CREATIVE WRITING

Document: Module 5 and 6/ Week 5-6

Grade Level: Senior High School Grade 12
Teacher: Mr. Michael AS. Enaje

Module 5 & 6 Contents/ Lessons

1. Techniques and literary devices

a. Mood/tone
b. Foreshadowing
c. Symbolism and motif
2. Modelling from well-known local and foreign short story writers in a range of
modes

TECHNIQUES AND LITERARY DEVICES

The fiction writer‟s choice of “literary techniques” is an important element of fiction.

There are many techniques available to the writer, such as allusion, alliteration,
allegory. Some popular techniques/devices include symbolism, imagery, and figurative
language–such as simile, metaphor, and personification. The writer can use any number
of literary techniques to tell his/her story. Unlike the other elements of fiction, which must
be part of the story, the fiction writer has a choice about the literary techniques to
use. The writer‟s choice often depends on the type of genre he/she is writing and
personal preference. As well, the writer uses more techniques in a novel than a
short story. The writer uses these techniques in his/her writing for the purpose of creating
a more interesting, meaningful, authentic, and entertaining story. The following identifies
the most common literary techniques that fiction writers use:

 Allegory
 Symbolism
 Irony
 Imagery

 Allegory. The writer creates a story in which the characters and events form a
system of symbolic meaning. George Orwell‟s “Animal Farm” is a story in which
each animal represents a specific person from the Russian Bolshevik Revolution.

 Symbol. The fiction writer can use a word, object, action, or character in the
story to suggest or mean something other than its dictionary or literal meaning. For
instance, an owl can represent “wisdom.”

Symbols can be universal or cultural. These types of symbols are known to both the
writer and the reader.
The writer can aslo be use contextual symbols. These are created by the writer for the
story, and must be discovered by the reader. For instance, a motif is a recurring symbol
that is incorporated by the writer into the story to express deep meaning.

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As well, a contextual symbol can be an archetype. An archetype is a recurring symbol
that embodies some essential aspect of human experience. An archetype can be a
theme, symbol, setting, or character. Essentiallly,the archetype is an “original model” or
“type” after which other similar things are patterned.For instance, “„Frankenstein‟ ,
„Dracula‟ , „Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde‟ are archetypes that have influenced all
subsequent horror stories. The archetype has a dual nature, in the sense that it has its
literal meaning and another meaning, such as wind, sun, fire, water, and the four
seasons. Examples of archetypal symbols include the snake, whale, eagle, and vulture.
An archetypal theme is the passage from innocence to experience; archetypal
characters include the blood brother, rebel, and loving prostitute. There are many
others.

 Irony. The writer can use three types of irony. The first is verbal irony. Essentially, the
intended meaning of a statement is different from the actual meaning. It is often a
form of sarcasm. The second type is situational Irony. It occurs when the expected
outcome of an action is different than the actual outcome. The last type
is dramatic irony. Essentially, the audience knows more about the character‟s
situation than the character does.

 Imagery. The writer uses language that appeals to the senses to create “word
pictures” in the mind of the reader. The writer can use imagery that appeals to the
sense of sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing.

Imagery can be figurative or literal. Example: “The war zone looked like the
moonscape” is an image that is based on a simile. Figurative imagery is based on
figurative language. Literal imagery is the use of concrete and specific language to
create vivid images. Example: The boy walked along the muddy, wet, gravel road, as
the red maples and crimson birch blew in the cold autumn wind.

a. Mood/tone

Though mood and tone are related and often confused, they are very different literary
devices. Tone refers to the author's attitude toward the work, while the definition of mood is
that it is the emotions provoked in the reader.

b. Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is a literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come
later in the story. Foreshadowing often appears at the beginning of a story, or a chapter, and
helps the reader develop expectations about the coming events in a story.

c. Symbolism and motif

In a literary work, a motif can be seen as an image, sound, action, or other figure that has
a symbolic significance, and contributes toward the development of a theme. In
a literary piece, a motif is a recurrent image, idea, or symbol that develops or explains a
theme, while a theme is a central idea or message.

MODELLING FROM WELL-KNOWN LOCAL AND FOREIGN SHORT STORY WRITERS IN A

RANGE OF MODES

Short story writers

Write short pieces of prose fiction that generally focus on a single theme, simple plots
and few characters. There is considerable debate surrounding what should be the
appropriate word limit for a piece of fiction to be considered a short story; it is generally
considered to be between 1000 to about 20,000 words.
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Edgar Allan Poe, the famous American author regarded to be one of the earliest writers
of short stories defined a short story as a short piece of fiction that can be read in one
sitting. However this categorization is also subjective, there is no concrete definition of
what constitutes the time limit for one sitting. Many novelists begin their career as writers
of short stories.

Marcelino Agana Jr. was a playwright in 1958 who wrote one of the more popular
Filipino comedies that have been produced many times through the years. New Yorker
in Tondo is one of his most well-known comedy plays. Its humor and irony are shown to
present a realistic picture of Filipino life and it is a story about a girl name Kikay who
went to New York and fell in love with it. She acquires all the Newyorkish thing – styles,
looks, manners and languages. These thing are very obvious when she arrives in tondo.

Writing shorter pieces of prose before commencing a lengthier piece of work gives
them an opportunity to hone their writing skills and get an idea about the readership for
their works. It also helps popularize the writer‟s name in the market so that any other
work by the same author is received favorably. Short stories are mostly based on a
single theme that revolves around a small cast of characters, and are usually less
complex than novels.

Activities:
PART 1: What are the uses of literary techniques and literary devices?

PART 2: Summarize the story of “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes (Book 1) and find
out the literary device used in the story. Check the link below for the story.
(https://www.gradesaver.com/don-quixote-book-i/study-guide/summary)

PART 3: Summarize the story of “Urbana and Feliza” by Modesto de Castro and find out
the literary device used in the story. Check the link below for the story.
(http://ironmao.weebly.com/uploads/5/4/1/6/54162303/urbana_at_feliza.pdf)

PART 4: Learning Bank: (Summary of learning) Please write down about what you have
learned in these topics/ lessons.

CREATIVE WRITING