Milestone 2

ENG 520 Final Project Milestone Two Guidelines and Rubric

Overview: In Module Four, you will submit a draft of your story’s scene breakdown and analyze parts of your story. These pieces will help to complete the bigger picture as you keep working toward the completion of all story elements in the final project that will come together in a full story plan. Prompt: Using your knowledge about the protagonist you developed during Milestone One and in Module Three’s Proust Questionnaire, begin this milestone assignment by composing one to two sentences that very simply answer this question: Who is your protagonist, and what is his or her objective or goal? Your entire plot outline will subsequently demonstrate how that character achieves his or her goal. Next, write a scene breakdown. If you are writing a novel, then you may write chapter summaries. If you plan for your story to be a shorter work, a narrative poem, or a screenplay, then you should focus on the appropriate progression of scenes. The format that you choose to present this in is up to you; you may write either summary paragraphs or an outline. (This portion of the milestone should be single-spaced.) These scenes should include as much detail as possible at this time. To showcase your creativity, it is important to avoid weaknesses such as clichés, telegraphing, and deus ex machina in these plot points. All of your scenes within the story should flow together and build upon one another as the story progresses, clearly showing the rising tension and resolution. Next, identify which scenes from your outline contribute to the following five significant points that occur within your story: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement. Make sure you briefly discuss what happens to your character(s) in these scenes to satisfy these identified story elements. From this, explain how your scenes continue to build tension throughout the piece and culminate in your denouement or resolution. Lastly, describe the conflict that occurs within the story between your established characters. What is the conflict and between whom does the conflict exist? How does this conflict impact the characters in your story? Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

 Character Objective: Write one to two sentences that defines your protagonist’s goal or objective in your story.

 Scene Breakdown: Outline or summarize each scene of your story in detail. Describe how each scene builds off of the previous scene, and describe how the scenes are connected as a whole.

 Significant Points of Story: Explain the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement points of your story. What happens to the characters that shows these points in the plot? (Avoid writing weaknesses such as clichés, telegraphing, and deus ex machina.)

 Tension and Resolution: Describe the rising tension that exists within the scenes of your story. What are these tensions and how do they build up throughout? What is the impact of the tension on the story as a whole? How are these tensions resolved within the story?

 Conflict of Characters: Describe the subplot of your story in the form of conflict(s) between your characters. What is the conflict and between whom does the conflict exist?

 Impact of Conflict: Explain the ways that the conflict(s) impact your characters and what happens to them within your story. How do these conflicts affect the characters’ role in the story?

Rubric

Guidelines for Submission: Your submission should be approximately 3–5 pages in length with double spacing. (You may single-space your scene breakdown outline.) Your submission should be divided into six subheadings: Character Objective, Scene Breakdown, Significant Points of Story, Tension and Resolution, Conflict of Characters, and Impact of Conflict.

Critical Elements Proficient (100%) Needs Improvement (75%) Not Evident (0%) Value Character’s Objective Identifies protagonist and the

protagonist’s goal Identifies protagonist and the protagonist’s goal but identification lacks specific details or is unclear

Does not identify protagonist and/or the protagonist’s goal

15

Scene Breakdown Outlines each scene of the story in detail, describing how each scene builds off of the previous scene and how the scenes are connected as a whole

Outlines each scene of the story, but explanation of story scenes is lacking in detail and/or does not display a logical flow

Does not outline story scenes 15

Significant Points of Story

Explains the significant points of the story including what happens to the characters that shows these points in the plot

Explanation of the significant points of the story is lacking in detail and/or includes writing weaknesses such as clichés, telegraphing, and deus ex machina

Does not explain the significant points of the story

15

Tension and Resolution

Describes the rising tension that exists within the scenes of the story, addressing the buildup throughout the story, the impact of tension, and the resolution

Describes the rising tension that exists within the scenes of the story, but does not sufficiently address the buildup throughout the story, the impact of the tension on the story as a whole, and the resolution of these tensions

Does not describe the rising tension that exists within the scenes of the story

15

Conflict of Characters Describes the subplot of the story in the form of conflict(s) between the characters by explaining the conflict itself and between whom the conflict exists within the story

Describes the subplot of the story in the form of conflict(s), but description is lacking in detail

Does not describe the conflict(s) between the characters

15

Impact of Conflict Explains the ways that the conflict(s) impact story characters and what happens to them within the story

Explains the way conflict(s) impact story characters and what happens to them within the story, but explanation lacks detail

Does not explain the ways that the conflict(s) impact story characters and what happens to them within the story

15

Articulation of

Response Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization

Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas

Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas

10

Total 100%