Read this entire assignment before proceeding. We have recommended a procedure for working through the story, but you may find that following these steps in a different order works better for you!
Next, please read the version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears that is attached to this assignment (IMPORTANT: You must use the attached version of the story. It contains specific details not found in other versions that will affect your answers!).
After reading the story at least once, go through the story and make a list of every active choice that Goldilocks makes in the story. The choices should be presented in the same order that Goldilocks encounters them. Each should be written as a simple present tense sentence that describes the choice as specifically as possible. (TIP: Follow the story’s narrative but don’t copy-paste from it!)
After you create your list, edit it so that above each choice you describe in a simple present tense sentence the situation that prompts Goldilocks to make an active choice. Be specific about the moment that prompts the choice, even if the situation is broader! For example, the first situation and active choice might be:
SITUATION: Goldilocks’ mother asks her to go on an errand
CHOICE: Goldilocks obeys her mother.
Notice that the choice directly addresses the situation. There is more to this situation — Goldilocks wanting to play with her dolls, the nature of the errand, etc. — but we have focused on the moment that sets up Goldilocks’ choice!
Finally, go through your list a third time, editing it so that below each choice you describe in a simple present tense sentence the direct result of Goldilocks’ choice. Each result should lead towards the next situation on your list; sometimes the result and the next situation might even be the same! Continuing our previous example, we might now have:
SITUATION: Goldilocks’ mother asks her to go on an errand.
CHOICE: Goldilocks obeys her mother.
RESULT: Goldilocks walks along the road.
The result above sets up our next situation:
SITUATION: A butterfly flies near Goldilocks
CHOICE: Goldilocks chases the butterfly.
RESULT: Goldilocks ends up deep in the woods.
Notice that the SITUATION can be something that happens to Goldilocks instead of something she does. The RESULT can also be something that happens to Goldilocks, but it needs to be a change in situation that occurs directly because of Goldilocks’ CHOICE. And again, the CHOICE must always be something that Goldilocks (not another character!) does.
When doing this exercise, remember from class that active choices are external actions that a character can choose to do. “Thinking about something” is not an active choice because it is not external. Similarly, “being hungry” is not an active choice because no one chooses to “be hungry”; someone might choose ignore food and as a result become hungry, but it’s the person’s active choice to ignore the food that results in the hunger. Alternatively, someone might look for food and fail to find any, which will result in them being hungry, but their active choice is “look for food”. The failure to find the food and the resulting hunger would be a RESULT.