1. Style Strategies (Smiley Face Tricks)
Tricks of the writing trade to help you meet and exceed writing expectations.
Ideas developed by Mary Ellen Ledbetter
Powerpoint created by Gwen S. Thibadeau

2. These writing techniques are common tools that ALL authors use.
They are proven to add personality, voice, style, and reader interest.

3. Magic 3 Three parallel groups of words/phrases Separated by commas
Used to create a poetic rhythm or add support for a point
Technically referred to as Parallel Structure.

4. M3--Example
My palms became sticky and shaky, my neck tingled with anticipation, and my heart puttered with emotion.
I was so excited that I jumped up & down, cried huge tears of joy, and plastered a huge smile on my face.

5. Your Turn~ Create 2 Magic Three sentences. Possible Topics:
Your last first day of school
Best actor/singer/athlete
Relationship with your best friend
Why every kid needs a pet

6. Hyphenated Modifier creatively describe or rename someone or something
boring, one-word adjective is replaced by a phrase or clause that might come to mind when the person is in that particular situation.

7. HM--Example
Some of her students sat in their why-do-I-have-to-be-here postures while others exuded eagerness.
I needed to call forth that singing-in-the-car-at-the-top-of-my-lungs energy to truly nail the audition.

8. Your Turn~
Write 3 different sentences using hyphenated modifiers in each one. There must be at least 3 words or more in the hyphenated phrase.
PossibleTopics:
SAT testing
College visit
First speeding/traffic ticket
Another Arizona summer day

9. Repetition for Effect
While repetition without careful consideration can be tedious and ineffective, a carefully selected word or phrase repeated can add incredible emphasis!

10. RE--Example
That week, the teachers attended three faculty meetings.  They went to two department meetings.  They sat in on one collaborative teaching meeting, and they held training meetings.  They were ready to go back to class just to get away from all of the meetings.

11. Your Turn~
Think about two other classes you attend here at RMHS or clubs your are involved with.
Write a short paragraph for each--include at least 1 Repetition for Effect—must repeat key word/phrase 3 times.

12. Specific Details
Also known as imagery, this technique appeals to the senses and includes enough detail to allow the reader to identify with the description.

13. SD--Example
His car reeked of stale cigarette smoke.  The back seat was speckled with charred black holes where the cigarette ashes had burned what used to be the pale gray plush fabric. There was no way to escape the ride without an I-smoke two-packs-for-breakfast aroma tailing you for the rest of the day. Just another reason not to date a smoker.

14. Your Turn~
Write a paragraph supporting—with specific detail—one of the following topic sentences: A high school diploma is essential in the 21st century. Every one should be a vegetarian.

15. Figurative Language
This technique finds new and creative ways to describe people, places, things, and ideas.
Similes—metaphors—hyperbole—personification
It incorporates fresh and creative similes and metaphors, not clichés.

16. FL- Example
She had graduated. It wasn’t until then that she had realized what freedom really was. Finally, she was soaring through the air, wings spread wide.
When we first moved into the house on Orchid Street, I didn’t like it. My room was hot, cramped, and stuffy as a train in the middle of the Sahara. And the looming skeleton-like gray and white frame of the place scared me.

17. Your Turn~
Come up with at least 1 example for each type of figurative language:
Simile
Metaphor
Hyperbole
Personification
Think back to your first date or your car for inspiration.

18. Expanded Moment
Instead of “speeding” past a moment, writers sometimes spend some time explaining an event in detail .

19. EM Example
After the car accident, I held my father’s head cradled in my lap.  I talked to him and tried to keep him conscious for as long as possible.  I reminded him of the time we went fishing, and as we tried to load the boat onto the trailer, he slipped and fell, scattering fish all in the mud on the edge of the lake.  I stood by the truck and laughed as he struggled to stand up.  Suddenly, I heard the police sirens, and I told my father as he struggled to keep his eyes open that help was almost here.  He died before the police arrived.

20. Another Example~
“The treatments are not so bad as I feared. I walk to the convent once a day. The nun in charge of my case is Sister Katrina. She washes my scalp with a green soap that makes my eyes water. Then she puts me under a violet light. The light warms my head.”

21. Your Turn~ Write one paragraph, explaining one specific moment of
Your first day on RM campus
Your first day at new job
Your first “F”
Make sure to explain every single detail. Let the reader feel as though they are you.

22. Humor
Writers use humor for many reasons... not only to create a connection with the reader and cause him/her to laugh, but also to lighten the mood in a tense or serious situation.

23. H—Example
Sitting at the funeral home waiting for the services to begin, the old man knew what he would miss most about his wife of sixty years: her lying in bed waving the covers up and down, giggling as she vented her toot.

24. If I make this free throw right here, right now then the ice caps will stop melting, the Taliban will stop bombing, and Taylor Swift will write a song about me. No pressure.

25. Your Turn~
Pick one of the topics below and write a paragraph infusing a bit of humor.
A broken bone
A failed test
A speeding ticket
A “no” to homecoming/prom
A dead pet

26. Full Circle Ending
Writers will often begin a piece of writing with a key word or phrase, develop the piece, and will bring the reader back to the key word or phrase at the ending.

27. FCE--Example
She was fat and happy.  The day she gave birth to her first child was amazing.  Everything was perfect.  The child had a beautiful head of hair, all ten fingers and toes, and slept rather than crying like most babies do.  Now, as an old woman sitting in her favorite chair visiting with three of her great-grandchildren, again she was fat and happy.

28. From beginning: I sit quietly on the old wooden deck, watching the birds soar through the humid air. The ocean’s waves are like wrinkles gathered up in place. From end: The clouds are so delicate, so fragile, yet a single plane could not break their perfect form. I sit quietly on the old wooden deck, watching the birds, the waves, the clouds.

29. Your Turn~
Beginning: Write 5 sentences to start off a narrative about something that has happened to you in the last year. End: Write 3-5 sentences to end narrative . BUT, this time reword what you initially wrote

30. Practice Makes Perfect!!!
For the remainder of class and for homework, write ½ to 1 page paper about pros/cons of attending the largest high school in Arizona,--use at least four style strategies covered in class. *Make it obvious whether you view this in a positive or negative light.
Come to class prepared to share your examples.