Ms. Montgomery’s SMILEY FACE TRICKS
This is a great way to get you to think and write more creatively.
1. MAGIC 3
Example of Magic 3
Sally would still like me even if I had a sticker on my shirt that read DORK, had orange hair, and had something in my teeth.
Exercise for Magic Three:
Exercise: Write a sentence about a person using the Magic Three to describe that person’s actions or appearance.
2. Figurative Language
~SIMILIES~ comepare using like or as...stiff AS a board�~METAPHORS~ compares without using like or as... her face is an opsn book�~HYERBOLE~ an extreme exaggeration... so hungry i could eat a horse�~ONOMATOPOEIA~ a word that sounds like what it means... BAM! BOOM! ZAP! CRUNCH!� ~ALLITERATION~ repetition of beginning consonant sound...peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers...gives noise and music to the piece of writing�~ASSONANCE~ related to alliteration, the dark side of it, repetition of vowel sound in neighboring words...rain in spain....but it doesn't have to rhyme...hEat of the mEan girls' argument is a near rhyme
Example of Figurative Language:
It was a hot July morning and the last few days of freedom before school were slipping by faster than a greased ten-foot-long boa constrictor at the ice capades. In other words, I only had a week and a half to play my brains out, both inside and outside, and a week and a half before the evil schoolwork monsters took over my time, a week and a half before the life as I had known it these past two months was over.
"When the teacher asks us all to hold hands and Wyatt reaches for mine, this jolt of electricity floods out of his fingers and ricochets through my whole body like I'm this human pinball machine and Wyatt's the ball."�
Example
Exercise:
Exercises: Pick one sentence to finish!
Make Your Own Similes and metaphors
That girl was as skinny as________________________.
The chickens were as nervous as__________________.
Grandma's hug was as warm as__________________.
The librarian was wound as tightly as_______________.
He was as skittish as___________________________.
Her stomach growled like________________________.
The howl ripped through the air like a______________.
The breeze from the window was like_______________.
Fear crawled over him like_______________________.
3. Specific Details For Effect
Instead of general, vague descriptions,
specific sensory details help the reader visualize the person, place, thing, or idea that you are describing.
Example of Specific Details for Effect
“The smell rushed at me as soon as I stepped inside. The hallway had that mama-don't-cook-nothin-without-onions smell. It lingered on top of musty cigarette smoke, the kind that never quite comes out of the carpet, no matter how long ago the smoker left. My arms rippled with goose bumps. I'd been here before."
Exercise:
Describe a place you have seen or been to. Use specific details of that place to make the writing more interesting!
4. Repetition for Effect––
Writers often repeat specially chosen words or phrases to make a point; to stress certain ideas for the reader.
Example of Repetition For Effect
"I’m going away from this place. Away from my disapproving mother, away from my groping brother and away from this infernal heat.”
Exercise:
5. Expanded Moment
Example:
Placing my foot on the edge of the shovel, I push down with my arms and leg. My muscles strain as the blade breaks through the soil. Once it’s in, I tilt the handle back toward the ground and push until the earth is loosened. I dump the pile of soil onto the ground. Bending down I grab clumps of earth and begin shaking away the loose dirt and returning stray worms to their underground homes. The unneeded grass is deposited in my garbage sack. The ground is tilled to break up the clumps of sod and to smooth the dirt. Using my hand spade, I dig small holes in which to plant my future flowers. I then tuck my tulip and daffodil bulbs into their new beds so they can sleep warmly through the winter.
6. Humor
Professional writers know the value of laughter; even subtle humor can help turn a “boring” paper into one that can raise someone’s spirits.
Example of Humor:
“Why you lyin’, cheatin’, stinkin’, hairy, little double crossin’, yellow-bellied sapsucker! Me and Pa done looked all over fifteen dadgum counties for you, and yer just roaming around out here in a bear suit laying monkey eggs or something all over creation. You think gasoline comes cheap nowadays? That receipt had a three-digit figure on it! Pa’s gonna turn you over his knee and beat the livin’ daylights outa you! I’m tellin’ you, girl, I’m a slap you so hard your uncle’s gonna say ‘Ouch!’ Now take off that mask!” The creature did as it was told and removed the mask. “Good lord, sis! Am I going blind or are you just gettin’ uglier? For the love of Snoopy put that thing back on before you get arrested!”
Exercise:
7. Hyphenated Modifiers
Sometime a new way of saying something
can make all the difference; hyphenated adjectives often cause the reader to
“sit up and take notice.”
Example:
Little did I know that when Mom asked if I like the new neighborhood in town that that one innocent question would be the beginning of the destruction of my life. I was going to choose “yes” as my answer, but I had one of those I-don’t-want-to-lose-my-friends looks.
Example:
"She rolled her eyes at her mother and turned her nose up with a "god-I-can't-believe-you-actually-said-that sniff."
Exercise:
Write your own hyphenated modifiers. Choose ONE
1. Mom and Dad went in the back room for one of their_________________________________talks.
2. The most popular girl in school threw me one of her_________________________________looks.
3. The dog had a_______________________face.
4. His fingernails were of the____________variety.
5. She put her feet into the _____________shoes.
8. Full-Circle Ending
Sometimes writers need a special ending, one that effectively “wraps up” the piece. One “trick” is to repeat a phrase from the beginning of the piece.
Example of a Full Circle Ending:
Do I seem mad to you? I’m not mad! I’m furious! Does my face seem as red as an apple? It’s not! My face is a fire! The divorce was taking my heart and crushing it into oblivion. My tears were a flowing steam, my brain an exploding bomb. My dad had this I-don’tcare- about-my-family-I’m gonna-get-wasted kid of look,. But do I seem mad? He used to have my sister and me in his back pocket, but now he has his new I-like-you-right-now-but-when-we-get-serious-I’ll-stab-youin- the-back “perfect” girlfriend there instead. But do I seem mad? Dad just got married. They had been dating for about an hour and he popped the question. But do I seem mad? I just sit there with my fake smile while she puts on the biggest show and says, “Oh, I love your kids, they’re so cute” and fake smiles back at me. But do I seem mad? My dad used to be my best friend and protector of my childhood. Now he is my enemy. But do I seem mad? His new wife has me in her death-grip, waiting for me to do something bad. She is a cobra waiting to strike. But do I seem mad? I’m not mad! I’m furious!
Let’s Write Pick ONE:
1.Write a scene where you wake up in a dark house after hearing an odd sound. EXPAND THE MOMENT to build suspense.
OR
2.Write a paragraph that places a character in an environment or situation you wouldn't expect him to be. Example: A city boy in a ballet class or a pig in a chicken coop. Exaggerate the circumstances to create humor. Make sure there is a FULL CIRCLE ENDING