Ben Curras April 4th, 2017

April 4th, 2017
In class today, students continued the analysis of genres and specifically focused on the interior to a story. Students trained their analyzation techniques in determining the difference between structure and content. The idea behind the structure of narrative is how narratives are shaped. Specifically, students talk about the story plot pertaining to:

• Exposition
• Conflict
• Rising Action
• Climax
• Falling Action
• Resolution

With this idea of structure to a narrative, a story can have different content in comparison to a story from the same genre, but same shape referring to story plot. Now content pertains to the key details within a story. In two adventure stories, students travel to find their missing classmates. In one of the stories, the students searching for classmates start to disappear while in the other story, the teacher is the one of the searching party who disappears. This difference doesn't affect the overall plot of the two stories, but sets the two stories apart. That is the difference in content in genres. After Mr. Rivers finished his explanation of the two crucial parts to a story, structure and content, the class then analyzed Netflix summaries of stories the students created out of their imagination yesterday. These summaries can be found on Google Classroom.

The picture you see below is a simplistic representation of a story plot. (FYI: Denouement is a french word describing the ending of a narrative, story, or play.) This representation is also known as the Freitag Arc. 

Ben Curras April 3rd, 2017

April 3rd, 2017
On this day, students began the next unit for the upcoming unit: genre. Through this unit, the students should be able to answer the questions:

• What defines a genre?
• How do genres establish expectations?
• How do filmmakers use those expectations?

As for now, let's focus on today's topic of discussion. Through the class period, students defined the term genre as to what it pertains and what it includes. The next goal students attained through the period is the knowledge on how to apply genres as the function for a narrative text. Obviously, the focus of this next unit will be narrative writing where the students will eventually be writing a story. A story can be both fiction and nonfiction as both involve characters and conflict. Stories are designed to interest a reader, but genres are what define that reader's interests. Whether a reader enjoys the thrill of a mystery or the shaking fear of a horror film. Genres like these determine and categorize the likes of a reader. 

Next in class, the students used a quote from, author of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald. He stated, "Personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures." With a little revision, the class determined that by switching the word personality with the word genre, we found an accurate definition of genre. The revised sentence states, "Genres are an unbroken series of successful actions." The concept behind this change pertains to the idea that genres are categories that have successfully been reintroduced into films and novels alike. But these genres, when pertaining to action, differ and create this unbroken series where the creativity of a writer or filmmaker never cease.