Originally posted by My Crappy Online Summer School Class

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After having read the short stories included in lesson 2, you should have a greater concept of the literary element of irony and the characters that make a story strong. Each of the stories you have read contain a strong exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution or conclusion. For this writing assignment, you will write your own short story containing the elements listed above and at least two different elements of irony. So, your story could have an example of verbal irony and dramatic irony, or irony of situation and dramatic irony, etc. You decide on the two that you will use in the short story.

Prewriting/Brainstorming

Consider your own life or the lives of your family and friends. So many times, elements of irony occur in our lives, but we are so caught up in living that we fail to actually pinpoint them. Look back on your life, and I am sure that you will be able to find an incident(s) that involved irony. You may use your own personal story as the catalyst for this assignment. This is not a requirement, but rather a way to get your mind thinking.


Consider films that you have seen or other literary works that you have read that have elements of irony. Use these to help you generate ideas. The story line should be your own.


Brainstorm about a plot, a setting, main characters, conflict, and elements of irony for the short story.


Share your ideas with others; get their opinions; they may be able to add an idea to your story that will strengthen your thought.
Short Story

Here are a few tips for writing an intriguing short story:

Make sure you have some type of conflict in your story. Look over the term “conflict” from the literary terms located at the beginning of this lesson.


Since this is a short story, you should probably stick to only one or two main characters.


Try to capture your reader’s attention immediately at the beginning of the story and leave the reader thinking at the end.


Requirements

Your story can be any genre: mystery, romance, horror, etc. It must contain an exposition where you introduce your characters and setting. It must contain a rising action where your conflict is introduced. You must have a climax; remember this is the turning point of the story or most exciting part. The falling action will come next; here you will begin to give a solution to the conflict. Finally, you will have a resolution, where the conflict is solved.


Dialogue between the characters must be included. The reader has a greater sense of who the characters are and what they are feeling, if they communicate with each other.


Please type your story.


A rough draft needs to be included with your final copy, which you will submit in lesson 4. The rough draft needs to have been read over and corrected by someone other than yourself. Having a rough draft is essential to the writing process.


Again, at least two elements of irony need to be present in your story.
Your short story will be submitted as part of lesson 4.

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