First Assignment:

The "Pen is Mightier than the Sword"

Creative Writing Option-group or individual; limit group to two Your task is to take a literary work (one we've studied, or another text with my approval) and build on it in a creative way. For example, you might decide to write your own sequel or prequel to "Hills like White Elephants" or to write your own updated version of "Trifles." These are just examples. For this option, you may work with a text we HAVE READ for the course. You may also decide to re-write the text into a different time/place setting, illustrating how circumstances would change.

Requirements:

Your creative work must be consistent with the original text in terms of style and the use of literary technique;
• You must utilize the conventions of the genre you employ
• You must be consistent with setting, especially with the historical context of the text.
• Your writing must be clear: utilizing punctuation, spelling, and paragraphing in a clear way consistent with the rest of the text.
• Length (dependent on group size: 8 pages for 1 student) Summary of written components: bibliography; your original literary text.

"Hills like White Elephants"

Second assignment: Half Page.

In response to reading "A Wife's Story," analyze the significance of the conclusion of the story.

"In the mirror that hangs on the bathroom door, I watch my naked body turn, the breasts, the thighs glow. The body's beauty amazes. I stand here shameless, in ways he has never seen me. I am free, afloat, watching somebody else."

Third assignment: Half page

Think about Thomas King's "Borders." How does the idea of the border work both literally and figuratively in the story? What are the metaphorical borders, and why is it so important to the mother in the story NOT to claim citizenship in either Canada or the United States?