Lesson 4: High-Stakes Objectives

Fill in the blank: A ______ is a short narrative (story) that includes a specific relationship, setting, and conflict.

• summary

• dialogue

• scene

• character

Fill in the blank: ______ is the problem in the scene, often caused by conflicting objectives.

• conflict

• resolution

• setting

• theme

Fill in the blank: An ______ is what a character wants in a scene, what the character is fighting for.

• location

• objective

• costume

• accent

_______ are what the characters have to lose, what makes the scene more urgent or important for the characters.

• theme

• dialogue

• setting

• stakes

Which of the following is the definition of objective? (Circle your answer.)

• What the character has to lose, why it’s urgent or important for the character

• The problem in a scene, often caused by conflicting wants

• What a character wants in a scene, what the character fights for

Which pairs of objectives are CONFLICTING objectives?

• A) Boss wants employee to stop eating; Employee wants to obey the boss and make her happy.

• B) Brother wants sister to make him mac and cheese; Sister wants to leave for her date.

• C) Child wants to play video games; Mother wants to work on the garden.

• D) Alien wants to explore Earth; Human wants to learn more about alien by studying him.

Are these conflicting objectives?
Teacher wants student to complete missing work during detention time. 

1. Student wants to use detention time to write a note to a friend

• Yes, because they are identical.

• No, because they support each other.

• Yes, because they cannot both achieve their objective.

• No, because they are unrelated.

Which of the following rewrites the objectives so that they are CONFLICTING?

• Miguel wants to go to the park.

• Daniel wants to play with his friend Miguel.

• Miguel wants to go to the park. Daniel wants to stay home and not go to the park.

• Miguel wants to go to the park. Daniel wants to go to the park with Miguel.

• Miguel wants to go to the park. Daniel wants to play with his friend Miguel at the park.

• Miguel wants to go to the park. Daniel wants to read a book at home with Miguel.

Which of these objectives has HIGH STAKES? (Circle your answer.)

• I want to get my teacher to change my grade before my parents find out I’m failing.

• I want to eat cheese pizza instead of pepperoni pizza for dinner tonight.

• I want to change the wall color in my bedroom from bright magenta to pale green.

• I want to sleep in until noon instead of waking up at my normal time.

The objective you chose has HIGH STAKES because:

• It can significantly impact outcomes or results.

• It is easy to achieve with little effort.

• It has no effect on the overall situation.

• It is not important to the project's success.