SSR TIME (Did you bring your book, Veronica?) College Prep

GIMME 0 I would very much like your baby integrity write ups

Read for ME!!!!!! 0 Read “Notes of a Native Speaker” 0 What is Liu defining? 0 What KINDS OF ARGUMENTS is he making

Discuss?!?!? 0 Lets talk this bad boy out…

Image Grammar Refresher 0 Lets take a walk down memory lane……..

Painting with 5 basic brush strokes 0 Just as the painter combines a wide repertoire of brush stroke techniques to create an image, the writer chooses from a repertoire of sentence structures. Although professionals use an array of complex structures, students can begin to learn the art of image grammar by employing the five basic brush strokes. 0 Eventually we will be working with: 0 Participles 0 Absolutes 0 Appositives 0 Adjectives 0 Action verbs

Why does this MATTER??!! 0 Not only do the following techniques help you in fiction writing, they SHOULD be incorporated in non- fiction writing. 0 Students tend to write research papers, expository papers, etc. without voice, without flavor. 0 Realistically, teachers grade, college entry people evaluate, and employers judge have to read the same papers on the same topic (sometimes by the hundreds). THESE techniques not only make your writing stronger, they make your writing stand apart 0 And honestly, they make you sound more intelligent.

Painting with Participles 0 Participle: a verbal that functions as an adjective 0 Verbal: a verb form that functions in a sentence as a noun or modifier rather than as a verb. 0 A more simplified way to explain a participle is: “an ing verb tagged on the beginning or end of a sentence.”

Lets look at some examples 0 Picture in your mind, a nest of snakes curling around some prey. 0 “The diamond-scaled snakes attacked their prey.” 0 Does this sentence create a picture in your mind?

Same thing…with participles 0 “Hissing, slithering, and coiling, the diamond-scaled snakes attacked their prey.” 0 The participles evoke action. Suddenly, we can see the snakes coiling and slithering. We feel PART of the experience.

Participial Phrases 0 Participial Phrases: a participle along with any modifiers that complete the image. 0 Modifiers: A word, phrase, or clause that functions as an adjective or adverb to limit or qualify the meaning of another word or word group.

Combo example and explanation 0 “Hissing their forked red tongues and coiling their cold bodies, the diamond-scaled snakes attacked their prey.” 0 Both methods (single participles and participial phrases) paint more detailed picture. 0 Using the single participles creates rapid movement, while expanded phrases add details at a slower, but equally intense pace.

Examples 0 Flying through the air on the wings of a dream, the Olympic long jumper thrust the weight of his whole body forward. 0 In this sentence, which is the participle and which is the modifier?

Examples 0 “Shifting the weight of the line to his left shoulder and kneeling carefully, he washed his hand in the ocean and held it there, submerged, for more than a minute, watching the blood trail away and the steady movement of the water against his hand as the boat moved.” 0 -Ernest Hemingway

Absolutes 0 Absolute: a two-word combination-a noun and an ing or ed verb added onto a sentence. 0 Absolutes utilize verbs; therefore, this brush stroke also adds action to an image.

Examples 0 “The cat climbed the tree.” 0 Does this work? Does it show or tell?

Good example 0 “Claws digging, feet kicking, the cat climbed the tree.” 0 Was this better? Show or tell?

Absolute phrases 0 Absolute phrases combine an absolute and a modifier. 0 Modifiers: A word, phrase, or clause that functions as an adjective or adverb to limit or qualify the meaning of another word or word group. 0 Absolute phrases are to absolutes as participial phrases are to participles.

Absolute Phrases Examples 0 “Feet trembling on the snow covered rocks, the mountain climber edged along the cliff.” 0 Which part of the sentence is the absolute and which is the modifier? 0 Which is the noun that the absolute phrase adjective(fies)?

The comma as a telescope 0 Think of that comma as a telescope controller. You have your basic sentence. Its ok on its own, but there isn’t enough detail. Use THAT COMMA, and ZOOM in with it. 0 These participles, participial phrases, absolutes, and absolute phrases, help you add detail by ZOOMING in on your topic.

Image Grammar #3 Painting with Appositives 0 An appositive is: A word or phrase that clarifies the previous word or phrase and expands meaning. Created to make a statement more clear. 0 For our purposes: a noun that adds a second image to a preceding noun. 0 Like the absolute, the appositive expand details in the reader’s mind.

Why is this helpful now? 0 Well, all image grammar is helpful in all form of writing, but….. 0 Painting with appositives give clarity to your topic. This is especially helpful when writing a writer needs to make their subject especially clear 0 Candy for who can guess why this would be good to use at this time in the semester….

For Example 0 By adding a second image to the noun raccoon in the sentence “The raccoon enjoys eating turtle eggs,” the writer/artist can enhance the first image with a new perspective. 0 IS THIS BETTER:

CONT 0 “The raccoon, a scavenger, enjoys eating turtle eggs.” 0 Scavenger follows raccoon in the sentence; it’s set of with commas and enriches the image. 0 The appositive ZOOMS in on the subject, making the image more complete.

EVEN MORE DETAILS?! 0 Yes, tis true. You can add more! 0 “The raccoon, a midnight scavenger who roams lake shorelines in search for food, enjoys eating turtle eggs.” 0 Pretty rad!!!

How the masters do it 0 Observe how Cornelius Ryan uses appositives in June 6, 1944: The Longest Day. 0 He could have written: “A phalanx of ships and planes bore down on Hitler’s Europe,” but instead, Ryan expanded the image with appositives and then extended the picture with further specific examples.

RYAN 0 Plowing through the choppy gray waters, a phalanx of ships bore down on Hitler's Europe: fast new attack transports, slow rust-scarred freighters, small ocean liners, channel steamers, hospital ships, weather-beaten tankers, and swarms of fussing tugs. Barrage balloons flew above the ships. Squadrons of fighter planes weaved below the clouds. And surrounding this cavalcade of ships packed with men, guns, tanks, and motor vehicles, and supplies came a formidable array of 702 warships

Your turn 0 Using the Lui’s topic from “Notes of a Native Son,” write his definition of the topic using APPOSITIVES!!!!!! 0 Best one gets candy