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Thursday, January 20, 2011

Short Stories: The Dragon Rock by Ellena Ashley

Read the following short story. How does reading short stories prepare you for writing your submission for the short story contest? What is your favourite short story and explain why?

Short Stories: The Dragon Rock by Ellena Ashley

20 comments:

jellygirl said...

Wow, that story was really well done and I think that person "Ellena Ashley" should have won, and, if she did well, good job she deserves it. That story was really well planned and well thought out. I loved it and I think it should be published as a children's book.Ellena Ashley should think about becoming a childrens author because she would be really good at it. And, in the future, if I ever see a book written by Ellena Ashley I would most definitly buy a copy.
-Angela

jarebear said...

I think this short story was interesting. It had a lot of details and adjectives and signal wordswhich is important in all writing. It gave a big picture in my mind about the rock and how the adults would drink hot cocoa at night time.I think this short story helped me a lot because before, I didn't have a lot of adjectives and I will add those along with more signal words

Anonymous said...

I think reading other short stories helps me with writing short stories because: it gives you an idea of what to write about, it shows you how to write a short story( how long it should be, how it should be worded, etc), it shows you which ideas fit in a short story, reminds you to not make up the story as you go along (because that strategy usually makes your story a little too long), it gives you a few signal words to use in your story and lets you see how hard you need to work to win this competition.

Anonymous said...

Reading a story helps with writing a story. This is because, when I was reading, i got some great ideas and saw what a short story should look like. The words were great describing words and really painted a picture in my head, the story wasn't too long but it wasn't too short. when I was reading the stroy it flowed and had vivid pictures. The story itself was interesting and imnaginative. The writer used an interesting plot that made the reader want to read more. It was an appropriate story for school and showed that if you believe anythong can happen. The main idea was a curious one, and the ending was queer. Nobody would expect an ending like this. The ending was also humorus. It was short but interesting, which kept the reader entertained.

Shaylen said...

A way that short stories help us learn how to write better is that when you get used to writing short stories it will help get better grammar and spelling. You will get more experience with writing short stories and after time you will get better at writing and write a big sotry.My favourite short story would have to be "Mittens" by Jan Brett because when I was younger that was my all time favourtie story.

Kirynn said...

I think that reading a short story helps to write a short story because then you kind of know how short short is and you don't make it too short. Also sometimes reading a short story gives you an idea. Reading "The Dragon Rock" by Ellena Ashley helped by showing that you can write a reaaly interesting story even if it is shor. It also helped to show that you can't go into a lot of detail about some things because you have to keep it short. I think that in her book she used a lot of signal words, it gave me a clear picture of the whole thing. I think that Ellena Ashley should think of becoming a chidren's author and I hope she does because i'd by all of her books!

Liam said...

The Dragon Rock by Ellena Ashley, a short story, and a great example. I think this short story will help me write mine because in The Dragon Rock it set a vivid picture in my mind, it had a wide range of vocabulary, and most of all it made sense and was enjoyable to read. When I looked at the title I thought that it would be another "childrens story", but I was wrong. It was a younger child's story but Ellena Ashley made it so it made me want to keep reading. It was a different, fantastical story that will be a good reminder to all on what a short story should look like. When I'm writing my short story I wilol keep this in mind.
The Dragon Rock by Ellena Ashley, A short story, an example, and now an inspiration.

Gage said...

The story is a good example of how to write a short story because it shows what to do. It has detailed descriptions and is actually pretty good with a lot of info for a short story. The story does not stray off topic, isn't too long and it also isn't too short. The short story was well writen, did not get boring and I did not get the feeling there was not enough. I have not read many short stories and i do not not have a favourite but one that I remember is called wolves and is about 2 wolf puppies who learn how to be good wolves.

3DS Updaters said...

The story was amazing and i perfect tale. It would help me to write my own short story because it would, for sure, give me many ideas and would show me what kind of writing style and length of the story the peole judging the contest would be looking for and now as a writer I would want to achieve the goal and grasp being able to write a short story like The Dragon Rock. It would also help a writer since it would be good practice for them considering they would need to practice daily and they would not be writing a 200 page story in a day. My personal favourite story was Mortimer by Robert Munsch.

Amy said...

I think that READING short stories helps you and me WRITE short stories because they will give you new ideas and help you with vocabulary. Reading short stories also will help you with learning different techniques of how to write a good shoet story (ex.-you don't need to have a lot of discription, but just enough so that you get a good image in your head.


Personally, the short fairy tale of "Rumpelstiltskin" is my favourite short story because it was the first story that I discovered that had no "Prince Charming" or a "Ferocious dragon that guards that tallest tower"! But instead has an evil little troll, a young girl in prision and, in the end,a baby.

super james said...

I think the story was super awesome great and it could've been made into a full length story. yas super dragon lake rock thing. my f@v0r1te sh0rt st0ry is worthless peny it is about a horse.

Olivia said...

This book was very good and it described the dragon, and the villige, and the people very well. This would help me in my writing becuase I would learn to describe things better which is one of my weak spots. I got a very clear pisture in my head and that helps my story. Ellena Ashley delivers a great story that will make you think it is real.

Gabriel said...

I have heard this story before and this is an amazing story! I think it helps me to write my short story because it has realy detailed descriptions of the vally and what happened so I have a better idea of what I shoud do.

Julia said...

By reading short stories I find that we learn the format of how the short stories are written we learn that they have to have a sturdy begining and end. We learn about punctuation grammar and we can even get ideas for our own short stories!! By reading "The Dragon Rock" by Ellena Ashley I learned that a short storie always starts with the story right away and the charecters are descibed and a picture in your mind soon after the begining. That short storie was a good example it flowed was gramatically correct and it was definatly planned and thought out and I agree with Angela if I ever see a book written by her I would pick it up and read it through!
-Julia

Anonymous said...

Reading short stories can help improve your writing beccause when you read a short story you can see a different style of writing. Also if the story is a good one then it will have words you may have never heard of before so you can extend your vocabulary. Also if you are the type of person who goes on and on about unnecessary details you will finally figure out how bad the story seems even if you are a decent writer. Overall if you read short stories you can improve your vocabulary and grammer.

- Natasha

Hannah said...

This story will help me with my short story because it described the dragon, village, and people very well. It also used lots of signal words. It was a great idea and Ellena Ashley developed it well. I also think it was great she included the chants and poems about the dragon. This story will help with my story alot.

re: super james said...

Reading short stories helps superjames wright short stories so because it shows puncuation, sentence fluency and other stuff. theyI think the story was super awesome great and it could've been made into a full length story. yas super dragon lake rock thing. my f@v0r1te sh0rt st0ry is worthless peny it is about a horse.

michael b said...

This story helped me out. First of all, I think that the setting was set at the very begining of the story, by doing that it started the story without explaining to much making it shorter. Also, it showed me that a good story can be shrunk down to be short and still good. Lastly it showed me that you need to talk about the right things ( Example: she didn't go on and on about the grandparents but did talk about the kids a lot) This also makes the story a lot shorter.

My favourite short story would have to be Cinderella because of the moral, or at least what I think what the moral is, If you good, good things will come

Mary said...

When reading the following short story I found that this was a very interesting short story. I do beleive that this will help me write my short story for although it was longer there was several things I wanted to include in mine. One thing one the charaters, as she had several different types and you could not help but laugh at them. That's what I want in my own. also i liked how it had a clear beginning, middle, and end. There are many more but I do not have aenough time.

Mary said...

When reading the following short story I found that this was a very interesting short story. I do beleive that this will help me write my short story for although it was longer there was several things I wanted to include in mine. One thing one the charaters, as she had several different types of charaters and you could not help but laugh at them. That's what I want in my own. Also I liked how it had a clear beginning, middle, and end. the story included enough detail so that ranks it high in my mind. lastly i liked how everything flowed and there was no choppy parts.So overall I think I can learn. As a fact I know that my short stories rarely include conversations. This is something that the story reminded me of so when I actually write it I will remember.I do beleive this short story could help me in other ways but these are the most important ones that could help me alot from this short story.
My favourite short story is the "Little Wise Girl". this story is favourite because it has a girl who is a thinker out side the box. there is a king who is a little dim in the head who issues puzzles as a game to him. AT one point of the book if she does not get the answer right her head will be chopped off.this is my favourite book as it shows it is better to be poor and smart then rich and a bit dim in the head.