Short Story Performance Task Guidelines

You-Pick-Two:

You must choose two different performance task levels. In other words, you can have a salad and soup combo, a salad and sandwich combo, or a soup and sandwich combo. Each of the tasks must be done individually; however, if you choose to complete one of the sandwich tasks, then you will receive a bonus of 5 points to your grade for completing the more difficult task.

Salad
(Level I) / Soup
(Level II) / Sandwich
(Level III)
Movie Poster / Letter to Character / Newspaper Article
Book Cover / Story Re-write / Résumé
Write an Ending / Comic Strip
Explain the symbol / Crossword Puzzle

Each performance task must be done on a different Short Story. For example, if you do a movie poster for “The Framing Game,” then you cannot do one of the other tasks for the same story. You must read at least four of the nine short stories listed.

SHORT STORY OPTIONS:

“Night Burial” by Ken Siebert

“The Framing Game” by Paul Bishop

“The Getaway” by John Savage

“The Safecracker” by O. Henry

“Thank You M’am” by Langston Hughes (textbook page 62)

“Charles” by Shirley Jackson (textbook page 250)

“A Crush” by Cynthia Rylant (textbook page 362)

“Rikki-tikki-tavi” by Rudyard Kipling (textbook page72)

“Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed” by Ray Bradbury (textbook page 444)

The grades for each task will be combined and averaged together to get your final test grade.

DATES TO REMEMBER:

1st task due:Wednesday, May 7th – this should be your chosen salad or soup task.

2nd task due: Friday, May 16th -- this should be a soup or sandwich task.

***NOTE: You will be given some class time to work on these tasks, but don’t expect to be able to work everyday. There will be days when we are working on other assignments. Please make sure you pay attention to weekly schedules and when these assignments are due.

Directions for each task option:

Salad Level I:

  • Movie Poster – Pretend your short story is being converted into a movie and design a movie poster to capture people’s attention. Think about what is usually included on a movie poster and add those elements to your design.
  • Book Cover – Pretend you have been asked to design a book jacket for your short story. Think about what you would do to capture people’s attention. Include the elements that are normally included on a book cover.

Soup Level II:

  • Letter to Character – Write a letter to one of the characters in your story. You can write it as yourself, or pretend to be another character from the text who is writing the letter. Make sure you use proper letter format and that you include information from the story. In your letter you may ask questions related to the decisions and actions of your character as well as questions you had about the story. (300-500 words)
  • Story Re-write– Re-write one of your short stories as a poem or a song. Be sure to include important details, symbols, incidents, conflicts, etc. P.S.: Remember good poetry does not always rhyme. 
  • Write an Ending – If your story left off at the climax, or if you were unsatisfied with the ending, then write an ending or an alternative ending to the story. (300-500 words)
  • Explain the Symbol – Discuss and important symbol from one of your stories. Explain why you believe the thing (object, color, sign, etc.) is important and what you believe it comes to represent in the story. Provide examples and details from the text. (300-500 words)

Sandwich Level III:

  • Newspaper Article – Write a news article covering the events in one of your stories. Include, besides the 5 W’s (who, what, when, where, why) eyewitness accounts (quotes), expert opinions, and a “photo” or two. Here you may elaborate or expand on basic facts to create a detailed article.
  • Résumé – Write a résumé of one of your more well-detailed characters. Imagine that the character is applying for a job (appropriate to his or her role in the story). Include: objective, prior positions and job experience, education/schools and degrees (if any), hobbies and interests. Make this document official! Must be typed.
  • Comic Strip – Create a comic strip/story board for one of your stories. Be sure that the captions and illustrations explain the story clearly. Do not include every detail – only those that are most important. You will not be judged on artistic talent, only on apparent effort. The pictures may be elaborate or simple, but effective.
  • Crossword Puzzle -- Your task is to create a crossword puzzle about the short story read in class. The crossword puzzle answers and clues should focus on aspects and information about the story as well as elements (vocabulary) common to all short stories.

Examples may include questions relating to certain characters or events that occur in the story along with definitions to vocabulary terms such as setting, climax, protagonist, etc… The crossword should also include the following elements:

  • 25 or more clues that represent vocabulary and facts related to the short story
  • Answers provided for the clues
  • Title appropriate for the puzzle
  • Each question/clue matches up with its crossword box and each box matches up with its row. ie: lines are drawn with a ruler and are the same width

***NOTE: All written tasks must be typed or handwritten neatly in pen (blue or black ink only).