Your Inner Child

Taken from Google Images

This is a writing exercise to get you in touch with your child-self before we start writing your children's books!  Choose one of the prompts below and write it as your child-self (this is going to take some thought)!  What kind of things would you have to say about one of these topics when you were 5 years old?  7 years old?  9 years old?  If you're feeling brave, use your multi-genre sheet!  Make sure that you write in a child's voice - your child voice!

a. What do you want to be when you grow up?  Why?

b. What is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you?  Why was it so scary, and how did you get away from it?

c. Talk about a time in which you felt proud of yourself.  What did you do and why did you do it?  Did you receive any awards for this task?

d. What are the differences between boys and girls in how they act?  Why do you think that boys act one way and girls act another?

e. What would you do with a million dollars?  What would buy and why?

Magnificent Magazines!

For the first 10 minutes of class, I want you to read an article in the magazine that you brought.  How is this article different from the newspaper articles you read yesterday?  What techniques do the writers use that go against the rules of the Inverted Pyramid?  Does the genre of magazine determine the types of articles that are written?  What is the importance of audience?  What other techniques do publishing companies use in their magazines that hold reader interest?  I mean, a magazine isn't simply made up of a bunch of articles, right?
For the next genre, we will be exploring elements of magazines and come up with a list of "genres" within a magazine that make up the publication as a whole.  What can you find?  Let's brainstorm and collaborate together!

Taken from Google Images



For the next genre, think about ways in which you could incorporate various elements of a magazine into your multi-genre project (it doesn't have to be an article either, but it can be!).  Here are some things to ponder before you get started:

•  What kind of magazine would relate to your topic?  Womens' interest?  Mens' interest?  Health?  Beauty?  Sports?
• Who is your target audience?  Who is most likely to buy the magazine, and how would you write the article for that specific group of people?
• What kind of photos, headings, and statistics could you use to make your piece more engaging and interesting for your readers?
• How could you incorporate a magazine piece into your final multi-genre project?
  

Journalism and Print Media

Today my friend, you are a journalist.  I want you to think about how you could incorporate a news article into your multi-genre project, and use the Inverted Pyramid in order to write your article:

Remember that the most important information (the who? what? when? where? why? how?) always goes first in a news article.  Immediately, the reader should have a strong idea of what happened, where it happened, and to whom it happened to (etc) in the first sentence or two of the article.  This is the most important part of the article, for it holds the most pertinent information!

The next section of the article will be dedicated to the minor (yet still important) details of the event.  However, this information is not considered "necessary" - it simply adds more insight to the story for the readers who crave to know more.

The last bit of the article is the least important; it could be considered the "fluff" section that is written in order to get a certain amount of words or fill up more space in that section of the newspaper.  The information found in the bottom portion of the Inverted Pyramid is the information the readers could do without, hence why it is the smallest section.

How can you incorporate a news article into your multi-genre piece?  Remember that news articles have dates,  photos with captions, quotes from people related to the subject, catchy headings, and a byline that includes the name of the writer and perhaps his/her title (ie - Monica Richardson: Editor in Chief). 

Take some time to analyze a newspaper and adopt the style for this writing exercise!



Basic Letter Format

Mr./Miss Your Name
Your Street Address/PO Box
Your City, Your State, Your Zip Code

Person Receiving Letter
His/Her Street Address/PO Box
His/Her City, State, & Zip Code

Today’s Date (ie – March 29, 2012)

Dear Receiver,

This is a basic letter in block format.  When writing letters you need to use complete sentences, correct spelling, and proper punctuation. Put one space between each word and do not use enter on the keyboard until you get to the end of the paragraph.

The first paragraph in a letter should explain who you are and why you are writing.  In the second paragraph you will give details as to the content and purpose of the letter.  In the third paragraph you will restate the purpose in the first paragraph, and thank the reader for their time.

Use only proper English in written communication.  Abbreviations, text-language, and emoticons make a poor impression on your letter readers.  Written communication makes a lasting impression on the reader, and letters - although they are a lost art - are a big deal. So follow this simple format when you write a letter for your multi-genre project!

Thank you for your time,

Your Name

Those of you who are missing class Friday, make sure that you post either your poem, your diary entry, or your letter to your blog by Friday at 4pm.  Polish up your work, and give a brief explanation of how the piece you chose to post could be incorporated into your multi-genre project!  As usual, this assignment will be worth 50 points, and I'm expecting perfection, so take it seriously!  See you all Monday!

The Lost Art of Letter Writing

Taken from Google Images



With email, text messaging, and the capability of calling someone on the phone, writing a letter (and subjecting oneself to "snail mail") has become a lost art, and yet there are many types of letters to write: letters of complaint, letters of recommendation, cover letters, business letters, and love letters (does anyone write love letters anymore?).  I hope they do.

For this genre, you are going to write a letter that goes along with your multi-genre topic.  Depending on the nature of your topic, you will have to determine what kind of letter you need to write and how that letter may fit into your multi-genre puzzle.  Perhaps you will create a character and write a letter from his/her perspective that pertains to your topic.  Perhaps you are the person writing the letter if your topic is personal.  Brainstorm some ways to incorporate some "snail mail" in your multi-genre project!

It's also time to begin thinking about how your multi-genre project will take shape: how you will use repetend, which writing styles you will incorporate in the finished product, what message you want to send to your readers.  So far, you've made an advertisement, written a poem, a diary entry, and now we are focusing on letter-writing.  How can you include these 4 genres in your project? 

Dear Diary...

Anne Frank
Taken from Google Images

"It's an odd idea for someone like me to keep a diary; not only because I have never done so before, but because it seems to me that neither I - nor  for the matter of anyone else - will be interested in the unbosomings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl.  Still, what does that matter?  I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart." -Anne Frank

If you haven't already guessed, the genre we will be focusing on today is a diary or journal entry.  What's the point in keeping a diary, you might ask?  A diary entry is one of the most personal forms of writing simply due to the fact that the writer believes that his/her eyes will be the only ones to ever gaze upon the page.  A diary is a place where one can disclose innermost thoughts - the reality, the raw nature, of one's life.

Anne Frank had thought this, but when her diary was discovered, a piece of history and a piece of a human heart were also discovered.  Frank's diary has become one of the most famous pieces of literature in all history, and all because a little girl got a blank book as a gift.  Her diary is history, thoughts, and emotions frozen in time.

For this piece, I want you to think about how you could incorporate a diary entry into your multi-genre project.  Depending on the nature of your topic, you could incorporate a journal entry from your perspective (if your topic is personal to you) or from the perspective of a character that you make up for your project.  An idea for repetend is to create a character and give snippets of a diary entry from that character's perspective in between your various pieces of writing to create unity between your work.

Remember that a diary entry is a raw and personal thing: hold nothing back!

Creating an Ad

Taken from Google Images

For this assignment, I want you to think about the topic you chose for your multi-genre project.  Since our focus this week has been on advertising, I then want you to imagine what an ad would look like that pertains to your topic.  What message could you leave with your readers by using an advertisement in your multi-genre project?   Consider the following questions:

What kind of ad could you come up with for your topic?

What message do you want your advertisement to convey?

Who is the audience in which you are targeting this advertisement? 

What kind of photo or imagery would be most effective?

Which words or text on your advertisement should be bigger than the others?

What colors should you use in your advertisement to set the tone?

What language are you going to use to be catchy and convincing?

Your topics vary greatly, but as we have discovered this week, there is always something to sell, and there will always be ways to sell it - whatever it may be.  So, consider this a starting point: how could you incorporate an advertisement into your multi-genre project? 

Remember that you might actually be able to incorporate this into your final product, so put some time, energy, and effort into it!

After you create your advertisement using the suggested criteria above, I want you to type up an explanation of your choices: why did you construct the ad in the manner you did?  How is your ad effective?  What would you have chosen to do differently if given the opportunity?



What tactics do these companies use to get you to buy their products?
Taken from Google Images