Becoming your Author

Becoming your author….

Create a one-page beginning to an additional chapter (double spaced, 12 point font) that could have been included in the travel book you are reading on your own. Does your author break some taboo? Do they come across an amazing landscape or fascinating character in the local bazaar? Do you wish you author would have shared more about what they thought about their experience in the youth hostel? It’s up to you. Just remember to be true to the author’s voice.

Remember what you have learned about effective beginnings. You may consider beginning with action/ dialogue, a rich description, and/or a statement about the main character or theme.

You will be graded on:

Ideas and Content (Did you create a scene consistent with the story?) ____/10
Organization (Did you use an effective strategy to create your beginning?) ____/10
Word Choice and Voice (Strong nouns and verbs, show don’t tell, author’s style) ____/10
Sentence Fluency (Sentence lengths vary, sounds natural when read aloud) ____/10
Conventions (Everything is grammatically correct and proofread) ____/10

Total: ____/50

Story research

This is missing the character research portion. Please complete what is here and get the character sheet from me in class:



RESEARCH SHEET DUE:Next Class Name:________________________
RESEARCH SHEET
Because any good writer does an immense amount of research before she or he begins writing, your rough draft must include a “research sheet”. Complete the research sheet below:

_____(10 pts) Setting information

(a) Country:_____________________________

(b) City/ town/ rural area (be specific):_______________________________________

(c) Locale (trail? market?): ________________________________________________

(d) Time of year:_________________________________________________________

(e) Sensory details (touch, smells, tastes, sights, sounds):______________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
(f) One paragraph describing the setting using at least four senses:























(10 pts.) Conflict
(3pts) 1. What is/are the external conflict(s)? Explain.





(5pts) 2. What are the internal conflicts?
List 5 thoughts occurring in the mind of the character:
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.


(2pt) 3. How is the conflict resolved?








_____/30pts Total---This will need to be turned in with your final draft!!!

Now it’s time to start your rough draft!!! Begin Writing!!!

Descriptions Assignment

Projects: Travel Book
Description


Now that you’re getting a sense of how to write a travel story in class, let’s take a look at what your author is doing well.

Step 1: Find a short description (about half a page to a page) of a person, a feeling, or a place that is powerful. Find a passage that makes this feeling, character or place come to life! Now, copy the description (Xerox or hand write it) and include the page number.

Step 2: Now do one of the following:

A. Think about what specific words work well and really invigorate the writing. Write a found poem about the description using these words from the text and your own words.
(Should be at least fifteen thoughtful lines). Decorate this poem.

B. Illustrate the description. If you choose this option make sure you are an artist!! We want you to capture the beauty of the words with your art. You may use any medium of your choice to do this (but it must be your won work). Try to go beyond the literal description and find the essence.

C. Write your own description of the same place/feeling/person. Use words and sentence structures that are vastly different than the original author (don’t just break out the thesaurus). Be creative!!

D. Critique the description. What specifically worked well? Which words were the most powerful and why? How would you describe the mood of the description? How does the author feel? You must use specific examples from the text to support your conclusions. (1page minimum)

Step 3: Attach the copy of the description to your work. This must be included for us to know what we are looking at!!!

PS: Please format your writing correctly (typed, double space, 12 pt font)

You will be graded on:

A copy of the passage is turned in: ______/10
Assignment shows thoughtful connection to the author’s writing: ______/30
Care and effort: ______/10

Total ______/50

9-20/9-21 You gotta have conflict

Lesson:
Checked off travel books for credit (If absent, show me yours next time and fill out a form)
Shared our "Where were you last night" writing
Read "The Adventures of Mega Chicken"
Discussed internal and external conflict
Practiced writing internal and external conlfict using a video with traveler "Justine" drinking snakes blood in Vietnam
If absent, try writing a page about a character tasting snake's blood for the first time in Vietnam. Use the internet to see what Vietnam would look like and what this experience might be like.
HMWK: Vocab Review/ Vocab Test next class
Write a slowed down moment of someone (we used a woman named Justine) drinking snakes blood
Projects: Start reading your travel book

Taking the Leap

Taking The Leap

STEP 1:

Please write two short story beginnings, each one about a half page long, typed, single spaced.
One beginning should stick your reader right in the middle of the action/ dialogue.
One beginning should NOT stick your reader right in the middle of action/ dialogue.

STEP 2:
Please pay attention to what you are establishing with your beginnings.
• Character?
• Emotions?
• Moods?
• Settings?
• Conflict?
• Interesting Voices?
• All of the above?
• None of the above?
In other words, what does your reader KNOW or strongly sense after reading your beginning?

STEP 3:
Underneath or on the back side of your beginnings, list what you think your beginning successfully establishes.

Vocab Review

Review: Travel Vocabulary
Let’s go over the twenty new words and two idioms you studied during the week. In the following quiz, match the best possible definition with the word you have studied. Write the letter that stands for that definition in the appropriate answer space.

Review Words Definitions

___1. adversary a. incapable of being passed over or overcome

___.2. blanch b. a person, group, or force that opposes or attacks

___ 3. bough c. done maliciously or unjustifiably

___4. chauvinist d. elementary, fundamental

___5. disillusionment e. not transparent or translucent; impenetrable to light

___6. gastronomic f. disenchanted, to free from belief, idealism, etc.

___7. impenetrable g. a branch of a tree

___8. Incandescent h. (1) zealous patriotism (2)biased devotion

___9. incomprehensible i. to cause a person to accept something not desired

___10. Insurmountable j. belonging to a thing by its very nature

___11. intrinsic k. to whiten by removing color

___12. mien l. (1) not penetrable (2) inaccessible to ideas

___13. opaque m. a person or thing that watches

___14. piquant n. intensely bright, brilliant

___15. quintessential o. strong and brave; valiant; uncompromising

___16. reconcile p. the art or science of good eating

___17. rudimentary q. agreeably pungent or sharp in taste

___18. sentinel r. the pure and concentrated essence of a substance
___19. stalwart s. appearance or demeanor

___ 20. wanton t. impossible to understand or comprehend

Words for further study: _______________ _______________
_____________ _______________ _______________

Vocab Day 3 and 4

Travel Vocabulary
Day 3
New Words:
Chauvinist Wanton Adversary Piquant Impenetrable

The Battle for the Slides
Every playground is truly a battlefield. The adversaries can be seen eyeing everywhere, eyeing each other up with anger. They lurk on the dodgeball court, the kickball diamond, and even on the seemingly impenetrable slides where it seems nobody gets more than one turn. Although many of these combatants are only innocent second graders, they sometimes act wantonly when recess is involved. This only escalates when the slides are concerned. I have seen young boys chauvinistically keep girls with “cooties” from climbing the steps. In turn, there were reported cases of bribery on the part of the girls. At one point it would cost half a packet of the piquant strawberry pop rocks per ride down that metal demon. What happened to teaching sharing?

Sample sentences: Try your hand now at using your new words by writing them in their correct form (change endings if necessary) in these sentences:

1. The ___________ salsa felt like delicious fire as it fell from the chip to my mouth.

2. The boss behaved in a _____________ way by only hiring male employees for the jobs.

3. My _____________ is ice cream; I am constantly doing battle with the temptation.

4. The teacher seemed to act with _________ behavior as he punished random students for being too loud.

5. The fortress had an unmovable stone drawbridge which appeared to be ------_____________.

Definitions: Match the new words with their dictionary meanings.
6. ___ chauvinist a. a person, group, or force that opposes or attacks
7. ___ wanton b. (1) zealous and aggressive patriotism or blind enthusiasm for military glory (2)biased devotion to any group, attitude, or cause
8. ___ adversary c. (1) not penetrable (2) inaccessible to ideas
9. ___piquant d. agreeably pungent or sharp in taste
10. ___ impenetrable e. done maliciously or unjustifiably
Today’s Homophone: Create a new sentence for each homophone.
THERE- means in that place
There is my coat!
THEIR- is a possessive noun
Their coats are hanging in their lockers.
THEY’RE- is a contraction of “they are”
They’re so happy it’s time to go home.


Travel Vocabulary
Day 4
New Words:
Sentinel Incomprehensible Reconcile Quintessential Intrinsic

Airplane Food
With airport security at an all time high, you have many sentinels watching what people bring aboard. But who is watching what the airlines are bringing aboard? Airline food intrinsically should be edible, but this does not seem to be the case. The last dish that was opened on the tray before me was an incomprehensible brown gravy. It’s not as if I expect the food to be the quintessential gourmet meal, but I would at least like to recognize the food I am eating. Eventually, I will have to accept the food and reconcile with the airline “chefs”. Let’s hope my stomach will do the same.

Sample sentences: Try your hand now at using your new words by writing them in their correct form (change endings if necessary) in these sentences:

1. I hope that the two adversaries can ____________ their differences and make peace.

2. I’m not very good at math so this calculus problem seems _______________.

3. The ___________ stood guard over the prison filled with students who violated the cell phone rule.

4. If the ___________ duty of a stapler is to staple, why does mine keep jamming.

5. Jenny was the _____________ optimist; she always saw the bright side to everything.

Definitions: Match the new words with their dictionary meanings.
6. ___ sentinel a. to cause a person to accept or be resigned to something not desired
7. ___ incomprehensible b. belonging to a thing by its very nature
8. ___ reconcile c. a person or thing that watches or stands as if watching
9. ___ quintessential d. the pure and concentrated essence of a substance
10. ___ intrinsic e. impossible to understand or comprehend; unintelligible

]Today’s Homophone: Create a new sentence for each homophone.
Who’s- is a contraction of “who is”
Who’s that knocking at the door.

Whose- is a possessive pronoun that shows ownership
Whose spaceship is in my backyard.