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Copy the following notes in your notebook on the page indicated. On page 30, left hand side. Organization The internal structure of the piece Beginning, middle, end Ability to organize and group information Good sense of sequence.
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Copy the following notes in your notebook on the page indicated.
On page 30, left hand side • Organization • The internal structure of the piece • Beginning, middle, end • Ability to organize and group information • Good sense of sequence “I look back and forth and see potential endings, titles, and leads. I’m looking for a trail through the material I have. --Donald Murray
Without a clear trail, your ideas collapse or crash into each other. Begin with a strong lead. Bad openers: “Once upon a time . . .” “My paper is about . . .”
Build your writing (story) to its climax. Middle Climax Falling Building Beginning End In order to build your story to a strong climax, you must gave good organization.
****Be careful not to get tangled in unnecessary repetitive or list type details. My grandma is my favorite person because she cooks for me, she cleans for me, she washes my clothes, picks up my messes, and, and, and We went to Peter Piper Pizza and had pizza with tomato sauce, basil, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, onions, bell peppers, sausage and jalapenos.
Your ending is just as important as your beginning. “And I woke up and it was only a dream.” “Now you know the three reasons why Americans should car pool.”
On page 32, left hand side • Word Choice • Evidence of precision in the use of words. • awareness of language • understanding that there are different ways to say things • stretching to use new words “I do not choose the right word. I get rid of the wrong one. --AE Houseman
Using precise and colorful words. Say exactly what you mean, don’t come close to it, nail it!! What is the fastest way to improve your writing?
Step 1: Verbs They develop the action and move the story forward. Learn to develop a critical eye towards your verbs. Ask Yourself???? Are they active? Are they powerful? Are they full of energy? Do they have pizzaz?
Keep your vocabulary natural. He cultivated his way into the kitchen. Our friendship was highly lucrative. A thesaurus can be a good friend to a writer, but only if used sparingly and with thought.
Specific words, carefully chosen to create a vivid picture in the reader’s mind. The dog was big and mean. A hundred pounds of snarling yellow fur launched itself from the porch, straining at a rope this as spaghetti.
On page 34, left hand side • Ideas • The main point or storyline • Awareness of details • Knowing what’s important or interesting • clarity, focus, sense of purpose “We don’t want the writer to describe every ride at Disneyland, or tell us the Grand Canyon is awesome . . . If one of the rides at Disneyland got stuck, or if someone fell into the awesome Grand Canyon, that would be worth writing about. --William Zinsser
Ideas and content is what YOU have to say, the reason for writing your paper. • When you choose your own topic, remember to choose something you are an expert at. • Keep your idea small. Remember focus, focus, focus; one slice of pizza Surprise your readers with what you know. Use those random bits of information that only you or someone who is an expert would know.
“Our trip was exciting.” Make your ideas clear! A “I chased two very hungry black bears away from our camping supplies.” You are taking the reader on a tour. You’re the tour guide. B “Human beings have a great need to represent their experience through writing. We need to make our truths beautiful. -- Lucy McCormick Calkins
On page 36, left hand side • Voice • Evidence of the writer behind the message • Enthusiasm for writing • Individuality, personality, charm • Tailoring communication to an audience • Evokes emotional response
Voice is the writer coming through the words, the sense that a real person is speaking to us and cares about the message. It is the heart and soul of the writing, the magic, the wit, the feeling, the life and breath.
When the writer is engaged personally with the topic, he/she imparts a personal tone and flavor to the piece that is unmistakably his/hers alone. It sis that individual something different from the mark of all other writers that we call voice.
Defining Voice The sum of everything that goes into his or her style of expression. The writers personal style coming through in the writing.
Crafting Voice A writers voice is artificial. The writers voice . . . Arises from the material itself and acts in service to that material.
Finding the voice Anyone who can speak and tell a story can write. Read your writing out loud to measure is it worth hearing.
On page 38, left hand side • Sentence Fluency • The rhythm and flow of the language, how it plays to the ear. • sentence sense • An ear for language patterns • Use of more complex sentences • a variety of sentence lengths “Clarity, Clarity, Clarity. When you become hopelessly mired in a sentence, it is best to start fresh . . . --Stunk and White The Elements of Style
Listen to the rhythm of the language. Writers who read a lot notice that they develop a feeling for sentences that some people call “sentence sense”.
Your sentences should be clear, they should make sense. No: “At this point in time, we feel we are about ready to begin to snowboarding.” Yes: “Now we’re ready to snowboard!”
Make every word work hard and your sentences will be powerful. Bad: We went to the beach. We had fun. We saw seagulls. We went home. Yes Despite being over run by pesky seagulls, we had fund at the beach.
Don’t let sentences go on and on and on. Two short sentences are better than one really looooooooooooooong sentences. Read your work out loud and listen to the rhythm and flow of the words. Long for when you want descriptive and thoughtful. Short and snappy makes the point.
On page 40, left hand side Types of Sentences Simple Sentence: Also called an independent clause. Contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. • Some students like to study abroad. • Alicia goes to the library and studies every day. • They can contain compound subjects and verbs.
Compound Sentence: Contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator. [for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so] Coordinators are almost always preceded by a comma. • I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to speak English. • Alejandro played football, so Maria went shopping. • Each sentence contains independent clauses, and they are joined by coordinator with a comma preceding it.
Complex Sentence: has an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A complex sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since, after, although, or when or a relative pronoun such as that, who or which. • When he handed in his homework, he forgot to give the teacher the last page. • The teacher returned the homework after she noticed the error. • When a complex sentence begins with a subordinator such as sentence A, a comma is required at the end of the dependent clause.
