Descriptive Writing and Grammar Review
Directions

1. Read the “The Secret Power of Things We Hold Dear” (2007) by Sherry Turkle (search for this online or in the EBSCO database).

2. Read Writing Elements: A Quick Guide to Grammar and Usage (2012) by Goss and Goss (find this in this week’s readings or in the Course Resources folder located under the Lessons tab).

3. Read and respond to each of the following writing prompts. Submit them as a single document.

Part 1: Descriptive Writing

In her 2007 article, “The Secret Power of Things We Hold Dear,” Sherry Turkle discusses the importance of objects on a personal level. She describes her weekends spent at her grandparents’ apartment in Brooklyn, looking through the items that her grandparents saved, and using the information she gleaned from these items, gains a deeper understanding of her mother and her aunt. In her article, Turkle explains that the items that she looked at again and again “had a high emotional intensity” because they made her think about the father she never met (Turkle, 2007, para. 6). In this sense, Turkle uses the art of bricolage (“do-it-yourself”) to piece together who her father was.

For this writing assignment, use bricolage to describe a person close to you or someone you know very well: What objects surround this person? What does his or her physical space (living space, work space, or other) look like? How does he or she dress? Describe this person’s physical appearance as well as any mannerisms, gestures, or expressions he or she uses. Show this person doing something that he or she would do on a regular basis. The idea is to create a dominant impression of this person by selecting key details, as you did in your discussion this week.

Write a one-paragraph (five to seven sentences) physical description of this person and his or her surroundings using specific sensory details so the reader can visualize this person. Write a second paragraph discussing what you think these objects, environment, appearance, and so forth say about this person. Practice ways of showing your reader the significance rather than telling the reader of its importance.

References

Turkle, S. (2007). The secret power of things we hold dear. New scientist, 194(2607), 50-52.

Part 2: Grammar Review

In Writing Elements (2012), Goss and Goss briefly explore the most common grammar and usage issues found in student writing. Read through the guide and find three areas where you struggle or have struggled in your own writing. Write an example of each of these issues and demonstrate a way each issue can be corrected.

For example:

Verb Tense

“I asked her what is her problem.” Incorrect because it uses both past and present tense verbs in the same sentence. This is also an awkward sounding sentence.

“I asked her what her problem was.” Correct (past tense).

Or, “I ask her what her problem is.” Correct (present tense).

References

Goss, T. P., & Goss, S. M. (2012). Writing elements: A quick guide to grammar andusage. Kansas City, MO: Grantham University.

Turkle, S. (2007). The secret power of things we hold dear. New scientist, 194(2607), 50-52.

#2 Assignment
Topic Selection
Directions

Read and respond to the following writing prompt:

This assignment should be helpful in generating and refining topics for your upcoming Narrative essay (look ahead to the Narrative Essay writing criteria). This practice also may be helpful in future writing projects.

· List three significant events that have happened in your life (these should be things that have changed you in one way or another).

· Write a sentence or two about why you feel each event is important to you.

· Write a sentence or two describing why you feel each event could be important to your readers.

· After writing your sentences, decide which of these topics interests you enough to write your essay about and interest your readers enough to read about.

· Write a paragraph or two based on the event you’ve chosen. Try to identify who was there, what they were doing, and what they were saying at the time of the event.

· Submit your work as a single document.

#3 Assignment
Narrative Essay
This essay explores the narrative mode, which is perhaps the most natural style of writing for most people. The narrative form has much in common with fiction or creative writing, in that it relies on descriptive language, dialogue, and dramatic action to present its story.

Much like it is in fiction writing, the goal of the narrative form is to allow readers to feel as if they are not simply reading someone else’s story, but that they are somehow part of it.

Unlike telling a story, the narrative form has a specific piece of information to share and uses the elements we discussed in the Expository Writing chapter to deliver that message.

In this essay, you will be asked to write about a specific event in your life that will engage readers, and that will, at the same time, help them to understand the importance of the message you are relating, or, argument you are making.

Read

Search in EBSCO for the following article:

Bender, S. (2006). The art of the personal essay: How to turn a nagging question or troubling experience into entertaining and insightful writing. Writer, 110(5), 31-33.