Creative Writing: Imagining Your Own Fractured Fairy Tale

Students will choose one of five novels to read during this course to analyze for character development, plot, and setting: Cinder by Marissa Meyer, Reflection by Elizabeth Lim, Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Bedor, or The Shadow Queen by C. J. Redwine. Each week, during the class discussion, students will compare and contrast their various novels to see how each author was able to transform their different fairy tales into a new and unique story.

At the same time, the students will also be creating their own fractured fairy tale based on the simple nursery rhyme, The Three Little Pigs. There are numerous variations of this story, and changing one element can give the story unique twists and turns, whether it’s changing the point of view for John Scieska’s The True Story of the Three Little Pigs or changing the setting for Susan Lowell’s The Three Little Javelinas. Each week we will tackle a different topic (setting, character, plot) until the students have a well crafted, thoroughly edited, and imaginative story based on their unique take on The Three Little Pigs.

Week 1: We will learn about Point of View in this lesson and the difference between First, Third, and the rarely used Second. We’ll also talk about how changing the point of view of the story can completely change the story itself. To illustrate this, we’ll examine Jon Sceska’s The True Story of the Three Little Pigs which tells the story from the wolf’s point of view. For homework, the students will start reading their choice novel, completing the first 20%. We’ll go over the project they will be completing for their choice novel throughout the unit.

Week 2: During this class we will talk about the importance of setting in the story and all the parts that make up setting. It’s not just location. We’ll look at the book The Three Little Javelinas by Susan Lowell and how setting the book in the southwest, changed the building materials used by the pigs. Students will start thinking about their own version of the story and where they might want their setting to be. We’ll brainstorm all the different elements of setting. For homework, students will read the next 20% of their novel and continue to work on their project. They should be focusing on settings this week.

Week 3: We’ll look again at The Three Little Javelinas and how changing the setting of the story, changed the characters in the story. Changing one element can affect the entire story. We’ll also examine Scieska’s story again and look at how he developed the villain’s story, writing him as the hero. Students will brainstorm their own writing to see how they can change the characters to match the setting they brainstormed in the last class and then develop those characters to make them well rounded. For homework, they will continue to read in their choice novel, reading up to 60% at this point. They will focus on character development.

Week 4: This class will focus on creating the plot. The Three Little Pigs follows a clear formula. Students will take the characters and setting brainstormed in the previous class, and plug them into the formula. We’ll work on adding details to the plot to have a rising action, climax, falling action, and all the other parts. We’ll also talk about their choice novels at this point. We’ll share with each other what we’ve noticed about how they are following the fairy tale they are familiar with and how they are breaking away from that tale. For homework, they will read up to 80% of the book and continue to work on the choice novel project.

Week 5: This class period will be spent working on writing our stories. At this point the stories should be close to done. I’ll be available to help revise and edit, brainstorm any trouble spots, and polish up their stories. For homework, students will finish reading their choice novel and their projects.

Week 6: Each student will share their version of The Three Little Pigs that they have written. They will also share the breakdown of their choice novel on Character, Setting, and Plot.