Writing Assignment: Thurber
Earlier in this unit, you had some fun with a fairy tale or nursery rhyme. Now you will have more fun, but in a different way. First of all, do a web search for a very short story by James Thurber titled “The Little Girl and the Wolf.” It is a spoof on the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Then do a web search for Fractured Fairy Tales, which are taken from an old cartoon show called Rocky and Bullwinkle. Now that you have gotten the idea, take a familiar story and write your own version on it. You can take away the fairy tale ending and replace it with a more realistic one, as Thurber did, or you can simply play with the story a little, as is done in the fractured fairy tales. You can choose to have a moral, as Thurber did, but it is not necessary.
As you do this, keep two things especially in mind. These will be the most important factors in your grade.
- Use the techniques you have learned in this section to make the best possible word choices.
- Use conversation in your story. Go back to the Conventions unit to make sure you can use quotation marks correctly.