Craft elements refer to the building blocks of fiction/poetry. They include things like plot, character, point of view, imagery, rhyme, rhythm, meter, etc. Craft elements are the tools that writers use to build works of fiction/poetry, just as other types of artists use paint, clay, wood, metal, concrete, and even digital media to build creations for the sake of art, communication, or business. Creators use the tools of their craft to guide their audiences to focus on what’s most important in their creations. So, as readers of fiction/poetry, it’s worthwhile to ask how authors construct their creative work, and why they make their craft-related choices. And as creators ourselves, it’s crucial to consider how we can/should use the craft tools we have to construct our fiction/poetry.

1. Part one: point of view

FIRST, read the Point of View handout,Shirley Jackson “The Lottery” and Lorrie Moore “A Kid’s Guide to Divorce.”

SECOND, post your responses on the following items on this discussion board:

What point of view (POV) are these two stories told from?
Why do you think the authors chose these POVs? (Consider: Why are these POVs effective/appropriate for these stories? How might the stories change if the authors had chosen different POVs?)