Writer’s Voice

1. Writer’s Voice Walters’ Wildcats 2009-2010

2. Journal #1 • What does it mean to have voice? What do we gain by having a voice? How doea having a voice give us power? What would it be like not to have a voice? • We will be discussing as a large group so be ready to discuss.

3. Do you agree or disagree? • A writer’s voice is unique and personal. • A writer’s background, culture, and experiences contribute to the uniqueness and power of his or her voice. • A powerful voice is crucial component of effective, compelling writing.

4. Summative project (3 and 6) • Students are required to complete an ending project. You will have class time at the end of the unit. You will have a choice between three different interest. (See summative assignment and checklist on website.)

5. Journal #2 • Make a list of your most memorable personal experiences. Just keep listing them! You don’t have to give details; just be clear enough so that if you look back you know what you meant.

6. After the music sampling….. • Please respond in your journals after each selection to the following questions; • What does this selection remind you of? • What pictures/scenes does it create in your head? • Imagine that this is a soundtrack to a movie. What’s going on in the movie right now?

7. In small group…. Listen to the two selections of music and compare

8. Homework Interview a member of your family about an important family event. Audiotape the conversation. Type or or handwrite five minutes of the conversation. (Don’t do the whole conversation, it will take too long.) As you transcribe think about the language patterns you are noticing in the speaker’s voice. Think about how language patterns and written language patterns are different. Be prepared to discuss in class. You do not have to write a reflections just bring in your transcribed notes.

9. Journal #3 Go back to the memorable experiences and choose two that you can remember the most about. Wrtie down everything you know about these experiences. Look around in your memory and include as much detail as you can. Who was there? When did it happen? What was the weather like?

10. Listening to the writer’s voice…. You will be divided into groups. Your objective as you read the passages is to make connections between voice and music.

11. Group questions • What immediately struck you about the way this writer’s voice sounded? Explain why you felt as you did. • Judging from this writer’s voice, if this writers were an animal what type would he/she be? Why? Quote a line or a couple of lines that made you think this. • Which type of music that you listened to in class did this passage remind you of? • How does rhythm in writing work differently from rhythm in music? How do they work similarly?

12. Starter questions • Wht about the writer’s work choice struck you? Is it different than the other writers you’ve read recently? How? What are some fo the different ways that writers can choose words to develop a voice? • Listen to the way the writer uses sentence lengths. When does he/she use short sentence? How about long ones? Sentences of alternating lengths? What do theses different sentence length accomplish?

13. Journal #4 • Tell me about how a writer has voice. I WILL COLLECT THIS SO BE READY TO TURN IN.

14. Poetry groups