Virtue : a beneficial quality of moral excellence

Vignette Guidelines

Vignette: a short, descriptive literary sketch, focusing on a particular moment or person

Due: ___________________________

Over the last two weeks, you have observed the positive actions of others and recorded them in journal format. Perhaps the events you witnessed were significant demonstrations of selflessness. Maybe they were small moments of simple kindness. Regardless, each one can provide the seed for a vignette to immortalize the moment.

Your task is to review the journal entries and choose one that has touched you in some way. Then, “sketch your vignette,” “paint your picture,” write your recollection of what happened. The best vignettes will be detailed, allowing the reader to live the moment with you. Additionally, they should reveal character’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions. This is easy if you are writing about an incident of which you were a part. However, if you are a third person witness, you must play the role of the omniscient narrator who “sees all and knows all.”

This is creative writing, not formal; therefore, our rules of formal writing do not apply. However, I expect you to follow the conventions of proper English (translation: good mechanics) except in cases were purposeful fragments or other “broken” rules create an “effect.”

Guidelines:

• 1-2 pages in length
• Typed, double spaced in 12 pt. Times New Roman
• A creative, thoughtful title
• Name and date only in upper right hand corner
• No spelling errors or three point demons
• Feel free to draw inspiration from the model on the reverse. (Note: the piece is much longer than it appears because it has been reduced to 10 pt type.)

Be creative – try to have fun with this assignment.

Vignette Reminders:

Don’t rely on a beginning, middle or end – jump right into the moment.

Not: Once I was in the café and this girl dropped her tray . . .

Try: Slippery salad, burnt tater tots, and a meatball grinder fell to the floor as . . .

Use the five senses: What were the sounds, smells, sights . . . that you can vividly recall from the moment?

Don’t TELL me – SHOW me!

Not: She was so sad.

Try: Tears welled in her eyes, threatening to spill down her face, and with shoulders slumped, she turned away.

Don’t travel far in time:

Not: a story that takes place over the course of a week

Try: a moment that occurred in 15 minutes, 5 minutes, 1 minute

Model of Vignette

It Was an Easy Decision

      Shrieks of laughter wafted up the stairs as the two brothers played a rousing game of knee hockey. The six year old, decked out in a goalie mask, blocker, and glove, bounced from one end of the small net to the other, working hard to deflect the shots of his 11-year-old brother. “No goal, no goal!” he shouted passionately, as the puck slipped between his legs into the net. “Come on, buddy,” said the older of the two. “Let’s convince Mom to make us some ice cream,” and together they bounded up the stairs to start their tag-team pleading. Minutes later, they sat at the counter, the little one begging for another game.

      It was not an unusual sight, these two brothers playing peacefully, but neither was it common anymore. Middle school had captured the elder’s attention, and he spent more time instant messenging friends and downloading itunes than playing with his younger brother. That’s why the little one, who clearly idolized the other, was reveling in every minute of the evening’s camaraderie.

     “Hey,” he squeaked, “you wanna sleep in my room tonight? I’ll let ya have the bed and my favorite stuffed animal.”

     “Sure, buddy, sure,” came the quick reply.

     “Okay, good, now let’s get back to our game. Sorry, Mom, can’t talk,” he continued. “We gotta go play the championship round.”

      The woman chuckled at her youngest son and smiled as the older boy plucked the ringing phone off its hook, murmuring a quick hello into the receiver. Shortly after, his eyes lit up as the neighbor’s invitation unraveled: go to the movies, sleep over, and play the new Xbox 360 far into the night. The decision was an easy one.

      Packing was a quiet affair, with the six year old standing solemnly by as his former friend for the evening stuffed clothes into a duffel bag.

     “Don’t worry, little buddy,” he said as he tousled the hair of his younger brother, “we’ll have our sleep over tomorrow night,” but promises of future fun cannot compete with the immediate sadness that shrouded the disappointed boy. He sat glumly on the stairs, staring at the front door, as his hopes for a fun evening walked out, sleeping bag in hand.

      Fifteen minutes later, the door bell rang, and the mother looked out to see her neighbor – and her older son – standing on the front porch. “He said it just wasn’t a good night,” the man began, as he shrugged his shoulders. “So I told him the boys could get together another time.” Suddenly, that new, cool middle-schooler seemed young again as he looked up into his mother’s face. “It’s so hard being the older brother,” he said. And without another word, he walked up the stairs, where a small bed and a favorite stuffed animal awaited.