Questions And Topics We Can Help You To Answer

Write an informal essay in which you discuss what you have learned by "reading as a writer" the story assigned. This kind of reading is different that of a typical response paper. When you read as a writer, you read in order to figure out how the writer made the story fun to read (or failed to make it fun to read), what narrative techniques the writer used to incorporate themes, symbols, etc. These notes on your discoveries should center on issues of craft--how a writer develops characters; how she or he uses point of view, dialog, setting, etc.--and/or those elements you plan to avoid. Be sure to give specific examples from the work: quote good (or bad) dialog, point out good character construction, and avoid general statements like "This story doesn't make any sense" or "This is great!" and offer instead thoughtful analyses of why a story succeeds or does not succeed.