Some business…
I’ve begun glancing through your critiques of each other’s work, and it’s really great to see how engaged everyone’s been! Yay! I’m seriously happy to see how open and honest y’all are.
I noticed that not everyone used the template for their formal critiques of their Cohort’s work. No worries this round if you didn’t, but in the future, please use the template that can be found in the Course Profile. I also noticed that some people didn’t follow the directions precisely.
On the template, I have a few directions:
First, it says: Write one item you enjoyed for four out of the six topics. Write one question you had for at least four out of the six topics.
So, basically I want you to say four positive things about the piece and four questions you have after reading it. Everyone loves compliments, but we’re in this class to improve our writing–we can’t improve it if no one gives helpful questions (that are suggestions, really) to move our work forward.
Okay, let’s talk about PLOT.
Read the following quote:
The following is a story:
“The king died and then the queen died.”
And the following is a plot:
“The king died, and then the queen died of grief.”
E.M. FORSTER
So, think for a minute–what’s the difference between the two sentences?
The first line tells us the bare facts. With the first line, we don’t know when or in what state the queen was in. For all we know, the queen lived quite happily for 50 years before she died.
The second line tells us more–the state in which the queen died. Now we know they were very close. They were soul mates. The queen couldn’t adapt to life after the king’s death.
Simply put, plot is the sequence of events that make up the story. When you tell someone a story you often say: “X happened and Y happened, and then you’ll never guess what happened next!” Without realizing it, you are plotting your story.
All writers are conscious of plot, whether they’re writing a fantasy novel or a newspaper article. They are hyper-aware of the need to show that something happened because something else happened.
Beginning/Middle/End
Typically a plot has three major parts—beginning, middle, and end.
Each of these sections plays a specific role in the storytelling. There’s an old saying that in telling a story you should:
1) get your protagonist up in a tree,
2) throw rocks at your protagonist, and
3) get your protagonist down.
Assignment: Consider the essay we just read last week. Spend some time reviewing the essay “Whatever Happened to ______?” and note when/if the author follows the above formula.
Post your answers to the five numbered questions (that are below) in the “reply” section.
Get Your Protagonist Up in a Tree aka the “Beginning”
- What’s the context (year, location, and other important setting details) of the story?
2. What’s the inciting incident (action that gets things going) in the story?
Throw Rocks aka the “Middle”
3. What’s the rising action (events that lead to the climax) in the story?
Get Down aka the “End”
4. What’s the climax (the most exciting or intense moment) in the story?
5. What’s the resolution (the “wrap up”) of the story?
What does this mean for your writing?
Consider your “Meet My _____.” Does it have the three parts of plot? Does it set the reader up with all the information they need? Does it have some kind of “conflict”? (This doesn’t have to be a negative thing–think of “conflict” as what caused you to purchase the item, etc.) Does it have a conclusion that wraps up the story?
And now, part of the Assignment for Week 4 is to write a new memoir piece (more on that in the Assignment page). As you write/revise the piece, keep these things in mind.
Questions? Come visit me during my office hours this week!
1. What’s the context (year, location, and other important setting details) of the story?
Context of the first scene:
• Year: A summer night from years ago
• Location: inside a car in Oregon’s high desert
• The protagonist was carpooling with two other female writers and a male writer. However, most of the content of the article does not have a specific location or time, because the storyline goes back and forth, where some scenes happen years in the past and some happen recently.
2. What’s the inciting incident (action that gets things going) in the story?
The male driver expressed his pity about a female writer that he knew who has quit writing after she got married.
3. What’s the rising action (events that lead to the climax) in the story?
The protagonist was arguing with the driver about whether female writers have a harder time in their career compared to male writers in general. Then the protagonist started writing about her personal life stories regarding her career and her ex-husband.
4. What’s the climax (the most exciting or intense moment) in the story?
The climax happened on the night that her third book was released. She suffered a helpless attack by her ex-husband. From there, the protagonist said her stories also can be applied to many other female writers.
5. What’s the resolution (the “wrap up”) of the story?
Even though she lost the divorce case financially, she accepted the result of the case and she was able to keep her daughter around her. She told the readers that she will keep writing, although she is deeply traumatized by her ex-husband’s violent behavior and the discrimination against female writers.
(1) The story takes place in 2020 where it has many locations from its transitions, in the beginning of the story it first took place on a summer night in Oregon where she was driving with a group of people.
(2) Throughout her whole story she explains her journey in becoming a writer, she exclaims how it’s a struggle for us females to become as successful as men are, being a mother, a wife, and a write was a whole challenge for her.
(3) In the middle of the story she stated how her husband was starting to get jealous because she was becoming a successful woman and achieving her dreams, she was everything that he’s not, and that’s where he wanted her to leave her own job.
(4) She finally came to a point and had to leave her husband that was not supporting her dreams. she placed restriction orders against him.
(5) Now that she places restriction orders against him and finally left him, she can finally achieve her dreams and passion as a writer and become the successful female that she is.
1.What’s the context (year, location, and other important setting details) of the story?
Year- Years back
Location- Oregon’s high desert
Other important setting details- It was a summer night, she was riding in a car with three other people. There were two women asleep in the backseat, leaning in opposite directions. I was in the front on the passenger’s side, and a man was driving.
2. What’s the inciting incident (action that gets things going) in the story? The driver speaking about a women he once knew that use to write and in a low tone said she got married and he never seen her write again.
Throw Rocks aka the “Middle”
3. What’s the rising action (events that lead to the climax) in the story?
The protagonist started to write about female writers and their struggles. Her speaking about female writers and their struggles that they face, led up to her telling us her personal story.
Get Down aka the “End”
4. What’s the climax (the most exciting or intense moment) in the story?
The climax in the story was the night of her third book coming up to be released, her husband came up “cyclone” as she explained and he was angry. From him bring so angry, he put his hands on her and from their on she explains what can happen at home for female writers and in general to females.
5. What’s the resolution (the “wrap up”) of the story?
The resolution of the story is that she loss her case with her ex-husband, the judge saw her domestic abuse as lucrative as she said. Even though she experienced abuse from her ex-husband and she is broke, but she is stronger now, she will continue to write.
1.What’s the context (year, location, and other important setting details) of the story?
The story starts years back on a late summer night in a car along an Oregan road and shifts between the author’s home and the divorce court. The context of the main events in the story specifically is the household of a successful female writer and her jealous, biter failing husband.
2. What’s the inciting incident (the action that gets things going) in the story?
The inciting incident in the story was Anonymous’s husband coming home drunk one day saying “Your mama…gets away with too much…”.
3. What’s the rising action (events that lead to the climax) in the story?
The rising action of the story was Anonymous’s husband complaining about expenses. He then proceeds to get angrier and angrier beginning to complain and yell all around the house, even in front of their daughter.
4. What’s the climax (the most exciting or intense moment) in the story?
The climax of the story was Anonymous’s husband assaulting her. He grabbed her wrist and unwillingly held her over the backyard stairs directly over construction debris and rusty nails.
5. What’s the resolution (the “wrap up”) of the story?
The resolution of the story was Anonymous’s fighting a losing battle in divorce court against her husband. Though in a difficult situation she preserves, fighting against the patriarchal world. She refuses to go down quiet she’’ keep fighting, keep “…kicking and screaming…” and most importantly keep writing.
1. What’s the context (year, location, and other important setting details) of the story?
Year – A time years ago
Location – A car ride in the Oregon Desert
Important Details – The main protagonist is riding in the car with a few people. The two women in the back were asleep leaning away from each other while the author is in the front passenger seat while a man is driving them.
2. What’s the inciting incident (action that gets things going) in the story?
The inciting incident in the story revolves around the driver’s story of a female writer he used to know and how she is an amazing writer.
3. What’s the rising action (events that lead to the climax) in the story?
The author and driver have an argument on who has the harder time writing women or men, and the author goes into depth about her own writing experience and her ex-husband.
4. What’s the climax (the most exciting or intense moment) in the story?
The most intense moment in the story is when the author discusses the night she comes out with her third book. She describes how her husband was infuriated and physically put his hand on her while also explaining the things that are happening to women all over.
5. What’s the resolution (the “wrap up”) of the story?
After tragically losing the divorce case with her husband she is able to move on and become a better and more passionate writer while even becoming more successful. She proved there is no need to be pulled down by any person.
1.What’s the context (year, location, and other important setting details) of the story?
Probably somewhere between the 90’s and 2000’s in the suburbs. The author wrote “In my 20s, in the Reagan era of cocaine and cash” which leads to believe that she was 20 around the 80’s becuse that was a time that cocaine was very popular and that’s when Ragan was president. She also mentions buying a Subaru which was first established in 1953. It seems to take place in the suburbs because they are paying off a house but could pay for the car in full.
2. What’s the inciting incident (action that gets things going) in the story?
How the main story teller had to take on many roles like being a wife, mother, professor, and writer. At this point things start to pick up and the true events start to show their real meaning.
3. What’s the rising action (events that lead to the climax) in the story?
When her husband first started to get abusive in his jealousy of her success and his own shortcomings in the same profession. She is talking about how he now wanted to destroy everything they built out of spite and resentment.
4. What’s the climax (the most exciting or intense moment) in the story?
When she explains how the events of her divorse played out. She got full custody of their daughter because she was “a good mother” but all the financial aspects went to the abusive husband. The most memorable line was “The judge made domestic violence financially lucrative. There was no equitable division”.
5. What’s the resolution (the “wrap up”) of the story?
The resolution was even though she went through all these horrible events in her life she is still persistent in her writing. She decided to overcome instead of runaway and is picking up the pieces to rebuild her life.
Get Your Protagonist Up in a Tree aka the “Beginning”:
1)The story of, “Whatever happened to________?” starts in a car years back in Oregon’s High desert, after the event have passed. The writer was riding in a car with three other people, two women and one man. They were all writers and companions, while in the drive they were enjoying vacation. After talking a bit they mentioned a famous writer who stopped writing after getting married.
2)The story starts by calling out all the things women have to do better to be recognized in the level as men would. It involves over the fact that some aspects of life are seem as limiting for women, like getting married keeping woman from going to grad school, or having children keeping woman from having a job. It starts by disproving societal roles by bringing evidence of the writer being a multifaceted member of society. She was a mother, writer, teacher, all at once while being successful.
Throw Rocks aka the “Middle”
3)As successful as she was, she was finally getting a break after 20 years of teaching and finally had some time to relax with her child and husband. Due to her success was at the time in a great position financially which allowed her some time off and had everything figured out. In that night she decided to have a small party for the birth of her third book where she was going to cook with her daughter.
Get Down aka the “End”
4)When this happened, her husband was jealous of her success as a writer and in the night she was celebrating the birth of her third book he decided to attack her, undermining her success and hard work saying that she had it easy. He started being violent and threatening her and the daughter complaining about expenses while being drunk. She got bruises and after being terrified by her husband’s actions she took an opportunity to scape and took the car and fled with her daughter.
5)After these events she put a restraining order over the husband and decided to divorce. In the process of divorce she spent a lot of money during the courts in order to split the assets that were joint by marriage. She was judged inaccurately by the lawyer of her ex husband accusing her of not being a good mother since she also had a well stablished career, blaming her for the break up and actual situation. At the end the husband won all the assets and pocketed money that he did not deserve. And she remained devastated after all she went through just to be happy again. Though financially she was not doing that great she recovered and felt better after a while. She found happiness again and felt proud of remaining strong after enduring so much and be played by the system. Though she remains she encourages every woman to know their worth encourages them to fight the gender roles.
1.)Year: A summer night years ago.
Location: In a car in Oregon.
Other: The storyteller was with two other passengers and the driver.
2.)Inciting Incident: The driver expresses that he feels sorry for the women who have given up their career in writing to pursue other things. Anonymous gets to thinking out her own struggles with her husband, having a problem with her career.
3.)Rising Action: Her husband becomes an angry man, showing these emotions in front of their child. He is jealous of her success and the fact that she’s accomplished more than he has.
4.)Climax: Anonymous suffered an attack from her husband after releasing her book. This opened the door to her realizing what is good for her and what needs to be done to keep her and her daughter safe. She does not want to give up writing for a man whose ego is so shattered by her achievements.
5.)Resolution: Anonymous divorces her husband and gains custody of her daughter but the bigger battle that was won is her freedom from a relationship that would have diminished who she was and wants to be. Her overcoming that made her write this story to give other women hope and to show that you can escape and forgive.
1. Location- Oregon desert, nighttime, Characters- Anonymous, male driver, two female friends, Event- Driving out in desert, Rod Stewart is playing on radio
2. The male driver brings up an old female author he was a fan of, reveals she got married and disappeared.
3. Anonymous finds success both at home as a wife/mother, and professionally, as an author and professor.
4. The evening Anonymous and her publisher announced the coming of her third book, her husband “breaks” , resulting in a domestic dispute that got physical, resulting in her and her daughter having to run away.
5. Anonymous is trying to keep her daughter and herself safe from her ex-husband, while in “deep poverty”, but she is still writing.
Get Your Protagonist Up in a Tree aka the “Beginning”
What’s the context (year, location, and other important setting details) of the story?
The story takes place during summer of 2020 while driving with friends in Oregon.
2. What’s the inciting incident (action that gets things going) in the story?
Throw Rocks aka the “Middle”
The “inciting incident” was when the driver talked about this great female writer that stopped writing soon after she was married.
3. What’s the rising action (events that lead to the climax) in the story?
Get Down aka the “End”
The rising action is when the protagonist started arguing about the power struggles females have compared to males. Then started writing about it and her ex-husband.
4. What’s the climax (the most exciting or intense moment) in the story?
The climax of the story was when the protagonist’s ex-husband attacked her during her third book launch.
5. What’s the resolution (the “wrap up”) of the story?
The resolution is that after losing her divorce case in court, she was able to grow stronger as a writer and won’t back down.
1. The Year is not specified but instead described as a summer night many years ago, the location was in a hot car located somewhere on a desert highway in the state of Oregon. It was night and the main character is in the front passenger seat, with the radio on. The location also shifts in the story later on to her home
2. The action that gets things moving is when the man driving the car tells the main character about a famous female writer who stopped writing after she got married. He also implies that he was a huge fan of her work and that, her worked has stopped because of her marriage. This is the starting point for the main character’s thoughts on being a female writer.
3. The rising action is the story of the anonymous’s success as a writer, especially compared to her ex-husband who also happened to be a writer
4. The most intense part of the story was the argument between the main character and her husband storming into the house and starting that argument in front of their daughter. As well as the escape of the main character and her daughter from the abusive husband
5. The wrap-up of the story is the ending of the court case and the writer’s statement of that case. The main character won her daughter in the battle and decided to keep writing despite the trauma she faced
1. In anonymous work I would say there’s not many specifics on context of the story. It starts of with a woman recalling something that was years back on a summer night in Oregon’s high desert and she was riding in the backseat of a car with three other people. Even though we are given these details she’s not the main character that the focus is put on that probably why there’s is few in depth detailing.
2. I think that the inciting incident would be when the driver asks “whatever happened to…” I believe that is what gets the story going it shifts it to being a piece to represent the whole of everyone who fits into that category of female writers.
3. The rising action would be where anonymous story is talking about balancing being a mother, a woman and writer and comparing it to being a “writer-writer”. This is where we start to hear about her trials and certain things she had to go through because of balancing all those things especially being a woman. The part where men in Hollywood obliviously take her ideas and simply change them to make their own. Their explanation was simply “The idea came to them out of virtually nowhere”. This would be the top of the roller coaster before after that things go downhill.
4. Now the most intense moments in this piece would be when anonymous recalls the moments where her husband comes home while she’s celebrating the accomplishments of her third book. In those moments it was chaotic to the point where she compared it to a cyclone taking down a house. This is where the roller coaster drops and is going at intense speeds. Her husband expresses jealousy, violence and anger solely based upon his lack of success and the fact that “..gets away with too much…”. In that statement he’s trying to say that she balances being a mom, wife, professor and successful writer isn’t fair somewhere in his mind. That was the main point of this piece in my opinion just the show a glimpse of what some women have to go through.
5. The ending I wouldn’t call it a resolution because I don’t think it was a justified end. After all her hard work she ends up having to leave her husband and gets trapped in years of court. Through it all her husband couldn’t stomach being the supportive one and we’re left with only knowing her as anonymous. However in the end we do understand the point of her piece that despite everything women writers may go through they are still there and still making an effort to Wright despite the obstacles.
1. The year wasn’t mentioned but the anonymous did say it was a summer night a few years ago. The location was in a high desert in a car in Oregon that she was riding with three other people.
2. The inciting incident in the story has to do with the driver starting a conversation about a female writer he once known as very “talented” and “awesome” but then he says she disappeared along with her writing after getting married.
3. The rising action of the story is that Anonymous starts thinking and talking about how women have it harder trying to build a career and then writes about her own experiences especially with her ex-husband.
4. The climax of the story is that Anonymous female writer along with her ex husband whose also a writer had to go through abuse from her husband because he was jealous of how successful his wife was. Instead of celebrating her third book launch and making her feel proud and happy, he gave her trauma instead.
5. The resolution of the story is that Anonymous finally left her husband after years of court and won custody of her daughter and continued writing despite all that she had gone through.
1) The story’s timeline is a couple years back on a summer night in Oregon, in her car driving with people.
(2) In her story, she explains her journey in becoming a writer, she talks about how much of a struggle it was for women females to become as successful as men.
(3) The husband had a lot of insecurities as a man because he allowed himself to be emasculated by the fact that his wife was becoming a successful writer and he was not very supportive of his wife
(4) She saw no point in being married to somebody that did not support her dreams.
(5) when she put the restriction order she finally felt as thou she was living again,