Harvard University Extension School CREA E25: Introduction to Fiction Section 3 7:40PM-9:40PM Canvas Site: https://canvas.harvard.edu/courses/8244/pages/homepage-2-organized-content Instructor: Julie Anne McNary ***Please Check your Audio Wizard Please DO NOT engage your Video Camera

Your Instructor: Julie Anne McNary B.A., Wellesley College, 1994 English Literature M.Ed., Harvard Graduate School of Education, 1995 Language and Literacy MA/M.F.A, University of Utah, 1998 British & American Literature and Creative Writing Cell Phone: (617) 233-7532 – no calls after 10PM – Voicemail during business hours jmcnary@me.com

Introduction Syllabus, policies, etc. Writing Assessment Essay Elements of Fiction – starters The Aristotelian Appeals and how they just might apply to Creative Writing First Writing Exercises, 1 and 2

Writing Assessment – 25 min. In the next 25 minutes, please write a letter to me outlining the following: What is your favorite work of fiction (please focus on a short story or a novel, not any other medium – movies, television, etc.)? What are three elements, patterns, strategies, etc. that you find most appealing about this work of fiction? Share how you might synthesize, combine, or compare those three elements in order to point out something more complex and unique about the piece. In three separate paragraphs, please describe each of the three elements in detail. Provide a conclusion of some kind in which you share the larger implications, “bigger picture/lessons learned” that you believe readers might glean from this piece. Important: Make an attempt to organize your letter into coherent and clear paragraphs. Try to formulate an introduction, thesis, and a conclusion of some kind. Please proof read and upload it into the appropriate Assignment on our Canvas Site.

The Elements of Fiction – Summary Plot Characterization Point of View Setting: Fictional place and time

Plot For our purposes, the word “Plot” means: The writer’s arrangement or structuring of the information in the story, and the meaning beyond just a sequence of events. “The King died and the Queen died” is a sequence of events; whereas “The King died and then the Queen died of grief” is a plot.

Plot One

Plot Two

Characterization Physical traits Body language Verbal expression Framing Active versus passive behavior Psychology Relationships Conflict Resolution

Point of View First Person Second Person Third Person Main Character Minor Character Reliable or Unreliable Second Person To “you” “You” as self Third Person Objective Omniscient Limited Omniscient

Setting Micro versus Macro The country, state, town, street, backyard, etc. The detailed nature of the physical surroundings Time of day, weather, lighting, etc. Staging or stage directions More subtle factors

Classical Rhetoric and Creative Writing

A Quick Primer on the Aristotelian Appeals ETHOS PATHOS Audience & Purpose LOGOS You Your Characters Your Characters’ various discourse communities? Your potential readers

Quick Background The Ethical Appeal The Pathetic Appeal The Logical Appeal How we use each How we combine two or more of them at a time Context Discourse Communities

The Ethical Appeal (Ethos): How we use it: Defining and assuming a leadership role. Establishing our own authority, citing other related authorities or institutions of excellence, connecting to leaders in our professional field(s), sharing knowledge, making strong claim(s), presenting a fair-minded, balanced demeanor, conceding to the opposition when appropriate etc. Purpose: to gain trust, establish credibility and authority, earn respect, and in a sense, establish the marketable identity of the organization, etc. Potential Abuse thereof: Name-dropping, grand- standing, lecturing, strong-arming, some quid pro quo, etc.

The Pathetic Appeal (Pathos): How we use it: Relationship-building through the use of charismatic connection, accessibility, empathy, humor, story-telling, networking, emotional connections, common ground, even eye contact, etc. Purpose: to connect, to establish intimacy, to move the audience, evoke an emotional response, also to gain trust, etc. Potential Abuse thereof: Florid or exploitative language or activity, flattery, cliché, sentimental or sappy tactics, some quid pro quo behavior, overwhelming our audience with emotional embroidery, etc.

The Logical Appeal (Logos): How we use it: Establish the core of the argument with data, evidence, reasoning, scientific facts, statistics; prove our thesis, demonstrate results, etc. Purpose: Evokes a cognitive response, teaches, allows the audience to respond intellectually to the base of the matter Potential Abuse thereof: overloading one’s audience with too much information, not making the connection between purpose and evidence, boring us to tears, etc.

Balancing the Appeals…or not.

Your Characters & the Aristotelian Appeals Discussion How are your characters represented on this spectrum? Where are YOU comfortable on this spectrum? Where might your reader be comfortable on this spectrum? ETHOS PATHOS Audience & Purpose LOGOS

Context and Discourse Communities Context: Obviously, none of this will apply without considering the context of the situation… As you all know, is the context of any situation that grants the written and spoken word meaning. In a sense, without context, there is no meaning. Thus, we’ll need to be aware of both the context we create around our characters, and the exterior contexts in which those characters function. Your characters are part of many, many discourse communities that might not seem at all related to a specific task at hand, but in fact, could enhance their performance of that task in many ways.

All Writing is Rhetoric Everything about your stories, even your grammar, syntax, and sentence structures are all rhetorically significant

Indian Camp Quick Discussion

Writing Exercises 1 and 2 Writing E 2 Writing E 1 In 2-3 pages (no longer!) Develop a Character who is forced to adapt to a rhetorical context that is extremely foreign to him/her. Begin “in scene” or better yet, in medias res and without telling us explicitly, show us how this character copes, and ultimately triumphs in some manner, however small. In 2-3 pages (no longer) Develop a character who was in the previous scene, or could have been in the margins thereof “off stage” and who observed your character and the strategies he/she employed. Share this new character’s perspective, be it of a complimentary, or judgmental nature, and have him/her somehow communicate that position to your previous character.