Describing what you have seen... From Reading to Writing Upon arriving in North America for the first time, William Bradford described the land as “a hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts.” Bradford’s eyewitness report is a firsthand account of the events he observed and experienced as an English colonist in North America. Eyewitness Report

Describing what you have seen... Writers of eyewitness reports use compelling details and sensory language to describe events. Today, eyewitness accounts written by professional journalists are published daily in newspapers and magazines. Eyewitness Report

B a s i c s i n a B o x Eyewitness Report at a Glance RUBRIC Standards for Writing A successful eyewitness report should focus on an event that has personal or historical significance answer the five W’s and H: who, what, when, where, why, and how What? the event Who? people involved Where? the place When? date, time, year Why? cause How? the details create a sense of immediacy using precise language and sensory images present events in a clear, logical order capture the mood of the event = Re-creation of Event

Writing Your Eyewitness Report I can only report on what I know. Max Frisch, Swiss writer I can only report on what I know. Max Frisch, Swiss writer 1 Prewriting

Writing Your Eyewitness Report 1 Prewriting Eyewitness reporting is about being there and being aware. Jot down school, community and family events that are coming up in the near future. Ask yourself whether any of these events are newsworthy. Plan to attend those events that seem interesting.

details sensory images snippets of conversations anything else that will help you recreate this experience for your readers Be a keen observer. In your notebook, record 1 Prewriting Writing Your Eyewitness Report

Planning Your Eyewitness Report 1. Get the facts. Use a chart to record the basic facts about the event. 2. Capture the mood. Sensory details and vivid images will help you capture the mood of the event. Think about the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures that you experience.

Planning Your Eyewitness Report 3. Record what is said. Direct quotations can often give readers a sense of being at the event. 4. Make it clear why this is significant. Reflect on what happens and why it is important to you or to others. Make sure you let your reader know the significance of the event.

Writing Your Eyewitness Report 2 Drafting Use your notes to get started. Pick a real attention grabber—such as a startling image or a humorous quote—to capture your readers’ attention early in your report.

Writing Your Eyewitness Report 2 Drafting How to organize your report: Use chronological order—telling events in the order they occurred—to make the experience easy to follow, or Create a sense of intrigue by starting at the end and then fill in what happened to get there.

Writing Your Eyewitness Report 2 Drafting How to organize your report: Try different approaches until one works for you. Study eyewitness reports from newspapers and magazines to see how they are organized.

Writing Your Eyewitness Report 3 Revising TARGET SKILL ELABORATING WITH SENSORY DETAILS In descriptive writing, such as an eyewitness report, try to use details that appeal to the senses—sights, sounds, smells, textures, and flavors. Concrete nouns and strong verbs and adjectives help make images vivid.

Writing Your Eyewitness Report 4 Editing and Proofreading TARGET SKILL MODIFIER PLACEMENT After adding well-chosen details, be sure to check the placement of modifiers. In general, you should place modifiers as close as possible to the words they modify.

Writing Your Eyewitness Report 4 Editing and Proofreading TARGET SKILL MODIFIER PLACEMENT Two common errors are misplaced modifiers, which are placed too far from the words they modify, and dangling modifiers, which do not clearly modify any noun or pronoun.