Blue Winds Dancing

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Blue Winds Dancing

• Writing Workshop

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The Personal Essay

• BWD is a personal essay
• essay a brief work of nonfiction that expresses
  a persons opinions or views about a particular
  subject
• Possible purposes
• Analyze
• Inform
• Persuade
• Entertain

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Function of the Personal Essay

• For the author allows the author to re-create a
  personal experience
• For the reader allows the reader to live the
  authors experience through the authors eyes
• Why might this be helpful to you as a reader?
  What does this allow you to do?

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Why do we Need to Learn This?

• The readers interest in a personal essay often
  has at least as much to do with the author as it
  does with the subject of the essay.
• Listen to Marlins mollusk joke. The story isnt
  that bad, but the way he tries to tell it is
  terrible https//www.youtube.com/watch?vxRad4Y3F
  PdM
• The way you tell the story makes it come alive
  and makes your reader interested!

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In other words

• If you want people to pay attention to what you
  have written, you need to write in a way that
  appeals to others.
• When would this be important in the real world?

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Style, Use of Language, Comparison

• We will focus on three areas of how to write a
  story so that your readers are interested
• Authors Style
• Sentence structure
• Imagery
• Use of Figurative Language
• Simile
• Metaphor
• Personification
• Use of Comparison

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Authors Style Sentence Structure

• Sentence Structure the pattern the writer uses
  to connect words in a sentence
• Good authors mix up their sentence patterns by
  using a variety of simple, compound, and complex
  sentences.
• Good authors vary the length of their sentences.

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Authors Style Sentence Structure and Imagery

• Parallelism (sentence structure) the use of
  repeated forms, phrases, or clauses that are
  similar (parallel) in structure to add to the
  flow of the paragraph and to make connections
  between ideas in a paragraph.
• Alliteration (sentence structure) repetition of
  consonant sounds, especially at the beginning of
  words
• Imagery the use of words or phrases that appeal
  to one or more of the senses

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Use of Figurative Language

• contributes to an authors style
• Refers to words or phrases used in unusual ways
  to
• create strong, vivid images,
• to focus attention on certain ideas,
• or to compare things that a basically dissimilar
• Simile, metaphor, personification

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Use of Figurative Language Simile and Metaphor

• Simile A direct comparison that uses like, as,
  or than or a verb such as appears or seems
• Ex giant cacti that look like petrified
  hitchhikers along the highways

• Metaphor An implied comparison that doesnt use
  words such as like or as
• Ex The giant cacti were petrified hitchhikers
  along the highways

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Use of Figurative Language Personification

• when an animal, object, or idea is given human
  characteristics
• Ex heavy mountains holding up the night sky

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Use of Comparison

• Comparison AND contrast
• Comparison focus on similarities
• Contrast focus on differences
• Demonstrate dramatic differences between two
  topics
• Through comparison, the reader understands both
  ideas being compared even better because they are
  being set side-by-side

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Use of Comparison

• If youve only ever had one, its hard to notice
  the subtle things you like about it until you
  have had the other!