Rachel Schmidt
Dr. Atkins
English 503
1 February 2012
Once Upon a Supporting Detail
Introduction:
Even when asked to write about themselves and about events that actually happened to them, students often leave out the supporting details when presenting the facts of their lives. This may also carry over into more persuasive and expository essays when students have to provide evidence for their claims. For students who have difficulty generating narrative detail or remembering to support their arguments with specific evidence from the text, this exercise with Fairy Tale Mad Libs can be a fun and creative way to enter into a more detailed mindset. Fairy tales are a part of childhood literature and with today’s familiarity, thanks to Disney and the new fairy tale trend in primetime shows, students should have enough background knowledge to know the usual tropes of tales and feel comfortable altering them or combining them in new ways to create their support. This exercise does not emphasize finding the proof that already exists (though students may draw on established fairy tale conventions to support their statements) but rather reiterates that support should exist for any claim or fact students promote. Ideally, this exercise would serve as an introduction or an ice-breaker into a more intense lesson or activity.
Goals/Objectives:
Understand that general or specific claims need specific support
Compose creatively while analyzing objectively
Work collaboratively where each can contribute in his/her own style
Practice approaching a text from other anglesand supporting a particular view
Demonstrate that “enchantment” exists in the details
Learn to expand ideas/claims rather than list them
Evaluation:
At the end of the exercise, students will turn in their mad lib sections. Since there is a blank for each member of the group, each student should write his/her own sentence and print their name after in order to receive credit for their in-class work. The initial blank (claim) will be agreed upon by the group but each of the blanks after (support) should be evenly distributed among the members. Credit is given if the detail helps explain the claim.
Assignment:
- After going over the example (see below), divide students into groups of 3. (Depending on the number of students, either the group amount may change (and the corresponding blanks) or the number of mad libs.)
- Distribute one Mad Lib section (see below) to each group.
- Using the textual frame of each section, the group will brainstorm what kind of claim they want start with and put that word in the first blank. Students can be as creative as they want with the claims as long as they can generate supportive details to back it up.
- Each student will write his/her supporting detail on one of the blanks provided underneath the part of the sentence containing the initial blank and write their name next to their detail to ensure credit is given for participation.
- Once all groups are finished, the instructor will explain that they are now going to read the completed fairy tale they have composed by reading aloud their detailed sentences. Each Mad Lib is numbered and the story will follow that numbered order. The instructor will begin by reading an opening line (“Once upon a time, there was a princess who hired a dragon to test her suitors…”) to set the story up then signal to the group with Mad Lib 1 to continue the tale.
- Each group will read their section when their turn comes until all groups have read and the tale is completed.
- After the tale is read aloud and the sections collected, the instructor can also discuss the challenges of supporting claims in personal and expository essays or transition right into a main lesson or activity.
Example:
The evil sorcerer was so tiredbecause he
was making babies cry from noon till night
had been cleaning out his dungeon all week
tried to destroy the world at least twice yesterday
Mad Lib Sections: (This will not be on the handout given to students but will be cut into sections by the instructor and distributed among the class)
1. Now the princess was so ______she could
______
______
______
2. So it’s no surprise that suitors came from miles away to ______her by
______
______
______
3. There was one prince who was so ______that back in his hometown he was known for
______
______
______
4. However, when all the princes and all the suitors saw the dragon and how
______it was, they
______
______
______
5. In the end, they somehow managed to live ______ever after.
The princess______
The prince______
And the dragon, well, the dragon turned out to be
______
Additional Notes:
Even though the separate sections may make sense, chances are that together they will not create a logical (though fantastical) narrative. The instructor can use this to show students that when analyzing a text, it is important to consider what all of the parts are saying and not just pick out the one fact (or part) that will support an idea or interpretation. It can also be an assignment for the students to rewrite the fairy tale generated by the class (still using a certain number of the details) so that the story’s events are unified (practicing skills of organization, support, and conciseness).
For ENG201, this exercise can also lead to discussions about logos, pathos, and ethos. After generating details, students can discuss which appeal the details are using to reach an audience. Or, continuing with the theme of fairy tales, the instructor can show commercials and advertisements that also alter fairy tale details to fit their claims. Students can then perform rhetorical analyses on the ads to determine how the details can change to fit certain agendas. Samples like these can be found on Youtube and a growing list exists on this blog:
- Cingular Wireless modifies “Cinderella”:
- Honey Nut Cheerios redoes “Little Red Riding Hood”:
- Capital One takes on “The Frog Prince”: