Writing Literature
You will plan, write, and revise a short narrative story that explores an appropriate theme and is at least five
pages long. Be sure to follow the steps of the writing process to ensure a polished final draft.
Writing Tips
Part A
Outlining
Using your notes during the brainstorming process, begin outlining as you develop the structure and elements of your story. Outlining helps organize and develop your characters and plot. As you form your outline, write down the order of events as you see them. Remember, your short narrative should be at least five pages in length and should discuss a consistent theme throughout. Writing a story is a fluid process, so you may notice that your initial plan changes periodically as you outline and draft your story.
Type the outline of your story in the space provided.
Answer:
- The introduction will introduce the subject of the story as well as the protagonists. The subject of the story is the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and the stigma associated with the victims of the disease in Africa.
- The protagonist gets a visit from a friend who perpetuates the theme of stigmatization even though he had been deemed to have pure intentions. The visit sets in motion a fit of hopelessness in one of the protagonists.
- After the guest leaves, the couple flashes back to memorable times and reminisces upon the good times before a dark cloud of futility seeps in when they flash back to how one of them contracted HIV.
- The next step introduces the family life of the HIV positive couple with the son who is negative. It highlights how the health status of the couple affects them psychologically.
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- Following the set of events, one of the protagonists succumbs to the illness in a fit if desperation and hopelessness.
- In the concluding section of the short story, I introduce the life of the remaining family members in light of the death of one of them. The story digs into the manner in which they embrace the demise of one of them. The main point in this section is to portray the sense of hope that the victims of the disease need to have for them to survive.
Characters used: 0 / 15000
Part B
Drafting
One way to create a story is to build your narrative from your outline. To develop your story, create a rough draft based on your brainstorming notes and outlines. Take the events noted in your outline and develop those points into fuller narrative forms. As you build each point, begin to piece each event together into a broader story.
Type the draft of your story in the space provided.
Answer:
The story begins with one of the protagonists, Steve, walking back home from the stores. He notices the blank stares and quiet whispers of the neighbors who were obviously talking about him. The introduction should highlight the insecurities of the victims of HIV and AIDS. On the way back, he meets an old friend named Kabogo whom he invites back to his place. They speak on length about how long they have known each other. In all that period, Steve could almost sense the sense of urge to ask the one question everyone had on their lips in his friend. Willing to break the ice on the topic, he opens up to his friend about his HIV status. He seems to have embraced it and is living positively.
Going back home, they find the wife, Stella, who prepares a glass of juice for Kabogo. Seemingly stunned by the revelation and the manner in which Steve had been upfront about it, he refuses to take the juice served to him. The reflection is that he could not take the juice out of fear of contraction of HIV. He soon takes his leave and Steve offers to give him a push. However, returning from the walk, he finds his wife all coiled up in the corner. she is depressed about how Kabogo had reacted to the news and despairs at the thought that she had brought all this to the family. Steve convinces her that there is still hope, and they go on to reminisce upon the good times they had before the discovery that she had the virus. The mood is, nonetheless, dampened by the memories of Stella’s ex-husband who was openly promiscuous. She breaks down into a heartfelt cry, guilty that she had passed on the disease to her husband. Steve, once again consoles her by claiming that there is hope in their HIV-negative son and that their generation would endure for years to come. She falls deep asleep, never to wake up again.
Steve struggles to embrace her sudden demise. He struggles to raise their one-year old son. He is even more concerned at the stigmatization that he will face while growing up in a society that does not accept people with HIV. He resolves to sell all the property and move into a new neighborhood where he will ultimately turn over a new leaf.
Characters used: 0 / 15000
Part C
Revising, Proofreading, and Editing
After drafting your story, revise your initial drafts to clarify your thematic vision, character development, and the cohesion between ideas. As you read through your drafts, consider how you can improve each section of your plot structure, such as the rising action, the climax, and/or the resolution. In a word processing document, revise your work for cohesion and clarity. Proofread your work and remove grammatical or syntactical errors, such as problems with spelling, fragment sentences, or consistency. After revising, proofreading, and editing, develop a final draft that you are confident portrays the theme, meaning, and characters correctly.
Upload the final draft to the Graded Activities panel on the left-hand side of the screen. Be sure to submit the
file for grading.