CREATIVE WRITING PROJECT

Sandra Cisneros, the author of The House on Mango Street,tells her readers that she decided to write her novelbecause "you will always be Mango Street. You can't erase what you know. You can't forget who you are." The purpose of this project is to create your own book which will help you remember what you know, as well as show others who you are.

Your book must have the following items:

* An Original and Creative Cover (8 points)

* Title and Dedication Page – see rubric for elements (8 points)

* Table of Contents (4 points)

* 6 Chapters (see below) (10 points each) – only 1 chapter per page

* 7th Chapter for Extra Credit

TOTAL POSSIBLE: 80 points

Note: You will NOT receive ANY POINTS AT ALL for any book that is turned in that has less than 4 completed chapters.

Your chapters must be chosen from the following subjects:

Your Name

Your Neighborhood

Games or Favorite Toys from your Childhood

A Time You Got Into Trouble (keep appropriate!)

A Time You Saw Someone Else Get Into Trouble

Good Advice From an Adult

A Positive Story From Your Experiences at School

A Negative Story From Your Experiences at School

  • A Special Family Member
  • A Special Coach or Teacher

A Happy Time For You

Going to Work

A Special Holiday or Birthday

  • A Family Vacation
  • A Sport or Hobby
  • 5 Songs which changed/reflected your life
  • Memorable experience with a stranger
  • Time you experienced or witnessed prejudice
  • Time you experienced true friendship
  • A Time you were inspired

Life in Kansas

1 Additional Chapter on anything you wish

Chapters: A chapter less than half a page will be considered underdeveloped and will not receive the full 10 points per chapter. The chapters can be in any order you choose as long as it follows your Table of Contents. The project is worth 80 points and should reflect a great deal of effort. While we will spend some time in class, you should expect to do most of this project at home.

Style:Vignette Style – short, vivid memory told as a story that just happened.

Format: Typed, double-spaced, any legible font, no larger than 12 point size, 1 inch margins; May be neatly handwritten, but NO NOTEBOOK PAPER

Creative Group Project

Think back to times when you played Monopoly or Life. In one way or another the objectives of those games and the decisions you made throughout those games represented something familiar in your life. Just as those games can represent things in your life so could a game represent things in Esperanza’s life.

In a group of 3-4 students, you will create a board game that represents the novel, House on Mango Street.

The game board should be made from heavy cardboard so that it can withstand actual playing. Yes, we will play the games for FUN!

Some other things to consider as your group is working on the game:

Will the game be square or circular?

What type of game pieces will you have?

How will the players advance game pieces? (cards, dice, etc.)

What is the objective of the game?

How many people can play?

What are the rules? (You will have to include written rules with your game.)

What aspects of the book can be included in your game?

Now, you are surely wondering how you will be graded for this project.

First, this is a group project and I expect all members of the group to do equal work. You will not receive equal grades if it becomes apparent to me that one person is doing more work than another is.

Second, this is a creative project. Creativity is a large portion of the grade.

Lastly, the final grading scale:

Creativity: 0-25 points

Game pieces included: 0-10 points

Rules included (and they work): 0-15 points

The game is reflective of the novel: 0-25 points

TOTAL POSSIBLE: 75 points!