Books Redone

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Subject: Books Redone Sat Mar 14 2009, 21:40

Welcome to Arts, Drama and Creative Writing Class. Head Girl stephy here with an exciting assignment. I hope you enjoy it.

Books Redone

Ever read a book and didn’t like a part of it? Did something happened that you wished didn’t? Ever thought about how you could have came up with something better? Well here’s your chance.

Part One:

For the first part of this book I want you to pick a story that you wish to change a part in it. Answer these questions about this book or story.

What is the book or story called? (5 points)

Who are the main characters? (5 points)

Summarize the story but don’t give away the ending!! (no less than 200 words)(20 points)

What would you of have liked to of happened instead? (no less than 200 words)(20 points)

Part Two:

For the second part of this assignment I want you to write out your alternative story. What would have happened? How would of the characters reacted to the changed situation? Be as creative as possible but don’t write less than 250 words. (40 points)

Bonus: Create a graphic of the scene that you have just created. Try to be as creative as possible. (10 points)

Subject: Re: Books Redone Fri Jul 15 2011, 02:22

What is the book/story called?: I'm choosing The Little Mermaid, which is just a story in a book. The true Hans Christian Anderson tale has little to do with Disney's version, and while the movie has a happy ending, I'm still not entirely satisfied.

The Main Characters: The little mermaid, the prince, the princess and the sea witch.

Summarize the story but don’t give away the ending!! Basically the story is of a lovely mermaid who falls in love with, and rescues from a watery death, a equally lovely prince. Because he is human, and she is not, she leaves him on the beach and returns to her ocean home. The prince has no idea that he was rescued by the mermaid and instead wakes up to find another girl who has found him on the beach. Back in the sea, despite the love and comfort of her many mermaid sisters, the little mermaid decides to visit the Sea Witch and strikes a bargain- her voice for a pair of legs and the mermaid is told that she can never return to the sea. She arrives on land and finds the prince, but without her voice she is unable to tell him who she is (and of course being a mermaid she can't just write him a note). Even worse, the prince is getting cozy with the girl he met on the beach. Unless the little mermaid can get the prince to love her, in addition to being exiled on land, the little mermaid also won't get a human soul (this being the part where true love's kiss comes into play, because if he kisses her and marries her then she gets part of his soul) and she will die and turn into sea foam. Because this is an old fashion fairy tale, much tragedy ensues. At the end the little mermaid has a really horrid choice to make, and I think she chose wrong.

What would you of have liked to of happened instead? Despite the fact that the mermaid has given up her family, her mermaidness and her voice, and finds out that although she can dance like a prima ballerina even though each step feels like a knife going through her, the prince still thinks this other girl rescued him. Although he finds the mermaid lovely and quiet (because lots of men like girls who don't talk), he thinks he is in love with the other girl. When he finds out that the girl who he thinks rescued him is also the princess that his father wants him to marry, the wedding is on. After the wedding, the little mermaid is prepared to die, but her sisters come to her with their hair shorn- they went to the Sea Witch and exchanged their hair for a knife. They tell their sister that if she kills the prince and lets his blood fall on her feet she will be able to transform back into a mermaid. The little mermaid goes to the prince, asleep in bed with his new bride, and finds herself unable to kill him, so instead she goes and jumps into the sea and turns into sea foam. I would have liked her to kill the prince. The little mermaid sacrifices everything for him. She saved him, and then she did everything within her powers to find a way to be with him. And he marries some pretty princess that took all the credit. Screw him, the little mermaid should have bled him dry and then head for warmer waters. And for good measure she should have wasted the pretty, lying princess.

Part Two:

For the second part of this assignment I want you to write out your alternative story. What would have happened? How would of the characters reacted to the changed situation? Be as creative as possible but don’t write less than 250 words.

The knife felt heavy in her hands, the weight of what lay before her made it so that she could barely hold her hands up. The little mermaid glanced to where her sisters waited in the sea, the sight of their short, brutal hair cuts was enough to propel the little mermaid down to the bowels of the ship where the prince lay with his new bride. It was early morning and the guards outside the prince's state room were snoring gently, and did not wake as the little mermaid walked silently past them.

Each step she took filled her with pain, the legs she had traded so much for in the hopes of pleasing the prince caused her nothing but excruciating agony. Oh, he liked her dancing, he thought she was lovely, but he had married and given his love to another. She walked to the foot of the newlywed's bed, staring down at them with curious eyes. The princess was indeed lovely, but she had not saved the prince from drowning although she'd taken all of the credit for it.

Anger came quickly, and the knife was raised over her head with an ease that surprised the little mermaid. The prince stirred in his sleep, a lock of raven hair falling across his brow. Her heart ached, watching him sleep. How could he have not known that she was the one that had saved him, that she was the one he was supposed to have loved. The prince sighed contentedly in his sleep, and the little mermaid brought her arms down slowly, unable to strike him as he lay there looking so innocent.

Oh, how she would love to wake him up and tell him a thing or two. Make him regret not realizing who she was, what she had sacrificed. Less than an hour ago she had been willing to die for him, but now she wanted nothing more than to be back home with her sisters. Human life had been a cruel disappointment. The sea witch had warned her that humans didn't appreciate the beauty of mermaids and that should have clued the little mermaid into the fact that the prince was out of reach, that he would never love her back.

Of course, the princess had ruined any chance of the prince falling in love with the little mermaid. She hadn't even gotten her legs yet, and the prince was planning on marrying the pretty girl whom he thought had rescued him. There had never been any hope for the little mermaid. She wondered if the sea witch had known, probably she had. It didn't matter now, she only had a simple choice to make. She could either die, making her sisters' sacrifice mean nothing. Or she kill the man who had broken her heart.

In the end, the choice was pretty easy.

A minute later she was back on deck, throwing the knife overboard. It hit the water with a loud smack and one of her sister's cried out as it landed a little too close. The little mermaid steadied herself on the railing of the boat, her body contorting with pain.
It felt like she was dying.

She fell down on the deck, and heard her sisters calling for her. The little mermaid managed to climb back up, and she hoisted herself laboriously over the edge of the railing. She seemed to fall forever.

The little mermaid sank almost to the bottom of the ocean floor, her lungs beginning to burn. Her human body was so weak. She didn't struggle, merely waited as calmly as she could. She was at the brink of unconsciousness when suddenly she could breathe again. Looking down she saw a sight that brought salt water tears to her eyes.

The little mermaid had her beautiful, shiny tale back. She swam up to meet her sisters, embracing them and thanking them as loudly as a mute mermaid can. Her oldest sister suggested they take their family reunion a little further away because the first shouts from the ship could now be heard.

The little mermaid spared not one glance back, but raced her sisters home. It was time for her to find a nice merman to settle down and raise a family with.

Bonus:

Subject: Re: Books Redone Tue Jul 26 2011, 08:33

Oh my! Yes, thank you for this Rigby! XD
Some points off for minor errors, but all in all, great job!

Outstanding

Rigby Dumbledore :: 98 points

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