Writing Mini-Lessons 2015-2016

Rant / Social Commentary Good writers sometimes write about things that bother them. They can either just be “ranting” or they sometimes ask for change. If they ask for change, it is called a social commentary. Although a LOT of what we read on-line is social commentary, the concept of social commentary is hundreds of years old. Defining feature: The author identifies a problem (sometimes through parody or humor) and can then suggest ways to fix it.

Example “Can We Auto-Correct Humanity?” by Prince Ea, Super-Size Me by Morgan Spurlock, and some memes are modern examples. Famous works include Animal Farm by George Orwell, “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, and lots and lots of editorial / political cartoons. Even childrens’ movies, such as Wall-E, build in social commentary.

How do you actually write one? Antecdote (short, true-ish story that introduces what is bugging you) What bothers you about it / why does it bug you What do you wish people would do instead?

Persuasive Good writers know that we use writing to convince other people of something. Persuasive writing is used all the time to convince us to buy things, to convince us to vote for certain people, to convince us to agree with someone’s perspective on an issue. Persuasive is different from argumentation because there usually isn’t a lot of research and there isn’t a counter-argument (something we’ll talk about later).

Audience With persuasive writing, the key piece is AUDIENCE. You have to know who are addressing when you write persuasive and what their mindset is. Are they hostile to your arguments? Open to it? How would that change your language or what you want to say?

Reviews (Books, Movies, etc.) Good writers know that a review can give readers your opinion in a way that is supported. Structure of a review: Background information (factual and short) “Pros” – things that you liked / worked for you “Cons” – these can be things you didn’t like, or they can just be flaws (“Guardians of the Galaxy doesn’t have any ‘real’ plot in it”) Overall judgement

Free Verse Poetry Good writers know when to break lines in free verse poetry. It can feel harder because you don’t have rhyme to guide you, but it is just as important. Break on important words Break on an image that you want to stay with the reader Break when you would pause for breath

Prompt Writing Good writers know when to give the readers what they are looking for . Stay on-topic 5 paragraph essay structure Don’t be wishy-washy if you have to pick a side.

Prewrite Structure 1st main point 2nd main point 3rd main point