ENG 3733: CW Genre: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror

English 3373: Reader’s Report for Story #1 After reading the story assigned to your editorial review, use the lists below to craft your response (you can respond to individual questions, or write a narrative—at least 2-3 pages double spaced). You DO NOT have to consider all of these items, but responding to some of them will help you say something constructive and positive, rather than vague statements, such as “I didn’t really get it for some reason. But I guess it’s okay.” If possible, try to read the story more than once, to let it settle in your mind. The Reader’s Report is worth 10/100 points, so don’t blow it off! BIG PICTURE CONCERNS Can you tell what genre the story is? Reasons why or why not? What do you feel is the general audience for the story (juvenile, young adult, adult, mature adult, etc.)? Do you feel the story/tone matches this audience? Which of the following words best describes the story after a first read (pick at least 2): surprisi...

In class, we discussed the origins of fantasy writing in mythology and the earliest stories than mankind told one another, and we also discussed how 'myth' doesn't necessary mean 'fake or false,' but rather, a poetic way of seeing yourself in the world. Or, as Joseph Campbell, the writer of The Power of Myth, The Hero of a Thousand Faces wrote, " “Mythology is not a lie, mythology is poetry, it is metaphorical. It has been well said that mythology is the penultimate truth—penultimate because the ultimate cannot be put into words… I think of mythology as the homeland of the muses, the inspirers of art, the inspirers of poetry. To see life as a poem and yourself as participating in a poem is what the myth does for you...[by poem] I mean a vocabulary in the form not of words but of acts and adventures, which connotes something transcendent of the action here, so that you always feel in accord with the universal being.” Writing Workshop #5 (use the picture above): ...

REMEMBER: we moved the Story #1 assignment back to Friday. So instead of doing that, we're going to start talking more about fantasy stories, and we'll start by reading one of the fantasy selections in our book, "Look at the Moon." This might give you some ideas about where to take a story in a more fantasy direction, even though this is NOT traditional fantasy. Here are some ideas to consider as you read: * Why do you think they labeled this story as 'fantasy' and not 'horror'? What might be the similarities between the two genres? * Like so many of our stories, this one is primarily about a relationship. What is the chief conflict in this relationship? How does the story try to resolve it? * One of the most important lines of this story comes right at the beginning, where the Lou says, "I want a God I don't have to fear, and I don't want to fear the people who love Him, either" (178). How is this concept both literal and symbolic in...

NOTE: Remember that Story #1 is now due NO LATER THAN NEXT FRIDAY INSTEAD OF ON MONDAY. We pushed it back in class on Wednesday since some people wanted a little more time.  Also, the handout I gave in class on Wednesday is below, reminding you of some basic narrative techniques that the stories in our book employ, and how they change the way we read and experience the story. Remember, a story is less WHAT is written than HOW it is written.  To prove this, read the examples below and look over the three opening paragraphs from a story I wrote, each one with a slightly different approach. This might give you some new ideas!  NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES FOR WRITING FICTION FIRST PERSON: “ Alice wants to hold a funeral for me, which is disconcerning because I’m not dead. But humans, like all aliens—and certainly all single-forms—have their own idiosyncrasies. I’m used to the idiosyncrasies, of course: I’ve lived on Earth—in my tertiary body, at least—since my hatching in San Fra...

ENG 3373: Story #1 Assignment   THE THIRD FLOOR MAGAZINE is currently open for submissions until September 21 st by midnight . We publish speculative fiction stories, which we define as anything that falls into or between the genres of fantasy, science-fiction, horror, and all of their associate subgenres (dystopian, urban fantasy, steampunk, slipstream, fabulism, etc.). We have a firm limit of 5,000 words, but prefer stories between 2,000 and 4,000 words , since that allows space to publish more stories. For reference, that is anywhere from about 5 to 15 pages. Please submit only one story at a time, and let us know if this is a simultaneous submission. No reprints, please. When you submit your story, please format according to the Schunn manuscript guidelines , but keep all submissions ANONYMOUS (do not put your name anywhere on the document). Include a COVER LETTER in your e-mail with the title and genre of your story, as well as a short bio and any previous public...

Olivie Blake on her story, “The Audit”: “It was originally conceived as a romance, the idea derived from a conversation I had with my husband…but built on a structure I’ve long enjoyed: the Sex Diaries column of New York Magazine. The concept was to tell a love story from the perspective of someone who wasn’t yet aware they were falling in love; an ongoing psychological meltdown revealed almost in real time, which felt like the best way to capture the feeling of being young and trapped by the impossible prospect of potential…It’s an intimate story about coming to terms with the future and about the singular beauty of what remains unknown.” Writing Workshop #4: What do you feel is the biggest struggle or conflict of your generation (Gen X, Y, or Z)? Something that you identify with and you feel that all or most of your peers also deal with on a daily basis, and often complain/bitch about. Write a FIRST PERSON account of someone facing these issues set in the near or distant futu...

  SAMPLE COVER LETER   Dear Connor, Jessika, Kara, or Other Editor, (you can find the editors' names on the website)  Please accept my story science-fiction story, "The Real Mona Lisa," for consideration in a future issue of Chatterbox Literary. The story is 6,051 words and has not been submitted elsewhere or published previously. (always give the genre, title, word count, and if you're sending it to other publications at the same time).  I am a professor of English at a small university in Oklahoma, where I teach classes in writing (mostly to people who hate writing), British literature, and the Humanities. My stories have most recently appeared in After Dinner Conversation, Allegory, and The Lorelei Signal. (if you don't have any publications, you can just leave this blank, or add more of your bio--something colorful and interesting without being too cute)  Thank you, Joshua Grasso SAMPLE MANUSCRIPT FORMAT Joshua Grasso      ...

For Wednesday we're going to read a very different 'science fiction' story, this one written in a much more unusual format. As you read, consider some of the following ideas which we can discuss in class: * Why is it told through journal entries? How do we read a story like this differently than a traditonally-narrated one? Or do we? Do you even notice after awhile?  * Note that this story has NO dialogue. However, it does...it's just made indistinguishable from the narration (there's a name for this). Why do you think she does this?  * The idea of an "audit" isn't very far-fetched, and certainly not something that only belongs to the far-flung future. Do you think this is science fiction enough to be considered science fiction? * Note how the story gives us backstory about this world slowly, and without knocking us over the head wtih it (just like "The Sort"). Do we understand enough about what led to a world where there are audits and peopl...

If you missed the Writing Workshop this Thursday (8/4), or simply want to see the images and prompt again, here you go! The goal of this response was to try to use a character to jumpstart a story, since many of the best stories start with characters first, and then use who they are, and their own internal conflicts and desires to form a story.  Writing Workshop #3 : Choose one of the self-portraits above and write a story about this person, either interpreting the portrait literally or symbolically. Who are these people, and why do they depict themselves like this? What kind of story could they be in? What conflicts or relationships are they in the middle of? What genre do they exist in?