Stephen King 110

After Reading The Fifth Step, student selected one question to answer from a list of questions.  The questions were designed to encourage them to connected with the Tool Box from On Writing, their own experiences and personal reactions to the story.    Here are the list of questions they could chose from:  Personal Response and Connection Category:  1) What emotions does the story leave you with; fear, sadness, mistrust, empathy? why? Theme and Ideas Category:  2) The story plays with the idea of confession and redemption.  Do you thin the stranger was ever truly interested in recover or was he manipulating Harold? Character and Perspective Category:  3) The stranger frames his confession within AA's recovery steps, how does this affect the way Harold, and the reader perceive him at first? Style and Impact Category:  4) How does the setting of Central Park contribute to the tension and unease of the story? 5) King is known for his ability to ...

The first week of Stephen King 110 has wrapped up, marking a week of learning in this brand new course.  Our focus in the first week was to introduce students to Stephen King, not only as a writer, but also as a person.  We took the time to check out this video:  The (Stephen) King of Horror feat. Lindsay Ellis   We explored his writing toolbox from On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, with each group taking on a different tool and bringing it to life through a creative poster presentation.  To apply their understand, students also read King's short story; The Fifth Step and used the toolbox to craft responses to a set of guiding questions, deepening their engagement with both the text and King's craft.  Students loved the twist at the end of The Fifth Step.  The look of shock on their faces was fun to witness.   You can read the story here:  The Fifth Step by Stephen King   You can also find the story in his book: You Like It Darker,...