Grade 7 English Language and Literature

Unit 1: Short Stories

Write your own short story

After studying short stories written by famous authors, you have an opportunity to write your own original story. Follow the
guide below to organize your story. You will be assessed on Criterion B: Organization, and Criterion C: Producing text (see
the rubrics below).

STEP 1: Choose a theme

➔ A story without a theme is little more than a list of events.

➔ Not only must it appeal to the reader, it must also appeal to you.

Examples of themes

● Alienation – The effects of loneliness and how to cure it

● Ambition – getting what you want, stunted, thwarted.
● Betrayal – the pain in love and friendship.
● Courage – courage to deal with conflict, lack of, developing, conquering with.
● Escape – from life, routine, prison, family pressures.
● Fear – driven by, dealing with, conquering.
● Freedom – loss of, gaining, handling, fight for.
 Grade 7 English Language and Literature
Unit 1: Short Stories

● Good versus evil – survival of one despite the other, triumph of one over the other.
● Jealousy – trouble caused by, denial of, driven by.
● Justice – the fight for, injustice, truth versus justice.
● Loss – of life, innocence, love, friends.
● Love – love fades, is blind, can overcome all obstacles
● Power – the search for, the loss of, what we are willing to exchange for.
● Prejudice – racism, bigotry, snobbery, dealing with.
● Survival – man versus nature

STEP 2: Choose conflict

➔ A conflict develops the characters and reveals the theme

Types of conflict

● Man vs. Man ● Man vs. Supernatural

● Man vs. Self ● Man vs. Unknown
● Man vs. Nature
● Man vs. Society
● Man vs. Technology

Example: If you want your theme to be alienation of young people in modern societies, you might want
to choose Man vs. Technology.

STEP 3: Organize events

 Grade 7 English Language and Literature
Unit 1: Short Stories

Take bullet point notes for each part of the plot.

EXPOSITION
● When will the story take place? (Example: if your conflict is Man vs. Technology, you might
want to set the story in future or in present time)
● Where will the story take place? (Example: if your conflict is Man vs. Technology, you might
want to set the story in a big city)
● Who will your protagonist be? (Example: if your audience are your peers, you might want the
protagonist to be a teenager)

RISING ACTION
● What events will lead to the climax? List the events but make sure they contribute to the theme
and the conflict.

CLIMAX
● What will be the most dramatic point in the plot? When will the conflict between Man and
Technology (example) become unbearable? When might the readers think the protagonist will
not survive?

FALLING ACTION AND RESOLUTION

● How will your protagonist resolve the conflict? Or fail to resolve it?
● List the events which will lead to the resolution so that it would not be abrupt.

STEP 4: Describe the setting

● List the key words you would like to use in the exposition, when describing the setting.
Remember: the choice of words and your descriptions will set the tone of the whole story.
● Use the key words to write the exposition.

STEP 5: Develop characterization

● What will make the major characters dynamic? Include: physical description, events which
shed light on his/her personality, other people’s insight. (Example: if you want the protagonist to
be brave, think of a situation in which he/she would demonstrate the trait. You can also include
dialogues between different characters which will reveal the protagonist’s traits.)

STEP 6: Write the first draft

● Use the bullet points to write the first draft of your story.
 Grade 7 English Language and Literature
Unit 1: Short Stories

● Decide on the pace of your story. If you want it to be fast paced - use a lot of action verbs. If
you want the story to be slow paced - use a lot of description (adjectives).
● Don’t focus on the style at the moment - focus on the plot.

STEP 7: Review and edit before handing in the final draft

● Read your sentences and correct any grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes.
● Consider how you can improve your style: make your descriptions more detailed by using
adequate adjectives; make the actions more impactful by the use of adverbs.
● Think about your descriptions of the setting: what is your intended tone? What mood do you
think it creates?
 Grade 7 English Language and Literature
Unit 1: Short Stories

Level Criterion B: Organizing

1-2 The student:

➔ makes minimal use of organizational structures, though these may not always
serve the context and intention
➔ makes minimal use of referencing and formatting tools to create a presentation
style that may not always be suitable to the context and intention

3-4 ➔ makes adequate use of organizational structures, though these may not always
serve the context and intention
➔ makes adequate use of referencing and formatting tools to create a presentation
style suitable to the context and intention

5-6 ➔ makes competent use of organizational structures, that serve the context and
intention
➔ makes competent use of referencing and formatting tools to create a presentation
style suitable to the context and intention

7-8 ➔ makes sophisticated use of organizational structures, that serve the context and
intention effectively
➔ makes excellent use of referencing and formatting tools to create an effective
presentation style suitable to the context and intention

Level Criterion C: Producing texts

1-2 The student

➔ makes minimal stylistic choices in terms of linguistic, literary and visual devices,
demonstrating limited awareness of impact on an audience
➔ selects few relevant details and examples to support ideas

3-4 ➔ makes some stylistic choices in terms of linguistic, literary and visual devices,
demonstrating some awareness of impact on an audience
➔ selects some relevant details and examples to support ideas

5-6 ➔ makes thoughtful stylistic choices in terms of linguistic, literary and visual devices,
demonstrating good awareness of impact on an audience
➔ selects sufficient relevant details and examples to support ideas

7-8 ➔ makes thoughtful stylistic choices in terms of linguistic, literary and visual devices,
demonstrating clear awareness of impact on an audience
➔ selects extensive relevant details and examples to support ideas