How small choices equal big effects Adapted from a lesson by Patti Slagle, LWP

What choices do we have as writers when we compose a basic, simple sentence?

The man walked down the street.

Choose an adverb to convey how the man walked down the street.

The man walked down the street. Rewrite the sentence, using the adverb in various location possibilities.

The man slowly walked down the street. The man walked slowly down the street. The man walked down the street slowly. Slowly, the man walked down the street.

The man walked down the street. What different verbs could you use to convey the meaning of both the verb and the adverb in your sentence? Make a list of verbs with your table group.

The man sauntered down the street. The man strolled down the street. The man hobbled down the street. The man ambled down the street. The man staggered down the street. The man meandered down the street. The man moped down the street. The man rambled down the street. The man traipsed down the street. The man drifted down the street. The man wandered down the street. The man moseyed down the street. The man plodded down the street. The man trudged down the street. The man limped down the street. The man shuffled down the street. The man stumbled down the street. The man waddled down the street.

The man walked down the street. Now add a phrase and/or a clause to one of your sentence to provide readers with additional information or to create an image for your readers. Do this with your table group.

The man staggered down the street in a stupor. The man moped down the street after losing his bet. The man strolled down the street as he whistled a cheery tune. The man wandered down the street with his head down, looking for his lost keys.

The man walked down the street. Relocate the phrase and/or clause in your sentence to create a different effect for readers. Do this with your table group.

In a stupor, the man staggered down the street. After losing his bet, the man moped down the street. As he whistled a cheery tune, the man strolled down the street. With his head down, the man wandered down the street looking for his lost keys.

The man staggered down the street in a stupor. In a stupor, the man staggered down the street.

The man wandered down the street with his head down, looking for his lost keys. With his head down, the man wandered down the street looking for his lost keys. Looking for his lost keys, the man wandered down the street with his head down. With his head down, looking for his lost keys, the man wandered down the street. Looking for his lost keys with his head down, the man wandered down the street.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Mentor Passage: “I carefully lay out the provisions. One thin black sleeping bag that reflects body heat. A pack of crackers. A pack of dried beef strips. A bottle of iodine. A box of wooden matches. A small coil of wire. A pair of sunglasses. And a half-gallon plastic bottle with a cap for carrying water that’s bone dry. No water. How hard would it have been for them to fill up the bottle?” (Collins 154)

How small choices equal big effects Adapted from a lesson by Patti Slagle, LWP

How small choices equal big effects

Rhetorical Device Prompts Example prompt: Persuade your reader to agree that gay marriage should be allowed. You must use chiasmus, anaphora, or antithesis in your text.

Rhetorical Device Prompts Example prompt: Persuade your reader to agree that gay marriage should be allowed. You must use chiasmus, anaphora, or antithesis in your text. Response (using anaphora): We can see the signs of change all around us. Changes that say we are on the cusp of allowing equality within the law. Changes that help us remain the beacon of freedom in the world. Changes that should have happened long ago.

Rhetorical Device Prompts Example prompt: Entertain your reader on the subject of gay marriage. You must use alliteration, assonance, or hyperbole in your text.

Rhetorical Device Prompts Example prompt: Entertain your reader on the subject of gay marriage. You must use alliteration, assonance, or hyperbole in your text. Response (using hyperbole) Of course, we all know what gay marriage leads to: millions of otherwise straight individuals suddenly getting gay married against their will because of the passage of this law. And what’s after that? Pretty soon, people will want to marry their pets, cars, and houses. It will be anarchy.

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