Informative Narration Discussion Questions:

Informative Narration Discussion Questions:

“The Lottery” by Chris Abani

1. The essay’s title does not prepare readers for the essay’s content. Explain the significance of the title. Why do you think Abani chose it?

2. What point does the narration make? Sum it up in one sentence.

3. What is the significance of the fact that young Abani spat on the victim?

4. Does Abani answer all of the journalist’s questions? (Who, what, where, when, why, how). Which one does he emphasize? How does this help him achieve his writing purpose?

5. Abani focuses on smells in the marketplace. Why is this smell important in this essay?

6. Abani’s essay ends with the last event in the narration. Does the essay end effectively? Explain.

7. What similes appear in the essay?

8. What do you notice about the pace of this essay?

9. Locate some unfamiliar words and look them up. What did you find out?

10. The time depicted in “The Lottery” was one of political unrest in Nigeria. Is the kind of mob pressure seen in the essay strictly a function of those circumstances, or are we all capable of succumbing to mob pressure, regardless of the political climate? Explain your view.

Impromptu: The Small Stuff

Think about all the little, seemingly insignificant things that you’ve stumbled upon in life: the smell of cigarette smoke mixed with tanning oil on a hot summer’s day at the lake, the strange man who sat on the corner bench at the park everyday at ten, the way his hat sat on top of his head and kept blowing away—yet he’d always wear it that way. Or what about that red lampshade your piano teacher had, or the way the train’s whistle echoed through your childhood bedroom. Why does our brain store all of this information? And shouldn’t we, as writers, do something with it?

PART ONE:

For this in-class impromptu, I want you to start with thinking about sensory perceptions—what can be perceived through our five senses: sight, smell, taste, touch and sound. Write down at least one seemingly insignificant memory for each of the five senses:

SIGHT:

SMELL:

TASTE:

TOUCH:

SOUND:

PART TWO:

Now choose one to write about in detail, placed into narrative form on lined paper.

Impromptu: Defamiliarization

“It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards.”

LEWIS CARROLL

For this impromptu we’ll use personal experience and fictionalize it, using autobiography and writing as a theme. You should write your response based on something that actually happened to you, but this is your chance to embellish: add to it, take away from it or make it more or less dramatic than it actually was. It’s your world: create it any way you’d like! You’ll get the chance to write vivid experiences as though you’ve lived them, and in this way you’ll mythologize yourself. You’ll also take a step outside of yourself and look in.

There are two parts to this impromptu response:

PART ONE:

Write a scene where your family or friends are in a public place. Write it in as much physical detail as possible, as though it’s being filmed—make it cinematic. Be sure to utilize sensory perceptions.

PART TWO:

Rewrite that scene from the point of view of someone who is seeing it happen and misinterpreting it.

The Writing Process: Representative Profile Inquiry Project

Eventually you will write a profile of someone who strikes you as representative, in some ways, of a larger group. For example, write a profile of your neighbor, the Harley Davidson aficionado, because he seems typical, in some ways, of bikers. Profile a nurse because it’s the profession you’re interested in. You should bring in the voice of your subject through selective direct quotations.

1. GENERATING IDEAS:

Play with possible subjects, withholding judgement for the moment about what might be a good one. Don’t let your critical side stifle your creative side. At this point in the process you can let yourself explore freely.

1. Listing Prompts:

1. Who have you known whom you can’t forget? Make a fast list of memorable individuals from each period of your life.

2. Make a quick list of issues or controversies in the local community—or on campus—that people talk about or that have gotten your attention. Choose one of the controversies that interests you and try the first two steps in the “Research Prompts” section that follows.

3. Make a fast list of careers that interest you. Choose one of these and profile someone who is involved in that profession.

2. Fastwriting Prompts:

1. Choose a name from the first list you generated earlier—who have you known whom you can’t forget? Choose someone you find interesting for some reason. Perhaps it’s a grandfather who tells stories about the war, or an old friend who works at an art museum. Write the person’s name at the top of a journal page. Begin a fastwrite in which you describe in detail the scene or situation in which you last saw and talked to your subject. Follow the writing from there.

2. Think of one word that best describes the character or personality of a subject you might profile. Arrogant? Generous? Selfless? Narcissistic? Put that word at the top of a journal page and create two sentences describing that person that show that word. For a challenge, don’t mention the word at all in your scenes.

• Visual Prompts:

1. Put the name of a possible profile subject in the center of a cluster. Build a web of associations for five minutes, and then begin fastwriting when you can feel the urge.

• Research Prompts:

1. Discuss your topic with your friends or people in your class. Who do that know that would be good as a profile subject?

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