Humanising Language Teaching
Year 5; Issue 2; March 03

Different types of story have different character, plot and stylistic conventions. This activity draws attention to these differences and provides an opportunity to practise the different types.

Level Intermediate +
Time 45-90 minutes
Focus Writing

Procedure

1. Tell your students that you are going to work with them on a number of different types of story, namely detective stories, science fiction, love or romantic stories and fairy stories. Divide the class into four groups and assign one story type to each group. Subdivide each group into pairs or threes and ask them to draw up a list of the features typical of their story type. Remind them deal with typical protagonists, locations, events, atmosphere, endings and deeper meaning or morals. Allow up to ten minutes for this.
2. Write four columns on the board and head them with the story types. Tell your students to do the same. Ask the detective-story group what features they felt were typical of detective stories. Ask first one pair/three for a feature, than another pair/three, and so on. Write these features on the board. Do the same for the other three story types and groups. The features may include the following: detective stories – a detective, the detective's assistant, police (often incompetent compared with the detective), a crime (preferably a murder), suspense, attempts to kill the detective, shooting, goodies versus baddies, the villain getting caught; science fiction – spaceships, aliens, a hero (and heroine), battles, good versus evil, strange planets and stars, suspense; love stories – a man/boy and a woman/girl in love, an impediment to their happiness, e-g- she's from a rich family and he's from a poor one, events to take them apart, a happy (sometimes tragic) ending; fairy stories – fantasy characters such as princes, princesses, giants, animals that talk, fairies, fairy godmothers, witches, stepmothers, etc., magic, Once upon a time ... They all lived happily ever after, good versus evil, suspense, frightening bits, a happy ending.
3. Tell the class that you are now going to play them four pieces of music, one for each story type. The music tells the beginning of a story or episode. Ask them to listen to the music and write a paragraph telling the story they hear suggested by the music. Play the music. After each piece allow time for them to continue writing. Repeat any of the pieces they ask to hear again.
4. Ask them to choose one of their opening paragraphs and write the rest of the story. This can either be done in class or for homework.

Suggested music

Detective stories
1 Verdi: Un ballo in maschera (A masked ball), opening of Act I, Scene 2
2 Mahler: Symphony Nş 1, opening of the fourth movement
3 R. Strauss: Elektra, Clytemnestra's murder

Science fiction
1 Wagner: Das Rheingold, 'Descent to Nibelheim'
2 Holst: 'Mars' from The Planets, opening

Love stories
1 Wagner: Prelude to Tristan und Isolde, opening
2 Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet, opening

Fairy stories
1 Rimsky-Korsakov: Quintet in B flat, opening of the third movement
2 Mendelssohn: Scherzo from A Midsummer Night's Dream, opening