Creating a Protagonist

Now that we have started work on our Anthology Project, we're talking today about what it means to craft an engaging protagonist. What does a hero / heroine do, face, struggle with,, and overcome to make their stories engaging? Why do we as readers want to keep reading about that character?

Here is the Slideshow Presentation that we walked through in class so that I could share a few of my heroes with you, as examples of the different kinds of conflicts and struggles a protagonist can face: they can be internal or external battles, but what matters most is that we give our characters a fairly substantial amount of challenges!

Link to the Slideshow: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1CHI3wJDlZ2gOvwxnmU9-OV3YL0DEtC8jmUIshynxCVA/edit?usp=sharing

For tonight, be sure to do a brainsplash for your created character and WRITE ONE FULL PAGE describing the character you invent: what is she / he like? Personality? Physical appearance? Conflicts? Even if you don't use all of it in your story--or you change some of it--this is an important step along the creative path of authorship!

Our word of the day is MUSTER, which is a verb that means to stir up; to gather, as in Michael Jordan mustered his strength to try out again for the basketball team after he didn't make it his Freshman year of high school.

And here are a couple of photos from our SUBLIME visit with National Book Award winning author Kathy Erskine on Monday:

Finding Heroes Among Us...

Helllooooooo Class! Today is a blast thus far. We are considering what it means to be a hero, and how we view heroism. What kinds of qualities contribute towards us as individuals or as a society admiring someone?

How do we connect with characters within stories and movies?

Why do we often admire protagonists (our word of the day!) from our favorite books, films, or our own lives and aspire to be like them?

What do we value in others?

Today, we are exploring all of these questions as you each create lists of heroes and chart values you think they possess. Then, you will each a bit about some of my heroes, via this PowerPoint, in order to get you thinking. (If you were absent, please click on the link in the line above to view our PowerPoint show!)

Now, after our writing, discussion, and hearing about my heroes, who is someone you admire? Think of one protagonist you admire from a book, film, or your own life and share who that character is, and why you admire them. 

What is it about this protagonist that make you admire her or him?