Which adjectives might your friends use
to describe your personality?
• happy brave funny
• pleasing passionate irreverent
• ridiculous riveting sarcastic
• earnest tentative detached
• bereaved horrifying self-deprecating
• scholarly caring gracious
• bizarre subtle thoughtful
• dismal way out unctuous
• delightful concerned timid
• warm frightened curt
• thrilled thoughtful introspective
• clever entertaining superficial
• profound mistrustful critical
Just as we can describe the personalities of our
friends, as readers we can describe the
personality of a piece of writing.
• Diederich: (1961 & 1974) found that the professional writers and
editors in his study “emphasized style, individuality, originality,
interest and sincerity– the personal qualities revealed by the
writing, which he decided to call „flavor,‟ although they
themselves called it „style‟” (8).
• Seventeen teachers K-12 (1984) Beaverton, Oregon: Analytical
Assessment Model Committee working with Diederich‟s findings
decided to call it “voice” and elaborated on its description.
Simultaneously, groups in Montana, Florida and other sites were
coming up with similar rubrics.
– Some Six-trait rubrics describe a
writer‟s voice as being as distinct:
“As individual as fingerprints.”
Whose fingerprints are all over
this one?
• Don’t you hate ―To Be Continued‖ on TV? It’s
horrible when you sense the ―To Be Continued‖
coming. You know, you’re watching the show,
you’re into the story, then there’s like five minutes
left and suddenly you realize ―Hey, they can’t make
it. Timmy’s still stuck in the cave. There’s no way
they can wrap this up in five minutes.‖ I mean the
whole reason you watch a TV show is because it
ends. If I want a long, boring story with no point to
it, I’ve got my life. A comedian can’t do that. I
can’t go, ―A man walks into a bar with a pig under
his arm . . . . Can you come back next week?‖
Or this one?
Grandpa Tommy’s dad used to say,
―A cowful is a great sufficiency.‖
According to my research, the rumen
of a mature cow can hold over 300
pounds. And by anybody’s standards
that is a substantial quantity.
Say you had a cowful of pocket
change. You’d almost need a cow to
keep it in. Say you had a cowful of
wet laundry. It would take a forklift to
get it in the dryer. Say you had a
cowful of manure. Well, I guess a lot
of us do.
And how about this one?
I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you--Nobody--Too?
Then there's a pair of us?
Don't tell! They'd advertise--you know!
How dreary--to be--Somebody!
How public--like a Frog–
To tell one's name--the livelong June—
To an admiring Bog!
And whose fingerprints are these?
There are no records to prove it, mind
you, but I have every reason to believe
my husband was an eleven-month baby.
And he’s been running two months late
ever since. Through marriage (and bad
association) I have become a member of
that great body of tardy Americans who
grope their way down theater aisles in the
dark, arrive at parties in time to drink
their cocktails with their dessert, and
celebrate Christmas on December 26.
Frankly, I don’t know how a nice,
punctual girl like me got stuck with a man
who needs not a watch, but a calendar and
a keeper.
The voices of . . .
• 1. Jerry Seinfeld
– Seinlanguage. Bantam Books, 1993.
• 2. Baxter Black
– A Cowful of Cowboy Poetry. Coyote
Cowboy Company, 2000.
• 3. Emily Dickinson
– The Poems of Emily Dickinson.
Harvard University Press, 1951.
• 4. Erma Bombeck
– If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am
I Doing in the Pits? Fawcett Books,
1990.
And it’s more than just fingerprints or flavor.
Consider the difference in two voices from
the same person in this film clip from The Electric
Horsemen, starring Robert Redford as Sonny Steele,
a former Pro Rodeo World Champion All-Around
Cowboy turned corporate ad gimmick.
In this scene Redford explains, off-camera he thinks,
how a retired champion racehorse named Rising Sun
has been mistreated by his corporate owners.
Notice the difference between the former Pro Rodeo
All Around Champion’s speech when he thinks he is
on-camera compared to when he thinks he is off-camera.
Which traits of strong voice fit Sonny’s ―unrecorded‖ talk?
A. The writer speaks directly to the reader in a way that is individual, compelling and
engaging.
B. The writer crafts the writing with an awareness and respect for the audience and the
purpose for writing.
C. The tone of the writing adds interest to the message and is appropriate for the purpose and
audience.
D. The reader feels a strong interaction with the writer, sensing the person behind the words.
E. The writer takes a risk by revealing who he or she is consistently throughout the piece.
F. Expository or persuasive writing reflects a strong commitment to the topic by showing
why the reader needs to know this and why he or she should care.
G. Narrative writing is honest, personal, and engaging and makes you think about, and react
to, the author’s ideas and point of view.
What is voice again?
1. Style
2. Flavor
3. Tone
4. Commitment
5. Sincerity
6. Reflection of the
writer
7. Interest
8. Connection (not only
between writer and
topic, but also writer
and reader)
9. Others
_________________
_________________
Variety of Voice
• Abstract – Ambiguous – Analytical – Anecdotal – Angry – Austere –
Bland – Boring – Cinematic – Classical – Colloquial – Concise –
Confessional – Contemptuous – Conventional – Cool – Cynical –
Decadent – Derivative – Dreamlike – Dreary – Earthy – Elegaic –
Emphatic – Epigrammatical – Evocative – Experimental – Fashionable
– farcical – Fatalistic – Flamboyant – Gimmicky – Heavy – Heroic –
Hysterical – Incoherent – Ironic – Irreverent – Journalistic – Juvenile –
Lyrical – Melodramatic – Metaphorical – Metaphysical – Minimalist –
Monotonous – Mournful – Mystical – Nostalgic – Objective – Obscure
– Ominous – Parody – Philosophical – Poetical – Poemical – Political
– Pompous – Pragmatic – Precious – Pretentious – Profound –
Psychological – Puritanical – Realistic – Repetitious – Rhythmic –
Romantic – Sarcastic – Sardonic – Satirical – Sensuous – Sentimental
– Sharp – Stilted – Sophisticated – Stark – Subjective – Subtle –
Superficial – Surrealistic – Symbolic – Trite – Urbane – Vague –
Venomous – Whimsical – Witty – Wordy
Of course, the writer’s voice
needs to be appropriate to the
content.
• Mary Shelley’s
Caddyshack?
(screenplay)
• Not the
appropriate
voice!
Stephen King’s Shakespeare in
Love?
• Probably not too
romantically
appealing—pretty
creepy, actually.
So appropriate voice, it seems,
should fit the writer’s purpose.
How about the audience or genre?
• Hey, Monty. What’s
up, compadre? Surf’s
up here, and I am
down with the beach
life. Got to go; the ice
in my drink is getting
low. See you next
week. Maybe.
– Chaz
And a writer may need to change
voice accordingly
• Multiple Case Studies
of Neurasthenia in
Men Aged Forty-five
and Above
– By Charles Heddinger
and Montye Fuse
How does voice relate to the
other traits?
• One way to think of voice is as one color
on an artist’s palette.
– It could be thought of as distinct from other
colors (amber).
• Add a little black, and the voice of a piece can
change to a dark one. Poe?
• Add a little white, and the voice can become
more cheerful. ______?
• Add a little green (for weird) and the piece
takes on a different perspective. Hunter
Thompson?
And/or it could be thought of as
created through the use of other
colors (red, white and blue used in
certain proportions create
lavender).
In that sense the writer mixes
traits like an artist mixes colors
to create voice.
• Word choice helps
create voice.
• Sentence fluency helps
create voice.
• Ideas help create
voice.
Listen to this story from Luci
Tapahonso’s Saanii Dahataal:
The Women are Singing.
• Discuss with your colleagues:
– How would you describe the
author’s voice?
– Which descriptors from the
rubric fit?
– How does word choice
contribute to the voice?
– How does sentence fluency
contribute to voice?
– How are ideas and voice
related in this piece?
How can a writer, especially a
beginning writer, achieve strong
voice?
– Writing from the heart will help.
• Emotions/feelings
• Values
• Beliefs
• Important people and events
• Crucial issues
• Things that matter to the writer
What has research shown about beginning
writers and their choice of topics?
Entering the River
(Lynn Nelson- Writing and Being)
private writing public writing
vision
and revision
How can we help students to
understand voice?
We might start with interesting
literature that exemplifies strong
voice.
– Something they’ll like
– Something that will grab their attention
– Something that will get the idea across
fast
– Something we can discuss with them in
the terms on their rubrics
– Something that will hold their attention
while I take attendance and put out the
slip.
Does it have to be a major literary work?
• It can be, but it doesn’t have to be.
• It could be a passage from their reading for
class.
• It could be a passage from something they’re
familiar with.
• It could be something they haven’t seen
before but will easily understand
• It could be any genre: a passage from a novel,
a poem, a letter, an article from a magazine or
newspaper, a greeting card, an advertisement
(ooh-there’s a good one), a menu, anything.
• It just needs to show the trait of strong
voice and fit the students’ age/ability.
• Start a collection of pieces that exemplify
voice.
Then we could give them a
hands-on activity.
• To help them
understand what the
trait is.
• To help them identify
it in literature
• To help them
understand how to
improve it in their own
writing.
Next we could guide them through the
analysis of anonymous sample papers.
• Anonymous, because they
will feel no risk in being
critical.
• We can help them to apply
the terms in the rubric.
• They can begin to
understand the process of
evaluation that precedes
revision.
• (We seem to be moving up
Bloom’s taxonomy.)
They have been introduced to the trait through interesting
literature, they have done an activity to further their
understanding, they have analyzed anonymous sample
papers to help them see what strong voice looks like in
writing from people their age.
Now what?
• TIME TO WRITE!
• How about a paper
that suits our focus on
the trait of voice well?
• Any ideas?
Only magic or amazing talent can
make that first draft good enough
to consider a finished project.
• Veteran teachers know
there is no magic here.
(Although they do
often have some pretty
good tricks up their
sleeves)
• What happens next
takes hard work.
Although the next steps in the writing process can help
students to improve not only individual papers but also their
writing skills, they have often proven to be
difficult in the past.
• Arranging for feedback
that students understand
and can use.
• Getting students to do a
meaningful revision
– Students are often chained
to their first draft.
• (maybe a few spelling
changes and some
corrected punctuation, but
nothing major)
This is where the foundation of
previous steps may help.
• 1. Students have a
vocabulary to use to give
and understand feedback.
• 2. They have done
activities (focus lessons)
to learn what the terms
mean and how to improve
writing for a given trait
• 3. They practiced
evaluating papers on low-
risk anonymous samples.
• 4. If they are given
guidance, they can do it.
Students can use the Six-trait
rubric for voice
• To self assess.
• To peer assess.
• As a guide for
revision.
Teachers can also use the Six-
trait rubric for voice
• To make revision
suggestions
– In a conference with the
student.
– On a written revision sheet.
• To focus on a desired trait.
• As part of the total grade.
• To keep track of a
student’s improvement in
a specific writing skill.
Suggestions for Further Reading
• Bishop, Wendy, ed. (1999). The Subject is Writing.
Portsmouth: Boynton Cook.
• Burke, Jim. (2003). The English Teacher’s Companion: A
Complete Guide to Classroom, Curriculum, and the
Profession. Portsmouth: Heinmann.
• DeMaria, Robert. (2002). The College Handbook of
Creative Writing. Boston: Thompson.
• Diogenes, Marvin & Moneyhun, Clyde. (2001). Crafting
Fiction: In Theory, In Practice. Mountain View: Mayfield.
• Estess, Sybil & McCann, Janet. (2000). In a Field of
Words: A Creative Writing Text. Upper Saddle River:
Prentice Hall.
More suggestions…
• Fulwiler, Toby. (2004). The Working Writer. Upper
Saddle River: Prentice Hall.
• Knorr, Jeff & Schell, Tim. (2001). Mooring Against the
Tide: Writing Fiction and Poetry. Upper Saddle River:
Prentice Hall.
• Lane, Barry. (1993). After THE END: Teaching and
Learning Creative Revision. Portsmouth: Boynton Cook.
• Macrorie, Ken. (1980). Telling Writing: 3rd Edition. US:
Hayden Book Company.
• Murray, Donald M. (1985). A Writer Teaches Writing. US:
Houghton Mifflin Company.
The end.
• Spandel, Vicki. (2005). The 9 Rights of Every Writer: A
Guide for Teachers. New Hampshire: Heinmann.
• Starkey, David. (1998). Teaching Writing Creatively.
Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook.
• Steele, Alexander. (2003). Gotham Writers’ Workshop
Writing Fiction: The Practical Guide from New York’s
Acclaimed Creative Writing School. New York:
Bloomsbury.
• Stepp, Carl Sessions. (2000). Writing as Craft and Magic.
Lincolnwood: NTC Contemporary Publishing Group.