f l u e n c y

1. f l u e n c y

2. fluency is the rhythm and flow of language the sound of word patterns the way in which writing plays to the ear

3. it’s cadence... music

4. three types of “music” in my writing Lines that have a pleasing lyrical quality... Lines that have a jazzy, syncopated beat... Lines that have a strong, steady melody...

5. lyricism a light, lilting melody

6. night is coming, and out of the rustle of grandpa’s wheat, you can hear the whippoorwill’s hollow song arising. out in the fields you can smell wild clover mixing with the scent of freshly mown hay. and if you stay very still and squint way up high, beneath the straying clouds you’ll catch the glimmer of a red-tail hawk endlessly circling.

7. when grandma moses looks out her window, she sees a world of spotted cows, and rolling hills, and white picket fences. a world of thunderstorms, rain-drenched fields, and hand-washed laundry flapping in the wind. where hired hands plow open fields, and children play in flowering orchards. Where friends and family gather on moving day to help a needy neighbor.

8. syncopation the unevenness of rhythm

9. storm. blue sky darkened. green fields checkered. yellow sun streaked with clouds and hiding. FLASH! lightning in the fields. RUMBLE! thunder right behind. FLASH! RUMBLE! FLASH! RUMBLE! FLASH! BAM! RUMBLE! CRASH! the wind is whipping through the trees. the rain is bouncing off the ground. the world is dark and wet outside. suddenly the storm is all around.

10. hey, everybody, are you ready? Uh-huh! Then snap those fingers and tap those toes, and sing along with me. all right! here we go... she has straight hair. he has curly hair. how perfectly remarkably strange, Uh-huh! straight hair. curly hair. different-- mm-mmm, but the same, ah-ha! now isn’t it beautiful, simply unusual, bein’ with you this way!

11. chris raschka

12. melodicism a strong, constant melodic sound

13. ten babies asleep in a crib, ten babies asleep. take one out, and pass it about... nine babies asleep in a crib. nine babies asleep in a crib, nine babies asleep. take one out, and pass it about... eight babies asleep in a crib. eight babies asleep in a crib, eight babies asleep. take one out, and pass it about... seven babies asleep in a crib.

14. shake, shake, shake, dem bones. shake, shake, shake dem bones now, shake, shake, shake dem bones at the hip-hop halloween ball. hey li’l red so sweet so good, you sure can shake that riding hood come on, li’l red, won’t you dance with me at the hip-hop halloween ball. Now here comes Jack with a cow to sell, did you ever think Jack could dance so well. Come on, li’l Jack, won’t you dance with me, at the hip-hop halloween ball.

15. conventions

16. the extent to which writers use spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc., correctly and with precision

17. but what does correct mean in the hands of a writer?

19. william wanted a doll.

20. he wanted to hug it and cradle it in his arms and give it a bottle and take it to the park and push it in the swing and bring it back home and undress it and put it to bed and pull down the shades and kiss it goodnight and watch its eyes close and then william wanted to wake it up in the morning when the sun came in and start all over again just as though he were its father and it were his child.

21. “a doll!” said his brother. “don’t be a creep!” “Sissy, sissy, sissy!” said the boy next door.

24. instead of thinking conventions

25. think... u n convention a l

26. Storm. blue sky darkened. green fields checkered. yellow sun streaked with clouds and hiding. flash! lightning in the hills. rumble! thunder right behind. flash! rumble! flash! rumble! flash! bam! rumble! crash!

27. Storm. blue sky darkened. green fields checkered. yellow sun streaked with clouds and hiding. flash! lightning in the hills. rumble! thunder right behind. flash! rumble! flash! rumble! flash! bam! rumble! crash!

28. Storm. blue sky darkened. green fields checkered. yellow sun streaked with clouds and hiding. flash! lightning in the hills. rumble! thunder right behind. flash! rumble! flash! rumble! flash! bam! rumble! crash!

29. Storm. blue sky darkened. green fields checkered. yellow sun streaked with clouds and hiding. flash! lightning in the hills. rumble! thunder right behind. flash! rumble! flash! rumble! flash! bam! rumble! crash!

30. the wind is whipping through the trees. the rain is bouncing off the ground. the world is dark and wet outside. suddenly the storm is all around.

31. the storm is all around and all you can hear is the rat-tat-tat rat-tat-tat of raindrops beating down.

32. the storm is all around and all you can hear is the rat-tat-tat rat-tat-tat of raindrops beating down.

33. foreground meaning... the storm is all around and all you can hear is the rat-tat-tat rat-tat-tat of raindrops beating down. background sound...

34. the robin huddles in its nest, waiting. the cows in the field stand still. the farmer stares from his window as water races past his newly planted seed.

35. the world is dark outside. the world is wet, and wild with the wind that shakes the house, bends the trees, whips the telephone lines until they snap and sing. the storm is all around. the storm is all around.

36. the world is dark outside. the world is wet, and wild with the wind that shakes the house, bends the trees, whips the telephone lines until they snap and sing. the storm is all around. the storm is all around.

37. the world is dark outside. the world is wet, and wild with the wind that shakes the house, bends the trees, whips the telephone lines until they snap and sing. the storm is all around. the storm is all around.

38. the world is dark outside. the world is wet, and wild with the wind that shakes the house, bends the trees, whips the telephone lines until they snap and sing. the storm is all around. the storm is all around.

39. then a hole in the sky opens. The robin huddles in its nest, waiting. The robin in its nest looks upward. The cows in the field stand still. The cows twitch their tails in the field.

40. on his porch the farmer chuckles to see the hole grow bigger and bigger AND BIGGER until it fills the sky again with blue, and paints the fields with green, and drenches the sun with yellow so bright

41. it almost hurts to see the storm, now just a lace skirt draped over the distant mountain rise ...and quiet.

42. it almost hurts to see the storm, now just a lace skirt draped over the distant mountain rise ...and quiet.

43. Emphasis on the literal... beating whipping bouncing snapping Emphasis on the figurative... the storm... a lace skirt draped over the distant mountain rise

44. organization to arrange in a systematic and orderly manner

45. shape movement

46. the geometry of organization

47. the circle story a story that begins and ends at the same place, or with the same line

48. the staircase a story that alternates between several verses and a chorus

49. the slow ascent a story that slowly climbs in intensity before its final scene

50. the tent or pyramid a story that ascends to the midpoint then descends with the same momentum