What makes writing great: the day of exclamation points!

Some reading groups: In group of 4-5 rotate around the room and read and discuss the following pieces.

1. Ground Zero: look for sentence patterns. They are amazing in this piece! Read. Learn. Be amazed. Copy at will.

2. Missing the nuance: let's get specific and serious about words.

3. Phantonyms: beware! Be scared.

4. Goodness this is awesome (!) writing.

For each piece, I'd like you answer the following questions:

1. Who is the speaker? Audience? Subject?

2. What is the take-away for your essay writing?

3. What sentence pattern or device did the writer employ that you'd like to steal for your own work?

4. How did the writer engage you in the subject? How did the writer bore you?

5. Discuss anything else you deem necessary before you move on to the next piece.

Your group will spend 15 minutes with each piece and then we'll rotate.