For our fourth assignment, we’re focusing on plot. I want you to share your experience reading any written text published between 1800 and 1940 that you haven’t read before. Think of your post as an account of your journey exploring this literary work (or a summary of your findings). There is no requirement to have a single argument or claim. You are not required to find peer-reviewed sources to support or contextualize what you want to say. There is no requirement to be original. I want you to let your interests guide you and share your experiences, questions, and theories with your classmates.
I’ve tried to communicate the goals for the assignment more clearly than in previous prompts. Instead of “steps,” I’m sharing the things I want you to include in your post. You can create three distinct sections with headings, or you can organize things differently if you see a better structure.
Featured Image
Your featured image can represent the content of your post in a wide range of ways. The image can be a book cover, an image of a page, or fan art inspired by one of the works you’re writing about. If you include a play or film script, perhaps an image from the production or the movie poster. You might also want to create something new to use as your featured image. Make sure that you include complete media file details for your featured image (“caption” and “alternative text” fields). Please also include the URL for the image file in the “description” field (this is new!).
Reading Experience
Describe your experience reading (or listening to an audio recording of) any written text published between 1800 and 1940 that you haven’t read before (check librivox for a free recording!). This should be something brand new to you, which means that you will very likely by looking for context as you read so you can understand unfamiliar words and makes sense of a storyworld that is not familiar. Focus on describing your experience reading with as much detail as possible. Incorporate specific passages that prompted a response from you, whether that response is related to enjoyment of the text or frustration about being confused by the text. Make sure to keep track of all of the sources you reference as you read (Wikipedia articles, dictionary definitions, article on the Internet, blog posts, scholarly sources, etc.). Reading a text written before you were born can be challenging! We will go over strategies that can help you make sense of the unfamiliar.
Plot Summary
As I shared earlier this semester, almost every Wikipedia article about a work of literature has a section with the heading of “Plot Summary.” As we’ve discussed, reading a plot summary can never replace the experience of actually reading a text because it is meant only to convey a summary of the plot, not the full complexity of the text. That said, summarizing a plot is very challenging, as is clear from the guidance Wikipedia editors have written on the task.
Check if a Wikipedia article exists about the text you’ve read. If it does, paste the plot summary into your post with a clear citation.
Below it, create your own summary from scratch or paste the same summary and revise it to make it as clear and objective as you can. Use the guidance from Wikipedia editors as you do this work
Adapting the Plot
Take your new or revised plot summary and adapt it, changing something about the plot. After making this change to the plot, write about your reasons for making the change and the impact you think this change makes to the overall text. If you feel inspired to write new sections of the story for your adaptation, please do!
A complete post should have the following components:
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- Title
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- Featured Image (something you’ve created or something you’ve found
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- Complete media file details for featured image (“caption” and “alternative text”)
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- Captions conveying attribution statements for all images in the post
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- Actual post with source material clearly cited with hyperlinks (flyby hyperlinks and actual citations)
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- A detailed account of your experience reading a text published between 1800 and 1940 that you haven’t read before
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- A plot summary from Wikipedia (if available) and your revision to that plot summary
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- Your adaptation of the plot and commentary on what the changes would do
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- A list of works cited at the bottom of your post formatted according to MLA guidelines (use Zbib or guidelines from WAC Clearinghouse)
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- Attribution statement for featured image below the list of Works Cited
Reminders
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- Tip: You may find it useful to compose in a document outside of OpenLab (Microsoft Word, a Google Doc, or something else).
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- Assume that there will be spoilers—no need to alert readers to them.
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- We’re not writing reviews, though people reading what we’re writing might decide to check something out that they might not have encountered otherwise.
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- Include lots of images and videos (even when writing about a text). Do your best to break up the wall of text.
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- Include lots of direct quotation. If you’re saying that a text has a specific feature, make sure to give an example of that feature
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- Write to a general audience—clarity is a priority!!
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- Share your experience of the text! Give details.
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- Share your best sense of how the writer prompted an emotional response you had. If you want to research how others have explained the writer’s technique, go for it. Do make sure to cite what you read.
