What's Goin On? In English Class, I Mean

The photo is a tease. It's the album cover of Marvin Gaye's, What's Going On, a groundbreaking socially conscious departure from the Motown hit factory. Still sounds good today. I'm apologizing in advance for the "busy" blog entry. Read on, if you dare.

Short week. We'll finish The Shawl on Monday, and start a movie in class, too. I'll assign a few stories to read for homework due for next week. Descriptive writing will be due either Friday the 2nd or Monday the 5th. Student examples from previous year's are on my teacher page on the St. Mark's website (click the underlined works for a link.) Browse the ''assignments" on the right hand side of the page.

Here is what you need to do for the creative descriptive assignment, in case you didn't get the handout: Describe a place to create an overall atmosphere, a "single effect" as Edgar Allan Poe might have said. Remember, your primary purpose is to describe a place, NOT to tell me a story with a plot and conflict, etc. Make sure that you read the hints and that you fulfill the objectives below. Think of a place that you'd like to describe, perhaps one that has some special significance for you. If it is a real location, you might want to revisit that place to help you become more aware of specific details. As you observe, carefully select only those details that help you to express the general feeling that you wish to convey. Pick "extraordinary ordinary" details if you can.

Objectives

1. Create a general overall impression on your reader, a single effect (Poe).
2. Use carefully-selected concrete details that are consistent with the effect and your tone
3. Choose words that best display appropriate connotations
4. Use mimetic words (words that sound similar to the way they sound)
4. Appeal to at least three of the senses (sight, smell, touch, feeling, hearing)
5. Use some figures of speech (at least three) in your paper.

Other hints for writing

1. Try to avoid the "be" verb (and other linking verbs in your sentences) and the layering of adjectives that will result from it use ( ex. just OK- The rainy day made the hut seem dark and dingy. - Better- A fine layer of mist cast a pall of gloom over the crumbling cabin). Use strong "motion picture" verbs.
2. Create sentence structures and sentence lengths that add to your intended effect. Note: Long sentences with lots of descriptive phrases create more of a rhythmic, sweeping panoramic effect, while short, choppy sentences with vivid verbs and adjectives will create more of a close-up.
3. As Clark did in The Portable Phonograph, use alliteration and assonance as gentle sound devices for effect. Hard consonants make strong impressions; softer sounds make gentle impressions. Long vowels are loud; short vowels not as much so.3. Length-- 1 ½ to 2 pages should do.