The Essence of Story

Assignment 5

Outline showing External Conflict in First Scene

by Colleen Forrest

© June 7, 1999

Level: Beginner

Paula Grey is a piano player. She's 17 years old.

The story opens with Paula playing at an audition to earn a scholarship at Juliard. Mechanically, she plays very well, but she has a slow left hand. It can't make the chord changes as quickly as her right hand can, and this causes her to drag the tempo.    She wants to study at Juliard, but her family doesn’t have the money to send her there, so she needs to get a scholarship. Paula doesn’t get the scholarship because her left hand is slow.

Paula has been playing piano for her high school's choir, but the choir isn't that good, so Paula playing isn't noticed that much.

The one everyone does notice is Jeff Wheaton. Jeff plays piano for the high school's elite singing group, the Alpha Singers, made up of the school's best vocalists.

After a particularly grueling concert, where the choir was off key and off tempo, and the Alpha Singers have brought down the house, she starts playing one of the Alpha Singers songs -- she learned to play it by ear. Jeff hears her playing it and goes ballistic. How dare little ole' her think she can actually play one of his pieces. He sneaks behind her with a couple of the Alpha Singers and proceeds to critique her playing, cutting her down as much as possible. The jib that hurts most is when he mentions her slow left hand. "No wonder she couldn't keep tempo with the choir." He follows this up with the jib that Paula should only be allowed to play music designed for the right hand alone. Paula leaves the theater in tears.

Paula does some research at the library and finds out there's an annual piano contest at the Baldwin community center, the first prize is another chance to audition at Juliard. She applies for the contest and selects her music. The contest is only two-month away, but she practices diligently, balancing this between the music she has to learn for the choir and visiting her mother in the hospital, but still, she can't keep the tempo. She gets very close, but she knows the difference.

Late night practices cause Paula to fall asleep in class. A friend of Paula's asks her what the problem is and Paula tells her about the contest, making the mistake of mentioning it and her dreams of Juliard in Jeff earshot. Jeff announces at lunch that "Stone-hand" Paula thinks she's good enough to get into Juliard. Then he proceeds to list all the memorable moments in Paula's history with the choir.

Paula sits through the barrage determined not to let Jeff drive her away again. But after lunch, she pounds her right fist into her locker door and breaks one of the small bones in her right hand. The cast is going to be on for six weeks, meaning she'll still be wearing it during the time of the contest.

Paula is devastated, she takes the rest of the week off from school, mourning the temporary loss of the use of her hand and the perceived permanent loss of her dream.

The next Monday, her father makes her go back to school. Jeff sees the cast and makes the comment that now she has two stone hands. The choral director overhears the comment.

During choir practice, Paula assumes that she's just going to sit there while the others try to sing, so she planned to use the time as a study hall to catch up on her homework. The choral director has other ideas and tells Paula to play the left-hand part to keep the tempo going. After class, the choral director gives Paula a piece of music that was written by a composer who had lost his right arm.

Paula practices even harder than before, practicing till her left hand cramps.

The day of the contest finally arrives. To Paula's horror, Jeff is also entered in the contest. He's scheduled to play right before her.

Jeff plays a complicated piece that he's jazzed up a bit. It's one he's been playing with the Alpha Singers all year, so he could do it in his sleep. The audience is standing on its feet applauding at the end.

Then Paula's name is announced. The audience goes quiet as they see the girl with the cast approaching the piano. Jeff sits in his chare smugly, thinking he has this one nailed. There are a few muffled laughs.

Paula plays the piece very movingly. The crowd is silent at first, and Paula thinks she messed something up. She's about to leave the stage mortified when the stunned audience gives her a bigger ovation than they gave Jeff.