2011年ESL之餐饮娱乐 16 Writing a Story

16 Writing a Story

GLOSSARY 1

novel – a book-length story; a long story created by a writer and not based onreal people or events

* Joan likes to read novels in her free time, while her sister prefers readingnewspapers and newsmagazines.

to abandon – to give up completely; to not continue doing something before it iscompleted

* After working several weeks on repairing his old car, Jamil decided 2 to abandonit and to buy another car.

to bite off more than (one) can chew – to try to do something that one is notcapable of doing; to try to do too much

* Candace felt that she had bit off more than she can chew when shevolunteered to organize a dinner for 50 people.

character – a person in a novel, play, or movie

* My favorite character in the movie Star Wars is Hans Solo 3.

character development – the way that a person in a novel, play, or moviechanges over time or throughout the course of a story

* The character development of the hero in this series of films shows that he is acomplex person.

plot – the main events in a novel, play, or movie; the main storyline in a novel,play, or movie

* Are you able to follow the plot of this novel? I find it very confusing.

adventure – a novel or movie with exciting and dangerous activities orexperiences

* Kalih’s favorite childhood adventure stories are about a ship captain who travelsaround the world.

romance 4 – a novel or a movie dealing 5 with themes related to love

* In romance stories, the hero always gets the girl in the end.

horror – a novel or movie with frightening events or stories

* Some of the scariest horror films don’t show too much blood and killing 6, butrelies on the audience’s imagination.

setting – the time period or environment in which a situation occurs; the locationand/or time period that a story takes place

* The setting for this story is present-day Chicago.

up in the air – undecided; not yet determined 7; with the ending, conclusion, ordecision not yet clear

* Whether the childcare program will continue next year is up in the air becauseof a lack of money.

period – belonging to a past time period; being from a historical time period

* Why do so many period films set in England win major film awards?

point of view – the view or perspective from which a story is told or events areexplained

* From the customer’s point of view, this website is very difficult to use.

first person – for a story to be told from one of the people in the story

* The police wanted a first person account of what happened in the accident.

third person – for a story to be told from the storyteller’s perspective

* A complicated story can more easily be told in the third person.

to have (one’s) work cut out for (one) – to be required to complete a task thatis difficult; to be faced with a task that is at or above one’s level of ability

*Daisuke has his work cut out of him, raising three young children by himself.

inspiration 8 – something that stimulates 9 one’s mind to do or to feel something;something that gives one ideas for a creative task

* The recent snowstorm was the inspiration for Lyle’s new painting.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What is Sara writing?

a) A novel.

b) A play.

c) A short story.

2. Why does Xavier say to Sarah: “You’ve definitely got your work cut out foryou?”

a) He believes she has a difficult task to do.

b) He wants her to stop what she is doing.

c) He thinks she should write a novel.

______________

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

character

The phrase “character,” in this podcast, means a person in a novel, play, ormovie: “There are too many characters in the movie for me to follow.” The word“character” can also refer to the qualities of a person or a place: “This city is verybig, but it has the character of a small town.” When talking about computers orother electronics 10, a “character” is used to refer to a symbol representing a letteror a number: “Move your cursor to the character that looks like a house and it willtake you to the company’s homepage.” To be “in or out of one’s character” refersto whether behavior is consistent 11 with one’s usual behavior: “It isn’t out ofcharacter for Michael to leave his home for weeks without telling anyone.”

period

In this podcast, the term “period” refers to something belonging to a pasthistorical time: “This store has a lot of period furniture from the 1700s and1800s.” A “period” is more often used to mean a length of time: “The economy inthe southern United States was very poor in the period after the Civil War.” A“period” is also the name of the punctuation 12 mark at the end of a sentence or anabbreviation: “Instead of a period, let’s put an exclamation 13 point at the end of thisline in the dialogue.” Or, “There should be periods after the initials 14 in his name,like this: J.R.” Finally, people often use the word “period” for emphasis at the endof a statement, usually indicating that one’s opinion will not change: “Dad saidthere was no way he would allow us to go to the dance. Period.”

CULTURE NOTE

The Use of the Second-Person Point of View in WritingWhether you read novels or newspapers, most of the written materials we read“on a daily basis” (every day) is written in the first person or third person. InAmerican schools, students are usually taught to write “expository” (somethingthat explains or describes something) reports and “narratives” (stories). Seldomare students required to learn to write in the second person, although it hasseveral important uses.

The second-person point of view is a way of telling a story or giving informationwith you, the reader, as the main character. To do this, the writer uses thesecond-person personal pronoun “you.” Here is an example: “You are not thetype of person who likes ice cream, but here you are eating three different kindsand enjoying it.” The second-person point of view is sometimes used to makethe reader more involved in the story or explanation.

For example, many “guidebooks” are written in the second person. Guidebooksgive people information as they travel to a new place, giving information about“sites” (places to visit), transportation, and restaurants, and providing useful “tips”

(advice). By using “you,” the guidebook puts the traveler “in the middle of theaction” (where the activity is taking place). Many “do-it-yourself manuals” (booksgiving you information about how to do something, such as fixing something inyour home) also use the second person point of view, most likely for the samereason.

______________

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – c; 2 – a

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT 15

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 743: Writing aStory.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 16 743. I’m your host, Dr.

Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development inbeautiful Los Angeles, California.

Our website is eslpod.com. Write it down, go there, and download a LearningGuide for this episode. You can also join us now on Facebook atfacebook.com/eslpod.

This episode is a dialogue between Xavier and Sara; it’s called “Writing a Story.”

Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Xavier: How’s your novel coming along?

Sara: It’s not. I abandoned it for now. I think I bit off more than I can chew.

Now, I’m working on a short story.

Xavier: That sounds interesting. Who are the main characters?

Sara: I’m not sure yet. Character development is really important so I need togive the characters themselves some serious thought.

Xavier: Okay, tell me about the general plot. Is it an adventure, romance, horrorstory – what?

Sara: I haven’t decided that either.

Xavier: All right. What about the setting? Is it going to be set in the U.S.?

Sara: Hmm, that’s still up in the air, too. I’m thinking of writing a period story, butI’m not sure what time period to choose. That’ll help decide the actual setting.

Xavier: I’m guessing you haven’t decided the point of view of the story either,whether it’ll be told in the first person or third person, am I right?

Sara: You are. I know. I have a lot to think about.

Xavier: You’ve definitely got your work cut out for you.

Sara: I know. I’m just waiting for some inspiration.

Xavier: Good luck with that.

[end of dialogue]

Our dialogue begins with Xavier saying to Sara, “How’s your novel comingalong?” A “novel” is a long, fictional 17 story, a story that is not true. “To be comingalong” means to be progressing. So, Xavier is asking Sara how her novel isprogressing. Is it getting finished? Sara says, “It’s not (it’s not coming along). Iabandoned it for now.” “To abandon” (abandon) means to give up on somethingcompletely. Well, Sara has not given up on it completely, that’s why she says, “Iabandoned it for now,” meaning maybe in the future she’ll come back to it. Shesays, “I think I bit off more than I can chew.” This is a common expression: “tobite off more than you can chew.” “To bite” means to use your teeth to removeusually a piece of food. For example, if you are eating chicken and you areholding the piece of chicken by your two hands, you might bite off a piece. Thedifference between “to bite” and “to bite off” has to do with separating the piecewith your mouth; you remove it completely from where it was. You could bitesomething; you could bite your finger, but you wouldn’t be removing it from yourhand – well, unless you bit it very strongly. The expression here in the dialoguehowever is “I bit (bit) off.” “Bit” is the irregular past tense for “bite.” So, “I bit offmore than I can chew.” “To chew” is to use your teeth to break down food intosmaller pieces so you can swallow it. “To bite off more than you can chew,”

however, as an expression, means to try to do something that you are notcompletely able to do or even capable of doing. Sara says, “Now, I’m working ona short story,” which is also a work of fiction; a story, but not a long one that youwould publish as a book.

Xavier says, “That sounds interesting. Who are the main characters?” A“character” in a novel is one of the people in the novel. Sara says, “I’m not sureyet. Character development is really important so I need to give the charactersthemselves some serious thought.” “Character development” is the way that aperson in a novel, a play, a movie changes over time in the story itself. Sarasays she’s going to give this “some serious thought” meaning she’s going to thinkabout it seriously for a long time. Xavier says, “Okay, tell me about the generalplot.” A “plot” (plot) is the main events in a novel, play, or movie; we might call itthe main storyline. First this happens, then this happens, then this happens.

Boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl get married. That’s the basicplot for a lot of romantic movies and books.

Xavier wants to know about the general plot of Sara’s book, so he gives hersome examples, some kinds of books, what we would call some “genres”:

adventure, romance, horror story. He asks which of these his friend’s story is.

Well, an “adventure story” is a story that is exciting; there are many usuallydangerous activities or experiences in the story. You can think of a movie likeIndiana Jones, the series of movies, those were adventure movies. “Romance”

is boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl get married; that’s thegeneral idea of a romance story usually. “Horror story” (horror) is a novel or amovie that has something scary or frightening. The Silence of the Lambs waskind of a horror movie. Usually, horror movies have a lot of blood nowadays,movies with people who get their heads cut off, and that sort of thing. I don’treally like horror stories. I like adventures. Romance, eh, not so much.

Sara says, “I haven’t decided that either,” meaning she doesn’t know what kind ofstory she’s going to write. Xavier says, “All right. What about the setting? Is itgoing to be set in the U.S.?” The “setting” of a story has to do with the time andthe place where the story takes place, the location and the period of time. Is it inthe 1980s in England? Is it in Scotland in the 1400s? What’s the setting? Thequestion that Xavier asks is “Is it going to be set in the U.S.?” meaning is it goingto take place in the United States.

Sara says, “Um, that’s still up in the air, too.” When we say something is “up inthe air” we mean it’s undecided, we’re not sure yet, we haven’t determined thatyet. Someone may say, “Our plans are up the air, we don’t know what we’regoing to be doing tomorrow.” Perhaps we’ll be in a beautiful balloon! Saradoesn’t know what her setting is going to be. She says, “I’m thinking of writing aperiod story, but I’m not sure what time period to choose.” A “period story” is astory that takes place at some time in the past; it’s not a story about what’shappening today. It might be about England in the 19th century or Rome at thetime of Julius Caesar; those would be period stories, or period pieces they mightbe called.

Sara isn’t sure what period she’s going to write in. She says, “That will helpdecide the actual setting.” Xavier says, “I’m guessing you haven’t decided thepoint of view of the story either, whether it’ll be told in the first person or thirdperson, am I right?” The “point of view” is the view or perspective from which astory can be told. Usually a story is told either in the first person, meaning youread the story from someone’s viewpoint; they say “I.” “I walked into a room andI saw a beautiful woman and I said, ‘Can I have your phone number?’ and she said, ‘No. Get out of here. You’re ugly!’” That would be a first person story.

That’s kind of what my romance story would probably be! A third person story isthe story being told not by one of the characters in the book, but, if you will, bysome person outside of the book. “He walked into the room, he saw a beautifulwoman. He said, ‘Hey baby. How ya doing?’” That would be a third personstory. That would never happen to me! So, first person is “I,” a character istelling the story from their own perspective – their own point of view. Thirdperson is someone else’s point of view. The story that Sara is writing is stillundetermined in terms of its point of view. She says, “You are,” you are right, Idon’t know. “I know I have a lot to think about,” she says.

Xavier says, “You definitely got your work cut out for you.” “To have your workcut out for you” means to be required to complete something that is going to bevery difficult; you have a very difficult task, a very difficult problem to solve. Sarasays, “I know. I’m just waiting for some inspiration.” “Inspiration” is somethingthat occurs to you that stimulates your mind to do or to feel something. When wetalk about creative people – artists, writers, painters – sometimes they’ll talkabout their inspiration. A man may paint a picture of a beautiful woman; he wasinspired by some woman in his life perhaps. Sara is waiting for some inspiration.

Xavier says, “Good luck with that.” That’s kind of a comical expressionnowadays. When someone says, “Oh, good luck with that,” they mean youprobably won’t be able to do that, or I doubt you will be able to do that.

Now let’s listen to the story, this time at a normal speed.

[start of dialogue]

Xavier: How’s your novel coming along?

Sara: It’s not. I abandoned it for now. I think I bit off more than I can chew.

Now, I’m working on a short story.

Xavier: That sounds interesting. Who are the main characters?

Sara: I’m not sure yet. Character development is really important so I need togive the characters themselves some serious thought.

Xavier: Okay, tell me about the general plot. Is it an adventure, romance, horrorstory – what?

Sara: I haven’t decided that either.

Xavier: All right. What about the setting? Is it going to be set in the U.S.?

Sara: Hmm, that’s still up in the air, too. I’m thinking of writing a period story, butI’m not sure what time period to choose. That’ll help decide the actual setting.

Xavier: I’m guessing you haven’t decided the point of view of the story either,whether it’ll be told in the first person or third person, am I right?

Sara: You are. I know. I have a lot to think about.

Xavier: You definitely got your work cut out for you.

Sara: I know. I’m just waiting for some inspiration.

Xavier: Good luck with that.

[end of dialogue]

Scriptwriters write stories, and our scriptwriter has written some wonderful storieswith funny and interesting plots, some of them romance, some of themadventure, not a lot of them horror, thank goodness. Thank you, Dr. Lucy Tse.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Comeback and listen to us again here on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse,hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan, copyright 2011 by the Center for EducationalDevelopment.