Bell ringer 9/10

1. Bell ringer 9/10 • After watching the J.D. Salinger video, please answer the following question with a partner: • What affect did The Catcher in the Rye have on youth culture in America?

2. English III • EQ: How do Salinger’s choices about structure, narration, and character impact the theme of The Catcher in the Rye? • Agenda • Bell Ringer/Discussion • EQ/Agenda • Literary Terms Notes – Structure & Narration • “Phony” Journal Entry - Brainstorming • Homework: Chapters 1-3 • Take notes on major plot points for each chapters (so you can refresh your memory before a quiz).

3. Structure & Narration • Frame Story: an introductory story that sets the stage for a second, more emphasized story • One Thousand and One Nights, How I Met Your Mother • Holden’s story begins in a “rest home” where he relates the events that lead up to his going to the “rest home.” • Establishes time frames, defines the narrator or storyteller, sets a mood for the rest of the novel, and prepares the reader for the inside narrative • Quest Narrative: a story in which the central character is searching for something, such as a person, location, or abstract value. • Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Lord of the Rings, The Wizard of Oz • Part of understanding The Catcher in the Rye is figuring out exactly what Holden is looking for in the world around him.

4. Structure & Narration • Picaresque: An episodic story about a series of adventures of a rather roguish protagonist • Huckleberry Finn, The Lone Ranger • The Picaresque Hero has noble intentions but is somewhat misguided and unreliable in his/her perception of the world. • Holden’s story is broken down into chapters that focus on one or two interactions with other characters. • Holden is a noble young man (protector of the innocent) who is also confused about life and the way he wants to live. • Psychological Story: A story that focuses on the internal psychological aspects of the central character, yet still mixes in the outer narrative. • “The Tell-Tale Heart” • Much of the important plot points in this story happen in Holden’s mind, not in the outward action.

5. Structure & Narration • First Person Narrator: story told in the grammatical first person (I, me, my, etc.) • Holden tells his story to his therapist, but as we read, we become the audience to whom he is directing his tale. • Focuses the story from one perspective, but forces the reader to ask, “Is this narrator reliable?” • Narrative: an account of connected events (plot) • The Catcher in the Rye seems “plot-less” to some readers because it’s events are not related in chronological order which makes Holden seem like he’s rambling. • Confessional: the tone of the story is confidential, much like the confession of sins to a priest or of secrets to a close friend. • Holden spends much of his time trying to “confess” is innermost thoughts to the people around him, but they refuse to listen (which isn’t all their fault).

6. Structure & narration • Stream of Consciousness: the reader sees what Holden thinks about in a random association of ideas, much like the actual pattern of human thoughts. • These are the tangents that Holden continually wanders off into, much like the flow of an actual conversation (even though that’s not what we expect from a novel). • Dialogue: conversations between characters • Flashbacks: a scene that is set in a time earlier than the main story. • Holden uses flashbacks and earlier dialogue (conversations) to expand on his points about life and people. • On the surface they seem like Holden losing focus, but every part of a narrative contributes to it’s meaning (they are there for a reason).

7. Structure and Narration • Colloquial Language: language used in ordinary conversation, not literary or formal. • Holden speaks like an actual teenager (not like a writer trying to speak like a teenager). • Swearing, slang, grammatical mistakes

8. “Phony” Journal entry • Identify some of the things about your own society that you think are “phony.” • Fake, insincere, dishonest, hypocritical • Holden often applies this word to people who try too hard to fit in or people who try too hard to pose as a member of a certain group. • Make a list with a partner • Don’t worry about writing a response yet, just try to come up with potential ideas.

9. Bell ringer 9/10 • What do you remember of dramatic structure from last year? • What are the parts? In what order? • What do the parts measure? • If you’re in 11th grade this year, talk to one of the seniors around you.

10. Creative writing • EQ: How are comedic sketches structured and formatted? • Agenda • Bell Ringer/Discussion • Agenda/EQ • Structure Notes • Example: The Black Knight

11. Sketch structure • A beginning, middle, and end • A Premise (beginning) • Some Complications (middle) • A Resolution (end)

12. Sketch structure • Premise • Have a story to tell, not just crazy antics • Having a story means having a conflict • Internal: character’s conflict with self • External: character’s conflict with other characters, society, or nature • You know you have a conflict when you reach the point in the story where you ask, “Uh oh, what are they going to do now?” • You should be able to state a sketch’s premise in one or two sentences

13. Sketch structure • Some Complications • When you present a premise with a conflict, you need to resolve it for the audience. • If there is a goal to be accomplished, you have to introduce some complications to that goal to keep the audience interested. • Episodic: a series of joke situations that happen one right after the other • Complications could be used in any order • Progressive: point A causes or leads to point B, to point C, and so on • Must proceed in a logical, chronological sequence • Hint: solve the immediate problem and search for a complication to that. Then solve that difficulty but find another problem it can cause. Keep going until the ending.

14. Sketch structure • A sketch is an acted-out story joke – the most important part is the punch line. • If you have a weak ending, you have a weak story. • The ending must provide a big laugh (probably the biggest laugh) • Should progress naturally out of the sketch’s action, but it shouldn’t be predictable • Should tie the sketch into a neat little package – the sketch couldn’t go any further even if you wanted it to in order to give the audience some satisfaction. • The exception is an ending that seems to bring the sketch back to its beginning – A woman spends an entire sketch destroying her house chasing after her dog, so she gets rid of the dog – only to have her husband bring home a gorilla at the end of the sketch. • This should be used sparingly because the audience sees it as cheating because you haven’t really solved the problem.

15. The black knight • Beginning • What’s the Premise (conflict)? • Middle • How is the conflict complicated to build tension and add humor? • End • How is the conflict resolved? • Does it make sense with the rest of the sketch? • Was it too easy to predict?