Transcript Image Grammar - Mr.Hellenga`s Weebly

Image Grammar
The Writer as an Artist
Writing as Seeing

Compare the following two images:

It was winter. Everything was frozen and white with
snow. Snow had fallen from the sky for days. The
weather was horrible.

Flowers lay deep in the grip of midwinter beneath a
sky of leaden gray that showed tinges of scarlet and
orange in the horizon. A cold mantle of snow draped
the landscape, covering the hills to the west. Snow
was everywhere, filling the ditches, drifting high
against the hedgerows, making paths invisible,
smoothing the contours of earth in its white embrace.
Writing as Seeing
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The first image was written by a high school student; the
second was written by well-known novelist Ernest
Hemingway.
The qualities of a writer’s images—the details, colors
shapes, movement—derive from visual perception.
An ineffectual writer sees broad impressions that evoke
vague labels.
A powerful writer visualizes specific details that create a
literary virtual reality.
“Telling” and “Showing”

There are two categories of “seeing”: showing
and telling.


An amateur writer tells a story.
A professional writer shows the story & creates
a picture to look at instead of just words to read.
The amateur writes: “Bill was nervous.”
 The professional writes: “Bill sat in a dentist’s
waiting room, peeling the skin at the edge of his
thumb, until the raw, red flesh began to show.
Biting the torn cuticle, he ripped it away, and sucked
at the warm sweetness of his own blood.”


“A good author writes with a camera not with
a pen.” - Robert Newton Peck
It was Fall…
*Example #1
*imagery and description!

As I stepped outside, I felt the icy wind blowing through
my hair. I almost instantly started shivering when I started
walking through the dead leaves. As I looked up, I saw
the leaves were a pretty mixture of red, orange, and
yellow. I could distinctly smell a fire burning in the
distance. I was getting cold, so I moved out of the shade
into the warm sunlight and lay in the luscious green grass.
As I was staring up into the nice blue sky, I eventually
drifted away into sleep.
It was Fall…

*Example #2
The air around was brisk, going into my lungs and
cooling my breath. The leaves on the ground
crunched like potato chips under my feet. As I
trudged forward, scarlet, orange, and brown
swirled around. I took a deep breath through my
nose, the smell of burning wood drifting lazily on
the wind. The flags snapped in the background,
and a car drove by, exhaust condensing into a fog
trail.
It was Fall…

*Example #3
All of the oranges and yellows mixed throughout
the air filled with burning leaves off in the
distance.
Painting with Five Basic Brush
Strokes
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The participle
The absolute
The appositive
Adjectives shifted out of order
Action verbs and Active Voice
Painting with Participles
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Participle
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An -ing verb tagged on the beginning or end of a
sentence.
Notice the difference:
“The diamond-scaled snakes attacked their prey.”
“Hissing, slithering, and coiling, the diamond-scaled
snakes attacked their prey.”
You can see how the participles evoke action.
Painting with Participles

Participial phrases


A participle along with any modifiers that complete
the image.
“Hissing their forked tongues and coiling their cold
bodies, the diamond-scaled snakes attacked their
prey.”

Write two of your own sentences that include participial
phrases.
Painting with Participles

Participles Painted by Hemingway


Shifting the weight of the line to his left shoulder and kneeling
carefully, he washed his hand in the ocean and held it there,
submerged, for more than a minute, watching the blood trail away
and the steady movement of the water against his hand as the boat
moved. --- Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Participles Painted by Students

Flying through the air on the wings of a dream, the Olympic long
jumper thrust the weight of his whole body forward.
 Melody froze, dripping with sweat, hoping with all her might that
they wouldn’t hear the noise. A beam of light swung out into the
darkness, searching.
 The clown, appearing bright and cheerful, smiled and did his act
with unusual certainty for someone who had just killed a man.
Painting with Participles


Take a look at the following two pictures.
Write down any words that come to your mind.


These words and phrases may or may not be related
to the pictures.
Write a descriptive paragraph about one of the
photos using at least one participle or participial
phrase.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™
and
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and
and
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QuickTime™
and
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(Uncompressed)
decompressor
TIFF
TIFF
(Uncompressed)
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TIFF
(Uncompressed)
decompressor
are
needed
see
this
picture.
are
are
needed
needed
to
toto
see
see
this
this
picture.
picture.
are needed to see this picture.
Write two sentences that describe this image. Use at least
one participle or participial phrase in each sentence.
Participles Continued
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Participles do not only end in -ing. Participles can also
end in -ed, -en, -n, and -t depending on the tense of the
verb.
Participles may be either present or past.
The present form ends in -ing (eating, running,
describing).
The past form usually ends in -ed (described).
Note that some end in -en (eaten).


Screaming, I jumped out of bed. [Present participle]
Delighted, we accepted his invitation. [Past participle]
Passive and Active Voice
Passive Voice occurs when the subject of the
sentence is acted on by the verb.
In Active Voice the subject is doing the acting.
Examples
 Passive
Subject
The roof
She
My survival
Victory
 Active
Subject
The Carpenter
Someone
The doctor
Wellington
forms of verb “be”: is, am, was, were, are
Passive Verb
was repaired
was complimented
was called a miracle
was brought to England
Original Subj.
(by the carpenter)
(by someone)
(by the doctor)
(by Wellington)
Verb
repaired
complimented
called my survival
brought England
Direct Obj.
the roof.
her.
a miracle.
victory.
Action

Pick an activity that you enjoy doing and
describe, in detail, what takes place during that
activity.



Think of sights, sounds, smells, feelings, and tastes
that will help paint the image for your reader
(imagery).
Try to avoid using is, am, are, was, and were
(Passive Voice).
Try to use participles (verbs that end in –ing).
Painting with Absolutes

An absolute is a two-word combination—a noun
and an -ing or -ed verb added onto a sentence.



The cat climbed the tree.
Claws digging, feet kicking, the cat climbed the
tree.
Close your eyes and picture a mountain climber
moving along a steep cliff.
Painting with Absolutes

Now I am going to add to the sentence using a
noun combined with an -ing participle.

The mountain climber edged along the cliff, hands
shaking, feet trembling.
Painting with Absolutes

Absolute Phrases

As with participle absolute phrases are also
effective.

Feet trembling on the snow-covered rocks, the
mountain climber edged along the cliff.
Absolutes
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Mind racing, anxiety overtaking, the diver
peered once more at the specimen.
I glanced at my clock, digits glowing
florescent blue in the inky darkness of my
room.
Jaws cracking, tongue curling, the kitten
yawned tiredly, awaking from her nap.

QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
and a
are needed QuickTime™
to see this picture.
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Write two sentences for
each one of these
photographs.



QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

Your first sentence
must contain a
participle (verb
ending in -ing).
Your second sentence
must contain an
absolute (noun + verb
ending in –ing).
Make them powerful.
These are due in three
minutes.
The Short Story

Plot
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Plot is the structure of events within a story and the
causal relationship between them.
The plot of a story is a chain of events, each event
the result of some prior events, and the cause of
some subsequent events. The plot of a story will
extend beyond the bounds of the story itself.
Setting

The time and place in which the events happen.
The Short Story
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Character
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A person, an animal, a thing, or a natural force presented
as a person - appearing in a literary work.
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Motivation - the stated or implied reason behind the character’s
behavior.
Characters may be motivated by external events or by inner needs
or fears.
Conflict

A struggle between two opposing forces or characters in
a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem.
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
Internal - conflict between two elements struggling for mastery
within a person.
External - conflict between two persons, between a person and
society, or between person and nature.
You want to begin with a character in crisis. The reader
should find characters in difficulty within the first
chapter, the first page, or (ideally) the first paragraph.
Assignment—Due Friday
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For Friday, I want you to bring five things for the
short story that we will begin writing next week:
1. a title
2. the names of at least 3 characters
3. a setting (time and place)
4. at least one conflict for your characters
5. a summary (one paragraph) of your story
Appositive
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A noun that adds a second image to a preceding
noun.
An appositive restates the preceding noun.
An appositive expands details.


The raccoon enjoys eating turtle eggs. -- No
appositive
The raccoon, a scavenger, enjoys eating turtle
eggs.

“a scavenger” functions as an appositive. It renames the
raccoon.
Appositive Phrases
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An appositive plus all its modifiers.
If you add more details to an appositive the entire
phrase becomes an appositive phrase.


The raccoon, a midnight scavenger who roams lake
shorelines in search of food, enjoys eating turtle
eggs.
“a midnight scavenger who roams lake shorelines in
search of food” is the appositive phrase.
Appositives Continued
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The volcano, a ravenous God of fire, spewed
forth lava and ash across the mountain.
The old Navajo woman, a weak and withered
lady, stared blankly.
The waterfall, a tilted pitcher, poured the fresh,
pure spray into the creek. The essence of natural
beauty, tranquil and majestic, it seemed to
enchant the forest with a mystical rush that
echoed throughout the untouched virgin
paradise.
The fish, a slimy mass of flesh, felt the alligator’s
giant teeth sink into his scales as he struggled
to get away.
Write two sentences using an appositive or appositive
phrase in each. Be prepared to share them with the class.
Punctuation
Quotation Marks

Use double quotation marks to enclose a direct
quotation from speech or writing.
“Don’t dive from that rock,” she warned me.
 It was Emerson who wrote, “A foolish consistency is
the hobgoblin of little minds.”


Remember not to set off indirect quotations.
She warned me not to dive from that rock.
 It was Emerson who wrote that a foolish consistency
is the hobgoblin of little minds.

Punctuation
Quotation Marks

Capitalize the first word of a quoted sentence.
He said, "Treat her as you would your own daughter.”
 "Look out!" she screamed. "You almost ran into my child.”


Note that in dialogue, each change of speaker is
indicated by a new paragraph.
“I’m going to drain the pool today, Mr. Gatsby.
Leaves’ll start falling pretty soon, and then there’s always
trouble with the pipes.”
“Don’t do it today,” Gatsby answered. He turned
to me apologetically. “You know, old sport, I’ve never
used that pool all summer?”
Punctuation
Quotation Marks
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
Explanatory words such as he said are ordinarily set
off from quotations by a comma when they precede
the quotation. However, when the quotation that
follows is grammatically closely related, it may be
followed by no punctuation.
These examples do not need a comma. The quoted
material is closely related to the rest of the sentence.


I yelled “Stop!” and grabbed the wheel.
It was President Franklin Roosevelt who said that
“the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Punctuation
Quotation Marks

These examples should have a comma.


The old rancher said very quietly, “Under no
circumstances will I tell you where the money is
hidden.”
The chairman asked him, “Have I stated your
motion clearly?”
Punctuation
Quotation Marks

Use a comma to separate an opening quotation
from the rest of the sentence unless the quotation
ends with a question mark or an exclamation
point.



“The man is leaving,” he said with finality.
“Is the man leaving?” he asked.
“Oh, no!” he screamed hysterically. “My brother
can’t be leaving.”
Participles, Absolutes, and
Appositives

Mini-Story
Write a mini-story (100-150 words) using the following words in order:
shell, comic book, postcard, rollerblades, mechanic, and streetlight.
Use at least one participle, one absolute, and one appositive. Also,
include some dialogue in your story.
Adjectives Shifted Out of Order
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Adjectives are words that describe or modify a
noun or a pronoun.
Adjectives shifted out of order amplify the details
of an image by moving adjectives out of their
normal place in the sentence to another place.
This changes the rhythm of the sentence.
Adjectives Shifted Out of Order
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For example:
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The large, red-eyed, angry bull moose charged the
intruder.
The adjectives in this sentence (large, red-eyed, and
angry) all come before the noun they are modifying.
When an author wants to include adjectives in a
descriptive sentence he or she will shift one or
two or more adjectives after the noun.

The large bull moose, red-eyed and angry, charged
the intruder.
More Examples

And then, suddenly, in the very dead of the
night, there came a sound to my ears, clear,
resonant, and unmistakable.

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The Pavilion was a simple city, long and
rectangular.
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The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Alienist by Caleb Carr
I could smell Mama, crisp and starched,
plumping my pillow, and the cool muslin
pillowcase touched both my ears as the back of
my head sank into all those feathers.

A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
More Examples
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Adjectives Out of Order by Students
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The woman, old and wrinkled, smiled upon her newborn greatgrandson with pride.
 The boxer, twisted and tormented, felt no compassion for his
opponent.
 The cheetah, tired and hungry, stared at the gazelle, which would
soon become his dinner.
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Take five minutes to write three of your own
sentences demonstrating the correct use of
adjectives shifted out of order.
Be prepared to share them with the class.
Passive&Active Voice: Review
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Verbs of passive voice communicate no action.
Passive Verbs: is, am, was, were, are, be, being, been.
Passive
 The runaway horse was ridden into town by an old, whitewhiskered rancher.
Active
 The old, white-whiskered rancher rode the runaway horse into
town.
Passive
 The grocery store was robbed by two armed men.
Active
 Two armed men robbed the grocery store.
Passive&Active Voice: Review
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Action verbs replace still photos with motion
pictures.
A writer can even bring an inanimate object to
life by adding an action verb.
Passive
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The gravel road was on the left side of the barn.
Active
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The gravel road curled around the left side of the barn.
Assignment
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Write a short story.
It will be due Tuesday, September 16.
Use description, imagery, and dialogue.
Your short story needs to be at least two pages long.
Please double space your story and use a 12 point font.
Also, use Times New Roman or Times font (or something
else easy to read). You can include illustrations if you
would like, but they DO NOT count towards your page
total.
Be sure you format your story correctly.
The Artist’s Eye

Seeing Specific Detail

Specific Nouns
Noun - person, place, thing, or idea
 General nouns - tree, boat, car, store, shoe
 Specific nouns - oak, yacht, Honda, Target, Nike
 Or you can add adjectives to make the nouns more
specific - fishing boat, sporting goods store, worn-out
wrestling shoes
 Specific nouns add detail - the reader can picture what a
Target store looks like or what an oak tree looks like.

The Artist’s Eye
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Specific Nouns and Verbs - Example
General nouns and verbs
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The child ran out of the shelter toward the beach, went
into the water, and swam.
Specific nouns and verbs

The naked child ran out of the hide-covered lean-to
toward the rocky beach at the bend in the river…She
splashed into the river and felt rocks and sand sift under
her feet as the shore fell off sharply. She dived into the
cold water and came up sputtering, then reached out with
sure strokes for the steep opposite bank. --Jean M. Auel
The Artist’s Eye

Using Specific Verbs


Specific nouns capture the still images, but specific
verbs project motion pictures.
Try to use verbs that portray a more specific action.
Ryan looked at Betty.
 Ryan stared longingly at Betty’s beautiful blue eyes.
 He went downstairs.
 He raced downstairs to see what Santa Claus had left
him for Christmas.

The Artist’s Eye

Rewrite this passage to include more specific
nouns and verbs.

They presently came out of the bushes. The coast
was clear, so they got in the boat. They had lunch
and smoked. As the sun went down, they went out
on the water. Tom moved along the shore. He
talked and then came back to shore shortly after
dark.
The Artist’s Eye

Mark Twain -
They presently emerged into the clump of sumac
bushes, looked warily out, found the coast clear,
and were soon lunching and smoking in the skiff.
As the sun dipped toward the horizon, they pushed
out and got under way. Tom skimmed up the shore
through the long twilight, chatting cheerily with
Huck, and landed shortly after dark.
Adding details with Metaphors
and Similes

Metaphor
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A comparison of two unlike objects usually using
the word “is” or “was” to make the comparison.
Simile

A comparison of two unlike objects usually using
the words “like” or “as.”
Simile Examples
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A pure white mist crept over the water like breath upon a mirror --- A. J.
Cronin
His eyes skewed round to meet yours and then cannoned off again like a
pool-ball. --- Sean Virgo
His smile was like that of a man with a terminal headache. --- T. C. Boyle
Her white silk robe flowed over her like a milk shower. --- Harold Adams
A desolate, cratered face, sooty with care like an abandoned mining town.
---Joseph Heller
Love is like a wind stirring the grass beneath trees on a black night. --Sherwood Anderson
He felt like a deer stepping out before the rifle of a hunter. ---Piers Anthony
It was as eerie as a man carving out his own epitaph—Wm. McIlvanney
Sample Metaphors
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Death is a dry leaf crumbling in your hand.--James Smith
Ignorance is a closed door.---Christina Todd
Life is a mountainous train track.---Karen
Jones
A pet is a brother you never had.---Scott
McGuire
A seed is an unborn baby.---John Benton
Activity

Write two similes (like or as) and two metaphors
(is or was) of your own.
Activity


Select a setting that you perceive as crowded
with people and objects. Describe the setting
using as much detail as possible.
Describe the cafeteria during lunch period.
Describe the people and place in as much detail
as possible. If you want, you can include any
dialogue that you overheard and/or you or your
friends spoke.
Searching For Details
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

There are photos on the following slides. With
each photo try to describe what you see in as
much detail as possible.
Try to use some of the techniques we have
learned in class to describe each photo.
I will give you one to two minutes per slide.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Assignment

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
Take one of your descriptions and modify it so that you
can include it in this assignment.
Write a 75 word mini-story set in one of the scenes we
just observed.
Include at least two of the techniques we have discussed:
Absolutes (branches rustling, trees falling)
 Appositives (The forest, a green wonderland, was alive.)
 Participles (Splashing and shouting, the children swam.)
 Adjectives out of order (Green trees, old and majestic,…)
 Metaphor (The old tree is a grandfather of the forest.)
 Simile (The old tree was like a wise grandfather.)
 Specific nouns ( Oak, Ponderosa Pine, Joshua Tree)
 Specific verbs (skipped, sobbed, ranted)

Forms of Poetry
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
Acrostic: Any poem whose lines' first letters
vertically form either the alphabet, the poet's
or a person’s name, a concept word, or even
entire sentences, if the poem has sufficient
length.
These go back to the Babylonians, but many
poets, even modern ones, have fooled
around with them.
Acrostic - Example


A Peace Sign
By Paul McCann
People need love care and friendship .
Every word that we let slip.
All the prayers that come from our heart
Could be the sign for peace to start
Everyone must play their part.
Acrostic - Activity
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Write an acrostic of your name (first + middle or last).
The poem should describe you.
*Write one more about anything (LOVE, HATE etc.).
He rarely gets angry
Except when he’s ill
Loves all in his family
Likes to read when it’s quiet and still
English is his first love
Not mathematics
Grammar coos like a dove
And A3 is full of problematics.
Syllables


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A word can be divided into syllables.
Each syllable is a sound that can be said without
interruption and is usually a vowel which can
have consonants before and/or after it.
SYLLABLE EXAMPLE:

Elevate has three syllables: el-ev-ate
Limericks
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The first, second and fifth lines each have eight syllables,
and rhyme with each other.
The third and fourth lines have only six syllables and a
separate rhyme.
To write your own limerick, begin by choosing a
character and a place name. (Note here that if your place
name is longer than one syllable you may expand your
lines to nine instead of eight syllables.)
Think of some words which rhyme with your place name.
Because the limerick is meant to be humorous, your
rhymes may be silly - for example:

Sydney; kidney; didn' he.
Limericks

Use two of these words to end the first two lines of your
limerick, which introduce your character.
There was a young man from Sydney.
Who only would eat steak and kidney.

Next, think of a problem for your character, and present it
in your two short lines:
When the kidney ran out,
Though he started to shout,

Finally, finish with a resolution (ending) to your limerick,
which should make your reader laugh.

He had to go hungry, didn' he?
Limericks


Try this process to write limericks of your own.
You will also find there are other ways of beginning your
limerick:
A man with a very large nose . . .
 While traveling one day in Peru . . .
 I was startled one day by a hen . . .


Despite these differences, the basic limerick pattern
remains the same.
Assignment

Write two humorous limericks.
Sonnet Terminology
Iambic Pentameter: 10 syllables per line (5 are unstressed and 5 are
stressed…da DUM, da DUM, da DUM, da DUM, da DUM)
 Rhyme scheme: the arrangement of rhymes in a poem
 Quatrain: a 4 line group of poetry
 Couplet: a 2 line group of poetry
 Elizabethan or Shakespearean Sonnet:
*14 Lines
*10 Syllables Per Line
*Every Other Line Rhymes
*The Last Two Lines Rhyme

Example:
Sonnet 130, by William Shakespeare

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; (A)
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red; (B)
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; (A)
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. (B)
I have seen roses damask’d, red and white, (C)
But no such roses see I in her cheeks, (D)
And in some perfumes is there more delight (C)
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. (D)
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know (E)
That music hath a far more pleasing sound; (F)
I grant I never saw a goddess go, (E)
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground. (F)
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare (G)
As any she belied with false compare. (G)

Step One
Select the subject matter for your Sonnet (love, hate, family, a
prized possession etc.).

Step Two
Start Writing:
*14 Lines
*10 Syllables Per Line
*Every Other Line Rhymes
*The Last Two Lines Rhyme