INTRODUCTION:This exercise is going to combine two ways of thinking through the structure of a story: “The 8-Point Story Arc” and “The Story Shape.” The 8-point story arc reduces a story’s structure down to 8 story “beats” or story “points” that, when combined, suggest the full arc of a story. The story shape is a visual representation of a story’s arc and flow. In our worksheet, we’re going to shape a “map” of “Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs” with the help of the 8 story points and visual images for each point to serve as coordinates.THE 8-POINT STORY ARCThis structural tool identifies 8 beats that most stories regardless of medium contain, and these beats flow in a particular order. They are: STASIS, TRIGGER, QUEST, SURPRISE, CRITICAL CHOICE, REVERSAL, and RESOLUTION.The STASIS describes the everyday world of our characters, or the “status quo,” before a big event thrusts our protagonist (hero/heroine) headlong into the story. It’s the “Once upon a time….” part of a fairy tale. In dramatic theory, it’s called the “exposition.”The TRIGGER is the big event that breaks the stasis and launches us into our story, many times sending our main character on a journey. Something happens that is eventful enough to change the fate of our protagonist. In dramatic theory, it’s called the “inciting incident.”The QUEST follows the protagonist as they deal with the complications provoked by the trigger. Many times they end up in a new place, a new land, and meet new people. This is a large part of the story. In dramatic theory it’s referred to as the “rising action.”The SURPRISE brings us a new event, or a new piece of information, something that the characters (and hopefully the audience) don’t see coming. Many times the “surprise” pertains to the main character, but not always. It just needs to be a big surprise.The CRITICAL CHOICE finds a character, many times the protagonist (but not always), making a critical decision that will have major consequences. It sets up the climax.The CLIMAX brings our protagonist into a heightened situation as a result of the critical choice. It’s a moment of high tension. Things will go well, or they’ll go horribly wrong for our characters. In dramatic theory it’s called “falling action.”The REVERSAL is a big change, a reversal of fortunes for both protagonists and villains/antagonists. What was up is down, and what was down is now up. It’s a big dramatic event that resolves all conflict.The RESOLUTION is the aftermath, after the resolution of tensions, and the beginning of a new “stasis.” In Disney films (as well as in Hollywood movies of the 1930s) there is the clear “happy ending” that sometimes serves as the film image.THE STORY SHAPEA story shape visually maps out the linear, structural flow of a story to suggest the tensions, high points, and low points of a story. It can take many forms, but it focuses bending and changing a “line” into multiple shapes to represent the story.WHAT YOU WILL DOFor this assignment, you will analyze the story of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and choose images to represent each of these “Story Points.” Then you will use the “Story Graph” idea to create a map for each of your images. Please note: There is no “one right way” to do this. The important thing is to make bold choices. Have fun!THE WORKSHEET INSTRUCTIONSThink about “Snow White” and choose 8 moments to serve as the 8 Story Points of your “Story Map”Rewatch sections of “Snow White” to confirm each of the 8 PointsTake 8 “screen shots” to represent each of the eight points:Stasis: The Everyday world before things happenTrigger: The big eventThe Quest: Surviving the Trigger and working to change thingsSurprise: A big surpriseCritical Choice: A Character makes a big decisionClimax: Big decisions force big confrontationsReversal: It all comes to a headResolution: The aftermath and the new stasisWatch the Tutorial Video belowFollow this link to diagram.net to create your “Story Map” (Links to an external site.)Use text box to create your header: “Worksheet 3: Story Map – Snow White”Insert your screenshots and lay them around the page.Use the “text box” to add text underneath each image tell us what it is (ex. “Stasis” or “trigger”)Use the “text box” to add a brief description of each story pointAdd arrows between all 8 imagesBend the arrows to visually suggest the story and the appearance of a map.Again, here’s the same example of a completed SAMPLE WORKSHEET 2(NOTE: This worksheet SAMPLE uses “Beauty and the Beast” instead of “Snow White’ )Make a pdf copy of your work.Place your pdf in your google drive folder for this class.Upload the pdf into the discussion forum on the next page using the google integration tools providedOnce you share you work, respond with encouragement to at least one other student’s work.Comments from CustomerDiscipline: theatre
