Activity 1: The Reader's Dialogue

As you read the following paragraph, write your reactions to each sentence in the text boxes below the paragraph. What does each sentence prompt you to ask? What do you need to know next? Then consider whether or not the next sentence addresses at least one of your reactions. Write "yes" or "no." If your answer is "no," write a possible sentence that would answer your question and lead to the next sentence. When you are done, email your answers to your instructor.

For centuries, people have been recording and relating their experiences, their beliefs, and even their anxieties through the medium of the fairy tale. This form reached its peak in the nineteenth century, when the Grimm brothers wrote tales with characters and morals that have become engrained in our culture. Arguably, film is the significant medium of our time. Although the two forms are vastly different, film and literature often explore the same underlying motifs and themes. The Princess Bride, a contemporary cinematic rendering of a fairy tale, contains many traditional fairy tale motifs and themes: heroism, villainy, miracles, honor, justice, and true love. Although contemporary audiences supposedly have become too sophisticated and cynical to believe in these things, at some level we still long for them. The Princess Bride beautifully taps into this ambivalence.

What are your reactions to the introductory sentence?

Does the next sentence seem to follow? Write "yes" or "no." If the next sentence does NOT seem to follow, write a possible sentence that would connect the first and second sentences.



Sample reaction

What does the second sentence make you want to hear next?

Does the third sentence give you that information? If it does not, write a sentence that would connect the second and third sentences.



Sample reaction

What do you need to know after reading the third sentence?

Does the fourth sentence meet your needs? If not, write a sentence that would meet your needs and lead to the next idea.



Sample reaction

What does the fourth sentence prompt you to ask?

Does the fifth sentence answer your question? If not, write a sentence that would answer your question and would provide a transition between the fourth and fifth sentences.



Sample reaction

What is your response to the fifth sentence? Does the sixth sentence make sense to you, given your response? If not, write a sentence that would follow from your response and would get you to the next sentence.



Sample reaction

Does the final sentence fulfill your expectations? If your answer is "no," write a final sentence that does.



Sample reaction


Email your answers to your instructor.