(b) Ask your teacher to instruct the class that everyone should attempt to be as creative as possible in this activity, but to do so without writing something that will offend people.  Ask your teacher to define what is considered "offensive" in your classroom.

(c) Then each of you should write "1." on the first line and then write, "Once upon a time, ____________ had a problem with ______________."  Fill in the first blank with a made up name (not someone in the class); fill in the second blank with a silly, strange, or serious problem.  Because these two blanks represent two of the five W's of journalism, "who" and "what," you now can cross out these two W's at the top of your page to show that these two W's have been used.

(d) Next, write "2." on a second line and then write one sentence describing where and when the made up person in "1." is.  Then ross out "where" and "when" at the top of your sheet of paper.

(e) Finally, write "3." on a third line and then write a sentence naming a second made up person (who will later be talking with the first one), and why or how this second person is connected to the first one.  Then cross out "why/how" at the top of his or her sheet of paper.  You now have started a person-with-a-problem story by using the five W's of journalism.

(f) Next, pass your paper one person to your left.  Read the new story in front of you.

(g) Add another sentence to this new story by writing "4." and then writing a sentence showing some kind of action that Person #1 does, or some kind of action in the background that relates to the problem.  Then pass this story one person to your left.

(h) Read and add another sentence to the new paper in front of you by writing "5." and then writing a sentence describing the story's place or one of the two people in it.  Use one or two of the five senses to do so.  Once you've used one or two senses, go to the top of the sheet of paper and cross out the two senses you have used.  Then pass this story one person to your left.

(i) Read and add another sentence to the new paper in front of you by writing "6." and then writing what Person #1 said to Person #2.  Put the person's words in quotation marks (" "), and use a "he said" or "she said" (or something similar) before or after the quoted words, along with the person's name, to show who is speaking.  Then pass this story one person to your left.

(j) Follow the pattern of "g," "h," and "i" above, passing and reading a new story after each sentence.  However, use the following slight variations:

Sentence #7: Read your new story.  Show action again.  Pass the story.
Sentence #8: Describe using 1-2 unused senses.  Cross them out.  Pass the story.
Sentence #9: Write what Person #2 replied (in " ") to Person #1.  Pass the story.

Sentence #10: Show action again.  Pass the story.
Sentence #11: Use 1-2 more unused senses.  Cross them out.  Pass the story.
Sentence #12: Write what Person #1 replied (in " ").  Pass the story.

Sentence #13: Write any kind of ending that works.  You may write several sentences, if you wish.  Try to show more action, and try to have Person #2 reply again to Person #1, or even have them speak to each other a few more times.  Try to provide an interesting ending that shows some kind of solution or the beginning of a solution.

2. Seeing and Sensing Deeply: Everyone in the class should put all notes, paper, and pens or pencils down.  Then each person should go outside, remaining totally silent and not looking at or listening to anyone, and choose an object to look at that will be there for at least the next hour.  Everyone should examine his/her object carefully for one or two minutes, then return to the classroom and write as much as possible about it for five minutes.  This process then should be repeated a second time with the purpose of examining the object using all five senses and writing about it using the senses; then the process should be done a third time with the purpose of using the 5 W's.  If time allows, some or all of these rough draft writings can be read to the class.

Group Exercises

1. In groups, create ads.  First, imagine your group is an advertising team.  Pick a big company that is "hiring" your advertising team, and pick a type of product that you will name or rename.  Second, decide on (and write) the "plot"--(a) the audience, customers, or buyers, (b) a basic or important problem or lack these customers have, and (c) the way the product can solve this problem or lack.  Third, write an ad for TV, radio, magazines, or some other medium.  Fourth, report the three parts of the "plot" and your ad to the class.

2.  In groups, create case history profiles.  Choose a made-up person and use either a psychology profile or a social work profile:

Describe on paper the person, problem, and solution aspects of your profile (50-100 words each); then present your profile to the whole class.                              

4.  In groups, create legal case files.  Choose a made-up person and use either a lawyers' file or a police detectives' file:

Describe on paper the person, problem, and solution aspects of your case file (50-100 words each); then present your file to the whole class.

Write a rough-draft paper using the instructions in this chapter and the major subtitles suggested in the directions (200-500+ w. as assigned).

Please write a story, real or imagined, with a clear main person, main problem, solution, and a moral of the story. There should be a variety of paragraph types and lengths, a realistic progression through the process of solving the problem, and a great amount of detail using the 5 W's, the 5 senses, and dialogue. Please also include an active introduction that clearly states your person and problem, and an active conclusion which summarizes your problem and solution and clearly states your moral of the story.

(Here are three major steps of focusing during the writing process. Each is further divided (in most chapters) into two sub-steps. Remember that the steps shown here may be rearranged or otherwise changed to suit your individual writing needs.)

1. FOCUS ON A FIRST DRAFT (Brainstorm Ideas & Create a Rough Draft):

Brainstorm a story you'd like to tell--real, made up, or partly made up--about how you or someone else took care of a problem. You may start with "Once upon a time" if helpful. Use an idea list, story making, or imaging. Write freely.

2. FOCUS ON ORGANIZING (Evaluate Your Needs and Organize):

Look at samples & make the basic form:

intro--Introduce a person and problem; use dialogue/action.
body--Show the person solving the problem with dialogue/action.
concl.—Show (1) the problem & solution, (2) a moral to the story, and (3) final dialogue or action.

3. FOCUS ON A FINAL DRAFT (Revise and Edit):

Put the story in one-person, one-time, one-place detailed form. Check use of 5 W's, 5 senses, colorful verbs, & quotations (dialogue). Are beginning and end active?

1. ROUGH DRAFTING (Brainstorm Ideas & Create a Rough Draft):

Start brainstorming by feeding your brain: read this whole chapter quickly and casually; then look at the samples more carefully for a few minutes. Notice that the heart of a story is a description of a person solving a problem. Stories may be fiction or real and are used not only for creative writing but also for newspaper writing and in advertising.

Story writing has many uses in school and work. In school, you may find it most immediately useful when you are called upon to give extended examples of your subjects in academic papers. Short examples are relatively easy to find or create, but a longer example can be difficult. However, if you know the basic elements of how to create a story, you can create small stories for your examples. Such stories have a powerful effect on readers just because they are so complete. You can give real example stories, or you can give made up ones as long as you start with a phrase like this: "Here is a fictional example of how this might happen...." Story writing also is good practice for writing good research papers. The reason for this is that story writing usually involves writing dialogue. Dialogue is a relatively painless way to practice quotations and punctuation for them--skills you must use repeatedly in research writing.

In the world of work, the two most common uses of storytelling are, perhaps, in journalism and in advertising. Journalists sometimes are called upon to write profiles or in-depth examinations for magazines or "Style" sections of newspapers, and these profiles or examinations require writing about how some kind of problem was solved. Knowing how to create a story helps. In advertising, storytelling is one of the most common forms of commercials and ads. Basic advertising often uses storytelling to show a person (the consumer or client) with a problem (lack of this or that) for which there is a solution (the product or service).

When brainstorming a story, be creative. Everyone has at least one or two stories he or she always has wanted to tell. You may make a completely invented or "fiction" story, or you can make a completely true story. If you wish, you can do what many famous writers do and make a true story which has parts of it fictionalized: for example, changing the names, places, or times to protect the innocent (such as you!), or changing some parts of the story to make it more interesting than what happened in real life.

One way to start brainstorming is to write down (Once upon a time...." This phrase is so deeply imbedded in our Western cultural ways of thinking that often it, alone, is enough to get a story started within us. Other ways of getting started include letting ourselves go and telling about the worst or best thing that ever happened to us, telling our favorite fantasy, or inventing a new fantasy on paper: there is no need for embarrassment because we can simply change names, places, and times. And writing something personal often creates the best stories and the best writing of which we are capable.

ALTERNATIVE PAPERS: Story Ads and Case Studies

The patterns for writing story ads and case studies are in some cases similar. Look at the "Prewriting Exercises" above to see how such can be developed, and consider the additional methods described below in "Organizing" to add detail to your story ad or case study.  In addition, "Organizing" below has a more detailed discussion of how to organize a case study.

2. ORGANIZING (Evaluate Your Needs and Organize):

Before you begin writing your second draft, look carefully at the story map and the sample stories. Give your first draft the parts needed, expand or develop parts, and reorder and regroup ideas, sentences, and paragraphs as needed. The basic organization of a story is its person, its problem, and its solution.

Making a Plot

A story is a clear, simply ordered series of events showing how a person solves a problem to become better or at least different--or helps others to become better or different. Some stories show the opposite: someone becomes worse because of something he or she did wrong. Stories can be long or short --from a long novel to a short example or ad. Either way, a story simply tells how is a person solves a problem.

One useful formula for organizing your story is this:

"Once upon a time, ____________ had a problem with ___________ and solved it by _________________.  The result was __________________"

This formula and its parts are used in a number of fields.  The most common ways they are described are, perhaps, as follows:

Your introduction should be organized on two principles: first, the principle that all introductions should have some kind of summarizing beginning, and second, the principle that you should grab readers' interest at the beginning. The way to accomplish these is to have the following in the first half page:

(a) a mention of the main person,
(b) his/her main problem to be solved in the story, and
(c) action or dialogue throughout the introduction.

The body of your story should be organized in a very simple way: show the progress of the hero or heroine toward solving the problem and reaching the result. You may spend more time in detailing the problem, you may wish to develop the steps of solving in more detail, or you may wish to emphasize obstacles. Any one or more of these is appropriate for developing the body of the story, as long as they move your story toward its end. You may develop this body as you wish, but sometimes people use the following device to develop their stories. This device is a graph or "mountain" showing levels of tension created in the reader. The idea is to show the hero/heroine going through several obstacles (three is common), easiest first and most difficult last, to try to break through to the goal. As each obstacle is met and creates problems for the hero/heroine, tension levels in the readers rise:

Another alternative in using the pattern above is to develop a rhythm or division of three in the way you tell your story; in fact, this pattern often is used in both literary writing and the making of Hollywood movies:  

The conclusion of your story should once again embody the two principles of summarizing and of having an interesting end. You can accomplish this by having, somewhere in the last half page or so of your story, the following:

(a) a mention of the problem and of the specific solution,
(b) a clear mention of the result, and
(c) a mention of the moral of the story--the lesson to be learned.
(d) Remember to have dialogue or action throughout the conclusion, too.

The different parts of your story should, then, have the following features:

(1) an intro with (a) hero/heroine, (b) problem that will be solved, and (c) action/dialogue.

(2) a body with (a) details of progress toward solution, (b) several stages or steps in progress, and (c) plenty of details--action/dialogue.

(3) a concl. with (a) problem that was solved, (b) result, (c) moral or lesson of story, and (d) action/dialogue.

Provide plenty of details in an easy-to-read order.

Developing Details from a Summarizing First Draft

Many writers, especially those not used to writing stories or using a lot of close, descriptive detail, tend to write a summary of events in their first draft of a story, rather than an actual scene or set of scenes.  Here, for example, is the difference:

Critical Thinking Activity: Creating Similes and Metaphors

One extra key--or at least a helpful device--to creative writing of stories is worth mentioning: similes and metaphors. Similes are the devices that say that something is like something else; metaphors say that something is something else. For example, "Love is like a rose" is a simile; "Love is a rose" is a metaphor. Creative writing often delivers quick similes and metaphors in passing (for example, "He felt like a frog"; "As she danced, she became a rainbow inside"). Sometimes such writing will pause for a more leisurely and "full" simile or metaphor--one that explains itself in more detail. Here are the formulas for creating a full simile and metaphor, and examples:

__________ is like a ___________: both are __________, __________, and __________.

"Love is like a rose: both are sweet to smell and beautiful to behold, and both have thorns." _______ is a ________: _______, _______, and _______.

"Love is a rose: sweetly scented, pretty, and thorny."

There are many versions of similes and metaphors other than these; the two formulas above simply provide a starting point for learning to write good metaphors. They are useful not only in creative writing but also, in more straightforward and practical fashion, in trying to explain ideas or experiences in other college papers and even in business and news writing and in advertising.

Critical Thinking Activity: Writing a Case Study

        A case study is a specialized type of paper used in some social sciences, medical, legal, and other fields.  It often is found especially in a clinical or social-services setting, it describes the problem or illness of a patient or client, and it details a system or therapy for helping that patient.  Even though its specific use is in such fields, it has a more general application of dealing logically and rationally in a step-by-step manner with any kind of general problem in most professional workplaces and in many personal difficulties.  In so doing, it follows a common critical-thinking pattern of examining the background of a problem, the problem itself, a plan for solving the problem, the application of the solution, and the result.

        It is very unlike most story writing because a case study has a logical, sometimes even clinical tone, whereas a story often has a more creative and personal tone.  However, many of the same skills used in revising a story are used in developing a good case study: for example, the five senses and five W’s, an eye for what the client/patient looks, sounds, and feels like beneath the surface, a sense of the history of the patient, and especially the focus on a person, problem, and solution. 

        Case studies usually are written in the past tense—after the patient or client has already been seen and helped, and there is a result to the assistance.  The tone should be quite logical; in some settings, it also should be cool and distance, whereas in others a tone of warmth is allowed or even encouraged.  There is a sample case study at the end of this chapter.  And in "B. Prewriting Activities" are two activities that describe how to create a rough-draft case study in several different professions.

        Case studies also have organizational structures that are very different from stories.  There are many different versions of case studies in different disciplines and different professions.  However, here is a general pattern that is somewhat typical for developing a case study: 

Use these sections to break information about the client or patient into the appropriate parts.  Do not tell a story in a narrative form (i.e., don't just go from event to event in an order of time).  Instead, break up whatever story materials you do have into subject materials--the sections above--and, in each section, further break up the information by using a subject system of delivering information.  For example, in "Client/Patient" you can use the five W's, then the five senses, then social and family history, etc. as subject categories.

There is a sample case study at the end of this chapter.

3. FINAL DRAFTING (Revise and Edit):

Rewrite what you have done. Remember to use your rewriting skills, especially those which are good for making background settings and characters come alive. Use as much dialogue and action as possible. Frequent use of the 5 senses, the 5 W's, and active verbs will help. Try to write the story with a natural, smooth flow--as if you were telling a story to a close friend.

There are five main keys to telling a good story which are discussed here. They are as follows:

(1) the 5 senses,
(2) the 5 W's of journalism,
(3) active verbs for active scenes,
(4) a variety of paragraph lengths, and
(5) dialogue with proper punctuation.

The first key is the 5 senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell.

They should be used regularly. The reason all 5 senses should be used is that all of them together create a more full and realistic description. Often in our first drafts we use only one or two of the senses--either sight and sound or sight and touch--frequently. Our descriptions do not seem, at that point, nearly as full or as real as those by professional writers. However, if we add, even if briefly, more 5-sense descriptions, we often will be surprised at how much more full our scenes become. For example, compare the two sentences below:

A good guideline is to use each sense at least once or twice per typed page (double spaced) or computer screen (single spaced). For those of you writing by hand, this means using each sense at least oonce every handwritten page.

A second key is the 5 W's of journalism. Like the 5 senses, they are quite helpful in creating a story that seems full and real. They are useful especially in the beginnings of new scenes. In a short story such as this chapter assigns, the 5 W's should be used at least somewhere in the introduction. The 5 W's offer a reader everything he or she should know about the scene or story at the very beginning--who is involved, what is happening right then, where this is taking place (the setting), when, and why or how. These can be added to the beginning of a story in much the same way that you learned to add them to the beginning of a News Release.

A third key to good revising of stories is to use active verbs which create active scenes. One of the most important elements of good story revising is make movies, not just paint pictures. Painting pictures--making colorful scenes--is very important. But often your story will be even better if you make the paintings come alive and move. Here is an example:

There is an easy way to do this kind of revising: simply go through your earlier draft, circle all the verbs, and then go back and, one by one, see if you can make the verbs more lively. Notice that in the first example sentence immediately above, the verbs are printed in bold in preparation for being revised. You can revise not only the main verbs of the sentences and phrases, but also the verbs that are acting like adjectives.

The fourth key to good revising of stories is to vary the lengths of paragraphs. This has been discussed previously. However, story writing requires even closer attention to paragraph length variety than do Releases, Proposals, and Reports. Stories are one long, continuous progression of paragraphs--no breaks, no subtitles, and no divisions into sections. For this reason, readers can more quickly and easily become bored. Therefore it is very important to vary the length of your paragraphs to keep reader attention. Stick short summarizing paragraphs in between long and medium ones. Combine series of short or medium paragraphs to create long ones. Paragraph making is a flexible craft. For more ideas on how to build paragraphs, see the section later in this book on paragraphing.

A fifth key to good revising of stories is to be sure to add plenty of dialogue. Dialogue is talk that involves two or more people. Most stories have it, and some stories have more dialogue than any other kind of writing. Dialogue helps the plot progress, it makes for more interesting reading, and it is a good way to learn what the characters are thinking or feeling --let them explain themselves out loud! The way to make good dialogue is to avoid normal, day-to-day discussions--who wants to hear in a story about a character's laundry list or shopping trip? Rather, dialogue should show or develop tension and stress, and the way to do this is to make characters have tension between them. They may be angry, manipulating, misunderstanding, hiding, or confusing each other, or even coming from two entirely different wavelengths as they talk. And as they talk, they must walk a thin line to keep talking: they must not talk about boring things; however, they also must not develop so much tension that they stop talking and either fight or walk away. Keep your characters talking, and keep up the tension as they talk. And remember to put quotation marks around everything they say: the use of quotation marks and other punctuation for dialogue and quotations is discussed in a chapter of the grammar section of this book.

The final revised draft of your paper should have these characteristics:

(1) At least one use of each 5 sense on each typed page,

(2) All 5 W's somewhere in the beginning,

(3) Frequent use of active verbs that make scenes active,

(4) Frequent variety of paragraph lengths,

(5) Frequent dialogue with proper use of quotation marks, and

(6) Double check all the organizational requirements, grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Critical Thinking Activity: the rhetorical modes of EXEMPLIFICATION, NARRATION, CAUSE AND EFFECT, and DESCRIPTION.

If you are working with the rhetorical modes, a story uses several of them. It is especially useful for writing in the mode of exemplification. A story also requires narration, cause/effect, and description. Here's what you need to know to use these modes when writing a story.

"Exemplification" is "the giving of an example." An exemplification paper usually starts with a main idea, belief, or opinion--something abstract--and then gives one extended example or a series of shorter examples to illustrate that main idea. In fact, an exemplification paper is a paper that illustrates an abstract idea. For example, if I wished to write an exemplification paper about "The Opposite Sex--Problems and Pleasures" (as a man or as a woman), there might be two ways I could go about this. One would be, after introducing my general idea, to tell several little stories about how the opposite sex can be both a problem to deal with and a pleasure to be with. The other way I might write the paper (and a stronger, more unified way of doing it) might be to pick out one person of the opposite sex I have dated or lived with and describe how this one person gave me both problems and pleasures in my overall relationship with him or her.

Exemplification is useful in story writing in two ways. First, the general meaning of the word "example" is that you should give specific details about something. Certainly story writing requires this. A story is not an abstract idea: it is the specific detail of some event. So in the sense of an example being "something specific," an entire story is one long series of examples. Second, in a deeper sense, a story is a type of giant example: it shows some kind of moral, idea, or belief--except it does not show it by talking about it or arguing for or against it logically. Rather, the whole story is the example for what we might call the moral of the story. The moral of the story is the main idea; the story is the exemplification paper about the idea.

"Narration" is "a giving of details of an event in order." A narration paper describes, in a step-by-step order, the details of something that has happened. It is a process paper (process papers give directions, like recipes) that is past tense and describes an event: a past-tense process paper that uses exemplification to illustrate what has already happened in close detail. History books are filled with narrations. For example, if I were to describe the visit of the Pope to Denver in 1993, I would use his itinerary and give details of each major event in that visit. If I were writing a book about it, I would give details of many of the more interesting minor events as well. I would do this in the order in which they occurred.

Narration is necessary in story writing because a story is a narrated series of events--an orderly, step-by-step description of something that happened. Most stories are in the past tense, as are narrations, but some stories also are in the present tense. One of the major differences between a story and a simple narration is that sometimes a story is made up, wholly or partly, whereas a narration paper almost always is supposed to be true.

"Cause/effect" has been described in the News writing and Proposal chapters. It is particularly important in story writing because a story needs something more than just a narrative to make it a true story. A Narrative is just a detailed chain of events. The only way the vents are tied together is by subject and time. However, a story has a plot: a person with a problem and a solution. This person-problem-solution-result chain of events is called a plot. And it is a chain of events ruled by cause and effect: the problem must lead to a seeking of a solution, and the solution must lead to some kind of result. For this reason, cause/effect reasoning is at the core of a story: cause/effect forms the story's plot.

"Description" is "illustrative detail." A description paper often takes a person or object and then describes that person or thing in great illustrative detail. For example, a description paper about my best friend might describe his appearance, his actions, and his personality, both through direct descriptive words--like paintings of him in different poses--and through stories or vignettes showing him in action.

Description is necessary in story writing because a good story is composed of detail, detail, detail. Story writing uses a number of descriptive details including the 5 W's of journalism, the 5 senses, and active verbs. All of these help create close, full, and realistic detail.

CONCLUSION

When you are writing your story, put it into good typed or printed format--dark and easily readable with approximate 1" margins. Be sure to give it a title and have your name in an appropriate place. A story is simply a description of a person solving a problem. This is how it is done.

Here is one or more sample papers written by students. Though each represents an "A" level of work, remember that particular requirements given to you in your own class may differ slightly from what is shown here. Some types of papers in this textbook also have several different ways of being written.

NOTE: PLEASE READ ONE SHORT, ROUGH-DRAFT SAMPLE AND ONE LONG SAMPLE BELOW OF THE TYPE OF PAPER YOU LAN TO WRITE.

Sample #1: a Short, Rough-Draft True Story (edited)

TO HEAR YOU CRY
by
Senora Thompson

        I fought to stay alert, but my weary, painful body wouldn't obey.  I ached to hear her cry, to bellow out at the shock of her new world, only my ears listened to the silence of the heart monitor.

        I felt my husband, David's, trembling hands caress my forehead, pushing my hair back from my face.  I couldn't bring myself to look into his eyes and face the truth.  I heard his words, soft and loving, flow through me as he told me, "I'll hold her; go ahead and sleep," and I drifted away, exhausted.

        Awakening, I realized I had slept only fifteen minutes.  My mind screamed "Father, bring her life, her now."  I prayed, but like David, I knew in my heart it would not come to pass.

        I turned my head towards my husband, who was cradling our tiny daughter as he held her tightly in his arms, rocking back and forth in the rocking chair.  His soothing, loving voice sang a melody that only a daughter and father share.  He was keeping her tiny body warm by letting it draw warmth from his, trying desperately to give her his lifetime of protection in one lifetime's moment.

        Our eyes met, and I could see his spirit empty, dying hopelessly, feeling the powerlessness of his manhood.  He wanted to exchange his life for hers.  It was written on his face, the anguish and anger.  He wanted a chance to fight with all his might against the intruder taking his little girl's life.

        When he stood up from the rocking chair, carrying our baby to me, a cry of agony escaped his soul.  He placed her in my arms.  I reached up to hold him, too, while his whole body shook with the anguished sobs of a broken heart.  We embraced our daughter throughout the night.  We both ached to hear her first cry; only our own cries echoes in the delivery room.

Sample #2: a Finished True Story (edited) 

Sam Nitzkowski
ENGC 3027 sec.8-Jewell
Graded paper #1: Due week #5 10/6/00

by Sam Nitzkowski

        I was sitting with Doug Chini on the porch of a restaurant in Florence, Italy on an autumn day at 4:30 in the afternoon. Doug was my roommate at the hotel down the street. Our college had put us up in the hotel for a week to allow us to find an apartment for the year. "What are you hungry for?" I asked Doug as I skimmed the menu.

        Doug looked up at me and said with a slight hint of irony, "I think I’ll try the pizza." That was a logical choice, I thought. After all, we had just arrived in Italy and were anxious to taste "real" pizza.

        While deciding what kind of pizza I wanted, out of the corner of my eye I saw her. She was the only person working at the time. God she was beautiful—tall, thin, and full figured. She detected my gaze and approached us to take our order. After taking our order, she quickly interrupted, "I’m sorry, we’re not serving food now, but you guys can get drinks if you want."

        "I’ll have a Guinness," I said.

        "And I’ll have a Beck’s," Doug chimed in.

        Then she disappeared behind the bar. As she left, her perfume lingered in the air behind her. I could not identify what it was, but it smelled good. When she came back with our drinks, I said to her, "We’re both students here for the year. If I could have your phone number, maybe we could go out and do something sometime."

        Insulted, she quickly retorted, "Italian girls aren’t like American girls. We don’t just give out our phone numbers." Then she turned and marched back into the restaurant. While her words rang in my ear, a determination to get a date with this girl built up inside me. Feeling a little disappointed, I took a sip of my beer. It tasted unusually acidic for Guinness, but then again, maybe that was due to my depressed mood. Doug and I promptly finished our beers, paid and walked out.

        Two days later I returned to the restaurant to get a drink. It was late evening, about 9:00. As I grabbed a seat at the bar, I realized that the mysterious girl from the other day was the bartender. I also recognized the smell of her perfume, barely detectable amidst the cloud of cigarette smoke that hovered over the bar. "Hi," I said smiling cheerfully.

        "Oh," she sighed, rolling her eyes, "it's you again."

        I noticed a faint smile flash across her face. That half smile encouraged me to initiate a conversation, so I said casually, "At least you remembered me"; then in a more worried tone, I continued, "Is that good or bad?"

        She smirked and replied, "It’s neither. I just have a good memory for faces."

        "Do you work here a lot?" I asked. This was a crucial point in our interaction. Either she would answer the question, indicating an interest to     talk with me, or she would blow it off and go back to work. As I waited to see if she would answer, I felt my heart drop to the pit of my stomach.

        I must admit that I was somewhat surprised when she went with the former, answering in a tone that was friendlier than expected: "My family owns the restaurant, so I get stuck working a lot to help out when it’s busy. In the fall, Florence is packed with tourists, so I have to work about ten hours a day."

        At that moment an impatient client blurted out, "What the hell do I have to do to get a drink around here?"

        While she scurried off to the other end of the bar, she murmured over her shoulder, "Be back in a second." When she returned she said, "It’s really busy tonight; I should probably get back to work."

        Feeling a little defeated, I asked, "Can I at least get your name?"

        She smiled again and replied, "My name is Anna"; then appearing slightly interested, she asked, "What is your name?" 

        I said, full of confidence, "My name is Sam."

        "Well, Sam, I get off work tomorrow at 10:00. If you want to do something, meet me here."

        Delighted, I said, "Okay, see you tomorrow." As I finished my drink, I patted myself on the back and thought, "Well, you still don’t have her number, but at least you’ve made some progress." As I returned to the hotel, I kept thinking about Anna and wondering what we would do on our first "date."

        The next day I returned to the restaurant at 10:00 p.m. sharp to meet Anna. Upon seeing me enter, Anna rushed over to me and whispered, "I’ll be done in a few minutes: wait for me outside."

        It seemed a little strange that she wanted me to wait outside, but I said to myself, "You’ve got nothing to lose; maybe she’ll take off while you’re standing outside like an idiot by yourself, but at least you’ll know then if she’s sincerely interested."

        About ten minutes after I had left, I saw Anna walk out. "Sorry to make you wait outside," she said. "It’s just that I don’t want everyone to see that I’m leaving with a guy. Then they’ll all give me a hard time about it tomorrow at work."

        "Okay," I said not really knowing what else to say. "What do you want to do?"

        Anna, immediately revealing herself to be fairly intelligent, replied, "Well, we don’t really know each other that well. Why don’t we just go for a walk?"

        That was better than nothing, so I agreed and we started walking. As we walked, I slipped my hand into her hand. It felt pleasantly warm and reassured me that Anna was happy to be in my company. The night air was filled with the sound of traffic and the strange stench, which by now I had gotten used to, which so distinguishes Florence from any other city in Europe. While we walked Anna told me that her family owned not only the restaurant but a hotel as well. She explained that she had gone to college for a couple of years to study chemistry, but then she had felt obligated to help out with the family businesses.

        At the end of our walk, I asked again, "Now that you know me, can I have your phone number?"

        Somewhat alarmed, Anna asked me, "Why do you want my number so bad? I’m always at work."  Then she said in a more friendly tone, "If you ever want to talk to me, just come to the restaurant." She could see my disappointment and added, "Look, I have to work for the rest of the week until close, but I get off early on Saturday night. If you want, we can go out."

        I quickly nodded, and she continued, "Alright, meet me outside Decò at 10:00 Saturday night and we’ll go out."

        Having said this, she jumped on her motorino and took off. Once again another encounter had come to an end, and I still didn’t have a number. I did have another date to look forward to and so, as I returned to the hotel. The only thing I could think of was our next meeting and I thought to myself, "Good God, I hope she doesn’t want to go on another walk Saturday."

        By the time Saturday night had rolled around, I had convinced myself that Anna wouldn’t make me go on another walk with her, so I had taken the liberty to dress more for the club scene that night. Again I waited outside Decò, and again at about ten minutes after 10:00, I saw Anna walk out.

        "Ciaò Anna," I said.

        "Ciaò Sam," she responded.

        "What do you want to do?" I asked.

        "There’s this cool disco-pub up the street; let's go hang out there," she replied.

        That was fine with me, so we walked up the street, away from piazza della Libertà for about fifteen minutes. Then we stopped in front of building with the words "Café Torino" written over the door. I looked around: just like Decò, the restaurant/bar that Anna’s family owned, Café Torino had a patio area crowded with people. Inside there was music, a dance floor, and tables around the perimeter of the main room where people could sit down and sip cocktails. We walked in and sat at a table.

        Being a gentleman, I asked, "What do you want to drink?"

        "I’ll have a Campari," Anna said coolly.

        When a waitress came to take our order, I said, "She’ll have a Campari soda, and I’ll have a martini with Bombay Sapphire gin."

        "Olives with the martini?" the waitress asked.

        "Yes," I said, "I’ll take olives."

        While we drank our cocktails, we exchanged novelties of the week and talked more about what was going on in our lives. It was a little difficult to hear each other over the loud music, but I could tell that she was enjoying herself. Everything was going well. Even the martini tasted unusually good. It had just the right amount of vermouth in it. After we had each had a few drinks, I inquired, "What do you want to do now?"

        Anna said, "I don’t know; this is getting kind of boring, though."

        I tried to think quickly, and then I got an idea. During the week, I had found an apartment; my roommate, Christina, an Italian in her late twenties, was having a party at our apartment that night. "My roommate is having a little party tonight. Do you want to go there and see what’s going on?"

        "Sure," Anna answered. Having decided, we got on her motorino and headed for my apartment on the other side of Florence. As I sat on the back of her scooter, our bodies pressed together momentarily when she took off. The warmth of her touch shot through my body, and it felt wonderful.

        It was about a ten-minute ride to my apartment. When we got there, everyone was hanging out and having drinks. It seemed like a pretty nice party. We walked in, and I introduced Anna to everyone.

        "What did you guys do tonight?" Christina asked us.

        "We went to Café Torino," I said, "but that got old, so we decided to come back here and hang out." Her little party had grown into a full-fledged bash. Loud music and the smell of cigarette smoke filled the room, overwhelming my senses.

        "Great!" Christina exclaimed, "What do you want to drink?"

        "We’ll just have some red wine," I said. The question made me chuckle because I knew for a fact that we didn’t have any other alcoholic drinks in the house. Although it was cheap, the wine tasted surprisingly good, but then again, just about any wine tastes good when it’s not contaminated with sulfites, like all of the wine sold in the U.S.

        "Do you want to dance?" Anna asked.

        "Sure," I yelled over the music.

        As we danced, our bodies pressed together the same way that they had when we were on Anna’s scooter. We were so close that I thought I could feel her heart beat.

        "Are you glad that we came here?" I asked her.

        "Yes," She replied. Then she added, "Now I know where you live."

        "What do you think of the apartment?" I asked her.

        "Its pretty nice, not really what I expected for a college student’s apartment," she answered.

        We continued to dance and chat idly until late into the night, or early into the morning, depending on how you look at it. All good things must come to an end, however, and unfortunately, that included our date.

        By 4:00 a.m. my apartment was almost empty. The smell of red wine and stale cigarette smoke hung in the air. Anna turned to me and said, "I had a really nice time tonight, but it’s late and I should probably get going."  

        I shrugged and gulped down the last bit of wine in my cup with difficulty. At some point in the evening, someone had lost the cork for the bottle, so the wine had acquired a strong acidic taste that made me shudder as I swallowed it.  While she was getting ready to go, I saw her grab the pen and pad that was by our phone. "What are you doing?" I asked, surprised.

        "I’m writing my number," she said with a smile. "Why, don’t you want it anymore?"

        "Of course I do," I said. I felt my face get warm as I blushed. "I’ve never had to work so hard in my life just to get a number. Do you think that  I don’t want it now?"

        We laughed and said good night to each other. Another date had come to an end, but this time I had actually got her number, and I felt content that I had succeeded in my personal struggle. Now, two years later, looking back at this makes me smile. Anna is my wife, now, and she is living with me in my country. In my case, perseverance paid off. Not only did I get the number in the end, but I also met the woman who became my wife. Both would have passed me by if I had given up.

Sample #3: a Finished Case Study (unedited)

Laleh Yaghoubi
EngC 3014 - Jewell
Section 10
Case Study Draft III
4/19/99

Torture
by Laleh Yaghoubi

        The following is a case study of a male client, Mubilajeh, suffering from a sexual disorder (impotence).  Erectile disorder, the inability to have an erection or maintain one, is currently the most common sexual disorder among men (Hyde 468).  One result of erectile disorder is that the man cannot engage in sexual intercourse.  For many men, including this individual, psychological reactions to erectile disorder may be severe: embarrassment, depression, and anxiety.  The client was diagnosed and given an assessment with the goal of determining the factors.  Through a process of discovery, the client's history finally revealed that the impotence was actually a result of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) caused by a past experience.  People with PTSD fear re-experiencing a traumatic event and sometimes are unable to remember certain aspects (Barlow 138). However, through psychoanalytic therapy, this client illustrates a successful recovery.

        This section presents at brief client assessment and a case history of the client considered in the study.  Mubilajeh, thin proportioned and nearly seven feet tall, is a thirty-year-old African male who is originally from Nigeria.  Mubilajeh is a peaceful and proud African man.  He has been married to his wife Zhane for nine years, and they hope to have children very soon.

        At the age of fourteen, Mubilajeh's father passed away, which left his mother alone to raise six children.  Mubilajeh was the oldest of the six children.  After his father's death, Mubilajeh felt obligated as "man of the house" to financially support his family.  These difficult times forced him to quit school, and he found a full-time job at a neighborhood library.  Mubilajeh had always been an excellent student in school; he especially missed writing his creative stories.  Mubilajeh found his job extremely boring; therefore, he kept himself occupied reading anything he found interesting in the library to pass time.  Mubilajeh returned back to school when his brothers were old enough to work and help financially support the rest of the family.  This allowed all three of them to work and attend school.  Mubilajeh eagerly continued and completed his education at a local university.

        In Nigeria, Mubilajeh became a well-known professional writer and an engineer.  He later published a story that was very controversial, and as a result stirred up a lot of political debate.  The Nigerian government felt that it was a cause for starting a revolution.  Hence, he and his wife escaped to the United States.  They moved to Philadelphia approximately four years ago and live in a one-bedroom apartment a mile from Mubilajeh's place of employment.  Mubilajeh is a hard working janitor in the emergency room section of St. John's hospital.

Diagnosis

        This section presents a description of the client’s problems and a diagnosis of the client under study.  Mubilaieh's complaints presented a list of symptoms associated with a particular kind of sexual disorder, erectile dysfunction (impotence).  This has been a very embarrassing and stressful problem for him and has put a strain on his relationship with his wife, Zhane.  Zhane has been sympathetic but she is very worried about him.

        Mubilajeh was feeling sharp pains in his lower back and proceeded to see a doctor at his place of work.  During his medical office examination, Dr. Dahl (gray haired and distinguished) noticed twenty enormous burn scars all over Mubilajeh's back.  Though healed through time, the scars still felt rough like the bark of a tree.  Dr. Dahl asked Mubilajeh, "How did you get those?"  However, Mubilajeh didn't want to talk about it.  'We don't have to talk about it, but I am rather concerned about that possible hernia," replied Dr. Dahl.  After x-rays and further tests Dr. Dahl revisited with Mubilajeh and determined that surgery was urgently necessary.

        After Mubilajeh's surgery, Dr. Dahl reported the successful results to Zhane.  Dr. Dahl, concerned about further possible problems with Mubilajeh's health, asked Zhane how Mubilajeh got the severe scars on his back.  Zhane explained that due to the controversial story that Mubilajeh published, a group of soldiers came to their house and captured him.  That same night, the soldiers returned and raped Zhane.  After several weeks the soldiers released Mubilajeh.  Barely alive, he finally returned home.  He had broken bones, severe burns, and bruises.  Zhane explained that she never told Mubilajeh of her rape by the soldiers.  Also, Zhane volunteered to share that she and Mubilajeh had been experiencing intimacy problems. During his routine patient check-up, Dr. Dahl consulted with Mubilajeh about the information Zhane had shared with him.  Mubilajeh confessed that he had been experiencing impotency.

        During a standard room check/preparation one day, Nurse Elliot walked in and found Mubilajeh in the comer of an examination room.  The room was in disarray. Mubilajeh had blood all over his hands and shirt. Nurse Elliot not only found surgical scissors in his hands, but also saw Zhane lying unconscious on the floor in front of him.  Security was called and Mubilajeh was arrested.  When Zhane finally became conscious from her coma, she explained that after shamefully confessing to Mubilajeh of her rape, she repeatedly struck herself with the surgical scissors.  Mubilajeh was only trying to stop her.  "He felt responsible for what happened to me.  I felt ashamed, like I could never please him again," stated Zhane. Mubilajeh was temporarily released.

         Due to illegal entry into the United States, the immigration office demanded to hear Mubilajeh's whole story in court. Otherwise, Mubilajeh and his wife would be forced to leave the country.  However, Mubilajeh could not remember anything from the incident.  It was diagnosed that Mubilajeh was suffering from a posttraumatic stress disorder.

        This section presents the treatment plan that was used for dealing with the client's problem.  Also, this section will describe the results and outcome of how that process was applied.  This plan took into consideration the severity of Mubilajeh's disorder with regard to his resistance to treatment.

COMPONENTS (Type of Therapy Chosen)

        From a psychological point of view, most clinicians agree that victims of PTSD should face the original trauma in order to develop effective coping procedures and thus overcome the debilitating effects of the disorder.  In psychoanalytic therapy, reliving emotional trauma to relieve emotional suffering is called catharsis (Barlow 144).  The trick, of course, is in arranging the re-exposure so that it will be therapeutic rather than traumatic once again.  A traumatic event is difficult to recreate, and very few therapists want to try.  Therefore, imaginal exposure, in which the content of the trauma and the emotions involved with it are worked through systematically, may be used.

        Another complication is that trauma victims often repress their memories of the event.  This happens automatically and unconsciously.  On occasion, with treatment, the memories flood back and the patient very dramatically relives the episode.  Although this may be very frightening to both patient and therapist, it is therapeutic if handled appropriately.

APPLICATION (of Therapy to This Patient)

        Given Mubilajeh's resistance to seek professional help, Dr. Dahl attempted to find another strategy for treatment.  Mubilajeh was still reluctant to seek psychological therapy, but he was beginning to feel more comfortable discussing his problems with Dr. Dahl.  As a result, Dr. Dahl spontaneously decided to share a personal experience with Mubilajeh in which he suffered memory loss caused by PTSD from a traumatic incident.

        He explained the gruesome details of a viscous attack.  "Afterwards, all I could think of was 'why didn't I do anything?"' explained Dr. Dahl. "You can't . . .you can't do anything.  You're helpless," replied Mubilajeh.  All of a sudden, Mubilajeh remembered what happened to him.  He recalled his eyes tightly blindfolded, the unbearable smell of smoke, the excruciating pain of being hung by his hands, and the metal irons burning into his skin.  He hopelessly wondered if he would ever taste Zhane's sweet lips again or smell the scent of her perfume.

Results/Outcome

        This section presents the results of the treatment plan used in the study.  After hearing all of the details, the courts agreed to allow Mubilajeh and Zhane to remain in the United States.  Due to the psychoanalytic therapy process used by Dr. Dahl, our diagnosis of Mubilajeh's PTSD showed itself to be valid. Dr. Dahl's strategy was successful and Mubilajeh was able to remember the details of his traumatic experience.  

        Cognitive, Behavioral and Couple Therapy later used in the treatment process also provided successful results.  Mubilajeh learned to overcome the fear and horror of his past traumatic experience.  The anxiety caused by these emotions was gradually overcome, as was the sexual disorder.

Conclusion

        The author hopes that the case study presented here has communicated some of the issues and concerns associated with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.  The author also hopes to show the damaging effects that patients may suffer as a result of this disorder.  Such individuals are often doubly handicapped.  Our hypothesis that Mubilajeh's sexual disorder was actually a result of PTSD caused by a past experience proved to be valid. Mubilajeh was not only suffering from severe psychological problems caused by PTSD, but psychological problems from his sexual disorder as well. With a helpful, caring doctor and a therapeutic treatment program he was able successfully recover.

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[Readers please note: normally the bibliography (as below) should be double-spaced ON A SEPARATELY NUMBERED PAGE.]

References  [Readers please note: this bibliography is in APA style, not the more common MLA style.]

Barlow, D., & Durand, M. (1999). Abnormal Psychology: Anxiety Disorders (pp. 138-144).  New York: State University of New York.

Hyde, J., & DeLarnater, I (1997). Understanding Human Sexuality: Sexual Disorders (pp. 468-49 1). Madison: University of Wisconsin.