LESSON 6.7
the Troublemaker
Grades 7 - Adult
Task 6.7.1 – Small Group
Fill out the LH and the VP:
WHAT STATEMENT | ||
LH | VP | RH |
Main Character | Verb Phrase | Troublemaker |
OLD + OLD = POOR SUBJECT
Old Ideas
Decide if the following RH idea is Old or New.
- I had a problem with a treasure chest I found.
- I had a problem with gold in a treasure chest I found.
- I had a problem with jewelry in a treasure chest I found.
Do we know what the finder will do with the treasure chest or the gold or jewelry within it? No. But that does not matter. The listener or reader will be disappointed, because what the main character finds is a common idea.
Funneling
As you learned in the previous chapter, funneling means to find a more precise idea.
O + O: I had a problem with dirt I found in a treasure chest.
O + O: I had a problem with brown dirt I found in a treasure chest.
O + O: I had a problem with ugly dirt I found in a treasure chest.
O + N: I had a problem with ancient Egyptian dirt I found in a treasure chest.
Task 6.7.2 – Individual or Small Group
In the What Statements below, is the Troublemaker (the right-hand idea) a New idea or an Old idea?
WHAT STATEMENT | ||
LH | VP | RH |
Main Character | Verb Phrase | Troublemaker |
I | had a problem with | a green snake I found in a treasure chest. |
WHAT STATEMENT | ||
LH | VP | RH |
| Main Character | Verb Phrase | Troublemaker |
I | had a problem with | a poisonous snake I found in a treasure chest. |
WHAT STATEMENT | ||
LH | VP | RH |
| Main Character | Verb Phrase | Troublemaker |
I | had a problem with | a bracelet I found in a treasure chest. |
WHAT STATEMENT | ||
LH | VP | RH |
| Main Character | Verb Phrase | Troublemaker |
I | had a problem with | shrieking dirt I found in a treasure chest. |
WHAT STATEMENT | ||
LH | VP | RH |
| Main Character | Verb Phrase | Troublemaker |
I | had a problem with | an invisible snake I found in a treasure chest. |
WHAT STATEMENT | ||
LH | VP | RH |
| Main Character | Verb Phrase | Troublemaker |
I | had a problem with | a tiny flying house I found in a treasure chest. |
Task 6.7.2 – Individual or Small Group
Funnel down the troublemaker (underlined) in the following until it is a New idea:
WHAT STATEMENT | ||
LH | VP | RH |
| Main Character | Verb Phrase | Troublemaker |
I | had a problem with | a(n) ___________I found in a treasure chest. |
Combining
Combining ideas is also an excellent way to brainstorm New Ideas. For example:
I had a problem with a man I found in a treasure chest.
I had a problem with a tiny man I found in a treasure chest.
I had a problem with a mirror I found in a treasure chest.
I had a problem with a tiny man of mirrors I found in a treasure chest.
I had a problem with a unicorn I found in a treasure chest.
I had a problem with a tiny Volkswagen I found in a treasure chest.
I had a problem with a unicorn driving a Volkswagen I found in a treasure chest.
Task 6.7.3 – Small Group
Combine any two of the following into a New idea. Put the result in the RH box.
- I had a problem with soap bubble I found in a treasure chest.
- I had a problem with a pirate I found in a treasure chest.
- I had a problem with a tiny wild pig I found in a treasure chest.
- I had a problem with a tiny rapper I found in a treasure chest.
- I had a problem with a spoon I found in a treasure chest.
Task 6.7.4 – Small Group
Remember: there are no silly ideas.
Prompt A
On your way home you come across an abandoned car. Most of the windows are smashed out. Weeds grow around the vehicle. It obviously has not been driven in years. However, the car is running. You climb in to shut off the engine. The glove compartment is open, and a small box wrapped in gold-colored paper is inside. Trembling, you open the box. What is inside the box, and what happens next?
Prompt B
A room opens behind the fireplace in the master bedroom. Write a story with a beginning, middle, and end about what you found in the secret room and what happened after that.
Prompt C
Mrs. Sweeny, your favorite teacher, decided to swing on the swings. Faster and faster she goes until around and around she goes. No one else is nearby to help.
You leave your wheelchair and grab onto her, but as the swing swings to the sky, the chain breaks! Up into the sky you to go! What happens then?
You probably have lots of ideas about what was in the treasure chest. Perhaps this is your list:
- Air
- Feathers
- Magic feathers
- Peacock feathers
- Magic peacock feathers
- Magic dirt
- Dirt from ancient Egyptians
- Holy dirt from ancient Egyptians
- A tiny man
- A mirror
- A tiny man made of mirrors
- A giant pirate
- Scarves
- Scarves that murder people
- Insects
- An insect that murders people
- Perfume
- An insect that produces expensive perfume
- An insect that produces a unique perfume
- An insect with the reader’s name carved on its back
How Do You Choose the Best Idea for a Story?
A = adult strangers probably wouldn’t have thought of it AND are likely to say “Wow!”
B = adult strangers probably wouldn’t have thought of it.
C = adult strangers probably would think of it.
You might end up with a group of ideas that you graded like this:
Task 6.7.5 – Small Group
Grade your ideas. If you do not have at least three A ideas, then—
Do more brainstorming
Funnel a B or C idea
Use hitchhiking
Use a Decision Chart
We now can make a decision chart to choose our best idea.
- Go back and forth: 5, then 1; 4, then 2; 3
- Check to make sure no number is repeated in a column
- Add up the columns
- The winning number is what everyone will work on
- In case of a tie, flip a coin. If three or more tie, put them in a can and draw one
Example:
Enter the result in the RH of your What Statement
WHAT STATEMENT | ||
LH | VP | RH |
| Main Character | Verb Phrase | Troublemaker |
I | had a problem with | a tiny man of mirrors I found in a buried treasure chest. |