheet
Students will complete the “STEAL worksheet” in their home groups looking at
characterization. When they are finished, they will share with their groups and then share with
the class.
What’s your problem?
Students will participate in the “What’s your problem?” activity in their home groups.
The students will be given five strips per group. Each member will get only one strip except one
member, who will get two strips, assuming there are four members in every group. They will not
be allowed to let one another see their strips. They must verbally share their strips with each
other and decide which problem is the biggest in the group. They must also be able to justify
why they chose this issue as the main problem. The groups will then share with the class their
findings and their explanations.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
91
Sentences in Action
Students will be given a group of important sentences from the expositions of the stories
as a focus for addressing language. They will complete the “Sentences in Action worksheet” to
address dialogue, dialect, point of view, sentence structure, and anything else the students notice
about how the sentences are put together. The students should go to their expert groups and
analyze the sentences in their group by completing the “Sentences in Action worksheet”. Then,
students will return to their home groups to share their findings and talk about the sentences.
When finished, the class will enter into a group discussion to analyze the importance of these
sentences, and the things they notice about the language.
Sentence Starters for Active Reading II
After each selection, these sentence starters are placed for students to complete their
readings. The first time they use them students will read the exposition to their stories. The
second time will be after they read the rising action. The third time will be after they read the
climax through the resolution. While reading, after each paragraph or chunked section (which the
teacher may have to model), the students will use one of the “Sentence Starters for Active
Reading” for that paragraph. On their handouts, the students will “Get it Dirty” (this simply
means write their answers for the sentence starters right next to the paragraph or chunk they just
read).
***EC Modification- Students will only use the first three boxes to help them answer questions
about what they have read.
Guided Notes on Conflict
The students will watch a PowerPoint on Literary Conflict and take notes using the
guided notes handout. This will help set students up for going back to the rising action and rereading it looking for minor conflicts in that section.
Conflict Bubbles Poster for Rising Action
In each bubble, students will place one of the conflicts in the rising action. They identify
the character involved in the conflict and the type of conflict. They will also put one comment
about how this conflict affects the story or characters. Then, students will cut them out and post
them to their posters, which will have the title of the story. Then, students will draw arrows
showing the sequence of conflicts in the story.
Circle Map-Vocabulary II
Students will be given a two or three sentence with a vocabulary word underlined in it.
Then, they will use the “Circle Map-Vocabulary II” worksheets with a partner to define the
words. When they have finished working with their partners, they will share their words with
their groups. Then, they will share their words with the class as they go to add their words to the
class word wall.
***EC Modification for Circle Map- Have the “Related Words” section already filled out for
these students or specifically sit down with these students and go through the “Related Words”
and “Synonyms” sections as they will most likely have difficulty separating the two areas.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
92
Character Analysis Chart
Students will complete the “Character Analysis Chart” in their expert groups using both
the exposition and the rising action to determine what their character is like. Then, the students
will return to their home groups to share what they have found out about each character.
One Pager- Types of Characters
For this activity, students will pick one of the characters from the Character Analysis
Chart and create a One Pager. On the One Pager students will identify the type of character,
using notes from a PowerPoint presentation. On the One Pager, the students will have to
determine if the character is a main character or a minor character, whether the character is static
or dynamic, whether the character is the protagonist or the antagonist and if the character is a foil
character. They will then have to include an important passage from the text, an important quote
from the character and an important quote about the character. The students will also need to
write an explanation for each of the evidence they have take from the text. Students will then
have to include a picture that best represents this character. As an example, using The Dinner
Party by Mona Gardner, the hostess might be represented by a pillar or a statue. In addition, each
student must write their own person response to the character on the paper.
***EC Modification- If the group is performing lower, take out the need for a passage about the
character and a quote about the character. Have them only choose one quote the character said
and have them explain its importance.
Sentence Starters for Active Reading III
After each selection, these sentence starters are placed for students to complete their
readings. The first time they use them students will read the exposition to their stories. The
second time will be after they read the rising action. The third time will be after they read the
climax, falling action and resolution. While reading, after each paragraph or chunked section
(which the teacher may have to model), the students will use one of the “Sentence Starters for
Active Reading” for that paragraph. On their handouts, the students will “Get it Dirty” (this
simply means write their answers for the sentence starters right next to the paragraph or chunk
they just read).
***EC Modification- Students will only use the first three boxes to help them answer questions
about what they have read.
Silently Acting It Out With a Narrator
After finishing the reading from the climax to the resolution, students will take roles in
acting out the rest of the story for the class. The idea behind this is to have two of the students,
maybe a struggling student, silently act out the roles of the two big characters. For Thank, You
M’am, they will be Ms. Luella Bates Washington Jones and Roger. For The Scholarship Jacket,
they will be Marta, the principal and grandpa (one will have to play both grandpa and the
principal). For A Retrieved Reformation, they will be Jimmy Valentine (aka- Ralph Spencer) and
Ben Price. The remaining two members of the group will narrate to the audience what each of
the characters is doing. One will narrate for the first character, and one will narrate for the
second character
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
93
Theme Worksheet
Students will work together in their home groups to complete the entire “Theme
Worksheet”. The expert in each group will help everyone answer the question for their stories.
By the time the students get to the end of their story, the other group members will be able to
help figure out the theme of each of the stories.
Climax Index Cards
The goal of this activity is to create a list of reasons the climax is often defined as the
most exciting part of the story and get them to realize it is because they are interested in how the
main conflict gets solved.
Students will be given the following statement and question “The climax, usually,
considered the most exciting part of the story. Why do you think this is the case?” They will take
a moment and really think about why this true. Then, they will Free Write for 5 minutes about
this. During this time, they are not to worry about neatness or spelling. Let the students know
they are to get down as many thoughts and explanations during the 5 minutes as possible.
Students will take their best answer and write their final opinion on an index card, taking care to
explain their thoughts. Then, they will fold the index card twice and drop it in the box. Each
student will then pull out an index card and read what was written. Then, the class will begin to
build a list of the classes’ opinion. This list will be used to guide students into creating a new
definition for climax, which includes the main conflict being solved.
Y-Chart Poster
Students will create a Y-Chart Poster to compare and contrast the features of two of the
stories read. Students, in their home groups, will have their choice of which two stories to use for
their Y-Chart Poster. In the left arm of the Y, they will put the differences of the first story. In
the right arm of the Y, they will put the differences of the second story. In the trunk they will put
the similarities. Students will discuss the features similar to all of the stories, like exposition
through resolution, dialogue, characterization, and such. They share with the class their findings
and post their Y-Chart Poster somewhere in the room.
***EC Modification- For struggling student, you can either have them compare and contrast the
Biography of O. Henry with the Biography of Langston Hughes. Or, you can have an example YChart Poster with the Biography of O. Henry compared to the Biography of Langston Hughes,
so that they can see an example of what they are trying to accomplish.
Revisit Anticipation Guides
Students will revisit the Anticipation Guides for their stories. The purpose of this activity is
to get the students thinking about the types of things read and how they have changed over the
course of the unit. They will get to go back and change any of the choices they made before the
unit. For each question, in their expert groups, the students will explain why they have made
changes or why they chose not to make changes.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
94
Rikki-tikki-tavi Assessments
Learners will read Rikki-tikki-tavi. Learners will identify elements of the Exposition,
Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution, setting, characters of the story (including
their characterization and development throughout the story), point of view, the main conflict,
minor conflicts and the theme of the story. For each of these elements, students will explain their
importance to the story. Students will be given the opportunity to show their learning in a variety
of different ways: They can create a story board. They can create a flip book. They can create a
digital story. They can create any visual representation to tell identify these story elements. The
students will be doing these in segments like each phase of the unit. So, as the exposition is
completed for each of the stories, they will get assessed by completing the exposition of Rikkitikki-tavi before beginning the rising action.
Lesson for the Art of Storytelling
Students will get with a partner or in groups of three and complete Think-Pair-Share activity,
followed by class discussion. Students will watch two commercials from YouTube (Canadian
Tire bike story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXjlyo1tie4 and Volkswagen Passat
commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz3Hfu102hw). In their groups, they will
discuss what made each one appealing, how each commercial told a story and why, how the
music and images chosen helped to create the story, why it might be memorable enough to
convince people to buy the product. Students will choose in their groups which of the
commercials they will put into words. (Tell the story in written form). Students will watch the
first 4 – 7 minutes of the Barack Obama speech
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHBdZWbncXI) about the verdict in the Trayvon Martin
case and pick out the narrative elements in it. Where did the President inject his own story and
why? What point was he trying to make? Students will read the Severn Suzuki speech from the
previous unit and see if they can pick out the narrative elements in it. How do they help Suzuki
persuade her audience? Final piece: Students will choose someone to interview and tell their
story in such a way that there is exposition, rising action, climax and resolution. They must tell it
so that the reader feels he/she “knows” the main character. There should also be a theme or life
lesson woven into the story.
Final Assessment
Learners will write a narrative story of their own using the tools learned from the unit to
help demonstrate their knowledge of how a good story is told.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
95
Conflict Bubbles Rubric
Key
Features
3
(outstanding)
 Has correctly identified all the
characters involved in each
conflict
 Has accurately identified the
type of conflict in each bubble
 Has included an effect on
Content of
characters or story in each
Bubbles and
bubble
Poster
 Has placed all the bubble in
the correct sequence


Presentation
of Bubble
Poster


Each member of the group
contributes to the poster and
the verbal presentation
Bubble Posters have creative
designs and effectively uses
color and shading
Bubble Posters have creative
and reasonable explanations of
how characters or story is
affected by the conflict
Bubble Posters are neat
2
(passing)
 Has correctly identified all the
characters involved in the conflicts
 Has accurately identified most the
types of conflict in each bubble
 Has included an effect on
characters or story in most of the
bubbles
 Has placed all the bubble in the
correct sequence



Each member of the group
contributes to the poster and the
verbal presentation
Bubble Posters uses color and
shading
Bubble Posters are neat
1
(needs revision)
 Has correctly
identified all the
characters involved in
each conflict
 Has accurately
identified few the
types of conflict in
each bubble
 Has not included an
effect on characters or
story in most bubbles
 Has not placed all the
bubble in the correct
sequence
 One or more members
of the group do not
contributes to the
poster or the verbal
presentation
 Bubble Posters do not
uses color or shading
 Bubble Posters are
sloppy
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
96
One Pager Rubric
Key Features
3
(outstanding)


Content of
One Pager


Presentation
of One Pager


Has correctly identified all
the character types
associated with their
character
Has included a passage
about the character, one
quote from the character
and one quote from
another character about
that character
Has a fully developed
explanations for the
reasons each evidence was
pulled from the text
Each member of the group
contributes to the one
pager and the verbal
presentation
One pagers have creative
pictures and effectively use
color and shading
One Pagers are neat
2
(passing)






Has correctly identified
most of the character types
associated with their
character
Has included a passage
about the character, one
quote from the character
and one quote from
another character about
that character
Has an somewhat
developed explanations for
the reasons each evidence
was pulled from the text
Each member of the group
contributes to the poster
and the verbal presentation
One pagers have creative
pictures and effectively use
color and shading
One Pagers are neat
1
(needs revision)






Has incorrectly, or not at
all, identified the character
types associated with their
character
Has included a passage
about the character, one
quote from the character
and one quote from
another character about
that character
Has missing or no
explanations for the
reasons each evidence was
pulled from the text
One or more members of
the group do not
contributes to the poster or
the verbal presentation
One pagers do not use
color or shading
One pagers are sloppy
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
97
Letter to a Character Rubric
KEY TRAITS
DEVELOPMENT
OF IDEAS
3 (Strong)
2 (Average)
1 (Weak)
•The first paragraph accurately
addresses the exposition,
clearly identifies the characters
issue and sets up points of
comparison between the writer
and the character.
• The first paragraph addresses the
exposition, identifies the
characters issue and sets up points
of comparison between the writer
and the character but the
comparison is somewhat
inappropriate.
• The first paragraph addresses the
exposition, identifies the characters
issue and sets up points of
comparison between the writer and
the character but the comparison is
not appropriate to the character’s
experience.
• The second paragraph addresses
the rising action, identifies the
characters issue and sets up points
of comparison between the writer
and the character but the
comparison is somewhat
inappropriate.
• The second paragraph addresses
the rising action, identifies the
characters issue and sets up points of
comparison between the writer and
the character but the comparison is
not appropriate to the character’s
experience.
• The third paragraph addresses
the climax through resolution,
identifies the characters issue and
sets up points of comparison
between the writer and the
character but the comparison is
somewhat inappropriate.
• The third paragraph addresses the
climax through resolution, identifies
the characters issue and sets up
points of comparison between the
writer and the character but the
comparison is not appropriate to the
character’s experience.
• Key points could use more
support.
• Details and support are irrelevant
or missing.
•The second paragraph
accurately addresses the rising
action, clearly identifies the
characters issue and sets up
points of comparison between
the writer and the character.
•The third paragraph accurately
addresses the climax through
resolution, clearly identifies the
characters issue and sets up
points of comparison between
the writer and the character.
• Relevant details, examples,
and quotations skillfully
support each key point.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
ORGANIZATION
OF IDEAS
LANGUAGE
FACILITY AND
CONVENTIONS
98
• Key points and supporting
details are organized logically
throughout the comparison.
• The organization of key points
and supporting details is confusing
in some places.
• Transitions successfully show
the relationships between ideas.
• More transitions are needed to
connect ideas.
• Transitions are not used, making
the comparison difficult to
understand.
• The essay maintains a formal
style.
• The style becomes informal in
several places.
• The style is inappropriate for the
essay.
• Language is precise and
emphasizes similarities and
differences.
• Language is repetitive or too
general at times.
• Language is inaccurate, repetitive,
and too general.
• Sentence beginnings, lengths,
and structures vary somewhat.
• Repetitive sentence structure,
fragments, and run-on sentences
make the writing monotonous and
difficult to follow.
• Sentence beginnings, lengths,
and structures vary and have a
rhythmic flow.
• Spelling, capitalization, and
punctuation are correct.
• Grammar and usage are
correct.
• Several spelling, capitalization,
and punctuation mistakes occur.
• Some grammatical and usage
errors are repeated in the
comparison.
• The organization is ineffective;
ideas are presented randomly.
• Spelling, capitalization, and
punctuation are incorrect throughout.
• Many grammatical and usage
errors change the meaning of the
writer’s ideas.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
99
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi Project- Exposition Rubric
Key Features



Content of
project


• Use of language is lively and
precise.
• Sentence beginnings, lengths, and
structures vary and have a rhythmic
flow.
• Spelling, capitalization, and
punctuation are correct.
• Grammar and usage are correct.
Conventions
and Language


Presentation
3
(outstanding)
Learners identify all components of
Exposition.
Learners identify all the setting in
the story.
Learners identify the characters of
the story, their characterization
created by the author.
Learners correctly identify the
Point of View of the story.
Learners identify the main conflict.

The project is well organized.
The project uses appropriate colors
and shading.
The project is neat.
2
(passing)
 Learners identify most of
the components of
Exposition.
 Learners identify most of
the settings in the story.
 Learners identify the
characters of the story.
 Learners correctly identify
the Point of View of the
story.
 Learners identify the main
conflict.
• Language is sometimes
repetitive or too general.
• Sentence beginnings,
lengths, and structures vary
somewhat.
• Several spelling,
capitalization, and
punctuation mistakes occur.
• Some grammatical and
usage errors are repeated in a
few places.
 The project is not very
organized.
 The project uses
appropriate colors and
shading.
 The project is somewhat
neat.





1
(needs revision)
Learners identify some or few of
the components of Exposition.
Learners identify a few or none of
the settings in the story.
Learners identify the characters of
the story.
Learners do not correctly identify
the Point of View of the story.
Learners do not identify the main
conflict.
• Language is inaccurate, repetitive,
and too general.
• Repetitive sentence structure,
fragments, and run-on sentences make
the writing hard to follow.
• Spelling, capitalization, and
punctuation are incorrect throughout.
• Many grammatical and usage errors
change the meaning of the writer’s
ideas.



The project has no clear pattern of
organization.
The project does not use
appropriate colors and shading.
The project is messy.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
100
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi Project- Rising Action Rubric
Key Features


Content of project


3
(outstanding)
Learners identify all
components of Rising
Action.
Learners identify all the
settings in the story.
Learners identify character
development throughout
the story and the type of
characters they are.
Learners identify minor
conflicts in the story.




• Use of language is lively
and precise.
• Spelling, capitalization, and
punctuation are correct.
• Grammar and usage are
correct.
Conventions and Language


Presentation

The project is well
organized.
The project uses
appropriate colors and
shading.
The project is neat.
2
(passing)
Learners identify most of
the components of Rising
Action.
Learners identify most of
the settings in the story.
Learners identify the type
of characters from the
story.
Learners identify some of
the minor conflicts in the
story.
• Language is sometimes
repetitive or too general.
• Several spelling,
capitalization, and
punctuation mistakes occur.
• Some grammatical and
usage errors are repeated in
a few places.



The project is not very
organized.
The project uses
appropriate colors and
shading.
The project is somewhat
neat.
1
(needs revision)
 Learners identify some or
few of Rising Action.
 Learners identify a few or
none of the settings in the
story.
 Learners do not identify
character development
throughout the story and
the type of characters
they are.
 Learners identify few or
no minor conflicts.
• Language is inaccurate,
repetitive, and too general.
• Spelling, capitalization,
and punctuation are
incorrect throughout.
• Many grammatical and
usage errors change the
meaning of the writer’s
ideas.
 The project has no clear
pattern of organization.
 The project does not use
appropriate colors and
shading.
 The project is messy.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
101
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi Project Climax through Resolution
Key Features


Content of project


3
(outstanding)
Learners identify all
components of Climax,
Falling Action, and
Resolution.
Learners identify all the
settings in the story.
Learners accurately identify
one of the possible themes
of the story.
Learners explain the
importance of all of the
elements of the story.
• Use of language is lively and
precise.
• Spelling, capitalization, and
punctuation are correct.
• Grammar and usage are
correct.
Conventions and Language


Presentation

The project is well
organized.
The project uses appropriate
colors and shading.
The project is neat.




2
(passing)
Learners identify most of
the components of Climax,
Falling Action, and
Resolution.
Learners identify most of
the settings in the story.
Learners accurately
identify one of the possible
themes of the story.
Learners explain the
importance of most of the
elements of the story.
• Language is sometimes
repetitive or too general.
• Several spelling,
capitalization, and
punctuation mistakes occur.
• Some grammatical and
usage errors are repeated in a
few places.
 The project is not very
organized.
 The project uses
appropriate colors and
shading.
 The project is somewhat
neat.
1
(needs revision)
 Learners identify some or
few of the components of
Climax, Falling Action,
and Resolution.
 Learners identify a few or
none of the settings in the
story.
 Learners incorrectly or
does not identify one of
the possible themes of the
story.
 Learners explain the
importance of few or no
elements of the story.
• Language is inaccurate,
repetitive, and too general.
• Spelling, capitalization, and
punctuation are incorrect
throughout.
• Many grammatical and
usage errors change the
meaning of the writer’s ideas.
 The project has no clear
pattern of organization.
 The project does not use
appropriate colors and
shading.
 The project is messy.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea
Making it Personal: The Art and Craft of Story Telling
102
Final Assessment- Narrative Rubric
KEY TRAITS
3 (Strong)
• The story begins memorably; the
exposition clearly introduces the
setting, a main character, and the
conflict.
• The writer regularly uses precise
DEVELOPMENT description and realistic dialogue to
develop characters and events.
OF IDEAS
• The plot is thoroughly developed;
the story reveals a powerful theme.
• The story ends by resolving the
conflict and effectively tying up loose
ends.
• The sequence of events is effective,
clear, and logical.
ORGANIZATION • The pace and organization keep the
reader curious about the next plot
OF IDEAS
event.
LANGUAGE
FACILITY AND
CONVENTIONS
• The point of view is effective and
consistent throughout the story.
• Vivid, sensory details reveal the
setting and characters.
• Sentence beginnings, lengths, and
structures vary and have a rhythmic
flow.
• Spelling, capitalization, and
punctuation are correct.
• Grammar and usage are correct.
2 (Average)
• The exposition introduces the setting, a
main character, and a conflict, but it
could be more engaging.
• The writer needs to include more
description and dialogue to develop
characters and events.
• Some plot events need more
development; the story suggests a theme.
• The story resolves the conflict, but
more details are needed to bring the plot
to a satisfying conclusion.
1 (Weak)
• The exposition is missing critical
information about the setting and main
character and doesn’t set up a conflict.
• The writer does not use description
and dialogue to develop characters and
events.
• The plot is barely developed, and the
story doesn’t present a theme.
• The story has no clear resolution.
• The sequence of events is confusing in
some places.
• The pace could move along more
quickly to hold the reader’s interest.
• There is no clear sequence of events.
• The pace is ineffective.
• The point of view shifts at times.
• More sensory details are needed to
describe the setting and characters.
• Sentence beginnings, lengths, and
structures mostly vary.
• Several spelling, capitalization, and
punctuation mistakes occur.
• Some grammatical and usage errors are
repeated in the story.
• The story lacks a clear point of view.
• Sensory details are rarely or never
used to describe the setting and
characters.
• A repetitive sentence structure makes
the writing hard to follow.
• Spelling, capitalization, and
punctuation are incorrect throughout.
• Many grammatical and usage errors
change the meaning of the writer’s
ideas.
Unit created by Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Shea, and Thomas A. McCrea