Developing Critical Thinking Through Creative Writing Exercises

2. Three Sentence Summary
Summary of “Little Red Riding Hood”:
Red is naïve and gullible.
Red meets Wolf.
Red is cautious and mature.

3. Three Sentence Summary
Summary of “Cinderella”:
Cinderella is a poor slave.
Cinderella meets Prince.
Cinderella is a happy princess.

4. Story-Boarding
“Little Red Riding Hood”
Panel One: Red’s mother asking her to take the goodies
to Grandma
Panel Two: Conversation with the wolf
Panel Three: Wolf getting to Grandma’s house
Panel Four: Red at Grandma’s, about to be eaten
Panel Five: The woodsman saving everyone

5. Story-Boarding
“Cinderella”
Panel One: Cinderella is cleaning the house when she
hears about the ball.
Panel Two: Cinderella meets the Fairy Godmother.
Panel Three: Cinderella dances with the Prince.
Panel Four: Cinderella loses one glass slipper.
Panel Five: The shoe fits.

6. On the Shapes of Stories
 A short lecture by Kurt Vonnegut

7. “Thanatos Palace Hotel”by Andre
Maurois
 1) What problems does the author pose in the opening?
 (2) What words show the mood of the main character?
 (3) Why does the author bring in the character of Gertrude Owen?
**
"How’s AMSTEEL doing?” Jean Monnier asked.
“Fifty-nine and a quarter,” one of the typists in the pool answered. The
clattering typewriters were beating out a syncopated jazz rhythm. Through the
windows one glimpsed the concrete giants of Manhattan. Telephones shrilled,
ribbons of ticker tape unfurled and, at incredible speed, littered the office floor
with sinister streamers speckled with letters and figures.
“AmSteel?” Jean Monnier asked again.
“Fifty-nine,” Gertrude Owen answered. She stopped a moment to glance at the
young Frenchman. Sunk in a chair, his head in his hands, he looked utterly
devastated. One more who’s played the market, she thought. Too bad for him! . . .
And too bad for Fanny . . Jean Monnier, assigned to the New York branch of the
Holmann Bank, had married his American secretary two years before.

8. “Flowers in Season”
by Andre Maurois
 (1) Who is the main character of the story? What is his mood in the opening scene?
 (2) What is the main conflict? What do you think will happen by the end of the story to
the main character?
 (3) What purpose do the two caretakers serve in the opening scene? Will the author use
them later in the story?
Etienne Carlut got out of the taxi in front of the main gate to the Montparnasse
cemetery. He was carrying a bunch of chrysanthemums aflame with all the fires of
autumn, from rust red to vivid yellow. As he passed the two caretakers who guard the
entrance, one of them saluted. Encumbered by his flowers, he replied merely with a nod.
“You know him, chief?”
“A little, yes. He’s a professor. They buried his wife over in Section 7, end of July.
He comes every Thursday—he has no classes that day. He told me that—at the
beginning.”
“Too young to be a widower. He won’t be coming long.”
“You never can tell. No, you never can tell. It depends on the kind of person.”


10. Choose four numbers
from 1 to 10.

11. Your Character
1. a forest gnome
2. a photographer
3. a high school student
4. a restaurant owner or manager
5. an alien from outer space
6. a space scientist
7. a wizard
8. a middle school teacher
9. a kid
10. a jazz musician

12. Your Setting
1. the Grand Canyon
2. a beach with high cliffs
3. a costume party
4. school playground
5. an antiques store
6. a city park
7. old farmhouse
8. a polluted stream
9. a library
10. a concert hall

13. Your Time
1. during a snowball fight
2. after a strange spacecraft landed nearby
3. on the night of the full moon in October
4. during school vacation
5. just before the Solar eclipse
6. late at night
7. after a big thunderstorm has passed
8. in early spring
9. first week of the school year
10. during a concert

14. Your Situation/Challenge
1. an important decision needs to be made
2. a secret needs to be confessed to someone else
3. someone's pride has been injured
4. someone needs to make a choice
5. someone has found or lost something
6. someone has accused someone else of doing something
wrong
7. reminiscing on how things have changed
8. someone feels like giving up
9. something embarrassing has just happened
10. someone has just reached an important goal

15. Your Story
Write a story with the character, setting, time period,
and situation that you've chosen. Combine these
elements as you wish, but include all four in your story.
Feel free to add other characters and settings.

16. Lost in the Woods
You are lost in the woods at night. As you are trying to
find your way out, your flashlight catches a glistening
gold color in the hills to the north. You take two steps
in the general direction of the hills. Suddenly, a burst
of freezing cold air smacks you in the face. The air feels
almost tangible.

17. Lost in the Woods
 Write about what happens next.
 Start with: Under normal circumstances, I …
 Pick a number between 1 and 6. Go to the next page to
find the last sentence of your story.

18. Lost in the Woods
1. And that’s how I ended up inventing compass-glasses.
2. Now you know why the smell of burning wood
always evokes such mixed feelings in me.
3. It’s a bit creepy to know that what sounds like fiction
is really true.
4. Thank goodness the realtor was a good sport.
5. Next time, I will take the high road.
6. The next time somebody tells you there’s money in
the hills, listen.

19. It’s All in Your Head
 Congratulations on your new job writing for an upstart
supermarket tabloid! Unfortunately, your budget is
limited. You only have a pen and a notebook. When
you ask your boss how you are supposed to do
research, he says, “Everything you need is already in
your head. Just write.” Before he leaves you in the
office, he gives you the headline for today’s feature
story.
 Pick a number between 1 and 6.

20. It’s All in Your Head
1. Woman Born with Wings Takes Flight
2. Flute-Playing Mermaid Spotted in Downtown
Tucson Practicing Scales
3. Mummified Man with Ten Thousand Bee Stings
Found in the Desert
4. Boy with Static Electricity Disease Sparks Major Fire
5. Talking Horse Hoarse from Cheering at Ft. Myers
Racetrack
6. Policeman Arrested for Posing as Person Posing as
Policeman

21. Confessions
 You are on a long-distance bus ride. A few hours into
your trip, a new person gets on and sits next to you.
You are sure you’ll never see this person again, so you
decide to confess something to this person.
 Start with: A while back…
 Pick a number between 1 and 6.

22. Confessions:
Words to Use in Your Confession
1. counterfeit, chamber, Chinatown, cheated, chain
2. pirate, papers, permission, pickle, prohibited
3. accident, arson, arrest, afterthought, anxious
4. misunderstood, money, murder, memory, master
plan
5. lawyer, lost, loot, lifted, love
6. fog, forge, filth, fraud, forgotten

24. Dialogue
“Hi,” she said.
“Hello,” he said.
“Did you have a good day?” she said.
“I sure did,” he said.
“Good,” she said.

25. Dialogue
“You’re red,” Jeanine said quietly.
“A snake. I bought a snake,” I said hesitatingly.
“You bought a snake?” she said dryly. “You bought a
snake.”
“From Andy…,” I said tersely.
“Oh my!” Jeanine said loudly. “It’s in the box! You
brought a snake in here!”
“No, no,” I said gently.
“You can’t do this,” she said unhappily. “Not in my
house.”

26. Dialogue
“You’re red,” Jeanine said.
“A snake. I bought a snake,” I whispered.
“You bought a snake?” she exclaimed. “You bought a
snake.”
“From Andy…,” I responded.
“Oh my!” Jeanine shouted. “It’s in the box! You brought a
snake in here!”
“No, no,” I replied.
“You can’t do this,” she stated. “Not in my house.”

27. Dialogue
“You’re red,” Jeanine said when I walked in the apartment, my
arms slung around the huge box marked FRAGILE: EGGS.
“A snake,” I said. “I bought a snake.” The huge box shifted in
my arms.
“You bought a snake?” She sneered a bit, then turned a page
in her magazine. “You bought a snake.” Now she was saying it
just to hear herself.
“From Andy….” The bottom of the box was wet. My new
snake.
“Oh my! It’s in the box! You brought a snake in here!” She was
screaming now, rising from the couch, arming herself by
rolling the magazine.
I turned from her. “No, no.”

28. How to Write a Good Short Story
Advice from Kurt Vonnegut