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Unit Title: Bizarre Twists of Fate in the Short Story
By Joe Schingen

Prefatory Statement--
This unit emphasizes the importance of understanding the art of writing literature. Many classic short stories will be explored and appreciated beyond just a mindless reading. Literature has the power of suggestion and the intent of the author is the essence of writing. There will be many things introduced about the essentials of writing. Theme, setting, intent, climax, conflict, motivations, characterization, metaphors, ironies, and symbols are all things that will be learned and performed. In essence, this unit agrees with the thoughts of Margaret Atwood:
Whenever I'm asked to talk about what constitutes a "good" story, or what makes one well written story "better" than another, I begin to feel very uncomfortable. Once you start making lists or devising rules for stories, or for any other kind of writing, some writer will be sure to happen along and casually break every abstract rule you or anyone else has ever thought up, and take your breath away in the process. The word should is a dangerous one to use when speaking of writing. It's a kind of challenge to the deviousness and inventiveness and audacity and perversity of the creative spirit. Sooner or later, anyone who has been too free with it will be liable to end up wearing it like a dunce's cap. We don't judge good stories by the application to them of some set of external measurements, as we judge giant pumpkins at the Fall Fair. We judge them by the way they strike us. -Margaret Atwood
It is important that a student can write with creativity and vividness. In this unit, many stories will be read that include bizarre twists of fate. In reading some of these, the student will have certain reactions that will be expressed in papers and journal entries.
The unit will be accomplished through three ongoing activities. The first is the reading and responding to the stories offered in the unit. There are eight stories, and each will be used to explicate an important element of writing and reading. A journal will be kept that holds the reactions and summaries of the stories and new information learned. Ideas for their own stories will also be in their journals. The second ongoing activity will be several writing assignments that help the student understand more, in detail, about the themes and motivations in the literature. These writing assignments include two newspaper articles, a reaction paper, and a translation essay. The third activity going on at the same time is the construction of their own short stories. They will be using all of the information learned in their journals, papers, and feedback from fellow students to complete this task. After all of this is completed, a unit test will be given to assess the student’s progress and attained knowledge from the unit.
It is important to teach this unit because it instills concepts in the minds of the students. They will be more apt to learn from literature and be more able to express their own thoughts in a story format. It is important to realize that this unit does give the students the knowledge to demonstrate their own writing styles, but it will also make them better readers because they have learned how to write by reading.

Class Specification--
This unit would work best with a 12th grade class. The reason for this narrow field is the content involved. Short stories are not easily handled by just anyone. The students need to have a certain amount of energy and self-motivation in order to receive all of the information offered. This unit would work well with younger students if the content were less challenging. Unfortunately, the classic short stories available for easier reading are often boring or very controversial. For example: Guests of A Nation by Frank O'Connor and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. All of the short stories that encompass a bizarre twist of fate will have a striking characteristic. This would be one thing that could pose as a problem. However, if the story is prefaced into a sufficient context, all should go well.

Significant Assumptions-- In writing this unit, I have assumed that:
? Students are satisfactory readers.
? Short stories epitomize the essentials of all fiction.
? Information in literature can be used in other classes.
? Students have prior knowledge about the ways of the world.
? Student can learn from others in class.
? Journaling can help students format their interpretations.
? Predicting can produce intrigue.

Standards to be met--
Literature and Art Analysis and Interpretation is the high standard. The subpart of this standard is number two; Literary and Arts Creation and Performance. In dance, music, theater, visual arts, creative writing, or media arts, a student shall demonstrate understanding of the elements, techniques, and processes of the selected art form and how works of the art form are structured; and, in the art form, the student shall create or perform, or both, an original artistic presentation including a single complex work or multiple works that:

A. Demonstrates elements and skills of art form;
B. Demonstrates a consideration of audience;
C. Demonstrates a sense of an artistic whole;
D. Demonstrates artistic decisions to communicate intent;
E. Demonstrates sources for critique and feedback.

Possible Whole-Class Activities—Students will:
? Brainstorm what needs to be present in a short story.
? Discussion on how stories told everyday are usually the ones that are most bizarre or "out of routine."
? Read the assigned stories.
? Discuss the stories themselves.
? Debate about possible interpretations of the stories read.
? Predict themes using only the title of the story.

Possible small group activities—Teachers will:
? Assign group members to tasks in order to help them make sense of the story. i.e. setting, metaphor, irony, characters etc..
? Have the group come up with a consensus about whether they liked or disliked the literature.
? In several groups, represent each important character in the story and debate if they liked the agenda of the author in this story.

Possible individual activities—Students will:
? Write an opinion paper from a character's perspective that compares him or her to other characters in the story.
? Write a newspaper article as a journalist from the time the story occurred. How was this event viewed during this time? How did the public respond? The family?
? Free-write immediately after reading the story. This will include his or her initial reactions and what they thought was the purpose of the story.
? Read a story right up to the climax. Finish the story in you’re his or her own way. Try to predict what is about to happen.

Ongoing activities--

Each student will write their own short story during the unit. It will be written in accordance with the journal that will be kept throughout the unit as well. Throughout the unit, the class will discover new elements of the short story and will be asked to write the newfound information in their journals. The information in the journal will be useful for resources and ideas for their papers. Ideas in the journal may contain information about the main steps required in the story. It may also contain ideas for metaphorical or ironic use in their papers. The students will be encouraged to react to the stories they read and to write them in their journals. These thoughts may inspire some diverse strategies in their own writing. Writing something in their journal everyday is something that I would highly suggest. It would be the way the class would finish class for the day. The paper will be a little less time consuming in the classroom. It should be recommended that the work be done as homework so they can absorb new knowledge during class.

Student resources:
-A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner
-The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant
-Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
-Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce
-Open Boat by Stephen Crane
-Hands by Sherwood Anderson
-The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
-The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick
-A Journal
-Library

Unit Launch/Anticipatory Set/Set Induction--

Title: A story and all its parts.

Objective: This set induction will get the students to enjoy an old favorite story while using it to get the basic ideas of a story's parts. Introducing this concept in its most elementary form will ensure quick and successful progress.

Methods:
A. I sit down in front of the class with The Pokey Little Puppy and tell them we are starting a new unit.
B. I read the story to them like it was kindergarten again.
C. After reading the story, I ask what the author's objective was.
D. I then go to the board and use the story's parts to introduce all of the important elements of a successful short story.
E. Students will match the events in the children's book to these parts.
F. The students will be asked to take a story from their own life experiences and categorize its parts. In doing this, the class will brainstorm different events that have happened to them just to get the students’ brains going a little. They will then be asked to think of the story in their mind and put it into outline form. They must only state the most important factors in the story. From the outline, students will categorize its parts into these elements: Characters, setting, rising action, conflict, climax, and resolution.

Organization of the Unit--

Week 1: I will introduce the essentials and abstractions in short stories. The essentials of the short story would include all of the elements mentioned above. These being: Exposition, setting, theme, rising action, conflict, climax, and resolution. All stories have these elements else they would not be complete. In order to achieve an understanding of a story, one must identify its parts and be able to come to a logical conclusion as to why it is present in the story. The parts have the details and the details have the themes. Abstractions, on the other hand, are elements such as metaphors, ironies, and symbols. These things make a story a classic. It is hard to find abstractions in stories sometimes, but they are there. It is important for students to recognize hidden meaning because it may contain the theme. There will be time given at the end of class to write some thoughts on this information. We will read "A Rose for Emily" and discover the motivation of the author. What are some of the reasons Faulkner may have written this story? In asking this question, it would be a good idea to hand out some information on Faulkner and study his background a little. What is the theme? Why is it important that the reader know this information? Have students read the story at home and return with these questions answered. We will then discuss the questions and some of the answers and try to start a discussion on the story. Students will then have another opportunity to respond in their journals about themes and motivations. From this, we will begin the next story. I will introduce "The Necklace" and the class will discuss the possible themes the story may entail. These predictions will entice the readers to read the story. We will read "The Necklace" and review our predictions. We will discuss ironies in the story and how it is practically impossible to predict such a twist. The students will write a newspaper article including the setting and the people involved. What did the owner of the necklace do during this turn of events? How did the public respond? If the lady who lost the necklace were quoted, what would she have said during her search? We will also discuss happy endings. Would the story have been better if the necklace was real and never found? Would it have been more realistic if the lady lived in turmoil and poverty for the rest of her days? These questions may secure the gift of irony in literature by showing unnecessary panic.

Week 2: We will read "Open Boat" and "Hands" and reaffirm the importance of exposition. The students will pick a character from either story and translate the story from their perspective. Does the story change? Do the other characters agree with the author's point of view? What is the importance of having the other characters? The students will write in their journal what they learned about characterization for their own Short stories. The short story writing assignment will be issued at this time and will be due towards the end of the unit. You must allow enough time to respond to the students' stories so they can use the information to study for the unit test. Characterization will be one of the essential elements in their own story. A short quiz will also be given at this time to ensure the students are reading and learning from the discussions in class. The quiz will include questions about themes, characters, and motivations of the authors of stories that have already been read.

Week 3: We will read "Metamorphosis" and "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." The students will free write in their journals about their initial reactions to the stories. We will discuss the possible interpretations of "Metamorphosis" and try to come to a consensus as a class. We will explore the styles in these pieces and recognize the use of dreams and metaphors to achieve a theme. I will lecture on metaphors and then the students will journal the options for their own story. In the lecture, I will explain the difference between similes and metaphors to show the students the power of each. I will emphasize that it is not in their best interest to put a metaphor in every other sentence because they will lose the desired impact. Here is a good time to model a few for them. We will also delve into the climax of "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." What made it so exciting? What was the climax? Is there more than one? How did the climax unfold? What rising action did Bierce use to form his climax? Students will free write in their journal their feeling about what they might do to form their own climax. Rising action and some form of climax are also requirements in their papers. This story has a lot of psychology in it. The main character drifts off into a "dream state". I will make a connection with the students by asking them how they would react in this high-anxiety situation. We will have another short quiz inquiring about the themes and ironies of the stories read thus far. Topics and an outline for their stories are due at this time.

Week 4: It is very important to return their topics and outlines so they can begin writing their stories. I will take some time to conference with them and get them started. We will read "The Lottery" and "The Shawl" looking for all of the previously mentioned elements of a story. We will cover the historical perspectives and traditions introduced in these stories and how they influenced the motivations of the characters. As a group, students will brainstorm their own traditions that they think are wrong or should be changed. This will be done before we read "The Lottery." The traditions will be presented to the class and we will vote to terminate it or keep it the way it is. The students will write a short reaction paper about "The Lottery." Does it seem possible? Would you live in this town? What would you say to try to convince the town not to carry on this tradition? We will spend a day watching the short film of "The Lottery" and discuss any further discoveries they may have found. We will then discuss "The Shawl." What is so important about the shawl? Have the students write in their journal about the necessary items needed in their own stories. Will they include some traditions or items in their story that may enhance it? A very rough draft of their papers is due by the end of this week.

Week 5: I will return their drafts with helpful feedback for them. I will make sure they have all of the required elements and make suggestions for metaphors, ironies, and symbols. The students will get into their groups and do some peer critiquing and more feedback. Students will be encouraged to offer ideas that might enhance each other's stories. Only positive feedback will be tolerated. Students will come to class with questions about what is to be on the test. I will ask the class what they think should be on the test as well. We will review all elements discussed in the unit that will be on the test. Their papers are due at this time.

Week 6: Papers will be returned so they can study from them. I will ask the students to bring in some old magazines and try to have some for them as well. The students will work on a collage that synthesizes all aspects of the unit. This may include pictures of items in the stories, themes, facial reactions of characters, etc.. The students will present their collages and explain its meanings. The unit test will be taken.

Detailed Plans for Three days of the Unit--
Week 1--Day 2
Title: A Rose for Emily.

Objectives: Students will understand the elements and abstractions of short stories. They will have read the story assigned and will understand the motivations and theme of the author.

Methods:
A. I will review what was previously learned in the set induction. With the class helping me, I will put on the board the graph of all stories. It will include: Exposition, setting, theme, rising action, conflict, climax, and resolution. (10 min)
B. We will discuss "A Rose for Emily." I am only there to mediate the discussion. We will step-by-step walk through the story to find all of its parts. Theme will be the element I ask for in their stories. I will ask each student to write an essay on what they think the theme was in the story and what in the story can be used for evidence. From what you know about the main character, what conclusions can you draw about her motivations to poison her lover? Why wouldn't she let him leave? (15 min)
C. When the perceived themes come out, I will let the class come to some conclusion on what they agree with and what they don't. (10 min)
D. In their small groups, they will need to figure out why Faulkner wrote this story. They will read some background information on him. (15 min)
E. We will come back together as a whole and debate the interpretations of the author's motivations. (5 min)
F. They will write on the things they learned in their journal. (5 min)

Assessment: I will know the students are learning if:
A. I read their essays on the perceived theme and it is correct or justifiable.
B. They pass the short quiz offered later in the unit asking about the theme and motivations of the author.
C. They can tell me what the story's parts are.

Lesson #2
Week 3--day 3
Title: Climax is the Occurrence.

Objective: Students will comprehend the meaning of climax in a story. Students can identify what style the author uses and recognize the beauty and boundlessness of literature.
Methods:
A. Students will have read Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. We will discuss their initial reactions to the story. (5 min)
B. We will delve into the climax of the story. Was there more than one? What was the actual climax? Student will respond and debate with little or no help from me. (10 min)
C. I will ask the class to take out their notebooks and I will read an excerpt from the story. I will read just up to the long walk down the dark and mysterious road. I will then ask them to finish the story with their own climax. (15 min)
D. The class will turn those papers in and I will randomly read a few to the class. Then the students will respond in their journals about climaxes. (10 min)
E. There will be a short quiz given to reassure that the students are reading and learning from the discussions. The quiz will include: theme, motivations, climax, and important events in the stories. (10 min)

Assessment: I know the students are learning if:
A. Their own climaxes to the story fit the criteria of what is a climax.
B. Their journals have accurate reference for their own stories.
C. They pass the quiz.

Lesson #3
Week 2--day 2
Title: Who are you?

Objective: The students will be able to empathize will all characters in the story. They will understand the ending of Open Boat and know why it is ironic.
Methods:
A. We will discuss the students' initial reactions to the stories. (Hands and Open Boat) (5 min)
B. In their small groups, each student will pick a character from one of the stories and take on his/her role. Then, they will debate within the group who got cheated, loved, hated, hurt, killed, or laughed at. (10 min)
C. We will come back together as a class and I will ask each student who they are and to describe in as few words as possible, their treatment in the story. (20 min)
D. The student will free write in their journals about characterization. (5 min)
E. The class will brainstorm ideas for their own short stories. I will write them on the board and assign topic to be due the next week. (10 min)

Assessment: I will know the students are learning if:
A. They understand the roles of the characters.
B. Their journals show good reasons for the importance of exposition.
C. They prove they all read the story when I ask around the classroom about their treatment.

Unit Test--
The test will be given being comprised of questions from the stories including: theme, setting, irony, metaphor, characters, motivations, important events, and climaxes. The final draft of their papers are also due at this time. Questions will be, short answer and essay. Short answers will ask for authors and titles of important sentences or paragraphs from stories read. The essays may be a response to a theme or themes in a story, or a compare and contrast of two stories.

Unit Assessment--
Each student will eventually write his or her own short story. It will be due the week before the unit test. The story must include the following: Exposition, setting, theme, rising action, conflict, climax, and resolution. There will be extra points given for metaphors, symbols and ironies. Writing their own stories will prove that they understand what they read enough to do it themselves.
While reading along during the unit, students will write newspaper articles as journalists from the time and place of The Necklace. This article will inform the reader of the public reaction and the response from the people involved. The article can be assessed by looking for in-depth reactions from characters and understanding of emotions in the story.
Translation essay: Each student will write a translation essay from a character's perspective. They have the option of choosing characters from either Open Boat or Hands. This essay will answer questions like: How does this character see this event? Is it different from the story told? If so, how? What would you do differently if you had the chance to be a character in this story? Assessment is made possible by exploring the paper for cites from the story or thorough character description and understanding.
Short quizzes will be given on weeks 2 and 3. These quizzes will ask simple questions about events in the stories read. It is only to help you reassure that your student are reading the material and are learning from the discussions. Points for these quizzes should be low because it would be more effective if the quizzes themselves were not announced ahead of time.
Periodic checking of the students' journals will also help you assess the progress of your students. They are assigned to write in their journal several times a week. The writing should include things they thought would be beneficial to know for reference for their own stories. These journals should not be graded but checked for having done the writing.
Reaction paper: The students will be reading The Lottery. Being that it is so controversial, a reaction paper may be a good idea. In the paper, students must answer several questions: Is this story possible? Would you live in this town? What would you do to change the traditions in this town? Do you think the other residents can be persuaded? And finally, what if you or a family member was picked? How would you react?

Unit Assignments

All assignments must be completed and satisfactory.

Stories to be read:

A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner
The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce
Open Boat by Stephen Crane
Hands by Sherwood Anderson
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick

Participation in class:
This includes discussions, group work, peer reviews and feedback. 10 points

Journal:
The journal will be ongoing throughout the unit. It must include reactions to all stories read and a summary of the information learned. It must also tie into some possible connections with your own short story. 5 points.

Two newspaper articles:
These articles are in response to The Necklace. One should include the town’s reactions to the occurrence. The other should be the follow-up and conclusion of events. 10 points

A translation essay:
This is a three-page essay from the perspective of a character in a story that you have read. It must not be from the perspective of the antagonist. The essay must reveal similarities (3) and differences (3) from the main characters point of view. 15 points

Two Quizzes:
Two unannounced quizzes will be given throughout the unit to reassure that you are reading the material and learning from the discussions and lectures in class. The quizzes will inquire about elements of short stories, themes, characters, and important events in the stories. 5 points each.

Personal short stories:
You must write your own story based on what you learned in the unit. Requirements are as follows: setting, characterization, rising action, conflict, climax, resolution and an evident theme. 30 points
**Extra credit will be given for use of metaphors, ironies and/or symbols. Maximum of 10 points possible.

Unit test:
A unit test will be given at the end of the unit containing all aspects of the information learned in the unit. It will include short answer and essay questions. 20 points

Total: 100 points
*Each point value is also the percentage*
Extra Credit—10 points

Grading %

100-95 A
94-90 A-
89-85 B
84-80 B-
79-75 C
74-70 C-
69-65 D
64-60 D-
59- F

Teacher References—

Charters, Ann ed. The Short Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin’s Press, 1995.

Performance Package

YOUR SCHOOL –University of Minnesota-Duluth
Performance Package Content Standard: Literary and arts creation and performance.
Level: 12

Title of Package/Activity: An Extensive Look at a Rather Short Story.

Summary Statement of Content Standard: In this performance package, the student will be asked to demonstrate many aspects of the short story through writing. Elements and skills in stories, author’s intent, appreciation of an artistic whole, and consideration of audience will be performed through writing assignments given throughout the quarter. Peer critiques and feedback will be done between the students. All of these things are required in the standard and will be covered in this performance package.

Description of Student Performances:

Task 1: Write two newspaper articles as a journalist responding to the events in a story. The first is written during the event and the second is a follow-up on how everything turned out and how everyone feels about it.

Task 2: Write a translation essay. The students will write an essay, that is a minimum of three pages, from the perspective of a character other than the antagonist I a story they have read. The paper will show the differences the story would have had it been written from their character.

Task 3: Two quizzes will be given to assess the knowledge attained from the reading and the discussions. The quizzes will include questions about theme, author's intent, important events in the stories read, and characters. They will be in short answer form.

Task 4: Students will write their own short story. It must include: exposition, setting, theme, rising action, conflict, climax, and resolution. Metaphors, symbols, and ironies are worth extra points.

FINAL ACHIEVEMENT: Use the following scoring criteria when evaluating
Student performance.

Scoring Criteria
4 - Performance on this standard achieves and exceeds expectations of
high standard work.
3- Performance on this standard meets the expectations of high standard
work.
2 - Work on this standard has been completed, but all or part of the
student's performance is below
high standard level.
1 - Work on this standard has been completed, but performance is
substantially below high standard level.

Content Standard: Literary and arts creation and performance.
Level: 12

Specific Statement(s) from the Standard:

What students should know: Students should know the effects of events from more than one point of view. This shows a demonstration of a characterization skill from the author. They should know the author’s intent and they should recognize bias in a story or their own article. By inventing the reactions of the people in the town during the event in the story, the student will give the reader a look at the audience that the author intended the story for.

What students should do: Write two newspaper articles on The Necklace that explores several characters’ opinions. It should comment on the effects of the town during that time period from the journalist’s perspective. In the second article, the student should recap and give the author’s intent as the wise word to the reader.

Product(s): Newspaper articles

Task Description: Read The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant. Respond to it in your own view through two separate entries. One that introduces the problem and entices the reader into the climax and the second which lets the reader know how it turned out and the relationship status of the characters.

Special Notes:

--Ann Charter’s The Story and its Writer. This anthology holds multiple classic short stories.
--Other newspaper articles that respond to events in society. How do they approach interesting events? What do they look for in a story?

PERFORMANCE PACKAGE TASK 1
(Title of Package)

FEEDBACK CHECKLIST FOR TASK 1

The purpose of the checklist is to provide feedback to the student about
his/her work relative to the content standard. Have the standard
available for reference.

Y=Yes
N=Needs Improvement

Student Teacher

______ Have sufficiently covered more than two points of view. ______

______ Has shown knowledge of audience through society’s views ______

______ Has made author’s intent explicit in the second article ______

______ Setting of story was made clear through cited evidence ______

Overall Comments (information about student progress, quality of the
work, next steps for teacher and student, needed adjustments in the
teaching and learning processes, and problems to be addressed):

PERFORMANCE PACKAGE TASK 2
(Title of Package)

Content Standard: Literary and arts creation and performance.
Level: 12

Specific Statement(s) from the Standard:

What students should know: Students should know the importance of exposition. They should use other character’s roles to identify the author’s artistic style in developing intent or theme. When searching for the theme or themes, students should be able to discover the story as an artistic whole.

What students should do: Take on a role other than that of the antagonist and read into the emotions and motivations he/she has. Are they consistent with the narrator’s point of view? What happened to you in the story? Why were you an essential element to the success of the story? Write a paper translating the story into a story strictly coming from your own character’s perspective. How is it the same or different?

Product(s): Three-page Translation paper.

Task Description: Read The Open Boat and Hands. In small groups, each member takes a role and debates their treatment in the story. Individually, write a paper transforming the written story into an essay that differs from the narrator’s point of view. Cite evidence in the paper.

Special Notes:
--Open Boat by Stephen Crane and Hands by Sherwood Anderson.
--Ann Charter’s The Story and Its Writer.
--Movies that may be more apt to delve into the lives of the other characters.

PERFORMANCE PACKAGE TASK 2
(Title of Package)

FEEDBACK CHECKLIST FOR TASK 2

The purpose of the checklist is to provide feedback to the student about
his/her work relative to the content standard. Have the standard
available for reference.

Y=Yes
N=Needs Improvement

Student Teacher

______ The student has shown empathy for others ______

______ The student worked cooperatively in the small group ______

______ Has shown author’s intent through other characters ______

______ Has given reasons for the existence of their character______

PERFORMANCE PACKAGE TASK 3
(Title of Package)

Content Standard: Literary and arts creation and performance.
Level:12

Specific Statement(s) from the Standard:

What students should know: Students should know the elements of a story and be able to identify them. They should recognize skills of the art form and explain the themes. They should know the desired audience directed to in a text.

What students should do: Two short quizzes inquiring about elements in the stories that have already been read. Such elements include: setting, exposition, rising action, conflict, climax, resolution, metaphors, symbols and ironies. Short answer questions will ask about themes and audience.

Product(s): Two quizzes.

Task Description: Students will read assigned materials and will be quizzed randomly to assess that they are reading and comprehending the information.

Special Notes:
Quizzes can be essays, short answer or multiple choice. It is important that you let the students know you will be giving unannounced quizzes so as not to produce any conflict or tension in the classroom.

PERFORMANCE PACKAGE TASK 3
(Title of Package)

FEEDBACK CHECKLIST FOR TASK 3

The purpose of the checklist is to provide feedback to the student about
his/her work relative to the content standard. Have the standard
available for reference.

Y=Yes
N=Needs Improvement

Student Teacher

______ The student has answered the questions ______

______ The student showed he/she was on task by reading ______

______ The student has proven his/her knowledge of elements______

______ The student is familiar with themes and audience ______

PERFORMANCE PACKAGE TASK 4
(Title of Package)

Content Standard: Literary and arts creation and performance.
Level:12

Specific Statement(s) from the Standard:

What students should know: Students should be able to use everything learned in this unit and use it to better their writing, even if it is a reading unit. Students should know the major steps in the process of writing a short story and know how to write their own.

What students should do: Students should write their own short story. It must include Exposition, setting, theme, rising action, climax, and resolution. Metaphors, symbols and ironies are all worth extra points. It should demonstrate all of the qualities of a classic short story, but not at the aptitude. The students should also give peer critiques and feedback of each other’s stories. Students should enjoy this project.

Product(s): One short story written by a student.

Task Description: Having read all of the assigned material and been quizzed on it, construct your project. One must select a topic and a theme. By using the journal entries from the prior discussions and reactions in the unit, a student will invent and complete their own story in their own style.

Special Notes:
Keep a close eye on the journaling and make sure they are accurate in summarizing the information. Do not grade the journal, but deem it very important and beneficial.

PERFORMANCE PACKAGE TASK 4(Title of Package)

FEEDBACK CHECKLIST FOR TASK 4

The purpose of the checklist is to provide feedback to the student about
his/her work relative to the content standard. Have the standard
available for reference.

Y=Yes
N=Needs Improvement

Student Teacher

______ Student has demonstrated all elements in his/her story ______

______ Journals were satisfactory in detail and accuracy ______

______ Student gave positive feedback to each other ______

______ Student has achieved his/her aspired theme. ______