Some types of non-fiction writing

Week 13 December 19 (Make-Up Class) 7th class

NEXT SEMESTER: Students voted to give themselves homework because they want to work on small research projects. So they are going to choose an interesting topic over winter break and gather some print resources (books, articles) and bring them to class on Week 1 of Spring Semester, January 23rd which is five weeks away.

• What is figurative language? Examples of similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole. Other literary devices such as parallelism and repetition to provide rhythm and emphasis.

• How are cliches often just overused similes or metaphors that have lost their power? (Busy as a bee, happy as a clam, green with envy) Making fresh figurative language to replace cliches.

• R-BOSS: O is for organization— what a lack of organization sounds like— a bad model of spatial organization gone wrong.

• New Prompts or work on old prompt: add figurative language and parallelism and repetition to bring your description to life. 40 to write and self-assess using rubric

Week 11 December - 6th class Introduction to Descriptive Writing

• Returned drafts from last class

• Where do we find descriptive writing? Everywhere! In non-fiction texts including newspaper and magazine articles, textbooks, novels, and poetry. What is descriptive writing?

• D.O. Spent 5-10 minutes observing one thing in the yard and jot down sensory details describing that thing, using a 4x4 chart (sight, hearing, smell, touch/pressure/temperature) Include vivid verbs and two similes or metaphors.

• Analyzed a student model: “Teeming City”— identified precise adjectives, similes & metaphors, strategic repetition, sensory imagery (weight, temp, smell, sight, sound.) How is it organized (spatially) and what makes it work?

• Started brainstorming own descriptive paragraph about a place (or 3 other prompts) R-BOSS process for approaching a prompt.

Week 9— 5th class

Persuasive Writing: Using “Yes, But” template to write a draft.

• Which verbs signal agreement, slight disagreement? — see handout!

• Smooth transitions - practice m

Week 7 October 31, 2022 (4th class)

Persuasive Writing: “Yes, But” approach to the They-Say/ I Say Format

Acknowledging the commonly held beliefs of our opponents’ position gives us credibility as a writer. We seem less dogmatic and more reasonable when considering the valid arguments of others. And we are more persuasive when we acknowledge the other beliefs or positions and then respond to them. After all, our audience might hold those very beliefs that we are conceding are valid arguments. Conceding good points someone else makes also helps us find common ground and makes our reader more likely to listen to us.

1. Students practiced these moves by first looking at sample YES, BUT paragraphs and then attempting those rhetorical moves themselves using a handout that provides a template for that organization. Students:

• Read a prompt and identified the key direction phrases so they understand what the writing prompt is asking of thm

• Took a position and wrote that as a thesis

• Listed out our 2-3 reasons in support of our position

• Listed out our opponents’ valid points

• Practiced combining these into an introduction which acknowledges commonly held beliefs about this issue or opponents valid points, and then responds to that with a thesis statement which includes a road map.

Next students chose one of three persuasive essays to analyze in teams. Some chose to read an opinion pieceby Amy Lundy from the Five Thirty Eight titled “Serena Williams’s Once-In-A-Lifetime Serve” which argues that Serena has the best serve in women’s tennis ever. Others chose the opinion piece “The Immortal Awfulness of Open Plan Workplaces” from the New York Times by David Brooks. Other read an excerpt from Susan B. Anthony’s 1872 speech arguing for women’s rights. Each student met with others who selected the same essay or speech and then read this together. They then analyzed what makes these very different pieces persuasive.

Week 5 (Make up on Friday October 28, 2022 — 3rd class)

Introduction to YES, BUT format of THEY SAY/I SAY persuasive essays. We looked at models of this type of rhetorical pattern. Then we examined phrases that signal agreement with an opponent’s good points and how to disagree with other points.

Students used a template to organize a persuasive essay around a YES, BUT version of THEY SAY/I SAY.

After brainstorming and organizing students wrote a first draft and turned it in. They had about 50 minutes to write a draft. Turned it in for feed back.

Week 3 September 26, 2022 — 2nd class

Solid Persuasive Models: we finished reading a silly persuasive essay titled “Leave Children Alone.” Table teams analyzed the essay together looking for important persuasive moves the writer makes: thesis statement, road map (missing), topic sentences, introducing THEY SAY, i.e. what other people believe about this issue, introducing and explaining evidence, transitions from paragraph to paragraph, conclusion.

Students who finished this model early, got into groups to choose another professional writer’s model from a newspaper and analyze it. What makes that persuasive essay work well?

R-BOSS: Mnemonic device for how to approach any writing prompt. READ the prompt and underline the key direction words so you know you are following the prompt correctly, BRAINSTORM possible main ideas, ORGANIZE your ideas- which are your best ideas? what order should you write them in? START WRITING a rough draft. SEE DRAFT through new eyes (re-vision = re-see.) Applying this format to a writing prompt.

Examined Persuasive Rhetorical Template handouts. Looked at sample introduction phrases, verbs for making claims, showing agreement, for disagreeing, and for recommending.

Chose a prompt from a list of a dozen options. Began brainstorming ideas for that prompt.

Week 1 Septemer 12, 2022 — 1st class

• Common Writing Errors: Comma Rules

• What is a persuasion? What techniques have you used to persuade parents, friends, siblings to see things from your point of view? Evidence — appeals to logic; Appeals to emotion; Repetition and artful expression of an idea.

• We reviewed a persuasion comic strip which explained that a persuasive essay or speech has to take a POSITION on a argument or issue. That position needs to be an opinion with which others may disagree not a statement of fact.

• We practiced identifying opinions vs. facts as well as turning statesment of facts into thesis statements which are an opinion about an issue.

• Models: we began reading a silly persuasive essay titled “Leave Children Alone” in which the writer argues that parents shouldn’t parent but rather should simply let children do whatever they want! We began analyzing the function of each paragraph, focusing on the introduction. We located a

  • HOOK,

  • presentation of the controversy surrounding parenting styles,

  • What do other’s (THEY) say about this issue

  • Thesis statement (what the WRITER says) about this issue.

• THEY SAY/ I SAY format: what the they say/I say format looks like. State what other’s say or commonly held beliefs about this issue) “THEY SAY” and then what I the writer think about the issue— my position “I SAY”

Fall Semester 2022

Classwork Summary