Unit+1+-+Opening+Chapters

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** Opening Chapters ** 1. Make your choice. The main criterion to determine your choice is probably the one that gripped you the most and motivated you to read on but also consider how effectively you can emulate the writer’s style, understand that fictional world, and create an interesting and plausible continuation of it.
 * Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
 * Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
 * Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder
 * Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
 * Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

2. Re-read the story and probably your notes to refamiliarize yourself.

3. Look at the ideas included in the planning chart below:
 * Feature || Guidance || Your Ideas ||
 * What? || Good plots are often plausible but not predictable. Also, you aren’t finishing the story so a cliffhanger may be better than too much closure. ||  ||
 * Where? || The details used in the original should give plenty of clues about how to make your atmosphere, setting and sense of the fictional world. ||  ||
 * Who? || Some will use the characters already introduced; some will need new ones. Look at how the original writer as created theirs. Showing is often better than telling. ||  ||
 * When? || Keep the sense of period appropriate. Some stories may suggest a direct continuation from the last; others might give more scope, such as jumping forwards or even backwards in time. ||  ||
 * Why? || All stories have themes, or general ideas being explored. How can you develop them? ||  ||
 * How? || Aim to emulate, which means don’t copy but try to adopt the voice, narrative perspective, tone, descriptive techniques, and dialogue style of the original. ||  ||

4. Write – Here are some points to note:
 * You can make the length equivalent to the original. If, like //Sophie’s World,// that is quite long then about 1000 words would be fine
 * Use indented paragraphs rather than line breaks
 * Use the register, or type of voice, of the original as a guide to how formally accurate your narration or dialogue needs to be
 * Don’t cheat and read the ‘real’ chapter 2; it is likely to warp your own ideas. You can take the opening line if you’re really stuck though
 * Enjoy it, because if you don’t it can be unreasonable to expect your reader to

5. Check – peer assess – re-draft

** GRADING CRITERIA ** It is always a good idea to be familiar with your grading criteria so you know exactly how you will be assessed. Make sure that you work fits the criteria to ensure a top grade!