Creating STRONG Writing

1. Creating STRONG Writing

2. Figurative Language in Life • Sports • “When you get on that field I want you to be a tank- roll through everything on the field to get that touchdown, no matter who’s in your way.” • “His team is the underdog in this game.” • “The coach encouraged his players to make mincemeat of the other team.” • “The batter knocked the stuffing out of the ball.”

3. Figurative Language in Life • Business • “That project was a total bomb.” • “I want you to go out there and hit a homerun with this presentation.” • “Putting him in charge is like having the blind lead the blind.” • “Your plan is as easy to follow as a map.” • “The instructions you wrote me were as clear as mud.” • I found an article for business people about using metaphors to motivate your team: comparing selling a product to baking a cake, playing a sport, or running a marathon.

4. Figurative Language in Life • In the movies • Forrest Gump: “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.” • Mean girls: “I have this theory, that if you cut off all her hair she'd look like a British man.” • Toy Story: “That wasn't flying; that was falling with style.” • Many movies are even built around a metaphor or personification, like Finding Nemo, where fish are like people. • And comedy • “My sister wore so much makeup she had to use a chisel to get it off every night.” • There’s an article for comedians about making jokes, and two of the tips were about using similes and metaphors.

5. Figurative Language in Life • Music • Nelly- “I’m like Sprint and Motorola… no service, out of your range.” • ‘N Sync- Your love is like a river, peaceful and deep. Your soul is like a secret that I could never keep” • Outkast- “Shake it like a Polaroid picture” • Switchfoot- “Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead. Yesterday is a promise that you've broken.”

6. Ways to Make Your Writing Descriptive • Paint a Word Picture • Show-Don’t-Tell using Sensory Language (taste, touch, see, smell, hear) • Use Figurative Language • Similes / Metaphors • Hyperbole (exaggerations) • Onomatopoeia (buzz, crack, hiss)

7. Painting a Word Picture • The dog is carrying a stick. • The German Shepherd is carrying a big stick. • As he carries the small tree he has just uprooted, the lop-eared German Shepherd tilts his head and walks unsteadily, dragging his heavy burden back to his master and looking like a proud athlete who has just won a trophy.

8. Show-Don't-Tell • Using descriptive language to paint a picture of the scene rather than telling the reader what is happening. • Examples • Instead of “Benito was angry…” • “Benito stomped up the steps to his room, slammed the door, and sat fuming at his desk.” • Instead of “It was a hot day…” • “You couldn’t go down the slide unless you wanted to get a third degree burn on your backside. Everyone in Mr. Derose’s class ended up sitting under the trees in the shade.”

9. Show-Don't-Tell • The Boy was frustrated. • Steven crumpled up his third attempt at a descriptive paragraph and threw his pencil down in disgust. • Alex had been writing for the past hour and a half and all he had to show for it was a bad headache and two sentences. “I give up!” he cried.

10. Similes and Metaphors • Simile • Using the words like or as to compare one object or person to another object or person (The 2 things must be very different) • Examples: • DJ was as fast as a cheetah. • The news hit Estevan like a ton of bricks. • Metaphor • Applying a word or phrase to somebody or something that is not meant literally but to compare. • Examples: • Joe was an animal on the football field.

11. Similes and Metaphors • It was a cold day. • Chris was so cold that he felt like his nose was frozen and his fingers were going to fall off. • Vincent’s mom said, “There’s no way you’re going out there, It’s as cold as ice!” • Cindy’s Dad told her she’d be walking into an icebox when she walked outside.

12. Hyperbole • Using exaggeration to describe a scene • Examples: • Ms. Crane was so sad she could have cried a river. • Irvin was so hungry he could have eaten a horse. • Adelene had a million things to do that day.

13. Hyperbole • The person was happy to get a letter. • When Chris got his birthday money in the mail he thought he would burst with joy. • Amber was so happy she was walking on air after she read the letter from her best friend. • Anessa was so happy she felt like she was on the top of the world.

14. Onomatopoeia • The formation or use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to • Examples: • The bee buzzed happily as he landed on the yellow daisy. • “But I don’t want to go to school,” Ashley murmured.

15. Onomatopoeia • The woman ate lunch. • Amelia slurped the lukewarm chicken soup from her favorite blue spoon at the outdoor café.

16. The Assignment Follow the directions on your handout.