Word Choice

1. Word Choice Literacy, September 6th 2011

2. Objective • I will listen and respond to “My Los Angeles Street Gang Life” by identifying instances of expressive language and explain in writing how the language adds to the meaning of the story.

3. Word Choice: Expressive Language • To effectively convey thought or feeling • We want to use words that tell our readers exactly what we want them to know or think or feel • Get rid of extra “fluff” words that hold no use for us

4. Word Choice Depends on Writing Style • Word Choice can look different depending on the author’s intentions for their readers • Ask yourself: • Does this word choice add to the author’s development of the character? • What does it tell me about the author? What does it tell me about what the author wants me to understand as the reader?

5. Example: From Adventures of Huckleberry Finn • I felt good and all washed clean of sin for the first time I had ever felt so in my life, and I knowed I could pray now. But I didn't do it straight off, but laid the paper down and set there thinking-thinking how good it was all this happened so, and how near I come to being lost and going to hell. And went on thinking. And got to thinking over our trip down the river; and I see Jim before me, all the time, in the day, and in the nighttime, sometimes moonlight, sometimes storms, and we a floating alond, talking, and singing, and laughing.

6. What does this language tell us about Huck Finn, the narrator? • His speech reveals that he is uneducated • Even so, it is evident that Huck is capable of making good decisions that come from his heart, even if they go against society’s wishes. • This characterization revealed in the text allows the reader to gain a better understanding of the character, and draw a closer connection to him and his story. • A young poor white boy finds unlikely friendship with a slave named Jim.

7. Example Two: From Tupac: Ressurrection • When I was a baby I remember one moment of calm peace, then three minutes after that it was on. I was named after this Inca Chief from South America whose name was TupacAmaru. I think the tribal breakdown means "intelligent warrior." He's a deep dude. If I go to South America they gonna love me, I'm telling you. They know Tupac.
My mom is the bomb. First I rebelled against her because she was in the movement and we never spent time together because she was always speaking and going to colleges and everything. I always used to feel that she cared about "the" people more than "her" people. And then, after that was over, it was more time spent with me and we were both just like, "You're my mother?" And she's like, "You're my son." So then she was really close with me and really strict almost.

8. In Groups: • What does the language used in this text tell us about the character? • What could the author want us to understand as readers by writing in this fashion? • What is the significance of this text? How does the language add to this significance?

9. Example Three: From Holes • Stanley and his parents had tried to pretend that he was just going away to camp for a while, just like rich kids do. When Stanley was younger he used to play with stuffed animals, and pretend the animals were at camp. Camp Fun and Games he called it. Sometimes he’d have them play soccer with a marble. Other times they’d run an obstacle course, or go bungee jumping off a table, tied to broken rubber bands. Now Stanley tried to pretend he was going to Camp Fun and Games. Maybe he’d make some friends, he thought. At least he’d get to swim in the lake.

He didn’t have any friends at home. He was overweight and the kids at his middle school often teased him about his size. Even his teachers sometimes made cruel comments without realizing it. On his last day of school, his math teacher, Mrs. Bell, taught ratios. As an example, she chose the heaviest kid in the class and the lightest kid in the class, and had them weigh themselves. Stanley weighed three times as much as the other boy. Mrs. Bell wrote the ratio on the board, 3:1, unaware of how much embarrassment she had caused both of them.
Stanley was arrested later that day.
He looked at the guard who sat slumped in his seat and wondered of he had fallen asleep. The guard was wearing sunglasses, so Stanley couldn’t see his eyes.

10. On Your Own • What does the language used in this text tell us about the character? • What could the author want us to understand as readers by writing in this fashion? • What is the significance of this text? How does the language add to this significance?

11. Exit Ticket • On your own piece of paper, answer the following questions: • 1) How does the use of word choice different depending on the character of the text? • 2) How does word choice help the reader connect to the character in the story? • 3) Why does word choice look different in different stories? Why is this significant?