Conflict Writing Assignment

You are to create a conflict and then resolve it in this piece of writing. It does not have to be a great big long story just a situation involving conflict.

Human vs Human     Human vs Nature

Human vs Self      Human vs Technology

LINK to story conflict ideas: Creating Conflict IDEAS

Conflict brings stories to life, though it isn’t important for what it is, but for what it does. What does it do? The answer to this question lies at the very heart of storytelling. Conflict forces characters to act in ways that reveal who they are – and nothing tells us more about characters than how they deal with their troubles.

When conflict exposes who a character really is, the reader is drawn in through identification. The more difficult the character’s choice, the more his true nature will be revealed. In great stories – Romeo and Juliet; Hamlet; Scarlett O’Hara; Frodo; Harry Potter – the heroes are forced to go all the way. The more pressure you put on your character, the more you make him reveal his true, inner self and the more powerfully your readers will identify with them.

So, stories are about adversity. Happiness can be the ending of the story, but it can’t be the story itself. Why not? Because happy characters don’t want to change. Happiness doesn’t force the characters to act and thus reveal themselves and, if the characters are having a good time, the reader is not.

To be forced to change, to act and reveal their innermost selves, characters need to be frustrated, desperate and at the end of their rope. The worse you make it for your characters the better it is for the reader. When the characters give all they’ve got, readers experience it deeply and powerfully.

To create true conflict, two things are needed: a want and an obstacle. Your protagonist must want something, and there must be an obstacle (the antagonist) that’s trying to stop her from getting what she wants (Ahab wants to kill the whale, the whale wants to kill Ahab).

Both the want and the obstacle must be strong and determined. If either is weak, it will be impossible to create a good story. 

Criteria: At least a half page in length, have it edited by Ms Chase before handing in final copy.

LINK to how to write conflict: How to write Conflict

New assignments for TERM 4

TERM 4 New Photo Assignments

Skate park shots: Using the skate park as your setting, shoot 10 photos with a focus on angles/viewpoint. This means shooting up at a subject, down at a subject, close up at objects, maybe down on a rail, or  shooting down at your feet...laying on the ground and shooting at ground level. Make sure you edit your photos. I am expecting high quality creative shots.

Criteria: Interesting, clearly focused, well composed shots. Creativity gets you extra marks.

10 shots = 20 marks

Macros: For our purposes macros are really just close up photos of objects. The closer you get to an object the more interesting it looks. You are to take 10 close up shots , trying to create art from your photographs. I want you to think, would I hang this on a wall.

Criteria: Make sure you have enough lighting. Photos should be in focus, close-up or extreme close up, well composed and of interesting subject matter. Try using the phone macro lenses. Make sure you shoot a variety of shots.

SHOTS: 10 MARKS: 20 
Example: Birgit Power Great Collection of Macros