1. Journal #11
Look around the room. Pick an object, any object, and describe it in writing with as much detail as possible, without naming the object. Don’t tell anyone what you chose, we are going to try and guess in a few minutes.

2. Description and Early Prose
AP Language and Compostion
Mrs. Lewis

3. How Can Something Be Described?

4. Effective Selection of Detail
Clearly, a good description must evoke sensory impressions in order for the reader to respond to or engage in a description. It is not surprising that most descriptions focus on how something or someone looks. Why might this be?

5. Effective Selection of Detail
“Sophia…the only daughter of Mr. Western, was a middle-sized woman; but rather than inclining to tall. Her shape was not only exact, but extremely delicate; and the nice proportion of her arms promised the truest symmetry in her limbs. Her hair, which was black, was so luxuriant that it reached her middle, before she cut it to comply with the modern fashion; and it was now curled so gracefully in her neck that few could believe it to be her own…Her eybrows wer full, even, and arched beyond the power of art to imitate. Her black eyes had a lustre in them which all her softness could not extinguish.” In this passage, Fielding does not give ALL the details of Sophia’s appearance because an overly detailed listing would be tedious and dull. Instead he selects those precise physical characteristics that enable us to see her in our mind’s eye. Why do you think he chose the details above? Let’s look at them one by one.

6. Effective Selection of Detail
Next we will read a descriptive passage by Jamaica Kincaid, Coming to Antigua. In it Kincaid imagines herself a tourist, arriving on her native island of Antigua for the first time. As you read, identify the various sensory details she uses to bring the scene alive for the reader.

7. Journal #12
Take a minute to think about places that are important to you or where something significant has happened to you. This should be a specific place, not just a type of place (ex. Central Park, not “a park”). Start to describe that place with sensory details.

8. Effective Arrangement of Detail
As we discussed the other day, the first basic principle of description is that it should involve the senses or evoke sensory impressions through the selection of detail. Next, it is important to maintain a consistent point of view and arrange details in an order that is inherent to the subject or dictated by the context.

9. Effective Arrangement of Detail
A meaningful organization for a description of an event is often chronological (beginning to end). A meaningful organization for a series of related actions would be causal (cause and effect).

10. Effective Arrangement of Detail
A meaningful organization for a description of a place is often spatial:
The author describes from right to left, or vice versa.
The author describes from up to down, or vice versa.
The author describes from out to in, or vice versa.
The author moves from general or larger detail to specific or smaller detail, or vice versa.
The author spirals around a space, in a circular fashion.

11. Effective Arrangement of Detail
In spatial organization, point of view is especially important because it determines what writers can see, how they see what they do, how what they see makes them feel, and so on. For example, in Kincaid’s essay, the writer imagines a moving observer, passing from one point in Antigua to another, describing, item by item, what the observer sees as he/she goes along.

12. Effective Arrangement of Detail The Kingdom of Didd by Dr. Seuss
The Kingdom of Didd was ruled by King Derwin. His palace stood high on the top of the mountain. From his balcony, he looked down over the houses of all his subjects—first, over the spires of the noblemen’s castles, across the broad roofs of the rich men’s mansions, then over the little houses of the townsfolk, to the huts of the farmers far off in the fields. It was a mighty view and it made King Derwin feel mighty important. Far off in the fields, on the edge of a cranberrry bog, stood the hut of the Cubbins family. From the small door Bartholomew looked across the huts of the farmers to the houses of the townsfolk, then to the rich men’s mansions and the noblemen’s castles, up to the great towering palace of the King. It was exactly the same view that King Derwin saw from his balcony, but Bartholomew saw it backward. It was a mighty view, but it made Bartholomew Cubbins feel mighty small. How does the viewpoint change the description and the effect of the description?

13. Effective Arrangement of Detail
Now we will read a passage by John V. Young, Moonrise over Monument Valley. Pay attention to Young’s arrangement of detail and the impact this has on the way we experience the place he describes. Note the point of view Young uses and how this contributes to the organization of the piece.

14. Journal #13
Look back at Journal #12, where you started to describe a significant place. Now that you have gotten some sensory details down, let’s convert some into rhetorical devices. Pick 5 different devices and rewrite a detail of your description using that device:
Personification Alliteration/Assonance/Consonance Analogy Balance or Antithesis Metaphor/Simile Onomatopoeia Allusion Inversion Parallel Structure Pathetic Fallacy Hyperbole Appositive Phrase Incongruous Juxtaposition

15. Journal #14
Describe the gunky stuff that gets caught in the basket at the bottom of the sink. Don’t use the words disgusting or gross.

16. Creating Mood in Description
What is mood? Mood is the overall feeling the reader gets from a text. How is it created? Mood comes from word choice and sentence structure. Mood can be created in descriptions of the surroundings, feelings of the characters and actions that take place. Choosing appropriate words for different events will create the mood that is right for a particular scene.

17. Creating Mood in Description Mood Activity
Part 1: You will get into your groups of 4. Each group will be given a “mood” and 5 minutes to come up with as many words that fit that mood as possible.

18. Creating Mood in Description Mood Activity
Part 2: You will stay in your groups, but your “Mood” list will be switched with the list of another team. Your group will have 10 minutes to use ALL of the words on the list to write a short story that creates that “Mood”.

19. Creating Mood in Description Mood Activity
Part 3: Let’s share!

20. Creating Mood in Description
As we read “Shady Grove, Alabama, July 1936” think about the mood James Agee creates and the ways that he does this. Highlight words that you think contribute to the mood of the piece as you read. Also, think about how the selection of detail and the organization of the piece contribute to it’s mood.

21. Journal #15
Describe a car, using at least five comparisons to food. Only one of these can be a color related comparison.

22. Journal #16 Which of these statements do you agree with most:
The Narrative assignment was easier than the Description assignment.
The Description assignment was easier than the Narrative assignment.
Writing both assignments was equally difficult.
Writing both assignments was equally easy.
I didn’t write one or both of the assignments.
Explain why you agree with that statement the most. Explain how the writing process was for you.

23. Journal #17
Finish this sentence 3 different ways, creating a different feeing with each sentence: Antonio opened the door, he gasped to see…

24. “Battle of the Ants” Sentence Leveling
One day when I went out to my wood-pile, or rather my pile of stumps, I observed tow large ants, the one red, the other much larger, nearly half an inch long, and black, fiercely contending with one another.

25. “Battle of the Ants” Sentence Leveling
The smaller red champion had fastened himself like a vise to his adversary’s front, and through all the tumblings on the field never for an instant ceased to gnaw at one of his feelers near the root, having already caused the other to go by the board; while the stronger black one dashed him from side to side, and, as I saw on looking nearer, had already divested him of several of his members.

26. “Battle of the Ants” Sentence Leveling
I have no doubt that it was principle they fought for, as much as our ancestors, and not to avoid a three-penny tax on their tea; and the results of this battle will be as important and memorable to those whom it concerns as those of the Battle of Bunker Hill, at least.

27. Analyzing Description
Your primary purpose in analyzing a descriptive essay is to figure out mood or dominant impression the author creates in their description.
Your second purpose is to explain what rhetorical devices the author uses to create that mood or dominant impression.

28. Sample Prompt
Read the following passage carefully. Then, in a well-developed essay, discuss the effect the passage has on the reader by analyzing the techniques used by the writer to achieve that effect. In your essay, you should consider such aspects of writing as organization, point of view, language, and selection of detail.

29. Journal #18 Sentence Leveling Practice:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

30. Sample Prompt
Read the following passage carefully. Then, in a well-developed essay, discuss the effect the passage has on the reader by analyzing the techniques used by the writer to achieve that effect. In your essay, you should consider such aspects of writing as organization, point of view, language, and selection of detail.

31. Let’s Analyze!
Read “Battle of the Ants” carefully. Then, in a well-developed essay, discuss the effect the passage has on the reader by analyzing the techniques used by the writer to achieve that effect. In your essay, you should consider such aspects of writing as organization, point of view, language, and selection of detail.
As you read decide what effect (dominant impression/mood) Thoreau is creating. Find 3 words from your mood list that you think encompass this effect.
As you re-read, search for, then highlight the different techniques (rhetorical devices) that Thoreau uses to create that effect (dominant impression/mood). Pick 3-5 of these techniques that Thoreau uses most prominently.
Fill in the Analysis Organizer.

32. Writing an Introduction
Because first impressions are so important, it is very important to have a strong introduction to any essay. A strong introduction acts as a funnel, going from a broader topic to a specific argument (your thesis).
Broad Opener/Hook
Background Info
(Author, Title)
Thesis
1-2 sentences
1 sentence

33. Broad Opener/Hook
Your opener, the first 1-2 sentences of your introduction, should be something that gets your readers attention and makes them want to keep reading. It should be something broadly related to your topic. Common openers:
Anecdote
Quote
A surprising fact
A historic or related fact
A general statement

34. Background Information
This should include:
the author and title of the passage.
It may include:
brief summary
beginning discussion of your topics

35. How to Write a Thesis

36. Journal #19 Checking your Introduction
Get out your Introduction Paragraph for the “Battle of the Ants” essay and and 3 different color highlighers.
Use one color to highlight your opener. The label it as its type: anecdote, Anecdote, Quote, Surprising Fact, Historic or Related Fact, or General Statement
Use a second color to highlight your background information (including the author’s name and title)
Use the third highlighter to highlight your thesis statement.

37. Writing a Body Paragraph
The Jane Schaffer Way:
Topic Sentence Concrete Detail Commentary Commentary Concrete Detail
Commentary Commentary Concluding Sentence
Each body paragraph should be at least 100 words in length.
The more words you use well, the better your writing will get.
Quality NOT Quantity!
Minimum 8 Sentences

38. Topic Sentence It is the first sentence of the paragraph.
It shows the main idea.
Usually a mildly controversial statement-- something that you have to prove

39. Concrete Detail
These are your facts, quotes, examples, etc. from the text. CDs can’t be argued with—a CD is evidence that supports your point!

40. Commentary
This is your analysis, interpretation, explanation, or insight into the text.

41. Journal #20 Checking your Body Paragraph
Get out your Body Paragraph for the “Battle of the Ants” essay and and 3 different color highlighers.
Use one color to highlight your topic sentence and concluding sentence.
Use a second color to highlight your concrete details (facts, quotes, examples, etc.)
Use the third highlighter to highlight commentary (analysis, interpretation, explanation, etc.)

42. Journal # 21
Description Analysis Essay Self-Check: Do the following to each of your body paragraphs: 1. Hi-lite all direct quotes (including tags or stems) from the piece you are analyzing. 2. Hi-lite all material that restates what the author of the essay you are analyzing said. (This includes all paraphrases or translations of his words into your own words.) 3. Hi-lite all material that tells what happened in the piece you are analyzing. (plot summary) 4. Put parentheses around your Topic Sentence and Conclusion Sentence. 5. Hi-lite all material that simply connects to your topic sentence (This will be most of your claim sentences). WHAT"S LEFT is your analysis of the piece. Do you have any?

43. Journal # 22 Time to turn in your essay!
Staple the Rubric to the top of your Final Draft and any drafts or pre- writing you have.
Give yourself a grade:
Circle the score you think you deserve.
Below, explain why you think you deserve this score. Be as specific as possible. One-two sentences is not enough. Really reflect on your writing and what you feel good about or what you are not so confident about.
Then turn it in! Yay! You are done!