Week 3- Workshop Summary

Hi guys, Julia here,

Just giving a recap of what we discussed today in the English Language and Literacy workshop!

First we talked about what inspired us in the Gamble and Yates reading. We discussed many points which were made about narratives but came to the conclusion that objective points were extremely interesting. An objective point (or dramatic viewpoint) is one where the writer does not enter the minds of any characters. All is revealed through actions. We talked about how the writer expresses actions by adjectives and verbs and thought it was interesting that the actions of someone can determine a viewpoint. I guess it is like someone’s body language!

We then went on to explain story shapes and clarified any confusion we had. When we compared our shapes they were indeed similar. We liked how they broke down the classic way books and movies tell stories (setting, action, climax, resolution, etc).

Next we linked our story shapes to the basic 7 plots. Our books incorporated the plots of

-          Comedy

-          Tragedy

-          The quest

An example of a book using basic plots was The Steadfast Soldier. It incorporated the basic plot of the quest. Around 90% of the book was the quest (the soldier was on the quest). After the climax however the resolution was a tragedy (the soldier dies).

Lastly we talked about narrative techniques. I talked about some techniques that were incorporated by Paul Jennings into his book The Gizmo. Jennings uses imagery well. He used adjectives and verbs to explain character profiles and they often contradicted the illustrations. This technique gave deeper meaning to the book. Jennings also writes in first person so he can get inside the narrators head.  

This week’s readings have helped us analyse the structure of narratives and be aware of the different techniques that can be used by authors.