Thursday, April 18, 2013

Thursday, April 19th, 2013



Ø Thing #1:  Diction Practice = Free Rice (20 minutes)
1.      Make sure you’re playing in our class group!
2.     10,000 grains are due by classtime Friday.


  • Thing #2:  Revise the Autobiography Poem to a second draft.  (worksheet below)


Autobiographical Poem Revision to Second,
Almost-Final Draft

1.         Think about everything I’m saying as it relates to YOUR POEM and the changes you might make to it to make I stronger.
2.        Look at the following snippets, and consider the following in your own poem:
·      Am I using vivid detail (appealing to one of the senses)?
·      Am I being creative in my responses—not just throwing down the first thing that comes to mind?

1)               Title
·       Raise your hand if you have the word “Me” in your title.
·       Look at the following titles that do NOT have “Me” in them.  What makes them strong?
·       A Whole Different Window
·       Casting Into Carissa’s Life                  
·       Just Like the President
·       More Than a Blonde Cheerleader
·       The Name I Got, the Name I’ll Keep

2)              Line Breaks
We have talked about line breaks a lot, but I’m wondering how carefully you’ve considered how and why you are breaking your lines.  When you have four details on a line, it’s hard for the reader to absorb all that.  Look carefully at your breaks.  Is the word at the end of each line a powerful one?

Unfortunate older brother
                  Who is always blamed for everything
                                    Every time

*   *   *   *
Who gives hugs to the people I love
and nothing to the people I don’t particularly like

3)              Concrete Detail—SPECIFICS!
(SHOW who you are; be specific and descriptive; the reader can hear a PERSON there!)
Who needs a faster internet connection
         Some ice cold Mt. Dew
                           And mostly, crispy, stuffed, Hot Pockets

Who feels great after a long run by myself

Who would like to see a Christmas wedding, tinkling lights in the dark cold night.


Lover of the rain
The sweet country air in the Fall
Sweet-and-sour filled Twizzlers
                  And stargazing on those beautiful summer nights

4)              Order—what’s first?  Second?  Third?  It matters!
Who fears staying home alone at night,
Drowning in a lake when it’s dark,
And making wrong decisions throughout my life.

                                                                                        

5)              Strong Diction
·       Lover of large rooms illuminated with dim candlelight.
·       Who fears being an outlier
·       A prisoner of Washington, Iowa
·       A speck of dust in Washington
·       He is the denizen of a glass box (instead of “resident of”)


6)              Sibling of….
Sometimes a best friend,
Sometimes a complete enemy
But always a sister of Anne, John, and Michael

Sibling of a future engineer (Alfonso)
Brother of a librarian (Angel)
Brother to an annoying younger sister (Aylin)


The mature, older (even if younger) sister to a college freshman,
7)              Alliteration
·       Who fears seeing spiders scamper across my floor….              (s)
·       Queen of quirky                                                                                             (q)
·       With two smaller siblings                                                                          (s)
·       Who needs to sleep as much as a sloth                                              (s)
·       Fat from wrestling                                                                                       (f)


General Reminders
·       Are all the important words in your title capitalized?
·       Are your lines broken where you INTENTIONALLY broke them, for greatest effect?
·       Have you included specifics:  examples, colors, textures, sounds, details?

  •  Thing #3:  Review the Writing Buddy expectations for tomorrow, and go over the Autobio Poem template the buddies will use.

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