Transcript The Writer as Artist: Basic Brush Strokes

The Writer as Artist: Basic
Brush Strokes
Adapted by Harry R. Noden’s 2nd Edition Image
Grammar: Teaching Grammar as Part of the Writing Process
Writers are Artists
“The writer is an artist, painting images of life with
specific and identifiable brush strokes, images as
realistic as Wyeth as abstract as Picasso” (1).
Five Basic Brush Strokes
“Just as the painter combines a wide repertoire of
brush stroke techniques to create an image, the writer
chooses from a repertoire of sentence structures” (4).
The participle
The absolute
The appositive
Adjectives shifted out of order
Action verbs
Painting with Participles
Defined as ing verb placed at the beginning or end of
sentence
Both methods, -- adding several participles or adding one or
two participial phrases – paint more detailed images.
For example, picture a nest of snakes curling around some
prey.
One may write, “the diamondback water snake attacked its
prey.”
Or, “Hissing, slithering, and coiling, the diamondback snake
attacked its prey.”
Also, “Hissing its forked red tongue and coiling its cold body,
the diamond-back snake attacked its prey.
Personal Dictionary and
Grammar Quiz: Week One
Put an MLA heading on your quiz.
Write three sentences.
Use one vocabulary term in each sentence, correctly.
Include a participle or participial phrase in each
sentence.
Underline all vocabulary words and participles.
Painting with Absolutes
Defined as simply combining a noun or verb with an
ing participle.
Either way the cat gets up the tree, but in the second
instance, he climbs with flair, and the dog chasing him
is amazing.
For example, picture a cat going up a tree.
One may write “The cat climbed the tree.”
Or, “Claws digging, feet kicking, the cat climbed the tree.”
Personal Dictionary and
Grammar Quiz: Week One
Put an MLA heading on your quiz.
Write three sentences.
Use one vocabulary term in each sentence, correctly.
Include an absolute in each sentence.
Underline all vocabulary words and absolutes.
Painting with Appositives
Defined as a noun that adds a second image to a preceding
noun. The appositive is often used to amplify still images.
Scavenger follows raccoon in the sentence; it’s set off with
commas and enriches the image of the painting. To add
more vivid details, writers frequently expand the appositive
to an appositive phrase with added details.
For example, by adding a second image to the noun raccoon
in the sentence “The raccoon enjoys eating turtle eggs,” the
writer can enhance the first image with a new perspective.
One may write “The raccoon, a scavenger, enjoys eating turtle
eggs.”
Or, “The raccoon, a midnight scavenger who roams lake
shorelines in search of food, enjoys eating turtle eggs.”
Personal Dictionary and
Grammar Quiz: Week Two
Put an MLA heading on your quiz.
Write three sentences.
Use one vocabulary term in each sentence, correctly.
Include an appositive in each sentence.
Underline all vocabulary words and appositives.
Painting with Adjectives Shifted
Out of Order
Adjectives out of order, used more often by authors of
fiction, amplify the details of an image.
The effect creates a spotlight and intensifies the image,
giving it a profound rhythm instead of the elementary
cadence of the original.
Consider a description of a mysterious sound.
One may write, “And then, suddenly, in the very dead of the
night, there came a clear, resonant, unmistakable sound to
my ears.”
Or, “And then, suddenly, in the very dead of the night, there
came a sound to my ears, clear, resonant, and unmistakable.”
Personal Dictionary and
Grammar Quiz: Week Three
Put an MLA heading on your quiz.
Write three sentences.
Use one vocabulary term in each sentence, correctly.
Include several adjectives shifted out of order.
Underline all vocabulary words and adjectives that
have been shifted out of order.
Painting with Action Verbs
By eliminating passive voice and reducing being verbs,
writers can energize action images.
Passive voice can weaken images by freezing the action
often inherent in a sentence. Improve the power of
sentences by replacing as many being verbs as possible.
The runaway horse was ridden into town by an old whitewhiskered rancher.
The old, white-whiskered rancher rode the runaway horse
into town.
The grocery store was robbed by two armed men.
Two armed men robbed the the grocery store.
Personal Dictionary and
Grammar Quiz: Week Four
Put an MLA heading on your quiz.
Write three sentences.
Use one vocabulary term in each sentence, correctly.
Include several action verbs.
Underline all vocabulary words and action verbs.