Sunday, October 25, 2009
Week 10
Let's get back to vocabulary! I was reading a piece in Newsweek and a fabulous word popped out of an article: shoal. Shoal is a shallow patch of water or a large number of people/fish, and a favorite word of mine that Macbeth uses in one of this great soliloquies. It's an older word, one used less often these days, but it's presence in the article made me keep reading. So, look for some awesome vocabulary, a word or two or three that really zing from the page.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Awesomeness from Example writing
1. I turn towards the driver of the Golden Gate Transit Route 23 bus; she is a complete stranger, but I trust her with my life almost every day.
2. He is that man in the gym wearing a sleeveless shirt, yelling, grunting, clanging the weights whenever he is done using them.
3. I used to fantasize about the bus crashing, me saving him from the accident and then him falling in love with me. Typical. Not that he would have ever saved me if he were in my position.
4. Estoy escribiendo en Espanol. Did you get that?
5. You're in the dark, expecting the teacher to lead you to the light, and the Distant Genius only reminds you that you're looking for something bright.
6. The student's actions are masked by the darkness, allowing them to do things that they normally wouldn't do in public spaces.
7. Contrary to other types of people, the good-looking people of the French Republic are not sexy, but they are truly beautiful: cute little noses, voluptuous lips, golden soft hair, and bodies that would look good even in a trash bag.
8. The literary soil is no longer arable as the invasive species of "like" and "um" grow rampant.
9. That's why it came as quite a shock when one day I met a boy. A real one. Who liked me. Granted, I "met" said boy on the phone, but our telephonic divide had not stopped the pre-pubescent feelings of "like-like."
10. She looked at me apologetically, but I just smiled and said I wasn't hungry. Jane Doe didn't need to eat; she needed to begin studying for her performance.
11. No, I don't mean CatDog, the creepy cartoon from old school Nickelodeon, nor a catdog, a bizarre new mixed breed that only I have heard of. I mean catdog: the rare cat that has been blessed with the friendly disposition of a dog.
12. It gives us even more uniqueness and, in some ways, it creates a community: the word is totally ours.
13. But this year I realized that someone (in fact, many people) had stolen my thunder, pulled the rug ut from under me, ripped on my riff, jacked my jive and busted my move. Everyone else's dad is goofy too.
14. I can remember a time when our bathroom counter and shelves were lined with products, products we never really used, make-up I love in the store but wouldn't actually wear.
15. I have taken colleges off of my application list because, in the same flyer, they put a space before a dash in one instance and no space before it in another.
16. To my horror, my father responded, "you're welcome." Did he no know the he should have said, "thank you, too"? Did he not realize that he' done nothing deserving thanks?
17. I hate buff guys at the gym.
2. He is that man in the gym wearing a sleeveless shirt, yelling, grunting, clanging the weights whenever he is done using them.
3. I used to fantasize about the bus crashing, me saving him from the accident and then him falling in love with me. Typical. Not that he would have ever saved me if he were in my position.
4. Estoy escribiendo en Espanol. Did you get that?
5. You're in the dark, expecting the teacher to lead you to the light, and the Distant Genius only reminds you that you're looking for something bright.
6. The student's actions are masked by the darkness, allowing them to do things that they normally wouldn't do in public spaces.
7. Contrary to other types of people, the good-looking people of the French Republic are not sexy, but they are truly beautiful: cute little noses, voluptuous lips, golden soft hair, and bodies that would look good even in a trash bag.
8. The literary soil is no longer arable as the invasive species of "like" and "um" grow rampant.
9. That's why it came as quite a shock when one day I met a boy. A real one. Who liked me. Granted, I "met" said boy on the phone, but our telephonic divide had not stopped the pre-pubescent feelings of "like-like."
10. She looked at me apologetically, but I just smiled and said I wasn't hungry. Jane Doe didn't need to eat; she needed to begin studying for her performance.
11. No, I don't mean CatDog, the creepy cartoon from old school Nickelodeon, nor a catdog, a bizarre new mixed breed that only I have heard of. I mean catdog: the rare cat that has been blessed with the friendly disposition of a dog.
12. It gives us even more uniqueness and, in some ways, it creates a community: the word is totally ours.
13. But this year I realized that someone (in fact, many people) had stolen my thunder, pulled the rug ut from under me, ripped on my riff, jacked my jive and busted my move. Everyone else's dad is goofy too.
14. I can remember a time when our bathroom counter and shelves were lined with products, products we never really used, make-up I love in the store but wouldn't actually wear.
15. I have taken colleges off of my application list because, in the same flyer, they put a space before a dash in one instance and no space before it in another.
16. To my horror, my father responded, "you're welcome." Did he no know the he should have said, "thank you, too"? Did he not realize that he' done nothing deserving thanks?
17. I hate buff guys at the gym.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Week 9
Try to find a moment or a phrase or something that didn't work. I know this is quite subjective, but that just means you need to argue your point well. Being a good writer means knowing when something doesn't flow or fit with the rest of the piece. Good writing also comes from good editing. So, what piece would you edit out of this week's reading?
Monday, October 12, 2009
College Essays to check out
Connecticut College
Johns Hopkins
What did college presidents writer about? A great article passed on my Kearney.
Tips from Carleton College
Some other hot tips from a Stanford lady
Johns Hopkins
What did college presidents writer about? A great article passed on my Kearney.
Tips from Carleton College
Some other hot tips from a Stanford lady
Week 8
Let's move the opposite end of the essay and look for awesome closing (or near the end) lines. How does the author tie everything together? share an a-ha moment? conclude? make a call to action? Does the author come back to something mentioned at the start? Or maybe the author ends with a completely new idea? Share what works and what did not.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Week 7
We've looked at crafty words, high powered sentences, now let's focus on opening lines. Post the opening line to your selection and comment on its success or failures.
Keep up the good work!
Keep up the good work!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)