Writting a 4 paragraph essay about the story in the document and filling the charts there, that are for brainstorming. Those charts are very important because the teacher will check first those charts, before submitting the essay.
“Murder in the Dark” By: Margaret Atwood This is a game I’ve played only twice. The first time I was in grade five, I played it in a cellar, the cellar of a large house belonging to the parents of a girl called Louise. There was a pool table in the cellar but none of us knew anything about pool. There was also a player piano. After a while we got tired of running the punch card rolls through the player piano and watching the keys go up and down by themselves, like something in a late movie just before you see the dead person. I was in love with a boy called Bill, who was in love with Louise. The other boy, whose name I can’t remember, was in love with me. Nobody knew who Louise was in love with. So we turned out the lights in the cellar and played Murder in the Dark, which gave the boys the pleasure of being able to put their hands around the girls’ necks and gave the girls the pleasure of screaming. The excitement was almost more than we could bear, but luckily Louise’s parents came home and asked us what we thought we were up to. The second time I played it was with adults; it was not as much fun, though more intellectually complex. I heard that this game was once played at a summer cottage by six normal people and a poet, and the poet really tried to kill someone. He was hindered only by the intervention of a dog, which could not tell fantasy from reality. The thing about this game is that you have to know when to stop. Here is how you play: You fold up some pieces of paper and put them into a hat, a bowl, or the center of the table. Everyone chooses a piece. The one who gets the x is the detective, the one who gets the black spot is the killer. The detective leaves the room, turning off the lights. Everyone gropes around in the dark until the murderer picks up a victim. He can either whisper, “You’re dead”, or he can slip his hands around a throat and give a playful but decisive squeeze. The victim screams and falls down. Everyone must now stop moving around except the murderer, who of course will not want to be found near the body. The detective counts to ten, turns on the lights, and enters the room. He may now question anyone but the victim, who is not allowed to answer, being dead. Everyone but the murderer must tell the truth. The murderer must lie. If you like, you can play games with this game. You can say: the murderer is the writer, the detective is the reader, the victim is the book. Or perhaps, the murderer is the writer, the detective is the critic, and the victim is the reader. In that case the book would be the total mise en scène, including the lamp that was accidentally tipped over and broken. But really it’s more fun just to play the game. In any case, that’s me in the dark. I have designs on you, I’m plotting my sinister crime, my hands are reaching for your neck or perhaps, by mistake, your thigh. You can hear my footsteps approaching, I wear boots and carry a knife, or maybe it’s a pearl-handled revolver, in any case I wear boots with very soft soles, you can see the cinematic glow of my cigarette, waxing and waning in the fog of the room, the street, the room, even though I don’t smoke. Just remember this, when the scream at last has ended and you’ve turned on the lights: by the rules of the game, I must always lie. Now: do you believe me? DIDLS Tracking Sheet Task: As you re-read your short story, take point-form notes (quotations, examples + page numbers) for each category below. Every block should have the minimum number of examples listed. You do not yet need to amplify (save that for your brainstorming and essay). DETAILS - character (S.T.E.A.L.) - plot (person-vs.-?) - setting (time and place) (at least one example for each) IMAGERY - sensory imagery: visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, olfactory - categorical imagery (try to find at least one example for each) DICTION - use the terms on your DIDLS sheet to help guide you - focus on keywords, not entire sentences (find two types of diction) LANGUAGE - figurative language: (allusion, hyperbole, metaphor, personification, simile, irony, allegory, etc.) (find at least three examples of figurative language) SYMBOLISM - what objects seem important? - does the story mention colour? - is there a focus on the weather? (find at least two symbols) Short Story Summative: Mini-Essay - Brainstorming -STEP #1- Pick your best ideas From your DIDLS tracker sheet, put a start next to two DIDLS categories. Ensure that these two categories have 2-3 excellent quotations that you can relate to one (1) topic that they have in common. -STEP #2- Thesis statement brainstorming Once your evidence has been gathered, review the quotations that you will use in your mini- essay. Determine what topic they have in common, and complete this chart: Short story title (in quotations) Author’s full name Strong verb (suggests, shows, etc.) General Topic Thematic Statement (“so what?”) Two DIDLS Categories (“how?”) -STEP #3- Finalizing the thesis statement Put the information from the above chart into a complete sentence. · Be formal (avoid personal pronouns, contractions, and slang words) · Use present tense Write your completed thesis here: _____________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “Murder in the Dark” By: Margaret Atwood This is a game I’ve played only twice. The first time I was in grade five, I played it in a cellar, the cellar of a large house belonging to the parents of a girl called Louise. There was a pool table in the cellar but none of us knew anything about pool. There was also a player piano. After a while we got tired of running the punch card rolls through the player piano and watching the keys go up and down by themselves, like something in a late movie just before you see the dead person. I was in love with a boy called Bill, who was in love with Louise. The other boy, whose name I can’t remember, was in love with me. Nobody knew who Louise was in love with. So we turned out the lights in the cellar and played Murder in the Dark, which gave the boys the pleasure of being able to put their hands around the girls’ necks and gave the girls the pleasure of screaming. The excitement was almost more than we could bear, but luckily Louise’s parents came home and asked us what we thought we were up to. The second time I