2. write a story using a twister. what is a twister?
a twister is a short story that is like a tweet because it tells a story in exactly 140 characters. developing poetry through twitter has started to become a very popular creative outlet. the 140 character limit - like twitter - includes spaces and punctuation. twisters have a beginning, middle and an end. montreal writer arjun basu says that “each of his 140-characters stories fall into different categories; romantic relationships, family, work and mundane experiences. the character limit poses a challenge each time. occasionally he engages in “one bit of cheating,” leaving the final period off to prevent them from exceeding the character limit.”
here are some examples of twisters written by arjun basu:
as a child he delivered newspapers. as an adult he delivered bad news daily. because he was a negative person. and the world’s worst surgeon 5: 34 am apr 29th
they lived happily. at least that’s what they told their friends. it wasn’t true. the dog whined incessantly. and neither of them could cook 5: 34 pm jun 15th
the marriage didn’t survive the honeymoon. they acknowledged the majesty of their mistake. but they remained together. because of the gifts. 7: 52 am jun 15th
all the soccer moms wear their yoga gear while sipping lattes. jones wonders which one to flirt with. he brought along his dog for a reason. 7: 11 am jun 13th
the air is fresh, the promise of something lovely in it, of magic. and then the wind shifts. and he is reminded he lives next to a pig farm. 7: 51 am jun 9th
the hours turn to days. and then finally the curtains are drawn and the sun streaks in. you look pasty, she says. you look in love, he says
when he stroked her shoulder softly she felt it all the way in her toes. and she knew she would end up marrying him. because she had no legs.
do the following assignment
choose one twister from the samples above and type it out word for word.
then you need to rewrite the twister as a paragraph (a mini-story) (3 marks), using full sentences (3 marks), consistent tenses (3 marks), and proper punctuation (3 marks)
* note the dialogue punctuation that i gave you.
use inferencing to fill in the gaps that the author has left out of the story (3 marks).