Storybook: Myth-Folklore Storybook Introduction

In the past couple of weeks, you have done a lot of brainstorming about your Storybook project. Now you are ready to write the first draft of your Introduction. This week, you will write your draft and send it to me; I will reply with comments via email. Then, next week, you will revise the Introduction and publish it online.

Writing and Proofreading. Please note that the Introduction you turn in for this assignment needs to be proofread carefully. So, before you get started on this assignment, go back to the proofreading assignment from back in Week 1, the story about the mouse-bride. Did that indicate some writing areas you need to work on? If so, make sure you review any problem areas, do some more proofreading practice and/or visit the Writing Center to get some extra help before you turn in this Introduction assignment. Most important of all: please follow a proofreading strategy that will be effective for you. Here are some detailed notes about different ways to proofread.

STEP ONE: Get out the email I sent you earlier for your Week 3 assignment and read it again. Look for the specific comments marked with ==> in the email, and also make sure you read the general comments at the top of the email. There may be specific suggestions there for items you need to be sure to include in your Introduction.

STEP TWO: Reading (20 minutes minimum). You should have identified a reliable online source or sources for your project. If you not sure what source(s) to use, contact me now to make sure you are headed in the right direction. Then, you need to spent at least 20 minutes reading stories that you find in your source(s). Don't just pick stories based on the titles - get into the material and really read it, taking notes, identifying the key characters, plot elements, etc. If you are not feeling comfortable working with your source material, now is the time to find another source! You need to make sure you understand the stories in your source(s), and that you are going to feel comfortable retelling the stories in your own words. By now you should have picked out at least two stories you are sure you want to use, and you will probably find the Introduction much easier to write if you pick four stories. You can change your mind later, of course - but having four stories in mind will be a big help in writing the Introduction now.

STEP THREE: Decide on your storytelling strategy . Based on the brainstorming assignment you did last week, you need to have a plan in mind for how you will tell the stories in your Storybook. If you have come up with a totally new idea that was not included in the brainstorming assignment you did for Week 3, check with me first to make sure your new strategy is going to work. You might be using the same storytelling style for all four stories, or you might be doing something different for each story - it's up to you!

STEP FOUR: More reading on your topic (20 minutes minimum). You need to spend at least 20 minutes during some additional reading and/or research on your topic after you come up with your storytelling plan.  Just what kind of reading and/or research you do will depend on your topic.  You can either do more reading in your sources (try to choose all four stories if you can and become more familiar with them), or you may want to do some additional research at online sources such as Wikipedia. If you are not sure how to do reading and research on your topic, contact me for some advice BEFORE you proceed with this assignment.

• Tip: Save useful websites as favorites. As you do research for your Storybook, you may find some websites that will be useful later on, even if you are not going to use them for the Introduction. To make sure you can find them again, you should save all the useful websites as favorites in your browser. Most web browsers let you sort your favorites into folders, so you can create a folder for all the webpages you have bookmarked for your Storybook (sources, images, etc.).

STEP FIVE: Write your Introduction. You need to tell us about your topic, as well as introducing us to the characters and/or setting and/or stories that you will tell - just what information you include in the Introduction depends on your overall storytelling plan. Whatever you do, do NOT give plot summaries of your stories; you need to save the plot for the stories. What you are doing here is introducing us to something - to your topic, to your main characters, to the setting, to the main ideas you want us to take away from the project, etc. It really is up to you just what the focus of your introduction should be. This part of your Introduction needs to be 400-800 words long. You should prepare this document as you would a formal paper, making sure you spellcheck your work and proofread carefully. You need to format the Introduction in paragraphs, with each paragraph containing one main idea, with clear transitions from paragraph to paragraph.

Be creative! Yes, you can be creative with the Introduction - just because it contains information, it doesn't have to be written in impersonal academic prose. For example, you can choose to write the Introduction already in the voice of the storyteller you will be using. In a Storybook with legends that involve roses, you could have a rose bush begin the Introduction. "Greetings, O human! As you can see, I'm a rose bush. It's true: a talking rose bush. Normally, I keep quiet, very quiet, but today, for some reason, I am inspired to tell you some stories about the role that roses have played in the world of human love stories. Ah, love... tell me: have you ever been in love?" (and so on). You can also look at some previous Storybook projects to see the different approaches students have used in writing their Introductions: Myth-Folklore Storybooks.

OPTIONAL: Start your frametale. If you have a frametale, an overarching story or set or characters that will "frame" all the stories in your Storybook, you can choose to start it here, in the Introduction. You can introduce us to the setting of your frametale, to the characters - and you can even get the action going. It all depends on what frametale you have chosen. If you choose to include part of the frametale in the Introduction, please do not exceed 1000 words total for the Introduction.

When you are done, cut-and-paste the Introduction  into an email, and send the Introduction to the instructor, with the Subject Line Myth-Folklore Storybook Introduction.