Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Archive Article: Detail in Telling a Story



Question: How can students learn to appreciate detail in telling a story?

Answer: Students pick a detail in a painting and use it to lead into the story of the paining. “…leads students to start not with a general statement such as ‘There was a model who wore a pearl earring’ But rather to engage the reader with a lead into the story, such as, ‘The highlight on her earring glimmered in the firelight.’ ”

“I ask students to choose one detail in a painting and to use that detail to lead the reader into the painting.”

“The students can begin to tell the story in the following ways:
> describing the character or scene.
> relating what came before.
> depicting what is happening now.
> explaining where we are in the story.
> creating conversations.
> foreshadowing what happens next.”

Comment: A good exercise for creative writing. RayS.

Title: “Using Paintings for Narrative Building.” K Walsh-Piper. Teaching English in the Two-Year College (May 2009), 403-404.

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