The Continuing Scratches of P. Martin

Following Halloween and just as P. Martin had feared, his classmates dubbed him Pam, except James Vireo who was rarely seen at school these days and Phoebe Plover who, whenever in a group, sputtered out her words.  Hence, Pam morphed into Sp-sp-am.

Of course, Kestrel and his buddy, Jaeger, loved Spam and anything "beefy," they boasted.  After Thanksgiving, they bragged about their mother's cooking, squawking on about how they tossed the turkey giblets into the gravy.  "What awesome brew they can stew!" 

"But their Christmas duck is a must!" They laughed even louder.

P. Martin swore he saw Mrs. Whimbrel's face change ten shades of green.  "Gentleman," she snapped. "Take out your math."  

Maybe that's what I should do, he thought, pulling his math workbook and homework folder from his desk.  Maybe I should just chew them out the next time they open their fat beaks.  Without much thought, a chant jingled in his mind :  I'm not Pam, and I'm not Spam.  I'm P. Martin, and your brains are ham."  For the first time, P. Martin didn't feel the urge to itch.  

Story Structure

Story Structure is the "blue print" of the story's overall (or architectural) design.

Think of a house:  it needs a foundation, support beams, floor boards, walls, ceilings, and a roof, of course.  How many rooms you want to design for your house depends on how many events you want to develop in your story. 

What is crucial is that your story has a beginning, middle, and end!  You'd find yourself quite chilly in a house without a roof, and without floorboards, you wouldn't be able to plant your feet.

Exposition => The beginning:  This is where the stage is set, and the readers learn the who, where, and when of the story.  Also, the problem the main character faces becomes evident.  

• The characters are introduced (not all, perhaps, but definitely the main character, who could also be the narrator -- the person/character telling the story.
• The setting is established:  place and time where the story takes place.  Of course, there can be more than one place, and the time can change, but the reader knows whether or not the heart of the story takes place in a city, the country, near the ocean, on an island, even in outer space.  Does the story begin during the day or night?  What season?  
• The problem is the conflict the character is faced with, and ultimately answers the question:  What makes this a story, and why is this so important?  Think of the problem as being the foundation of the house.  Without the foundation, the house cannot stand.  How the main character solves this problem provides the structure for the story. 

Initiating Action => This is the event the first action in the story that separates the exposition from the rising action.  It is where the excitement begins, as it shows the character moving towards the conflict.

Rising Action => These are the sequence of events in the story that lead to the climax, which is where the main character has to face the conflict/problem head on.

Climax => This is the event where the main character confronts his problem.  Think of this as the ceiling of the house.  It is what all the events in the rising action have been leading to, and it is also where the reader feels really tense.

Falling Action => Once the main character has confronted the conflict head on, he/she moves towards the resolution of the story.  The events leading toward the resolution (how the conflict is solved) are what make up the falling action.  (Think of them as being the second half of the drama.)

Crisis Point => This event can be as nail biting as the conflict, happens soon after the climax, and can often be confused with the conflict.  It is the dramatic moment where the main character, having faced the problem/conflict, makes a decision that paves the way for the rest of his/her actions that lead to the resolution.  After the crisis point, there is no turning back for the main character.  

Resolution => This is the moment when the problem/conflict has been "solved"; in other words, the conflict has been settled.  Here is where the reader breathes a sigh of relief, breaks into gales of laughter (possibly), or cries.  The nail biting is over.

Denouement => This lovely French word refers to the final scene, so to speak.  Once the resolution has taken place, there are few events that answer questions:  what happened to everyone else? Think of it as the last coat of paint on the house.  Or, consider Cinderella:  did she live happily ever after?  Of course!  She married the prince and lived in a castle where her stepmother and stepsisters had to scrub floors, wash windows, and clean up after the royal dog.

Typically, the story structure is drawn as a pyramid.  While that image shows the rise, high point, and fall of the action (the frame of the house), it also makes it appear as if the climax happens in the dead center of the story.  That is not always the case; therefore, the structure of the story is not as symmetrical as the pyramid suggests.

Symmetry means the same on both sides.

Vocabulary

Roil => (verb) to stir up and disturb; to bring turbulence

Turbulence => (noun) to be in the state of commotion or being 
disturbed (Look at the closeness between turbulence and disturbed.  Noticing similarities between words will help you understand their definitions.)

The Itchiest Halloween Ever

After Kestrel and Vireo had been sent to the office and P. Martin finished stuttering on about the morph butterfly, he sat down, looked out the windows, and watched cumulonimbus clouds roiling in.  

This did not bode well for the afternoon Halloween Parade, and when he questioned the prospect of the annual ceremony, Mrs. Whimbrel shook off his concern by saying, "A little rain never hurt anyone."

Easy for her to say, he thought, and remembered the worst vacation he'd ever been on; it was also his worst Christmas present and his first trip in a plane.  His Uncle Scout, cousins, and mother were taking him to the Bahamas to "warm up and see the sites." 

 Right before the plane was to take off, the pilot stepped out of the cockpit and rearranged the seat assignments.  "Might hit some bumpy weather," he'd said.

"Needs to distribute the weight evenly," Uncle Scout had said and patted him on the knee.  Bumpy weather?!  P. Martin had never been so scared.  Somewhere over Florida, the plane jolted, dropped, then bounced up, as if it'd hit a pothole in the sky.  His uncle held a barf bag under his mouth. 

Watching the clouds from the classroom window made P. Martin's skin itch.   And, sure enough, during the parade, a fierce driving rain hit just as everyone rounded the northwest corner of the school.  He spotted his mother among the flock of parents standing in front of the school, all of whom were camera ready.  The rain washed the paint off his blade of grass, leaving a green trail behind him.  So much for camouflage:  everyone would know where he was and where he'd been, all because of his green pants and shirt, and now this -- a meandering acrylic river.  Even his sneakers, speckled with green, left imprints of his treads.

As soon as they reached the classroom, Mrs. Whimbrel instructed him to take off his shoes, and once everyone was seated, yakked on about the difference between acrylic and oil paints.  There she stood, in front of the chalkboard dressed as a duck of all things, netting everyone's attention.  Mrs. Whimbrel over candy!  

When she'd finally closed her beak, all his classmates turned around, and it was Kestrel's buddy, Rufus Madeira, who piped out, "P. Acrylic Martin!  P.A.M, my man!"

Everyone laughed.  No amount of candy could make him stop itching.  If only were a Morph butterfly, he thought.  If only he could vanish.  

After school, when he crossed the parking lot to his mother's car, he could hear students chanting, "Pam, Pam, Pam, my man."  Nightmare didn't come close to describing Halloween! 

Salving the Itch (continued)

"P. Martin, your homework?"  Mrs. Whimbrel's voice broke through his thoughts like a rock hitting water.

Embarrassed, P. Martin felt his body heat rise.  He stood up, cleared his throat, and began to read his report about the Morph butterfly.  The night his mother had busied herself with that stupid blade of grass, he'd returned to his room and rewrote his entire report.  Anything was better than imagining himself dressed as a blade of grass.

He hadn't gone to bed until he'd scratched the final sentence about this large, iridescent blue butterfly that could fold his wings and disappear among the forest floor foliage, all because of brown under spots.  (contributed by Godgirls)

Maybe that's what he could do on Halloween -- tuck his head under his arms and flatten himself until he disappeared into the classroom floor.  

He'd laughed at the thought, sailed through his revision, and whistled when he had finished.  He knew -- was absolutely certain -- Mrs. Whimbrel would savor every word he had written.  
(contributed by Godgirls)  And the picture he had drawn was as brilliant as the butterfly itself.  

Now, having been called upon while caught in a daydream, he faltered over the very words he'd written, and the butterfly he'd sketched looked about as lustrous as a mosquito.  

Then, right in the middle of his reading his report, Vireo swung around in his seat, snatched Kestrel's pencil, and snapped it in half.   P. Martin couldn't believe his eyes; Vireo, as small as he was, took Kestrel by surprise.  Amazing!  It sure beat any thought of pouring calamine lotion on top of Kestrel's head or vanishing into the floor.

Literary Device -- Flashback

Flashback => A scene that has happened before what is taking currently taking place in the story (or play).  

In the P. Martin story, one flashback is introduced by P. Martin remembering what had happened the night he was doing his homework about Brazil.  The phrase, Last week . . . , is like a trumpet call -- or an alarm clock -- announcing the memory.    

One way to notice if the writer has used a flashback is to look at a change in the verb tense.  Now, it gets tricky:  if the story is moving along in the past tense (something that happened in the past) and then you, the reader, notice that the verb tense has changed to past perfect (something that has already happened before the event being described) chances are you are reading a memory (or flashback) a character is recalling.  

The same holds true if the story is written in present tense (meaning the action is happening while you, the reader, are reading it) and then switches to past tense.

Whew -- that's a lot of information all at once!  (More about verb tenses later)

Another way a writer creates a flashback is through the use of a transitional phrase, such a "last week" or "yesterday."  That alerts the reader to a change in time, without using an immediate change in the verb tense.  Notice that the writing is still in past tense, but then switches to the past perfect.  Think of it as the writer doing a stretching exercise before running.

Literary Devices

Analogy => In literature, a writer creates an analogy by comparing two things that are not related.  It is more extensive than a metaphor, because it can be carried out throughout the narrative.

Think about P. Martin, other characters' names, their characteristics, and the homework that has been assigned in Itchier Than Ever. 

What analogy could you draw between P. Martin and something unlike him and the others?   Think of the analogy as being a riddle that, when solved, will lead you to an understanding about something else -- something unrelated.

Salving the Itch

The very thought of the costume made him itch. He hoped his mom had extra calamine lotion handy.  (contributed by the home-schooled Godgirls)

What was worse, P. Martin wondered as he watched Kestrel poke James Vireo in the back:  his mother packing calamine lotion in his lunch box, or having a white cardboard box swiveling around his head.   Calamine lotion. . . . or, now, that marsh grass! 

Last week, while he was in his bedroom studying about Brazil, his mother was in the kitchen slicing one long strip of cardboard into the shape of a willowy blade of grass.

"You've got to be kidding," he'd said, when he walked into the kitchen, after finishing his homework. (Reading about Brazil had filled him with a craving for nuts.) 

"Oh, you'll have the most original costume that school has ever seen!" his mother had said.  "Just wait until I paint it green!"  Her smile was as long as the blade of grass.

P. Martin had lost his appetite and returned to his bedroom.  He could hear Kestrel's crackling sneer.  Maybe, just maybe, P. Martin thought, I could pour calamine lotion all over Kestrel.  

Itchier than Halloween (end of October)

As nerve-wracking as that cedar waxwing's hitting the window with a bam was, nothing was scarier than Halloween.  P. Martin dreaded Halloween.  He dreaded the costumes his mother insisted he wear.  The year she had constructed a white house from a cardboard box and bought him white sweatpants and hoodie had to be the absolute worst.  The box shifted around his head, so the two the square windows she'd cut out for his eyes never lined up.  Naturally, he tripped.  His candy spilled all over the sidewalk, which made his friends laugh, swoop up the treats, and fly off.

And, now, this year, she wanted him to dress up as marsh grass, of all things.  Marsh grass!  How worse could it get?   

Literary Devices

Onomatopoeia => the sound of the word conveys the meaning of the word, such as Bam in "Itchier Than Ever" (week 6)

Splat, burp, pop, boing, hiss are all words that sound just like their meaning.

For this week, try to add to the story using a word that is an example of onomatopoeia.  And, then, try spelling onomatopoeia!  Perhaps, Mrs. Whimbrel should toss that word into a spelling bee.

Itchier Than Ever (week 6)

The first month of school passed by quickly enough, and nothing out of the ordinary happened -- except for the day three cedar waxwings flew into the window, one right after the other.   Bam.  Bam.  Bam.

That was the first day James Vireo lost the spelling bee.  


   

Character

Character => A person in the story

In fiction (stories that are made up), the character is an imaginary person with a personality, and what makes up a character's personality is called characteristics, or if you really want to sound fancy, characterization.

The personality of a character is shown in several ways:

• how he/she is described by the author (writer of the story)
• how he/she acts
• what he/she says and the way in which he says it
• what other characters say about a character

What type of personality do you think P. Martin has?

What type of personality do you Mrs. Whimbrel has?

What about James Vireo?

Itchier Than Ever (week 5)

"Why I had an aunt who called herself P. Curlew, nicest aunt anyone could have asked for.  She was always giving us fresh berries:  berry-this, berry-this.  I get hungry every time I think of her."

P. Martin watched his new teacher talk, as she drifted on about Aunt P. Berry Curlew.  "We never asked her what that P. stood for, and she never told us."  She rolled her tongue at the front of her mouth.  Mrs. Whimbrel bent closer to P. Martin. "She liked keeping secrets."  Her voice almost whistled, then trailed off.     "Strange duck," he thought.  www.rspb.org.uk

Itchier Than Ever (week 4)

P. Martin's arms jerked, ever so slightly.   "No . . . no," he stuttered.  "I'm here.  P. Martin, he-he-re."  He glanced up, and there she was, her black Records Book propped on her stomach, checking off his name.  Just like James, she had a stripe running from her eyes to the back of her ear, only hers was black.  Her nose was slightly curved and as long and thin as a straw.

"P. Martin," she said.  "Curious thing -- that P." 

P. Martin feared everybody would be staring at him.  He shuttered and scratched his arm.  "Ye ye-sss," he said.  "P. Martin."  

Literary Devices

Simile => a comparison between two unlike things (nouns), using the word like or as.  Thing like the unlike thing:  He felt the eyes of his classmates sticking to him like mites.  Eyes and mites are two unrelated things, but are being compared to one another as if they are the same thing.  The word connecting them is like. 


When comparing two unlike things using the word as, you need to use as twice, and you must place an adjective between the words as and the two unlike things being compared:  The eyes of his classmates were as sticky as mites.

Itchier Than Ever (week 3)

Looming right in front of his desk was Mrs. Whimbrel.  "P. Martin," she coughed again.

"He-er," P. Martin said, sounding just like James Vireo.  He felt the eyes of all his new classmates sticking to him like mites and his body heat rising.  

"Has your mind migrated, Mr. P Martin?" Mrs. Whimbrel asked.

Itchier Than Ever (week 2)

Mrs. Whimbrel checked off James Vireo's name.  P. Martin glanced at James, who seemed perched on his seat.  His small, round eyes reminded him of the black pearls his mother wore on special occasions.  A white line ran across the side of his face straight back to his ear.  This could only mean one thing:  his mother forced him to wear sunglasses -- all summer long.  

When James had said, "Here," his voice almost warbled.  He-er, he-er.  P. Martin wondered if he had bubbles in the back of his throat.  Now, that would be a trick, just like the time he had partially swallowed jello and brought it back up; it was still jello, only juicier.  He-er, he-er.

Mrs. Whimbrel coughed.  "P. Martin?"

Vocabulary

VOCABULARY & FUN SOUNDING WORDS

For the week of September 3rd, try using the word fluttery in  P. Martin's Itchier Than Ever story.

Fluttery is an adjective.  
An adjective is a part of speech that describes a noun.  

And a noun refers to a person, place, thing, or idea.

For example:  After the teacher called out, "James Vireo," P. Martin knew he was next.  His hands and arms grew itchier than even and a fluttery sensation bubbled inside his stomach.  

By the rate Ms. Whimbrel was chirping off names -- Dowitcher, Flemming, Gadwall, Jaeger, Kestrel -- the leaves on the trees would yellow and he'd be ready to fly from this freshly waxed floored roost.  P. Martin.  Why not Peter or, even, Preston?  But P. Martin?  

He glanced at the clock:  tick . . . tick . . . tick.  And, all he could think of was itch . . . itch . . . itch.

Whatever possessed his mother to name him P. Martin -- a question he'd asked her time and time again.  Why P?  

His new classmates' names crawled across his skin as the teacher pecked out each one:  Anthony Ackland, Roy Billings, Caroline Brewster . . . Peck, Peck, Peck.  

Itchier Than Ever

No matter what desk P. Martin Whitehouse chose to sit at on the first day of school, he felt itchy, and this morning he felt itchier than ever:  first day, new class, new school, new town, and his first initial loomed before him as large as a billboard -- "P."