October 24

This week we have been reading two short stories that each have quite an eerie mood to them.  'Miriam' by Truman Capote and 'The Landlady' by Roald Dahl have different plots but certainly share some similarities.  For example, both have rather abrupt endings.  We have begun the process of writing an extended ending for either story (your choice).  

Your task: Roald Dahl chose to end “The Landlady” very abruptly - Based on foreshadowing clues, we can certainly guess that things didn’t look good for Billy,  but since Dahl chose to end the story where he did, we don’t know for sure. Similarly, in “Miriam”, we aren’t sure what happened after the strange reappearance of the young girl when the story ended.   Your task is to write an extended ending. Your ending should be in the 250-500 word range.  You may type or write by hand.   As much as possible, stay true to Roald Dahl’s/Truman Capote’s writing style, characterizations of the Landlady/Miriam and the story’s tone/mood.   Use dialogue and descriptive language, and show how things ultimately turn out for Billy Weaver or Mrs. H.T. Miller.

You will have time in class on Friday to develop your extended ending and should have a draft ready to share for Monday's Humanities class!