Transcript word choice presentation

Using Narrative
Techniques
WORD CHOICE
Show don’t tell
I was sad
My eyes were filled with tears.
I was hungry
My stomach was rumbling like
thunder.
WORD CHOICE- SHOW DON’T TELL
The use of vivid verbs, adjectives, adverbs in
narrative writing serves to enhance the
mood and bring the reader into your memoir.
•Verb – action word ( scowled )
•Adjective – descriptive word ( scruffy )
•Adverb – tells you how a verb is done
or to
what extent ( harshly, incredibly )
WORD CHOICE- SHOW DON’T TELL
Finding the right verbs, adjectives and
adverbs to put into your memoir IS CRITICAL!
Dead and boring words will lose your reader
and put them to sleep…
Said
go
See
jump
move
put
Laugh
Jump
WORD CHOICE- SHOW DON’T TELL
Vivid word choices will make your memoir
come alive !
•ate
or devoured
•pushed or rammed
• not hurt or pummeled
•not fast or streaked
WORD CHOICE- SHOW DON’T TELL
WORD CHOICE- SHOW DON’T TELL
Let’s see what we’ve got.. enhance these
boring sentences with your table.
==================================================================================
•Sammy went across the icy pond.
•The
girls laughed as they rushed to dance class.
•Miss Thomas said, “don’t do that.”
•Tyler ate lunch, barely stopping to breathe in
between bites.
FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
Much like strong word choice the use of
figurative language in narrative writing
serves to enhance the mood and bring the
reader into your memoir.
IN OTHER WORDS
Figurative language forms images in readers’
minds, showing them what something is like
instead of just telling them
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE - IMAGERY
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE - IMAGERY
Read the following two stories and think
about what makes them different.
STORY 1
Toby was lost. He must have wandered off
from his family during their morning hike
because around noon he realized that he was
all alone in the middle of the woods. He
wasn’t frightened exactly, but he was
definitely anxious to find his family before
evening. The thought of spending a night in
the woods alone was a scary one. Heaving a
sigh, Toby walked on.
STORY 2
Toby was totally lost. He must have wandered off
from his family during their morning hike because
around noon he realized that he was alone in the
middle of the wide whispering woods. Thonk!
Thunk! went his feet on the soft pine needles
that covered the ground like a soft brown blanket.
Birds twittered and tweeted from the sky-scraping
branches of trees, but there was no sound of his
family.
STORY 2
He wasn’t frightened exactly, but he was as
anxious as a fish out of water to find his family
before evening. The thought of spending a night in
the woods alone was one that made his heart
dance a fearful frenzied jig in his chest. Heaving a
sigh, Toby tiredly trudged on.
Dirk The Protector Assignment
CLOSE READ “ Dirk the Protector “ and
follow the directions on the worksheet.