Mary Quattlebaum's Blog, page 24

VIVID WORDS AND ACTION VERBS

by Mary Quattlebaum
How might you encourage students (of any age) to attend to language?  To begin to delight in and revise for sound, rhythm and strong, active verbs, whether for poetry or prose?
Reading aloud and pointing out these qualities certainly helps.  One of my favorite books to explore is In the Spin of Things by Rebecca Kai Dotlich (Wordsong 2003).  Twenty-three poems about ordinary things like lawn mowers, ice cubes, and wind chimes revolve around sound and motion.  These poems encourage writers to focus closely on the world around them, whether it’s the “squish, squish, squeegee-squish” of windshield wipers, the “whittle and whirrs” of a pencil sharpener, or the twang, rap, and snap of a rubber band.
* Read aloud “Ode to a Washing Machine,” “Scissors” and “Soda Can.”
* Have students  jot down words or phrases that seem especially vivid and interesting.  Jot down sounds (onomatopoeia), alliteration, verbs, patterns of sounds (several words with long “o,” short “i,” etc.).  Share and discuss.  With verbs, substitute bland words for more active ones and ask students to describe the difference.
* As a group, choose something (fire truck, cake mixer) not in Dotlich’s book.  Have each child name a sound or action associated with that thing to create a group poem.
* Ask students to listen at home to their washing machine, a pair of scissors cutting, or a kicked soda can.  What sounds did they hear? Ask them to listen to two or three other things (toaster, shower, vacuum cleaner, etc.) and make a list of sounds they hear, descriptive words (color, shape, texture), and verbs and movements.
* Write a poem or short prose passage about this thing using some of the words on their list.  Do not try to rhyme. Have the poem or passage begin and end with a sound or movement.
* Read aloud.

www.maryquattlebaum.com

STORY ROCKS

by Alison Ashley Formento
Authors often immerse themselves in research to learn all they can about the topics they write about in their stories. I actually have rocks in my head. Metamorphic, Igneous, and Sedimentary rocks have been filling my thoughts since my new picture book These Rocks Count! will begin rolling out to libraries and bookstores this month, just in time to celebrate spring.
In researching rocks for this new picture book, I spoke to many wonderful scientists including geologists, seismologists, and volcanologists. They helped me learn how much rocks count in our world. I wouldn’t be able to type this blog entry without rocks, which are used to make parts for computers like the one I'm using right now. Rocks are used to make many items we use every day, such as telephones, televisions, and even toothpaste! 
Examples of Story RocksRocks can be used to inspire writing ideas.STORY ROCKS is a fun way to spark creativity and to celebrate springtime.
1. Go on a classroom hike around school and find small rocks to paint. If that’s not possible, inexpensive bags of decorative small, smooth pebbles can be found at most craft stores.2. Wash rocks and let them dry.3. Give students one to five rocks each.3. Use markers or paint to create a different image on rocks: a person, place, or thing such as the examples in the "Story Rocks" photo.4. What story can students tell with their painted rocks? Encourage students to expand and elaborate to build a strong foundation for a mountain of a story. 5. Students can trade rocks to help more story ideas. 5. Write stories.Have fun! All story ideas ROCK! 
Educators guidesfor These Rocks Count! and all of my books are available on my website at www.alisonashleyformento.com.

FOLLOW THE SNOWPRINTS

by Jacqueline Jules

Stop thinking about the inconvenience, the cold, and the dirty slush.  Focus on the beauty of snow for a lesson in your classroom. Show your students this picture or one like it with footprints in the snow. Start  a group story.
Who made the footprints? A man? Woman? Child? Boy or girl?
How old is the person? Tall? Short? Dark-Haired or Blonde? Eye Color?
What is the person wearing? Coat? Strong boots? Hat? Mittens? What color are they?
Or is he/she not dressed warmly enough? Is snow falling on his/her hair and shoulders? Is he shivering?
Where is that person going? Going home?  To visit a friend? On an important errand? A long journey?
How long has the person been walking? A few minutes or over an hour?
What is on the person's mind? Happy? Sad? Excited? Nervous? Worried?
What will happen when that person arrives? What will he/she see, smell, touch, taste, and hear?
Who will the person talk to? A person? A pet? A ghost?
Will the person go back out in the cold or go to sleep?
Will it continue to snow outside? Will the footprints be covered? Or will they be there the next morning?
Encourage your students to brainstorm as a group and then ask them to write their own stories.
Pictures of snow prints naturally inspire imaginative thoughts. Photograph the next winter storm and share the pictures with your class. Better yet, ask your students to take pictures of their own for inspiration.
www.jacquelinejules.com

PREWRITING PAYS OFF

by Guest Blogger Amy Brecount White
My writing career has spanned fiction, feature, and essay writing, and I’ve also taught all of the above.  One point that I find myself emphasizing more and more is the importance of prewriting. 
Too many of us start writing before we’re truly ready, before our mind has had a chance to explore and order.  (That’s not to discourage free writing as brainstorming if that’s your modus operandi.  Write away, but don’t think that you’re close to being finished if you’re following the stream of your consciousness.)  Excellent writing – the kind that moves the mind of your reader – requires a great deal of prewriting, which can happen both on and off the paper or screen. 
Here are the top three points I try to reinforce with my students:
1) Read the question.  Reread the question.  When you think you’re done, reread the question.  I can’t tell you how many college essays I got this season that didn’t directly answer the question or only answered it partially.  It’s vital to understand what you’re being asked to do before undertaking it.  Often, mapping out the parts of the question can also help to clarify and organize your response.  It makes the writing easier.
2) Do thorough research and get good evidence.  Whether you’re writing an essay about that pivotal moment in your life or penning a research paper on the Middle East, you need to convince your reader you know what you’re talking about.  To show your reader the importance of that pivotal moment, you’ll need to remember specifics and include the sensory details from that moment and also reflect on that moment’s ultimate importance to you.  That takes time.  To convince your reader that you know all about Afghan tribal history, you need to put in your time on a computer or at the library.  No one will believe anything you say unless you give him or her good evidence.  We’re all skeptical these days and need to be convinced with solid, believable evidence.
3) Give your brain time to work.  My best ideas for metaphors or characters frequently come during my down time, such as when I’m changing a load of laundry or walking the dog.  (Thank goodness for the Notes function on my phone!)  Your brain needs time to let new ideas and challenges percolate through all your experiences and connections.  I try to assign my brain a task – i.e. think about what my supporting character Gina really wants – and then let my subconscious go to work.  The problem simmers in the background for a while and then, when the solution’s cooked, pops into my consciousness.  Too many writers try to compose at their computer without giving their brain enough time to mull over an idea or a conflict and understand it fully in all its complexity.  If you don’t fully understand your answer or your character, how can you expect your reader to do so?
Notice anything?  Everything I’ve mentioned is a prewriting activity.  Of course, there’s a back and forth between writing and prewriting, and the boundaries can be blurred.  But, I’ve definitely found, the more effort you put into preparing to write anything, the better understood your final words will be.  You will connect with your reader on a deeper level, which is, after all, the goal of most writers.
Happy writing!
Guest Blogger Amy Brecount White is the owner of Expert Essay Coaching, a essay tutoring business that specializes in coaching seniors on their college essays.  She’s also the author of Forget-Her-Nots(Greenwillow/HarperCollins, 2010).  Over 80 of her articles have appeared in The Washington Post, and she now writes regularly for Arlingtonmagazine. 
www.amybrecountwhite.com or amybrecountwhiteATgmail.com

What Came Before? What Came After?

by Joan Waites
At a recent conference I attended, an artist representative spoke about consistency of character when illustrating a book, but also when showing work in your portfolio. She suggested including at least three sample illustrations in progression. Starting with one image, the advice was to do another two showing what happened with that character before that image, and what happened after. While good advice for illustrators, I thought this would also make a wonderful drawing and writing exercise to use in the classroom.
Using a picture book, pick out  a single illustration or a two page spread towards the middle of the book, uAsk children to look at the illustrations, and then come up with their own drawings of what might have happened before this illustration, and what might have happened after. 
Depending on the age of the students, a more simple or complex book can be used for the prompt. This can also be used as a writing exercise only, or in combination with the drawings.
After children have completed the assignment, have them share work with their classmates, then reveal the illustrations and/or text from the actual book. How does the student work compare?
www.joanwaites.com

IN PRAISE OF POEMS

by Jane Harrington
I recently returned from a residency in the lettered city of Pittsburghwhere I spent a couple of weeks buzzing around with some truly inspiring wordsmiths. Many were fiction writers, as I am, but the program (an MFA with Carlow University) is dedicated to the idea that the best literary inflorescence comes from cross pollination between genres. I’ve come to believe this.
So, I was glad to see that some of my fellow bloggers here looked to poetry for interesting writing activities in January. (See Jacqueline Jules’ post on 1/13 and Mary Quattlebaum’s on 1/27). I’m going to plant another idea that I think young word crafters might enjoy as much as I did when award-winning fiction writer Jane McCafferty shared this poem-as-prompt in a workshop. She recommends a short time limit to capture what first darts into mind.
PROMPT: Read the following poem and then write an emulation, using your own dreams and/or wishes as subject matter. You can follow the structure very closely or create your own poetic or prose form.
In Praise of Dreams, by Wislawa Szymborska (abbreviated)
In my dreamsI paint like Vermeer van Delft.
I drive a carthat does what I want it to.
I am giftedand write mighty epics.
My brilliance as a pianist would stun you.
I fly the way we ought to,i.e., on my own.
I’ve got no problembreathing under water.
I’m a child of my age,but I don’t have to be.
A few years agoI saw two suns.
And the night before last a penguin,clear as day.
 www.janeharrington.com

THE BEST WORDS IN THE BEST ORDER

by Mary Quattlebaum
The title of this post is taken from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s definition of poetry—but it should hold true for stylish prose as well.  In this era of sound bites and Instagram, though, how might we help our students to better appreciate the power and beauty of language?
A writing prompt that gets people looking deeply at words and thinking about how easily we take language for granted is the “How to, for Aliens.”
1.  Ask students to do this exercise:  An alien is visiting from outer space and has no knowledge of our world.  Write down the directions for him or her on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Or how to cheer for the school’s football team.  Or how to wash a dish.
2.  Share and discuss May Swenson’s poem “Southbound on the Freeway.” How do you know that the alien is talking about cars?  What specific words give you the clues?  How does the alien see people?  What images seem especially vivid and fresh?
3.  Have students return to their initial writing prompt and revise for clarity, word choice, and sound.
4. Share some pieces aloud, asking students to try to figure out what the alien is being asked to do.  Enjoy!
www.maryquattlebaum.com

MLK DAY WRITING: I HAVE A DREAM TODAY

by Alison Ashley Formento
Martin Luther King, Jr. would have celebrated his 85th birthday this month. Each January, when reading or listening to a recording of Dr. King’s famous “I have a dream” speech, we’re reminded of the power of his words and how they helped inspire change in America.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.' 
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. 
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
 I have a dream today. 
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.I have a dream today.            We encourage students that, with persistence and hard work, all dreams are possible. To honor Dr. King’s memory educators may discuss Dr. King’s famous speech aloud with students to express how his ideas relate to our world today.            Ask students to write their own “I have a dream today” speech. Using the following questions may help focus writing ideas:What is something special you hope to happen soon in your life?What do you hope or dream about happening for your family?Do you have any hopes or dreams for your friends? Do you have any hopes or dreams for the world?      After writing a personal speech just as Dr. King did, give students a chance to share their hopeful “I have a dream” speeches aloud to help show the power of the spoken word.
There are several good books about Martin Luther King’s life and legacy. One popular picture book is My Brother Martin written by his sister Christine King Farris with detailed illustrations by Chris Soenpiet.
This book shares how Martin Luther King, Jr. grew up in Atlanta in the 1930’s. He liked to joke and had to practice the piano like a lot of children still do, but young Martin was told by his white neighbors that they couldn’t play with him because of the color of his skin. That’s when he first began to dream about the need for change in our world. This book shows readers the thoughtful boy who became Dr. King, a man with a courageous dream that continues to inspire people each and everyday.

www.alisonashleyformento.com
            

WRITING FROM A MENTOR TEXT

by Jacqueline Jules
Cover Art by
Katherine Janus KahnLong, long, ago, in a galaxy far removed from Smart Phones and the Internet, I was a college student taking creative writing classes. My first poetry writing professor gave us an assignment that helped me produce my first publishable poem. He told us to choose a favorite poem and try to imitate the cadence and style for a poem of our own.
This was the first time I had ever encountered an assignment like this. Mentor texts had not been a part of my earlier education and to my knowledge, not widely used in any classroom way back then.
My first task in this assignment was to choose a poem as my model. It had to be a poem I admired enough to try to imitate. The selection in itself is an important lesson for a young writer. Choosing a model means defining one’s tastes. It also means being thoroughly familiar with the poem—understanding its construction enough to recreate its rhythms in your own words.
After some soul searching, I chose T.S. Eliot’s "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." To read the poem, visit this link. 
I knew Eliot’s poem almost by heart, because I had written a term paper on it during my senior year of high school. The thesis of my paper was that Eliot’s poem could be appreciated without comprehension of the many literary allusions in his work. It is a stance I still abide by. While a footnoted copy of this poem enhances one’s appreciation for Eliot’s genius, the poem is still meaningful and extraordinarily beautiful all on its own.
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” portrays a tormented man examining his life. He begins with “Let us go then, you and I/When the evening is spread out against the sky.”  It is never clear whether or not Prufrock is carrying on an internal monologue or talking to another person. But Eliot’s “you and I” along with a repeated two line stanza, “In the room the women come and go/ Talking of Michelangelo” gave me an idea.  Instead of a name, I could give my protagonist a setting. I decided to write in the voice of a nameless young woman visiting a psychologist after a self-destructive experience. The full text of my poem, "You and I," is below at the end of this post. 
During the course of “You and I,” my protagonist reviews her year of sessions with the psychologist. I employ rhyme, just as Eliot did in “The Love Song” and vary the length of my stanzas for emphasis. My poem is significantly shorter than Eliot’s but it comes to an end with a few similar ideas.
Toward the end of “The Love Song,” Prufrock says “For I have known them all already, known them all.”  I use this idea when my protagonist says that she has told the psychologist all she can tell about her life: ”But we have done this all already/ done the childhood, mother, father, siblings,/defined the large and small defeats”
And Eliot’s lines “Should I, after tea and cakes and ices/Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?” inspired my lines  “So it's time now/ Yes, it's time to test your doctor's license/ as we force these sessions to a crisis” in which my protagonist tells her doctor that she is ready to manage without therapy.
My poem, “You and I,” inspired other poems and eventually became the concluding poem of a thematic collection in the voice of an 18-year-old girl who travels from self-destructive behavior to a new acceptance of herself during weekly sessions with a psychologist. The power of a mentor text can motivate writers to create something completely original. Ask your students to identify a favorite poem and use it as a model for their own work. Try it yourself. It is a worthwhile writing exercise for writers of all ages.  
FIELD TRIP TO THE MUSEUM is scheduled to be published by Finishing Line Press in March 2014. To read sample poems and order online visit the Field Trip to the Museum blog 
YOU AND Iby Jacqueline Jules (from the chapbook, FIELD TRIP TO THE MUSEUM)
We started off, you and Iwith tissues pressed against my eyesand you, stirring coffee, pretending surprise.That's how we started, you and I.In this room where the patients come and gospeaking of lives eclipsed, shadowed.
Do you remember? (Say you do.)Our first hour conversationmy long list of agitationsand your knowing, nodding smile.
In this room which is carpeted, paneled, and square,this room where I have come and gone and sharedthe details of a cold November night,the harsh glow of a bathroom light,and bright red blood, a startling sight . . . .
But we have done this all already,done the childhood, mother, father, siblings,defined the large and small defeats,traveled all those narrow, winding streetswhich crisscross and finally meetin the same small place of no retreat.
It wasn't you who saw me as a snail,a slimy worm without a tail. It wasn't you.
So it's time now. Yes, it's timeto test your doctor's licenseas we force these sessions to a crisis,when, with a surgeon's sharp incision,you will remove all self-derisionand present me with the lovely visionof the person I have always longed to be.
Or does that job still belong to me?

www.jacquelinejules.com

GETTING THE RESEARCH RIGHT

GUEST POST by Catherine Reef
I don’t recall the issue we were debating. It was too long ago, and now it hardly matters. But an idea had been raised in my college sociology class that provoked some heated discussion. At one point a student read a passage from our textbook to support his opinion. The instructor listened and then asked us all, “Do you think the book is right?”
I sat up a little straighter. What was that? Was she suggesting the book might be wrong? The book, that esteemed authority—words printed in black ink and bound in a hard cover—wrong? While the rest of the class argued on, I pondered this startling notion.
As you may have guessed, the most important lesson I learned in Sociology 101 was to be a critical reader. It is one that has served me well as a writer of nonfiction, because again and again in my research I have encountered books that were wrong. I have learned to question, to track down original sources, and to weigh the printed evidence.
I could show how this healthy skepticism has paid off by citing examples from the research that went into nearly every one of my books, including The Brontë Sisters. More than one writer has adopted an authoritative tone, for instance, to write that in 1855 Charlotte Brontë died of tuberculosis, the disease that took the lives of at least four of her five siblings. But how did these authors know this? The answer is that they didn’t; not really. They saw it in another secondary source or jumped to a conclusion after glancing at the facts. The reader or researcher who bothers to investigate Charlotte’s case finds that the cause of her death is uncertain. Her death certificate states that she died of phthisis, a wasting away, but was it due to consumption, as these writers assume, or to the severe intestinal illness that had been plaguing her for weeks? Some authors declare that Charlotte, who was recently married at the time of her death, was pregnant. Charlotte Brontë herself believed this was true, if only because of the severe nausea she was experiencing. Did she actually die of morning sickness, though? It must be noted that the foul water in the Brontës’ village of Haworth was known to carry disease, and a longtime family servant had sickened and died in a similar way only a short time before. So did Charlottesuccumb to waterborne contamination? These are all questions I cannot answer. As her biographer, I saw only one way to be honest with my readers and fair to my subject: I described how Charlottedied, but I offered no diagnosis.
So, yes, books can contain factual errors; they can also be wrong, or at least untrustworthy, when it comes to words placed inside quotation marks. Here’s what happens: one writer paraphrases something a subject wrote or said. A second writer repeats the statement word for word and attributes it not to the writer who did the paraphrasing, but to the well-known man or woman whose words were paraphrased in the first place. At some point, as more writers repeat them, the words become enshrined in quotation marks. Content to cite in their endnotes some other secondary source, these writers never check whether the words were ever uttered.
I encountered one of these suspicious quotations when the time came to write about Anne Brontë’s novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Published in 1848, this book was ahead of its time in its frank depiction of alcohol abuse and marital discord. At one point in the narrative, the distraught wife, Helen Huntingdon, bolts her bedroom door against her husband and refuses to let him enter. Now, I am sure such things happened in Englandin the 1840s, but no one spoke of them above a whisper, and certainly no one wrote of them in a novel. A wife denying her husband access to her bed? Shocking!
“The slamming of Helen Huntingdon’s bedroom door against her husband reverberated through Victorian England,” proclaimed a writer of a later generation, May Sinclair. Or did she? This great quotation appears in a number of critical works, but not one lists a source. Literary detective that I am, I tracked down Sinclair’s actual words in her 1913 book The Three Brontës. And what Sinclair wrote is this: “The slamming of that bedroom door fairly resounds through the emptiness of Anne’s novel.” The second quote is less dramatic than the first, but it is accurate, and it is the one I included in my book, properly sourced. Thus I made a small correction to literary history, but a satisfying one.
Fortunately for us all, authors get their facts right more often than not. Nevertheless, students can be better writers of nonfiction—which is what they are when writing reports or essays—if they read critically. Where did the author get her facts? Check the notes and bibliography. Does he cite primary sources, and is it possible to track them down? Students may not have access to a research library, but many older texts are available online. Do the words “perhaps,” “might have,” and “must have” crop up too often? These are signals that the author is speculating. Students need not be in college to learn to question what they read and to cite printed sources with care.