I. Review elements of fiction from Week Three.
II. Explore topics for a short story. Schedule conferences throughout the week to assist each student in finding a topic he can care about. Urge students to turn to their interest inventories for ideas, to the “Topics I Can Write About” handout, especially, to their notebooks. Help them select an autobiographical event from which they can develop a story. Students should, however, have as much freedom with their topic-choice as possible. One’s role should be that of helping them discriminate.
Explain that one should not have to tell everything as it really happened and, during brainstorming, point to specific ways in which students can replace, or modify, part of their autobiographical material for the sake of creating an interesting, well-built, and gratifying story.
What you can do to assist students in finding a topic:
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1.
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Keep a rich variety of periodicals and reading materials in the classroom and, periodically, allow students time for independent reading.
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2.
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Hold periodic group readings and share special assignments, so that students can experience how others write as well as share the source of an idea.
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3.
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Keep an on-going file of current-event clippings handy, and encourage students to turn to it for ideas.
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4.
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Photographs can also be the source of an idea for a story. Keep an on-going file of them as well.
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5.
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Through student conferencing, and through group-sharing time, help students brainstorm their ideas.
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6.
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Help them explore their personal interests.
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7.
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. . . their sources of ideas for writing, so that they can become aware of them.
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8.
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Encourage students to add to their “Topics I Can Write About” list on an on-going basis.
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9.
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. . . to turn to their notebook (journal) for autobiographical topics they have addressed, or begun to address, through free-writing and other assignments.
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10. . . . to explore childhood reminiscences.
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11. . . . to use the “Can You Become Invisible” exercise as a source of ideas.
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12. . . . to use topics addressed by stories read in class.
III.
The Missing Piece, and The Missing Piece Meets the Big O are read this week
. Both are books by Shel Silverstein. They are stories intended for adults as well as children. Provide students with a brief profile of Silverstein. (The back cover of The Giving Tree is a photograph of the author.)
The Missing Piece was published first, in 1976
. It is a simply and touchingly written fable about relationships, which “gently probes the nature of quest and fulfillment.” (From inside cover.) The second book followed in 1981. It speaks of relationships as well, exploring the desire to belong, and probing self-reliance. Because of their nature, they should be read in that order. Each averages a sentence per page, and should take nearly fifteen minutes to read. Group discussion will take longer but can begin the same day. (Remind students that written responses should take the form of notes,)
IV. Group Discussion
V. Follow-Up Writing
SAMPLE QUESTIONS FOR The Missing Piece
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1.
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What is your interpretation of this book?
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2.
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Through whose eyes do we see the story evolve?
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3.
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What is the main conflict?
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4.
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The book opens with the following: “It was a piece. And it was not happy.” Yet, the main character in this book, while in search of its missing piece, does appear to be happy. What circumstances in the beginning of the book reveal this to us?
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5.
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What, in preparation for the end of the story, do you think Silverstein is trying to point to by presenting this contradiction?
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6.
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What set of events in the story portray the loneliness of the main character?
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7.
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What does the sequence of encounters with different missing pieces reveal to us about the main character?
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8.
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In what way are these encounters similar to encounters between friends or lovers? Can you point to one of the encounters, and tell us of a similar situation among people?
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How does the story portray the obstacles the main character faces after these encounters? How would you relate these obstacles to real life situations?
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10. When the main character meets “ . . . another piece that seemed to be just right,” they exchange dialogue. What does the main character’s dialogue reveal to us about the effect of his past experiences with other “relationships”?
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11. How does Silverstein make you feel when, after the main character is “complete”, it begins to roll again? What kind of realization does the main character come to?
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12. What does the song which follows that scene reveal to us about the main character’s state of mind?
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13. What could be the reason for the main character to let go of its perfect piece right after finding it? What kind of realization does the main character come to?
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14. What kind of things does the ending of this story force you to think about?
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15. What was this book’s underlying message about relationships?
SAMPLE QUESTIONS FOR The Missing Piece Meets the Big O
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1.
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What is your interpretation of this book?
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2.
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What is this story’s point of view?
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3.
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What is the main conflict?
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4.
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At the beginning of the story, in what way are the encounters of the Missing Piece with other characters similar to those between friends or lovers? Relate a real life situation that corresponds with one of the encounters in the story.
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In the event that follows, how does the writer reveal to us true characteristics of people in search of other people?
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What message does the writer convey about changing ourselves to attract other people?
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7.
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In what way is the problem that faces the Missing Piece, after finding its perfect companion, similar to that of a relationship?
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8.
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Describe a situation that is similar to the one that takes place between the Missing Piece and The Big O when they first meet.
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9.
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What implication does The Big O’s suggestion to the Missing Piece about rolling on its own, have about relationships?
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10. In what way does the language used to describe the attempts of the Missing Piece to roll on its own, contribute to that action?
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11. What do you suppose the Missing Piece will do after beginning to roll on its own?
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12. What is this story’s underlying message about relationships?
Follow-Up Writing
Students can write a brief composition about their first boyfriend or girlfriend with focus on a disillusion, however small, that took place between them and which affected the way in which they related to the opposite sex in following relationships; or they can choose a directed-topic freewriting from below:
1. Tell of the funniest, or one of the most silly things you ever pretended to be in order to meet or date someone in whom you had a special interest. Can you rely on descriptive details to show us just how disillusioning it was?
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2. Think of a time when you thought you had discovered the girl or guy of your dreams. Describe a particular
incident
that revealed to you were wrong. Can you rely on dialogue to show us just how disillusioning it was?
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3. Think of the people you’ve dated. Can you remember dating someone who was very much the opposite of you? What was the final conflict that prompted the breakup? Can you, through dialogue, show us an argument that reveals this conflict?
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4. Choose a scene or situation from one of Silverstein’s books.
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Think of two people between whom you think this situation or scene can take place. Describe it taking place between your own characters, with your own details. Allow the situation to reveal, in some way, your characters to the reader.