The Name of Instructor
The Name of the Institution
Short Story Scenario Using Two (2) Different Genres to Write the Same Story
Comedy Genre Beginning with a Complication Story Starter Scenario
“Shut up!” she said while gritting her teeth together and kicking him hard on the leg beneath the table.
“Ouch! What?! I didn’t say anything!” he charged as he attempted to soothe his leg by rubbing it gently with his hand.
“You might as well have! Look at how you’re looking at her cleavage and hyperventilating like a mad man!” Sharon said to him scowling and trying to lower her voice as much as possible while around the dining table.
“I beg your pardon! Why are you accusing me of doing something like that?!” Henry charged back at her.
“Ever since that hussy came to the family dinner, you have been looking at her like your eyes can’t stay in their frigging sockets! I’m not an idiot! And if it’s obvious to me then it’s obvious to other people” she continued while speaking in a low voice while bearing her teeth.
Henry’s face almost turned red in sheer embarrassment. Why did John invite them to this family reunion at his big fabulous mansion? Those were the type of thoughts going through Henry’s mind. This man has such a nerve, thought Henry. It’s bad enough that he’s rich but now he brings his mystery guest to rub things in people’s faces even more. Henry’s head was beginning to hurt from all the jealousy, bitterness, hatred and the fatty expensive foreign foods that he could barely pronounce.
It was bad enough that he can barely even smile and talk to the guy while he gives him back handed compliments that are nothing but veiled insults, thought Henry. Henry’s thoughts continued: But here he is bringing his girlfriend from Slovakia, that is at least half his age and showing more flesh than that roasted duck on the table! Henry headache was pounding at this point. Why the hell did he ever come to this reunion dinner?
“Everyone I would like to make a toast! I want to basically give you the reason for why I invited everyone to this dinner,” said John as he stood up with his champagne flute in his hand. John continued, “And I like that my brother, Henry and his wife, Sharon are here to savor every word that’s about to come out of my mouth. Everyone, Nadia and I are getting married! And it doesn’t end there; Nadia is four weeks pregnant as of today!”
It just keeps on getting better doesn’t it, thought Henry. He was silently begging that someone shoot him right at that moment. But it seems as if he wasn’t going to be so lucky today. The story of his life, Henry thought.
Gothic Genre Beginning with a Complication Story Starter Genre
“What the hell is going on?” Cynthia said, “This place just gives me the creeps!”
“You know what gives me the creep? That guy that just came and sat around the dining table,” Liz acknowledged.
This mystery guest appeared to have floated in from nowhere. He had on a long black coat that did well to cover his six foot frame. The aura of eeriness that he arrived with appeared to fit well with the dark, drafty, somber atmosphere of the castle. His pale hands starkly contrasted with his coat. There was a long scar was etched diagonally across his knuckles. The other guests stared in wide-eyed amazement as he appeared to levitate over his chair rather than sit in. There was a black top hat that he wore that was bent and torn in some places. The darkness of the dining room did much to hide his face from recognition. The white bow tie and the white shirt he had on appeared with stained and smeared with dirt. As he sat down at the head of the table some bats flew seemingly out of nowhere before lightning struck. Even the lightning did little to remove the eerie darkness that accompanied his face.
“Just when I thought the night could not get any worse! He shows up!” Lizzie whispered to Cynthia while pointing at the mysterious guest. “What kind of a family dinner is this? And which side of the family is he from? And don’t remember him ever coming around at Thanksgiving or Christmas. And why did he invite us here to this hell hole. ”
“I assume that everyone is here,” his voice seemed to thunder into the dark, somber dining room, “Look under your seats. There is a special message that I need to share.”
Everyone, reluctantly and bewilderingly, reached under their seats. After taking up taking up a folded piece of paper, each person slowly unfolded it to find a message written in what appeared to be blood. Most persons’ message said this, “You’re in luck. It’s not your night.” But Bill read this message on his paper: “It’s your night.”
Everyone was scratching their heads and wondering what all of this meant. The mysterious man said, “Don’t worry. The night is still young. You’ll soon figure things out.”
References
Anon, 2002. “The Gothic.” [online] The Gothic. Available at: <http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/gothic/gothic.html> [Accessed: 7 Mar. 2016].
Arell, M., 2012. “Why are Comedy Films so Critically Underrated?” [thesis] University of Maine, pp.1–326. Available at: <http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/93> [Accessed: 7 Mar. 2016].
Fels, D.I., Udo, J.P., Diamond, J.E. and Diamond, J.I., 2006. “A comparison of alternative narrative approaches to video description for animated comedy.” Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 100(5), p. 295.
Harris, R., 2013. “Elements of the Gothic Novel.” [online] Elements of the Gothic Novel. Available at: <http://www.virtualsalt.com/gothic.htm> [Accessed: 7 Mar. 2016].
Mittell, J., 2012. Narrative Complexity in Contemporary American Television. Project Muse, [online] 5(2), pp.29–40. Available at: <https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/the_velvet_light_trap//58.1mittell.html> [Accessed: 7 Mar. 2016].
Richter, D., 1996. The Progress of Romance: Literary Historiography and the Gothic Novel. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press.
Sturges, P., 2010. “Comedy as freedom of expression.” Journal of Documentation, [online] 66(2), pp.279–293. Available at: <www.ifla.org/files/assets/faife/publications/sturges/comedy.pdf> [Accessed: 7 Mar. 2016].
Zubarev, V., 2011. “Chekhov as a Founder of the Comedy of a New Type.” CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, 13(1), p.11.
