Anecdotes

What is an anecdote? 

An anecdote is a brief story about something interesting or funny in a person’s life.

It could be written like this: –

When I was a child I loved books, and I could never understand why people didn’t like reading.

Or it could be written like this: –

I have always loved books. I remember getting into trouble so many times as a child, because my Mum would turn off the bedroom light and tell me to go to sleep, and as soon as she had closed the door and gone downstairs, I would tip-toe out of bed and turn the light back on so I could read a little bit more.

It never occurred to me that people might feel differently about books and reading, until one day we were going somewhere on a bus, and I happened to overhear a conversation between two lovely ladies.

• First Woman: “I don’t know what to get Fred for his birthday.”
• Second Woman: “Why don’t you get him a book?”
• First Woman: (after a moment’s thought) “Nah, he’s already got a book.”

Even my Mum laughed at that!

First Person Point of View

Me, Myself, and I- Writing using the first person means that the main character is also the narrator. Using the word “I” is a direct indication that the writer is using the first person narrative. Everything that you know about the story is through his or her eyes.

Watch BrainPOP- Point of View to see more about using the fist person point of view (Beginning-1:35 only)

Benefits: It allows the reader to experience the story and understand the characters feelings.

Downfalls: It is common to begin every sentence with I, I , I, I… Boring

Challenge: take some time to challenge yourself to modify the sentences to begin in different ways.

For example: I glanced at the clock.
Becomes: My eyes darted to the clock.
Or: The constant ticking drew my glance toward the clock.

Instead of: I am the happiest today that I have been for ages.
Try: Today I am happy, more than I have been for ages.

Instead of: I leaned down and picked up a perfectly rounded stone.
Try: The stone was perfectly rounded, and I leaned down to pick it up.
Or: Leaning down, I picked up a perfectly rounded stone.

Instead of: I was so hot, and the sweat trickled down my face.
Try: Sweat tricked down my face, because it was so hot.
Or: Sweat trickled down my face.
Or: The heat affected me so much that sweat trickled down my face.

Now you practice modifying a couple of sentences with the person sitting next to you:

• I stepped out of the taxi and the strong wind blew my hair into my eyes.
• I went to the market to buy milk with my friend Paul.
• I opened my report card and I was shocked!

As you are writing your Autobiography think about different ways to structure your sentences to make it more interesting to the reader.

 

Questions for Autobiographies

Here are some prompts for you to begin. Do not use only these!

Let these prompts stir up other things in your memory.

What is your earliest memory?

Where did you go when you were scared?

What is most dangerous thing you did? How do you feel about it now?

What was the most fun moment you can remember?

What did your face look like when you tasted lemons for the first time?

What was your favourite toy/toys?

What was the name of your very best friend? Why was he or she your best friend? Do you still see this person?

Did you have a pet?

How did you feel when your baby brother/s or sister/s arrived? What did you say?

What random memories do you have of your childhood? (random means ‘for no reason in particular; without pattern’)

Planning an autobiography

What is an autobiography? Simply put, it is a timeline.

It is a record of your journey through life so far, that has been written by you. It is a chance for you to tell your version or side to a story, and to offer your perspective and thoughts on things…without being interrupted! An autobiography is often accompanied by photos of various important times and people in your life.

You should include things and events that made a difference to you, or changed you in some way. You should also include memories of events, places or people that stand out for a particular reason. (Their importance will become clear to you later, as you re-read what you have written).

You can also include anything that made you feel SOMETHING. Tell the event or memory, and see if you can describe what you felt. Try to figure out why you felt that way.

What is the purpose of an autobiography? The most obvious purpose is ‘to tell your life story’ to other people. However, it can be used as a journey of discovery tool.  Most people who have written an autobiography have looked at their life story after it has been written, and realize things about themselves they did not understand before. It’s a bit like laying down the facts and clues to a mystery in the right order before you, so that solving the puzzle of who you are becomes an easier task.

HOW DO YOU BEGIN?

There are many ways to begin an autobiography. You can either work in a linear way (start at the beginning and work your way up to today), you can plot things down as you remember them, or you can use a mixture of both. Either way, there needs to be a plan!

The most important thing is to get your information into CHRONOLOGICAL order.

This is one Autobiography planner you might like to use.

Notice there is a place on the planner for photos. You do not have to have a photo of each event – probably you don’t have one – but any photo you do have could find a place in your plan.

You can use these prompts to get you started. But do not use these as the only content for your autobiography. We do not want everyone’s final piece to say the same thing!

 

How to write a folktale – more specific features

HERE ARE SOME POINTERS TO HOW TO WRITE A SUCCESSFUL FOLKTALE.

 

Plot and patterns

Traditional tales often have distinctive narrative plots and structures that mirror the classic features of oral storytelling. A fairly small range of basic plots crops up again and again, but the settings, characters and language details make each story different and memorable.

Typical tales

For example, one of the most basic tales can be described as ‘defeating the monster’. At the beginning of the story, life is happy for the main character but a monster appears to shatter his or her happiness. The monster is eventually defeated and all is well again by the end of the tale. Many traditional stories fall into this category, especially if we include those where the ‘monster’ that threatens to destroy a happy situation is a metaphorical one such as poverty or disease.

Typical plots and structures include:

• cumulative tales (The Enormous Turnip)
• journey stories (The Odyssey)
• sequential stories – a single event is repeated (Jack and the Beanstalk)
• wasted wishes stories (The Fisherman and his Wife)
• problem resolution stories (Anancy and Mr Dry Bone)
• turning point stories (King Midas)
• branching stories (The Firebird)
• circular stories (The Snow Queen)
• trickster stories (Hodja tales)
• rags to riches stories (Dick Whittington, Cinderella).

Plots and patterns across cultures

Although names and details may be different, the basic plot of many traditional tales appears in more than one culture. For example, the story of a foolish person who wastes their wishes and ends up with nothing re-occurs as a cautionary tale about the dangers of greed. ‘Eat me when I’m fatter’ tales (such as the Norwegian folk tale, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, or the Polish story, The Three Goats) appear as examples of cleverness overcoming danger.

The numbers three or seven occur frequently in European traditional tales (The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) and these same numbers often influence the structure of the plot. Goldilocks goes to the home of three bears and tries out three things in their cottage. There may be three sons, three terrains to cross, seven wishes to be made or seven things to be found. This structure gives rise to repetitive, sequential organization and accumulating patterns in the plot. These all help to make the narrative easy to imitate in oral and written form.

How to write a folktale

• have a life lesson you would like to teach, or have someone remember (e.g. don’t talk to strangers)
• Think of main character
• Think of other characters that help your main character to learn the lesson you have chosen
• Setting – Don’t be specific about the date or place in history – the lesson should apply no matter when it is set.
  

How to write a Myth – more specific features

HERE ARE SOME POINTERS TO HELP YOU WRITE A SUCCESSFUL MYTH.

The usual purpose of a myth is to provide an explanation for the origins of phenomena (thunder, day and night, winter) by telling the story of how they came to be. Most cultures used myths handed down from an anonymous source to explain the world and its mysteries, so mythology from different regions usually reflects the wonders that people saw around them in their own environment. Myths often provide narrative clues that help to build a picture of the beliefs, lifestyles and ideology of the people who first told them. There are many similarities between the myths of different cultures.

Typical features and conventions

Myths are set in the past, usually a distant and non-specific past, and are presented as something that actually happened (unlike fables). There is evidence that the content of some myths is based on real events and places that may have existed.

Structure and plot

Myths are often longer texts than other traditional stories (apart from some legends) especially in their original form. They provide a useful contrast with shorter forms of traditional narrative such as fables.

• The plot is often based on a long and dangerous journey (e.g. the Odyssey), a quest, or a series of trials for the hero (e.g. the trials of Hercules).
• The plot usually includes incredible or miraculous events, where characters behave in superhuman ways using unusual powers or with the help of superhuman beings.

Language

Myth frequently makes use of:

• rich vocabulary which evokes the power and splendour of the characters and settings (e.g. Hercules hurled the glittering spear with all the strength of a mighty army)
• imagery to help the reader imagine; simile is widely used to help convey grand settings and describe awe-inspiring characters (e.g. Thor’s hammer was as heavy as a mountain)
• vivid description of characters and settings (e.g. a dense, mysterious rainforest or icy, mist-shrouded mountain peaks)
• fast-moving narration of action to keep the drama moving along; myths tend to make less use of dialogue and repetition than some other types of traditional story
• powerful symbols (e.g. Theseus unwinds a thread behind him in the Minotaur’s den: a thread could be seen as a symbol of his link between the real world of humans and the supernatural world of the gods).

Characters

The characters in myth are typical of traditional stories (talking animals, rich kings, foolish young men, clever villains), although the ‘trickster’ character is often a mischievous god (Loki, for example). The most notable character types are classic heroes and supernatural beings. Characterisation is an interesting focus for composition when children write their own myths or retell versions because the characters need to be awe-inspiring and larger-than-life.

How to write myths

• Make the characters larger than life by giving them supernatural powers or strong characteristics like courage and wisdom. You could also use gods (like in the Roman or Greek or Mayan myths).
• Create a negative character who is the opposite of your hero (e.g. characters that represent good and evil, brave and cowardly, strong and weak).
• Consider including a character who is a ‘trickster’ to add to the fun or to create twists in the plot.
• Choose a setting that gives a dramatic backdrop for the action (e.g. a huge, dense forest, a mountain shrouded in icy fog, or a wide, sun-baked desert).

How to write a legend – more specific features

Here are some pointers in how to write a successful Legend

 

Plot and characters

Legends are usually based on real characters and events, even though these have been richly embellished and exaggerated over time. This gives the narrative an exciting quality because all the events seem to be within the realm of possibility even when the plot has become so widely adapted or updated that it is completely fictional.

The plot of a legend usually focuses on an individual character, a cultural hero or a person respected and remembered (Jason, King Arthur, Robin Hood, William Tell, Roland) but there are also legends about places (Atlantis, Shangri-La), objects (the Holy Grail, the Philosopher’s Stone) and legendary animals (the Yeti, Loch Ness monster, Sasquatch, Chupacabra).

Structure and style

Structure is usually episodic, as in the phases of a journey over several years or the stages of a great battle. Some legends tell the entire life story of their hero as a series of linked episodes, each one a story in its own right, as in the King Arthur stories and the sagas of German-speaking and Northern European countries.

Common structures include:

• chronological episodes
• journey stories
• sequential stories
• life stories and community histories

Like myths, legends sometimes use a more literary style than fairy tales or fables.
For example:

• rich, evocative vocabulary
• memorable language use
• use of rhythm and repetition techniques
• formulaic openings and endings
• imagery: simile, metaphor and symbolism.

Theme

Legends employ many of the typical themes of traditional stories:

• good and evil
• friend and foe
• magic
• the supernatural
• rich and poor/rags to riches/riches to rags
• wise and foolish
• strong and weak
• just and unjust
• a quest or search
• a journey
• trials and forfeits.

Legends, like myths, reveal information about the way people lived, what they believed, what was important to them, what they valued and what they were afraid of.

They also convey meaning about the way we live our lives that make them relevant and interesting across cultures and time. This makes them worth repeating through generations and publishing as new versions or adaptations for twenty-first century readers. Brand new legends continue to be developed as part of contemporary literary and oral storytelling cultures.

 

How to write legends

You can use these suggestions and prompts to help you plan and develop legends.

• Work out how the legend will tell the story of a struggle (e.g. between good and evil, friend and foe, or wise and foolish)
• Decide on your MAIN CHARACTER – the HERO or HEROINE
• When you have decided on a main character, you can then decide on the structure you will use and what will be included in each episode or each stage of the journey or quest.
• Consider adding ingredients of magic or the supernatural to make your legend different from other kinds of stories.
• Use symbols your reader will recognize to help them get involved in the story (e.g. red for anger/danger, darkness for danger/evil, or a light or flame for goodness and hope)

Myths and legends

 

What is a myth? What is a legend? How are both these different to folktales? let’s have a look: –

 

A myth is a SACRED story from the past. It may explain the origin of the universe and of life, or it may express its culture’s moral values in human terms. Myths concern the powers (gods) who control the human world and the relationship between those powers (gods) and human beings. Although myths are religious in their origin and function, they may also be the earliest form of history, science, or philosophy…

(e.g. stories involving Roman and Greek gods)

 

A folktale is a story that, in its plot, is pure fiction and that has no particular location in either time or space. However, despite its elements of fantasy, a folktale is actually a symbolic way of presenting the different means by which human beings cope with the world in which they live. Folktales concern people — either royalty or common folk — or animals who speak and act like people…

(E.g. Little Red Riding Hood; Cinderella – what is the message behind the story?)

A legend is a story from the past about a subject that was, or is believed to have been, historical. Legends concern people, places, and events. Usually, the subject is a saint, a king, a hero, a famous person, or a war. A legend is always associated with a particular place and a particular time in history. You can say ‘it had a grain of truth’ in it.

(E.g. King Arthur; Robin Hood)

(http://www.pibburns.com/myth.htm)

 

Let’s look at some Myths and Legends. THIS SITE has many animated myths and legends you can watch and listen to. However, as you watch them, try to decide if they are indeed myths and legends. Are the stories categorized correctly?

How to write a letter or e-mail – intro

At some point you will have to write a letter or e-mail to someone you do not know, or someone of importance (e.g. a teacher, or a person who leads a group or organization).

The way you write these letters and messages is very different to how you would write one to a friend or class mate, or maybe someone you write to often.

Here are some helpful hints to remind you how to go about this: –

1. Remember – these letters and messages are different to instant messaging! Usually you need to write more then a couple of words or sentences.
2. There are certain ways in which to begin these letters (salutation – do you know what this means?)
3. There is always a respectful ‘tone’ in these messages and letters (especially if you might need to ask questions or for something in particular)
4. There are certain ways to end these messages and letters

You will probably need to write to an organization and your mentor during the Exhibition process. Jump to here for a post on practicing these skills.

Use one of these addresses to write your pretend e-mail to.

toni_favilli@wab.edu

melissa_roosen@wab.edu

rkorfage@wab.edu

 

 

 

Winners of the Holi-blog Competition 2013

After each holiday, the Grade 5 students  write a “Holi-blog”. Your “Holi-Blog” is a description of ONE or TWO of the most interesting things that you did while on vacation.

A holiday blog is NOT a list of EVERYTHING that you did on vacation.

To do well in this composition, you need to think carefully about what parts of your holiday were interesting.

After all of the papers were complete, each class voted on their top choice. The top choice winners were then sent to Mr. Andrew Walton, who chose the overall winner and will be featured in Lianxi.

The winners were…

Overall Grade 5 winner:

• Wee Heng

Class winners:

• Adrian F. 
• Tricia   
• Aniek
• Lauren
• Lilith