Short Story Rubric

Dystopian Short Story Rubric

Name_________________­­­­­­_{____________}__Block_____Title of Short Story___________________________________________

CRITERIA	Developing Areas That Need Attention	Meets Standard Standards for Mastery Level for this Performance	ADVANCED Evidence of Insightful/exceptional/going Beyond what is Expected Performance
	1-3	4-5	6-7
Engaging and Orienting the Reader		Consistently engages the reader by ·       writing an amazing, attention grabbing hook, ·       creating characters that the reader is emotionally connected, ·       describing a dystopian setting that is vivid with details.
Creating a Narrative		Consistently moves the story forward by ·       using all the elements of the dramatic arc as an organizing pattern, ·       writing essential dialogue, ·       clearly establishing dynamic (those who grow/change) and static (perhaps important, but do not change) characters through the events in the story, ·       using detailed language to describe characters and setting – and/or to evoke the senses in the reader (painting them a picture with words).
Use of Dystopian Language and Controls		Clearly creates a dystopian world by ·       Creating a distinct dystopian control (bureaucratic, technological, corporate, philosophical) ·       Explicitly letting the reader know the utopian ideal (individuality, freedom, safety, equality) being forfeited by the society, ·       Employing dystopian vocabulary ·       Giving specific traits common to dystopian protagonists. *
Writing a Satisfying Resolution that also Reveals a THEME		Clearly concludes the story by ·       wrapping up all the conflicts, ·       taking the dynamic character on a journey that changes him/her, ·       leaving the reader with the ability to answer the question, “WHAT UNIVERSAL MESSAGE WILL THE READER WALK AWAY WITH AFTER READING THE STORY?”.
English Language Usage (spelling, punctuation, capitalization)		Clearly and Consistently applies the rules of proper conventions by ·       Correct spelling ·       Use of punctuation including commas, end marks, conjunctions (colons; semicolons) ·       Appropriate capitalization of titles and proper nouns.

* Traits of a Dystopian Protagonist: 1) often feels trapped and is struggling to escape, 2) questions the existing social and political systems, 3) believes or feels that something is terribly wrong with the society in which he or she lives, 4) helps the audience recognizes the negative aspects of the dystopian world through his or her perspective.

PLOT MAP

Building Compelling Characters - Things to Think About

What does your protagonist and antagonist look at at the beginning of the book and at the end of the book?

Give them distinctive tags - or physical traits

What journey will your protagonist go on? How will they change internally?

Give your protagonist some sort of action that helps the reader understand who they are.

Think about the relationship your protagonist has with other characters - romantic, divisive, parental, rivals, etc.

Give them strong opinions - let them be vocal.

And don't forget the characteristics of a dystopian character.

The Dystopian Protagonist
 • often feels trapped and is struggling to escape.
 • questions the existing social and political systems.
• believes or feels that something is terribly wrong with the society in which he or she lives.
 • helps the audience recognizes the negative aspects of the dystopian world through his or her perspective.

Some Thought Organizers

Writing Tips/Dystopian Short Story

6 TIPS FOR WRITING DYSTOPIAN FICTION (source: http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/writing-dystopian-fiction-7-tips)

 

            

1. As you’re writing dystopian fiction, think about how to take current technologies and extend or imagine something bigger or more dangerous. When you have a vision of what that might look like, ask yourself how the technology changes the society that does not yet exist. lOOK AT THE IMAGES AND SEE IF THEY INSPIRE YOU IN ANY WAY! 

(Think "The Matrix" (techno control of reality), "Terminator" (supertechno warfare) , "Lucy" (technologically advanced through medicine),  or "Her" (Siri on steroids)

2. Discover what the central theme is and then explore it with passion.  What are you warning society about?

This is personal - what are you worried about?  What scares you about what the future might hold? Lack of resources, government take-overs, xenophobia, racism, "big brother", controlled education - to name a few)

Better dystopian novels have two things in common:

3. The narrative pushes internal events to an extreme. Drive the plot forward so that at the climax, there is a big sense of doom. How are the characters taking us there?  

This is your dramatic arc - but, the idea of a sense of doom really raises the emotional level of the story if the reader thinks that the protagonist will fail.  

4. The inherent message within closely associated with a burning fire inside the author’s stomach. What causes the inevitable collapse of mankind. In The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, reality TV is pushed to a violent extreme (the theme). The message: gladiator games appealing to the masses distract from the true nature of the world within the thirteen districts. 

Again, this is the message of doom, the BIG WARNING that if society continues there is not hope! THE LOSS OF INDIVIDUALITY, SAFETY, FREEDOM, EQUALITY

5. Dystopia seeks to uncover truth in the morass (confusion/chaos) of the present by projecting the problems of today into the future and amplifying them. When the author is successful at doing this, the writing immediately becomes more relevant.

CONFLICT, CONFLICT, CONFLICT: Let’s face it, utopia is a bore. As readers, we sense utopia as innately unachievable. Humans aren’t wired for stories without conflict, and perfect-world scenarios are a bigger lie than the leap of faith it takes to jump us into dystopian futures. Likewise, we’ve lived the horrors of dystopia through two world wars. We’ve seen the gas chambers smoking, the walking skeletons griping barbed wire fences clinging for their lives, the groupthink and fascism, the thought control.

6. When writing in a dystopian genre where the future usually isn’t so bright, one can draw on horrific examples of the past for grusome imagery. Keep in mind, almost all dystopian fiction uses stark, depressing imagery within the prose. What is crucial is to create something unique that will stick in reader’s minds.

Writing a Dystopian Short Story Prompts and Guidelines

STEP 3 – WRITING YOUR OWN DYSTOPIAN SHORT STORY

GOALS ·        To WRITE an engaging dystopian short story using one of the controls (technological, philosophical/religious, bureaucratic, or corporate), and one of the ideals of dystopian art and literature (individuality, equality, safety, freedom) ·        To USE genre appropriate words (we have a fabulous word wall, but don’t let that stop you from finding other words) ·        To CREATE a strong dystopian protagonist using details ·        To DEVELOP an organized dramatic arc with a clear theme. ·        To Employ proper English Conventions ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS ·        How can I use what I have learned about Dystopian Art and Literature to create my own short story incorporating the ideas of what people are willing to do for freedom, safety, equality, or individuality? ·        How can I translate the situations that the world currently faces into a dystopian short story? ·        What strategies can I use to write a powerful piece of dystopian writing that has an organized dramatic arc with a fabulous conclusion that leaves my readers in awe?

YOUR JOB is to plan, write, revise, and publish a DYSTOPIAN NARRATIVE STORY.  Your story should have the following elements:

Ø  A sound dramatic arc (use the dramatic arc template to evaluate your story’s arc)

o   Status Quo

o   First Conflict

o   Rising Action

o   Crisis

o   Climax

o   Resolution

Ø  A powerful protagonist

Ø  Strong word choices appropriate to Dystopian characteristics

Ø  Sensory details

Ø  Sentence Variety (use your four sentence structures)

Ø  Proper English conventions

We will electronically publish the stories on your Weebly page

DUE DATE TBA 1^st draft due on or before 

                            Thursday January 12 blocks D&C

                           Friday January 13 blocks H&F

Standards Ø  Write narratives to develop imagined experiences or events using effective writing, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences: o   Creating character o   Organization of events (dramatic arc) o   Precise, powerful words o   Sensory language Ø  Use technology to produce and publish writing.

STEP 3 WRITING CHECK LIST (you will include this checklist when you turn in your final draft)

Evaluate your ability to write a narrative (story) with the style and characteristics of Dystopian literature on a scale from 1 to 7.	YES! 1-7	NOT SURE 1-7	NO Not at all!
I have created a dystopian protagonist that my readers can sympathize with during the telling of my story.  I have describe him/her/it using sensory details so my reader can see him/her/it and understand what he/she/it is going through.
I have written an awesome opening/hook because my readers know who the main characters are, where my story takes place, and what’s going on – the situation.
I have written a conflict that clearly places the protagonist in a situation where he/she/it must react – this event drives my story forward.
I have developed my story with events that lead to a final crisis/event that leads to the climax.
I have written an edge-of-your-seat climax.
I have written a satisfying resolution that wraps up the story and ends the protagonist’s journey.
I have used sensory details in my story because my readers can see, touch, taste, feel, and/or hear what’s happening.
I have used a variety of sentence structures and my grammar, punctuation, and spelling is flawless.
I have written a story that I am proud to publish and to have people read.

Dystopian Short Story Prompts

The end of the world happened with the mass destruction of the power plants and a virus that runs rampant throughout the entire population. **Write about what is happening three years after the end.**	After years of the government watching every move of its citizens, they’ve finally come up with a program to secretly insert microchips in new born baby’s feet to track them electronically. A group of rebels let by a mother of one of the babies finds out about the chips. **Write about how the rebels find out about the electronic devices. How do they try to educate the public about the government’s activities?**	Every citizen is expected to work at least once at the Facility. For every 10 citizens that enter, only 3 will leave. The woman receives her summons and must report to the Facility next week. **What happens to the people who don’t come back out? Write about the woman’s experience a and how she escapes (or does not) from the facility.**
The year is 2172. The earth has not recovered from the near annihilation of the people.  Resources are scarce. A young woman trudges home to her shack.  In an hour, the militia will be locking the tiny village down. She has to get home quickly to protect something she has hidden in her home that might save her from the lock down, but can’t seem to make her legs move any faster. **Why and how does the militia lock the village? Does the young woman make it home in time?**	Society has had a complete breakdown. Millions have died due to lawlessness, hunger and wars. Entire families are wiped out, and the ones that are left fight for their survival every day. One family is entirely intact and plans to stay that way. **How did this family stay together and alive?**	A boy/girl wakes up one morning and notices that the morning lacked the sounds of birds. His alarm was dark, but he didn’t care. It was summer vacation. He hurried downstairs, but didn’t see his mother at her normal place at the kitchen table. Confused now, he went to the living room window. **What does he see out the window, or what does he NOT see?**
A young couple crouches under a porch as a searchlight sweeps the street. As the rumble of a large truck recedes in the distance, they dash to the next darkened shelter. **Who is this couple, and why arethey running away in the darkness?**
Modern or contemporary issues you might turn into a dystopian tale.
The Syrian refugee crisis overwhelms Europe, causing a total collapse of the nation states in the Eurozone.  ** The time is ripe for a takeover – who or what will use this opportunity to control the world – who will stop them?**	The 'one child' policy of China causes a collapse in the genetic pool. Over the course of two generations the population of China is decimated, leaving huge ghost cities. Only the poorest rural population survives, taking China back into a medieval like society. You could add in Asian bird flu and other catastrophes to make this more oppressive. **Who are the players? Who wants control? Who might be preventing the country’s comeback? Could there have been inbreeding? Who emerges as a leader?**	The oil finally runs out and due to short-sighted policy, no new infrastructure has been built up to replace it. Industry grinds to a halt, along with millions of cars, abandoned wherever they ran out of gas, throwing the world into a sort of pre-industrialised state. Eventually electricity and water stop.  Nature begins to take over. **Who take advantage?  Who tries to stop them/it?  How do the humans abide and rebuild?**
Global warming causes wide spread destruction of coastal cities as the water in the oceans rise due to the melting of the polar caps. Crop failures occur planet wide, wiping out 2/3 of the global population through famine and disease. The government controls who lives and who dies. **Who lives and who dies? Who makes the decision?**	Medical scientists finally discover how to stop aging, so that now anyone with money will never die because of old age. As the population grows older and the birth rate drops, humanity looks like they may become immortal. Eventually food resources begin to run out and people move to rural areas to grow their own food. Some are more successful than others.  But, in the ghost cities a small group of youth along with older people try to save the world from the growing violence that comes with immortality. **How do poor people get the cure? How do the immortal protect their resources? If the people don’t age, what other maladies might they suffer that are worse than aging?**	Back to the middle East crisis... ISIS gets control of the entire region. Their brand of totalitarian government appears more successful than the dictatorships they displace. The disenfranchised poor of the world all flock to the region, bent on spreading the new world order over the entire planet. The first to fall are the wealthy industrialists who have controlled Western Politics for the last 300 years. **Who has the power? How do the industrialists/capitalists/and the really rich fall or escape this new world order?**