Projects* Write A Fractured Fairy Tale

PROJECT:

Write A Fractured Fairy Tale

What Is A Fractured Fairy Tale? A fractured fairy tale is a story from the fairy-tale genre that has in some way been flipped, reimagined or restructured. You can create a fractured fairy tale by being creative with any of the elements of the fairy-tale genre. To fracture a fairy tale, you could do one of the following:

Action Example

Change the character traits of the characters The woodsman is not brave and runs away from the big bad wolf

Have well-known fairy-tale characters meet

Shrek Change the narrative perspective Describe the three little pigs from the wolf’s perspective Change the problem in the story The wolf in Little Red Riding Hood is lonely and just wants to make some friends Change the resolution in the story Prince Charming ends up marrying one of the ugly sisters Write a different ending The frog princess actually hates being [insert Visual 21] Features of the fairy-tale genre Royalty Clear villain and hero Talking animals and monsters Fight between good and evil Used to teach children a lesson Ends with: And they all lived happily ever after. Begins with: Once upon a time… Magic or fantasy ©The Educational Company of Ireland a princess and wants to be a frog again

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by John Scieszka

Everybody knows the story of the Three Little Pigs. Or at least they think they do. But I’ll let you in on a little secret. Nobody knows the real story, because nobody has ever heard my side of the story. I’m the wolf. Alexander T. Wolf. You can call me Al. I don’t know how this whole Big Bad Wolf thing got started, but it’s all wrong. Maybe it’s because of our diet. Hey, it’s not my fault if wolves eat cute little animals like bunnies and sheep and pigs. That’s just the way we are. If cheeseburgers were cute, folks would probably think you were Big and Bad, too. But like I was saying, the whole Big Bad Wolf thing is all wrong. The real story is about a sneeze and a cup of sugar. Way back in Once Upon a Time, I was making a birthday cake for my dear old granny. I had a terrible sneezing cold. I ran out of sugar. So I walked down the street to ask my neighbor for a cup of sugar. Now this neighbor was a pig. And he wasn’t too bright, either. He had built his whole house out of straw. Can you believe it? I mean who in his right mind would build a house of straw? So of course the minute I knocked on the door, it fell right in. I didn’t want to just walk into someone else’s house. So I called, ‘Little Pig, Little Pig, are you in?’ No answer. I was just about to go home without the cup of sugar for my dear old granny’s birthday cake. That’s when my nose started to itch. I felt a sneeze coming on. Well I huffed. And I snuffed. And I sneezed a great sneeze. And you know what? That whole darn straw house fell down. And right in the middle of the pile of straw was the First Little Pig – dead as a doornail. He had been home the whole time. It seemed a shame to leave a perfectly good ham dinner lying there in the straw. So I ate it up. Think of it as a big cheeseburger just lying there. I was feeling a little better. But I still didn’t have my cup of sugar. So I went to the next neighbor’s house. This neighbor was the First Little Pig’s brother. He was a little smarter, but not much. He had built his house of sticks. I rang the bell on the stick house. Nobody answered. I called, ‘Mr Pig, Mr Pig, are you in?’ He yelled back, ‘Go away wolf. You can’t come in. I’m shaving the hairs on my chinny chin chin.’ I had just grabbed the doorknob when I felt another sneeze coming on. I huffed. And I snuffed. And I tried to cover my mouth, but I sneezed a great sneeze. And you’re not going to believe it, but this guy’s house fell down just like his brother’s. When the dust cleared, there was the Second Little Pig – dead as©The Educational Company of Ireland a doornail. Wolf’s honor.

Now you know how food will spoil if you just leave it out in the open. So I did the only thing there was to do. I had dinner again. Think of it as a second helping. I was getting awfully full. But my cold was feeling a little better. And I still didn’t have that cup of sugar for my dear old granny’s birthday cake. So I went to the next house. This guy was the First and Second Little Pigs’ brother. He must have been the brains of the family. He had built his house of bricks. I knocked on the brick house. No answer. I called, ‘Mr Pig, Mr Pig, are you in?’ And do you know what that rude little porker answered? ‘Get out of here, Wolf. Don’t bother me again.’ Talk about impolite! He probably had a whole sack full of sugar. And he wouldn’t give me even one little cup for my dear sweet old granny’s birthday cake. What a pig! I was just about to go home and maybe make a nice birthday card instead of a cake, when I felt my cold coming on. I huffed. And I snuffed. And I sneezed once again. Then the Third Little Pig yelled, ‘And your old granny can sit on a pin!’ Now I’m usually a pretty calm fellow. But when somebody talks about my granny like that, I go a little crazy. When the cops drove up, of course I was trying to break down this Pig’s door. And the whole time I was huffing and puffing and sneezing and making a real scene. The rest, as they say, is history. The news reporters found out about the two pigs I had for dinner. They figured a sick guy going to borrow a cup of sugar didn’t sound very exciting. So they jazzed up the story with all that ‘Huff and puff and blow your house down’. And they made me the Big Bad Wolf. That’s it. The real story. I was framed. But maybe you could loan me a cup of sugar. ©The Educational Company of Ireland

READING

1 What element of the fairy-tale genre is being played with here? 2 Do you think the wolf is a reliable narrator? Why? Why not? 3 What makes this an entertaining version of the story?

COMMUNICATING: GROUP DISCUSSION

Watch this advertisement for the Guardian newspaper, which flips the fairy tale on its head: edco.ie/d75d 1 What element of the fairy-tale genre is being flipped here? 2 Which retelling of the three little pigs did you prefer? Give a reason why? 3 Do you think this was a good idea for an advertisement for a newspaper? Give a reason for your answer.

PROJECT BRIEF

Write an entertaining fractured fairy tale for a young adult fiction audience. To be successful in this piece of writing, you will need to: experiment creatively with the fairy-tale genre maintain a clear and convincing narrative perspective choose interesting words and sentence types to make your writing entertaining describe an engaging setting and craft interesting characters use dialogue creatively and make sure it’s punctuated correctly. Brainstorm Draft Redraft Reflect Edit Publish

Plan ©The Educational Company of Ireland

Brainstorm

1 In your activity book (see page 18), list all of the fairy tales that you know well. List the main characters in these stories and what you think is the most interesting thing about the plot or the characters. Who is the villain? Who is the hero? Who is an interesting side character you think deserves more investigation? 2 Look through your list and think about what or who stands out as a possible interesting story. 3 Pitch your story idea in one sentence. For example: The big bad wolf actually just has really bad allergies. Plan It 1 Plot: Using the plot graphic organiser in your activity book (see page 19), plan out the plot of your story. Do not overcomplicate your story and remember that it must in some way resemble the original fairy tale. 2 Setting: Think about the purpose of your setting. This will affect how you write about your setting. Do you want the setting to be similar to the original story? Do you want to remain faithful to the original setting apart from one or two unsettling details? Do you want to move the setting of the fairy tale to explore how your characters would fare in a different world? For example: How would the woodsman cope living in an apartment in New York? Do you want to make your setting peaceful, dangerous, sinister, unnerving? Draw a sketch of your story and label the setting of your story in your activity book (see page 19). Look at the crafting a setting toolkit on page 12 and think about how you will show your reader the things you want them to know about the setting. 3 Characters: Now it’s time to think about the characters for your story. Choose one main character to focus on and one or two minor characters. In order to be able to write about your character, you must get to know your main character very well. Complete the character creation task in your activity book (see page 20) and imagine your character as a real living person. Next, think about the three main points you want to get across to your reader about your character and the purpose of your character. Is your character spoilt, sneaky and rude? Is your character the hero or the villain? Is your character evil or good underneath it all? Finally, look at the crafting a character toolkit on page 17 and think about how you will show your reader these things about your character. For example, you could describe the clothes they are wearing in detail, where they bought them, the fabric texture and the condition of them. ACT IVITY ©The Educational Company of Ireland

Draft It

Using your planning materials, write the first draft of your story. Just get the bones of the story down and don’t worry about making it perfect at this point. A first draft is where you let your ideas flow and you put into words all of the work you have done in your brainstorming and planning.

Redraft It

Redrafting is one of the most important stages of the writing process. This is the stage where you spot mistakes, plot holes and places where you could improve. You could first read through your piece focusing on how the piece of writing seems at word level. Here you could look for words you’ve overused, words that seem boring, words that don’t fit with the genre you are writing in. Then you could look through your piece focusing on the sentence level. Here you could look at the types of sentences you have used or perhaps overused. Below is some advice for you to follow to make the redrafting process easier and more effective. Read Identify changes Or And Or

Make changes

Skim and scan your piece of writing with a highlighter in your hand. Read your piece of writing aloud with a highlighter in your hand.

Cut or cross out any words or sentences you think make no sense. Highlight any words or sentences you think could be improved.

Use resources to help make improvements. For example: a dictionary, thesaurus, writers’ toolkit or word bank. Get somebody else to look over your piece and make suggestions for improvement.©The Educational Company of Ireland

Redrafting at word level

The first way you can look at your piece of writing is at word level. Below are a number of resources you could use to improve the words you have used in your piece of writing. 1 Fairy-tale word bank: The word bank below is full of exciting vocabulary that you may want to use in your story. Use a dictionary to look up the meaning of any words you don’t know. malevolent potion diabolical thwarted villain sorcery chivalrous wrathful tragedy concoction gallant gnarled cantankerous vindictive prophesy mesmerising nimble devious serene benevolent Are there any words you have used in your draft that you could upgrade with one from the word bank? Look at the example below. EXAMPLE A The thin man was an evil presence in the room. EXAMPLE B The thin man was a malevolent presence in the room. 2 ‘Said’ is dead: Look through any dialogue you have used in your story. How many times have you used the word ‘said’? Highlight each time you’ve used ‘said’. Now look at the word bank below full of alternatives. Use a dictionary to look up the meaning of any of the words you don’t understand. stated laughed whispered exclaimed reported marvelled muttered yelled begged demanded pondered screamed inquired cried dictated bellowed explained insisted commanded stammered Can you substitute ‘said’ with another word that will add more to the story? Look at the example below. EXAMPLE A ‘Get out of my house, you filthy animal!’ said Robbie.

EXAMPLE B ‘Get out of my house, you filthy animal!’ spat Robbie. By using the word ‘spat’ instead of ‘said’, the reader knows that Robbie is so angry that he has lost control and is spitting out his words. 3 Adverbs: Go to page 277 and look at how you can use adverbs to make an impact on your writing. Is there anywhere in your story that you could add some adverbs to make your writing more interesting?©The Educational Company of Ireland

Redrafting at sentence level

Video To make a piece of writing really engaging, you need to vary the length and type of sentences you use. There are multiple different types of sentences that you use when you are writing. You may have come across the following in primary school: simple, compound and complex sentences. Using a variety of sentence types will make your writing more interesting to read (see page 40). Look at the two pieces of writing below and think about which one is more interesting. EXAMPLE A The whole family drove down to the beach together. Everyone got out of the car and walked to the edge of the sea. They threw the ashes into the sea. The whole family walked back to the car and drove back home.

EXAMPLE B They went together. Devastated, they drove the long and winding road to the deserted beach. It was a cold, windy, slow walk to the water’s edge. Joey tipped over the urn: hands shaking, tears flowing, body aching. They returned home, together. Example A is repetitive, as all of the sentences are the same type and length. Every sentence just lets the reader know the bare bones of the plot. Example B is more interesting because there is a great variety in sentence type and length. The reader is intrigued, because the plot and the characters’ emotions and reactions to the plot are interwoven. ©The Educational Company of Ireland

SUPER SENTENCE TOOLKIT

Below are five ways of constructing sentences that you could use to vary your writing and to make it more interesting for your reader.

Sentence type Rules

Short and dramatic

Example 1 Example 2

Three to four words max He neve back. r came She was gone. Emotion and action

Start with an emotion, finish with the action Devastated, he carried on walking. Overjoyed, she skipped down the stairs. Tell – use three

Tell the emotion and three ways of physically showing that emotion She was terrified: hands shaking, lips trembling, brow sweating. Harry was furious: fists clenched, teeth gritted, cheeks burning.

A two-action sentence Start with an action word, finish with an action Lifting his head, the dog sniffed the air. Circling the house, the man sang to himself.

List Three to four adjectives followed by the noun It was a long, dark, leafy lane.

She had a cold, cruel, heartless cackle. ing ©The Educational Company of Ireland

Now look through your own piece of writing. Highlight any sections where you think you’ve repeated the same types of sentence over and over again. Upgrade some of your sentences using the toolkit.

You should now redraft your piece of writing to include all of the changes you have made.

Edit It At the editing stage, you will not be doing a whole rewrite. This is the point in the writing process when you are making sure there are no spelling or punctuation mistakes. It is too difficult to look for every single possible mistake at once. A focused skim and scan, therefore, with pen in hand, looking through your piece of writing for one thing at a time, is a much better way to approach editing. Capital letters and end punctuation One of the most important things to get right when editing a piece of work is to get the start and end of each sentence correct. This has a big effect on your reader, as they will know when one sentence ends and another begins. Look at the rules of capital letters and full stops on page 272. Skim and scan each sentence you have written and make changes if necessary. Punctuating dialogue In a narrative story, a writer may use a lot of dialogue. Look at the rules for writing dialogue and the examples on page 275. Skim and scan your piece of writing and make any punctuation edits that you need to. Your piece of writing is now ready for publication in whatever way your teacher has decided. REFLECTION 1 Why do you think fairy tales have stood the test of time? What makes them appealing to generation after generation? 2 Do you enjoy writing fiction? Why? Why not? 3 Which stage of the writing process did you find easiest and why? 4 Which stage of the writing process did you find hardest and why? What could you do to make it easier next time round? 5 What insight have you gained into what it must be like to write a 200-page novel from this writing experience?©The Educational Company of Ireland