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Junior cert English short story

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  • 27-08-2015 6:14pm
    #1
    Lykkelig
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 20 ✭


    When you're writing a short story in the junior cert are you able to end it on a cliff hanger or does it have to have a proper ending? Like would it be bad to do in the exam?


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    #2
    NOS3
    Registered Users Posts: 265 ✭✭NOS3


    I think it's better if you end your short story with closure. I'm not an English teacher, but imagine reading a short story and by the end not knowing if e.g. the emergency services were able to defuse the bomb and get everyone out of the building. You would be annoyed, right? even more so because the person correcting your essay will not be able to read the sequel to see what happens next.

    You could finish your essay with closure, but leave a few questions the reader would be asking themselves, e.g. if the police found the person who planted the bomb, if anyone was injured in the explosion, etc. Just make them not too significant.

    Also, never end a story with 'and it was all a dream..........' 


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    #3
    spurious
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,222 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    and then I woke up.


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    #4
    spurious
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,222 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    It's one of those endings people who are not very good at stories resort to. Please don't have a story that finishes like that.

    Work on things like different ways to say 'said' and try to use punctuation properly in your story. Make the reader want to read more.

    **********

    Mary asked John what happened his leg. He said a bear bit it off in the forest. She said she didn't believe him so he told her this story....

    or

    'Aargh!' screamed Mary, suddenly feeling faint, 'What happened your leg?!'. John turned around slowly. 'My leg... Oh, this leg?' he asked, a smile briefly on his lips, 'Oh, I met a bear in the forest who fancied a snack'.

    'A bear ate your leg?!!!' hissed Mary, half whispering, not wanting to attract attention and not entirely sure she wasn't being lied to.

    'Let me tell you about it' began John.

    *********

    See the difference?


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    #5
    Lykkelig
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 20 ✭Lykkelig


    Thanks so much for all of your help! Don't worry, I'll make sure to end every story with "and then I woke up" ;)


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