Group+4

Georgia Gatens Analyce Grech Madeline Hughes Amelia Mafodda
 * A short story by Group 4 **

This is the short story we are using, it is called 'Death by Scrabble' and the author is Charlie Fish. The short story is a horror and murdering short story. We got the story from the best short story website:__http://www.short-stories.co.uk/__  =**By Charlie Fish**  ' **Death By Scrabble'** or Tile M For Murder =  QUESTIONS __****Georgia gatens- question 1 Analyce Grech- question 2 Madeline Hughes- question 4 Amelia Mafodda- question 6 ** **and questions 3,5 and 7 are done individual **.
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** Question 1. Outline the plot. Write a blurb to entice readers to read your short story. It should be as imaginative and creative as possible.- By Georgia Gatens ** How could a game of scrabble be so deadly? I mean it’s just a game of scrabble. There is nothing else to it, it’s just a game.

A husband and a wife are playing a game of scrabble, on a hot summers day. The husband is irritated by his wife, because instead of doing exercise, spending money, meeting people and other interesting things, he is playing a game of scrabble. He hates his wife, she gives him a smug smile, she is already winning the game of scrabble. He hates her more, he wish he could kill her. He thinks to himself that if he can find a word (murderous word) and put it on the scrabble broad, that the word would give him the permission to kill her. Suddenly the words are comming true. 'the whole game is - JINXED'. The words are comming to life and actually happening. He thinks to himself that if the words are comming true, that he needs a powerful, dangerous, terrible word to kill his irritating wife.

Question 2. **Smug **-  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">contentedly confident of one's ability, superiority, or correctness; complacent. Eg; I felt quite smug after scoring the winning goal in netball **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Frayed- **<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">worn away or tattered along the edges <span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Eg; The edges of my jeans are frayed because i have been wearing them ever since i got them <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">**Deafening-** to make deaf, especially momentarily by a loud noise. Eg; the sound of the loud brass band playing in my ear was deafening. Eg; It was pure coincidence that my dance concert and maths exam fell on the same day. Eg; Our cooking teacher said that the water had to be tepid before we could wash our hands, so that we didn’t get burnt. Eg; We were awed by the new girls fantastic soccer moves and tricks. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">**Vindication-** <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The defense, such as evidence or argument, that serves to justify a claim or deed <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Eg; Missing the bus was Jemima’s vindication for being late to school. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Coincidence- **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">a striking occurrence of two or more events at one time apparently by mere chance.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Tepid- **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">moderately warm; lukewarm
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Awed- ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">the action of an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc.

<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Question 3. By Analyce Grech 9SWI ** The connection between the outside world and the short story is very limited. In the short story it said that whatever was written on the game board would come to life. In the outside world it is impossible for that to happen unless you have a very vivid imagination! When he is describing the way that the heat is affecting him I can relate to that because there have been such hot days that i felt the same way; “ I am getting sweatier. It needs to rain, to clear the air.” <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The amount of hate that he feels towards his wife is abnormal because if he hated her that much, then wouldn’t he divorce her? That’s what I think would happen in the outside world. I think that the author of this short story must’ve had a very big imagination because none of the things happening in the story would happen in the outside world. When the wife turns on the kettle and he gets annoyed, I would too because it was ‘the hottest day in ten years” The wife sounds like a person who only cares about herself hence not getting her husband a cup of tea whilst getting herself one. There are people like that in the outside world and some people do get annoyed with them just the like the narrator has.

The connection between the short story and the outside world is revolved around marriage problems. The husband hated his wife as people in realife can. They don't talk or do anything fun together like a couple. They also don't have fun time away from each other. This can happen in realife. The husband shows that he has had no fun because he can't spend money so I think that means buy something for himself that will make him happy. He hasn't met any new people or made new friends or even had time to talk to his friends. This can happen in realife where the couple have not done anything but work, stay home or buy groceries. They have a boring life with just the two of them and being like that can make people go unhappy and sometimes even mad like the husband in th story. <span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;"> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> The connection between the short story ‘Death by Scrabble’ to the outside world, is that today in society many relationships between husband and wife have problems with being successful, there are many reasons why this happens, such as; finical issues, communication issues, job issues, health isssues, falling out of love, boredom etc. It is now a common thing in life that people get married and then fall out of love, in many cases people get divorced, but only there have been a few cases where a husband or a wife kills the other, because they have gone from loving each other to hating each other. In this short story it shows how a husband can hate his wife, and then it can turn into trying to murdering the wife. In real life these things have happened, not the game of scrabble be jinxed, but the fact that a husband or wife will kill or try to kill their other partner. <span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> another connection to the short story from the outside world is that scrabble is a well known game, and is played frequently around the world.
 * Question 3: By Amelia Mafodda.**
 * <span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 11pt; color: black; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Question 3: by Georgia Gatens **<span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black; font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">

Question 3: by Madeline Hughes There are a lot of connections between this particular short story and the world we live in now. One of the main connections I found after reading this short story is that many relationships are having trouble with staying up with all the finical issues in this world because of jobs being cut down and because of this, they are finding it hard to put food on the table for their family and also to support them with other supplies. Another main connection is that you see couples that are happy with their lifes and they complete eachother. This is the case sometimes but also, sometimes, their are couples that can not handle staying with this person for the rest of their lifes so they divorce them or the other option they have, if it is really bad, they kill their partner. "Death by Scrabble", is all about how a husband can hate his wife so much that it can turn into murdering her.

Question 4: by Madeline Hughes For this question, We used the three that were used in the example and then came up with two others of our own. Question 1. Did anything surprise you in this story? For this particular, I found it surprising that after every word that was put down, something would happen that would relate to that particular word. I also found it surprising at the end that out of the two of them, the wife was the first and only one of them to put down a word that would hurt the other player in a situation they couldn't get out of. Question 2: How does the language contribute to the overall mood of the story? The language of this particular short story, I think, plays a big part to the mood of the story. The way the author uses descriptive words to show us what it would be like in that situation and he also uses words that makes us want to imagine that we are there in the room watching this game between a husband and wife. Question 3. What techniques does the writer use to effectively advance his/her plot? I basically answered this question in question two. The way this author has picked words that would suit this story, I think, has really made this story really effective and it has made me imagine what it would be like playing a game of scrabble with someone that was "JINXED". Question 4. Do you think this particular plot is an effective one? Yes I do think that this particular plot in "Death by Scrabbe" is an effective plot and to me, I think this plot was a good one to use for a story. Question 5. What do you think about the characters that were used in this story and would you use the same if you were to write this story over? I think the characters (the husband and wife) were a good two characters to use for this particular story. I think this is because that some couples can relate to this story in some ways and I think it was a good idea for the writer of this story to use scrabble because it is a popular game that most people play and people can relate to this. If I was to write this story over, I think I would use the same characters because not only are they effective two characters, they are also two characters that people in this world now can relate to and can sort of learn from this story. I know it is unreal, but in some ways, this story is true. Couples who do not like being with eachother divorce or either kill their partner. So if I was to re write this story, I would use these two characters.

Question 5. By Analyce Grech 9SWI <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The rage gets to my fingertips and passes. My heart is beating. I'm sweating. I think my face actually twitches. Then I sigh, deeply, and sit back into my chair. The kettle starts whistling. As the whistle builds it makes me feel hotter. // <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">I have chosen that sentence from the short story because I think that it builds up allot of suspense to know what is happening next. When I read it is like the words are getting faster and faster as I read on. The author has used great descriptive language to describe his irritation and anger. It is also very realistic language and are feelings that people can actually feel when they are that angry and irritated. After I read that sentence I long to know what happens afterwards. I like this little part of the story because it uses good descriptive words to demonstrate how frustrated he really is. People can relate to it and you can form a very lifelike image of it in your head whilst reading it.

Death by scrabble-pg 3. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">//'I should be out, doing exercise, spending money, meeting people. I don't think I've spoken to anyone except my wife since Thursday morning. On Thursday morning I spoke to the milkman.'// The reason I chose to do this paragraph is because this is the reason the husband was angry at his wife. If he had of done things like this he would not have been angry at her. This is what really starts the story off and shows why the husband does these things to his wife like when he says 'If only there was some way for me to get rid of her.' If couples in real life did more active things together and have a fun and exiting life then they wouldnt hate eachother like the husband hated his wife.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Question 5: By Amelia Mafodda. **

<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">** Question 5: by Georgia Gatens Name of the story: ** Death by Scrabble by Charlie Fish.
 * Section: ** 26th paragraph

‘My wife sleeps all the time. She slept through an argument our next-door neighbours had that resulted in a broken door, a smashed TV and a Teletubby Lala doll with all the stuffing coming out. And then she bitched at me for being moody the next day from lack of sleep.’
 * Analysis **

<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">In this paragraph it shows an evident piece of writing that writes of how the wife truly does not care for her husband and shows how vicious she is towards him. This is evident when she doesn’t sympathize with him, that the fact he was moody the next day because he listened to an argument from the next door neighbours all night long and didn’t get any sleep, and she was sound asleep, and didn’t have to listen to the argument. She gets all angry at him because he is moody the next day, but doesn’t look at the event last night. She also is self-centered, this is because she doesn’t think about him, all she thinks is about her, this evident when he says “my wife sleeps all the time”, this shows that she only thinks about herself and not when her husband might want to sleep. <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Question 5: By Madeline Hughes My wife sleeps all the time. She slept through an argument our next-door neighbours had that resulted in a broken door, a smashed TV and a Teletubby Lala doll with all the stuffing coming out. And then she bitched at me for being moody the next day from lack of sleep. I have choosen this particular paragraph because I think it shows evidence that the wife does not show any care or love for her husband and no sympathy for him what so ever. Also, when the husband was tired the next day because he couldn't sleep because of the fight, she was really vicious towards him and saying that he should not be so moody but the only reason he was is because of the neighbours that were fighting and he could not get to sleep. I find that the wife only thinks about herself and only about herself when it comes to things that need to be done and I think the sentence "My wife sleeps all the time" is some real evidence of this.

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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">**Question 6: By Amelia Mafodda.** The story is set in a house on a Sunday afternoon on a hot summers day, with a husband and wife who are sitting down playing scrabble. The husband was angry because he wanted to be doing something more interesting than playing scrabble. The senery only changes a bit, when the wife goes into the kitchen but it does not say much about it. It is only to turn the kettle on. The senery does not need to change because the story is based on the scrabble board and if it did then it wouldnt make sense. The senery is important because it lets you paint a picture in the readers mind and use their imagination to see what the scene looks like. In this story saying what the senery is, is good because when you imagine what the story is like it puts you into the story and lets you feel what the people in the story feel. Lets you see what is happening, rather than hear it from the husband. ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">**Explanation:** This is a scetch of a scrabble board that shows some of the words that the husband and his wife had put on it. The words show what was happening at the begining of the game and how it first came to be jinxed <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">because of the word jinxed that his wife played. The whole story revolved around the scrabble game so I thought it would be significant to draw. ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">**Georgia:** to me this is a drawing of a scrabble board which is very relevant to the story. amelia's drawing shows some of the words used in the short story, which i think is very creative and really cool. ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maddii: I think that this sketch of the scrabble board using the words that were used in this story is a very smart and creative and it shows the different words that i would describe this story. Great Sketch Amelia. ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">my illustration is hand drawn pencil picture. it shows what i imagined the setting to be, the picture is based around my aunties beach house in flinders, where we sometimes go to. at the beach house is a table, were the light seeks through the window. this drawing is a event when my family went there for a week were one afternoon we played scrabble, on a hot summers day, and it was exactly like it was described in the short story. ======

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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amelia: This picture shows the setting of the scene which is very important in a story and it was a good idea that she used a reallife scene to create her picture and not make it up from what the story tells us. Great picture Georgia! ======

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The picture i have done is a college of images that i think represent all the words that are used in this particular short story. It just shows most of the words but put into images. All I have done is gotten some pictures of google images and made them into a college. It is quite simple but I have used my imagination to come up with ideas that people wouldnt usually think of when they hear that word. Also, the pictures are all around a big letter B.====== Comments: Amelia: I thought that it was very creative not draw a piece like a lot of people would do but put together a college of images that represent each word on the scrabble board. It is a good way to describe the words other than writing them. Awsome college Maddii.

georgia: i think your creative peice is really cool, and quiet imagative. i liked how you found images that match the story. great work!