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NEW! Creative Writing Extensions: A fun, engaging way for students to learn
to think like writers. Not only is creative writing engaging for students, it’s also a
great way for students to learn about the choices that writers make to create their
texts. In the Fiction, Poetry , and Drama chapters, students have an opportunity to
write in the mode they are studying and to become a short story writer, a poet, and a
playwright.

creative writing extension

Writing Poetry creative writing extension
In this extension, you’ll have a chance to experiment with some of the key elements
of poetry you explored in the Skill Workshop to deepen your understanding and creative writing extension / Writing Poetry
appreciation of poetry. /

Getting Started creative writing extension
activity

activity
activity
ompts below as a guide to help you tap into your own
T Try out two or three of the prompts below as a guide to help you tap into your own
ry out two or thr
ee of the pr
Fiction
creativity and ideas. The goal here is NOT necessarily to have a draft of a poem but just
creativity and ideas. The goal here is NOT necessarily to have a draft of a poem but just
to experiment with writing poetry.
Writing Poetry
If the goal of this chapter is for you to better understand fiction as a genre, one of the
The following are the opening lines from a poem called “Where I’m From,” in which
1. The following are the opening lines from a poem called “Where I’m From,” in which creative writing extension / Fiction
best ways to do this is to understand how fiction works from the inside out. In the Skill
lists the features that describe the speaker’s home. Write
poet George Ella Lyon lists the features that describe the speaker’s home. Write
your own “Where I’m From,” using the beginning of this poem as a guide:
your own “Where I’m From,” using the beginning of this poem as a guide:
Workshop, you applied your understanding of the elements of fiction to a story that
was already written. In the following activities, you’ll be able to try out some of the
I am from clothespins,
from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride. elements you learned about in the Skill Workshop as though you are a fiction writer
yourself.
I am from the dirt under the back porch.
2. Found poems are created when you collect words from other sources and arrange
them differently to create an entirely new meaning. Choose any text from this book
Getting Started
that is not a poem and select ten to twenty words or phrases that strike you for activity
Look over the paintings below and write down your initial feelings about these images.
whatever reason. Arrange and rearrange these words, and add new ones, to create
a poem of your own structure. Share and compare your thoughts with a partner. One of these images will become the
basis for the activities that follow.
3. Nature is a great source for poetry. Choose a tree in your neighborhood or near your
Guided Tour of Foundations of Language & Literature, Second Edition
school and describe it with as much detail as possible, including any sound the tree
might create. Sketch out a few lines of a poem to explain why this tree matters to
you or your neighborhood.
4. Think about a person you know well: a friend, a parent, grandparent, or yourself, for
example. Write a poem that describes that person, including important actions and
Writing Workshops provide a bridge from close reading to analytical writing.
personality, to someone who has not met the person.
Each genre chapter includes at least one Writing Workshop that provides a step-
5. Look through the various images found in this book or look around the classroom.
Write a poem that describes the setting or the perspective of a person in the image
by-step guide to writing a text or analysis of a text in that genre. Students completing
or in your classroom.
6. Choose a poem in this chapter or the lyrics of a song you like. Rewrite the piece
the Writing Workshops will be well on their way to writing sophisticated academic
changing at least three words in every line.
7. Try making an erasure poem by taking a text and blacking out certain words or © 2022 Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.
essays.
phrases with a marker.
507 Photo: Artepics / Alamy
Writing a Narrative Edward Hopper, Four Lane Road. 1956. Oil on canvas.
writing workshop practice writing in a familiar context. Since this is a type of writing you’re likely familiar activity
You have probably been writing narratives for as long as you have been in school.
Because narratives are about you and your experiences, they are a great way to
practice writing in a familiar context. Since this is a type of writing you’re likely familiar
with, our focus here is not just on how to write a narrative, but how to write one using
with, our focus here is not just on how to write a narrative, but how to write one using
the essential elements of narrative writing that professional writers use. You will be
the essential elements of narrative writing that professional writers use. You will be
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writing this narrative from your own point of view, but you’ll also be thinking about
writing this narrative from your own point of view, but you’ll also be thinking about
Characterization
yourself as a writer, focusing on the choices you make in how you tell your story.
yourself as a writer, focusing on the choices you make in how you tell your story.
Think about yourself at the time of the story you chose in the previous activity as the
subject for your narrative. Imagine that you have to describe yourself to someone who
Step 1. Getting Started
has never met you. Use the following prompts to help you freewrite a paragraph about
yourself at the time. These details may not end up in the final version of your narrative,
Without a doubt, for many students, the most challenging part of writing a narrative is
Without a doubt, for many students, the most challenging part of writing a narrative is
but they will help you consider what is most important for the reader to know about
trying to decide what to write about. All of the narratives in this chapter were written by
trying to decide what to write about. All of the narratives in this chapter were written by
you at the time of the event. Think about the following:

adults who have many years of experiences to draw from and who feel inspired — not
adults who have many years of experiences to draw from and who feel inspired — not
1. Physical traits: age, height, eye color, other relevant physical characteristics

assigned — to write their stories. It would be a mistake, however, to think that nothing
assigned — to write their stories. It would be a mistake, however, to think that nothing writing workshop / Writing a Narrative

2. Personality traits: outgoing, reserved, funny, and so on
has happened to you yet that might make an interesting narrative. A narrative does not
has happened to you yet that might make an interesting narrative. A narrative does not
have to be based on a huge, life-changing event. If you think back on the narratives in

3. Interests: sports, favorite movies, games, toys, other activities

this chapter, the stories don’t always scream “I am important!” Many of them focus on
4. Other details of yourself at the time
simple things like Halloween candy (Sedaris), watching a movie with friends (Kaling),
or the first day at school (Rau). In a lot of ways, an effective narrative has far less to do
Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample.
with the event itself than with the telling of the event. Step 3. Your Narrative — Conflict
Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
That said, you do need to decide on an event from your life that you think you can write
While a narrative is a retelling of an event that happened to you in real life, the most
about in an interesting way. The point, sometimes, is to think smaller rather than larger.
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
effective narratives actually focus on the event as a conflict between you — the
For review purposes only. Not for redistribution.
narrator — and some other force. Earlier in this chapter ( p. 136 ), you might have learned
that most conflicts in a narrative can be classified as one or more of the following:
activity Brainstorming • Self v. someone else
01_SheaFLL2e_40926_fm_i_xxxv_3pp.indd 16 • Self v. nature 17/10/22 3:16 PM
Write for a few minutes in response to some of the following prompts. Don’t feel that
• Self v. society
you need to try to answer all of them. Some may not apply to you at all, but don’t
• Self v. self
narrow down too quickly to a single one at this point. Use them as a way to generate
a list of possible events you could write about:
Most important in a narrative is a self v. self conflict. Ultimately, a narrative should
1. Describe a time when you misjudged someone based on appearance or when
describe how you recognize and perhaps overcome some kind of inner conflict. For
someone misjudged you. example, in Mindy Kaling’s Is Everyone Hanging Out without Me? she has a conflict
2. Tell about a time in your life when you experienced disappointment and how you
between two sets of friends, but she also has a conflict with herself in determining what
handled it. it really means to have and be a friend. And even though much of David Attenborough’s
3. Describe a time when telling a lie had some kind consequence for you, or when
narrative A Life on Our Planet is about overcoming a grueling hike in a remote area of New
you got away with a lie without consequence. Guinea, it’s also a story about his own growing understanding about how people can live
4. Describe a time when you wished for something and got it — and then wished you
in balance with nature. Look at this section from “Learning to Love My Brown Skin” by
hadn’t. Erika L. Sánchez, in which she recounts her internal conflict about her self-identity.
232 Still, I wondered about this throughout my young life. Did the world think I was ugly?
What did it mean to be pretty? Who got to decide? The thin white girls on the ’90s
sitcoms I loved — Full House , Saved by the Bell , Sabrina, the Teenage Witch — were
always lavished with so much attention, and I didn’t look like them. For one, I was the
wrong color: I was way too brown. And when I watched Beverly Hills 90210, I was so
confused that Donna Martin, played by Tori Spelling, was considered a hot girl. Were all
blonde women automatically considered beautiful? Was I missing something? Was it
some sort of conspiracy?
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