This week's prompts had a romantic theme in honour of Valentine's Day.
Romantic Encounters
What is Romance?
In the strictest academic terms, a romance is a narrative genre in literature that involves a mysterious, adventurous, or spiritual story line where the focus is on a quest that involves bravery and strong values, not always a love interest. However, modern definitions of romance also include stories that have a relationship issue as the main focus.
Examples of Romance
In the academic sense, an example of a romance is a story in which the main character is a hero who must conquer various challenges as part of a quest. Each challenge could be its own story and can be taken out of the overall story without harming the plot.
Example 1
§ A knight who wishes to prove himself by recovering a stolen heirloom from an enemy may find himself attempting to make his way through a dangerous wood filled with thieves.
§ Once he has accomplished this challenge, he may find himself climbing a tall mountain on which a group of people are in trouble. He would save the group somehow, and then move on.
§ Then the final stage: the enemy’s kingdom. There may be a fair maiden whom he meets and somehow helps or rescues, or perhaps she helps him.
But the fair maiden is not the focus of the story – his quest is the focus. Each story can be taken out, yet each builds the hero’s strength to face his final quest. These stories tend to be serious rather than humorous and touch on strong values.
Example 2
A modern romance would include:
§ The story of a character who keeps meeting the wrong type of people in his or her relationships or has run into a problem with a current love relationship.
§ The story would focus on the struggles the character faces while finding Mr. or Mrs. Right. The whole focus would be the relationship, although the character may also be dealing with other struggles, such as losing a job, handling difficult parents, etc.
These stories may be funny, sad, tragic, serious, or a mix. The obvious resolution to the conflict would be finding the right person or saving the present relationship.
Literaryterms.net/romance/
Prompts
1. “I never stood a chance did I?”
“That’s the sad part. You did once.” www.medium.com
2. “I love you,” he whispers under his breath as the love of his life walks down the aisle to the man he is paid to assassinate. www.writedivas.com
3. She was beautiful in every way but, God, her feet stank.
4. I was used to being alone. Immortals learn to accept solitude after awhile. I only went on the blind date so that my friend would stop bugging me.
5. Father John looked over at Sister Mary. He didn’t even know her name before she’d taken her vows, but God help him, he was in love with her.
Write a story about:
a. A knight who goes on a quest to save a dragon.
b. People who meet at an animal shelter.
c. Two people who hated each other as children and meet at a singles night event.
d. Someone who falls in love with a ghost.
Choose a candy heart (a box of candy hearts was provided) and use what is written on it to complete one of the sentences below.
i. When I came back from lunch, there was a candy heart on my keyboard. It said __________.
ii. I couldn’t wait to see what was in the mysterious package I’d picked up from the post office. Inside was a bag of candy hearts. The message _____________ was on every one of them.
iii. Cereal was still my go-to breakfast in the morning. But today when I upended the box to my bowl, candy hearts came out instead. They all said ____________.
iv. A stranger bumps into you and you feel them grab your hand. When you look, there is a candy heart in your palm with the message ______________.
Next Meeting
Sunday, November 23rd
Leader: Clare
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