Descriptive Phrases  Bullet point list  Words or phrases  Specific nouns  Connotative verbs  Adjective-noun combinations  Noun-verb combinations

Collaborative Paragraph  Title: Prairie  Use list of phrases to write descriptive sentences  Do not use “I”; do not create a story  5-6 sentences

The Prairie

 Which version is accurate? What makes it more true?

Under Holdrege, Nebraska Bill Holm I skip stones into billowing Nebraska wheat As if it were a rolling golden ocean. One nips the beard in seven arcs until It cuts into a breaker and sinks. No telling how far that stone will drop. from The Dead Get By With Everything (1990)

from Giants in the Earth (Rolvaag) Then one morning--October was nearly passed--the sun could not get his eye open at all; the heavens rested close above the plain, grey, dense, and still. The chill of this greyness drove through the air though no wind stirred. […]Bleak, grey, God-forsaken, the empty desolation stretched on every hand....

From My Antonia There were no clouds, the sun was going down in a limpid, gold-washed sky. Just as the lower edge of the red disk rested on the high fields against the horizon, a great black figure suddenly appeared on the face of the sun. We sprang to our feet, straining our eyes toward it.

Homework!  Read Holm’s “The History of Land” and answer the following two questions on an index card for class tomorrow: 1. What are the three most important descriptive words in this essay and why? 2. How do you assign a value to land?

Student Example #1 This desolate land squints up at a cloudy sky, searching for escape. The barbed wire fence circles a never-ending terrain. The fruitless soil and lonely shadows are without purpose. The crooked poles and scattered rocks make it seem like something is not quite right. The green border way, way off in the distance is the only color in this dull scenery.

Student Example #2 It is a beautiful day on the prairie. The prairie is covered by a blue sky filled with fluffy clouds. The expansive pastures are blanketed in waving grasses. The wide open spaces are filled with rounded hills. It is an eternally peaceful landscape.