Story Structure
For homework, students read three narrative essays, two by published authors Dick Gregory and Steve Brody, and one by a student named Lisa Driver. I showed students how Brody’s piece was built on a story structure with crisis, complications, and climax. Then I asked them to analyze the structure of Gregory and Driver’s pieces, using the same language.
Next class, I hope to continue the discussion with essays that are less story-like, showing students that crisis, complications, obstacles, climax, resolution are useful devices for any type of writing. We’ll see how that goes.
As a part of my teaching/writing practice, I write regular letters to students. In turn, I ask students to write individual letters to me. They often respond to my letters. I have provided a link to my first letter of the semester, if you want to read it.
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