Narration Description Narration Description – Day 1 Modes

							Narration & Description – Day 1
Modes of Discourse
Patterns of Development      Get out your Weekend
Organizational Strategies    Essay Assignment and
                            the questions from “The
                                  Right Stuff.”
Narration & Description
Background

• Narration – telling a story to make a point
• Description – evoking the senses to create a
  picture
• BEST when used together for writing a detailed
  account of some memorable experience
 ▫ First trip alone
 ▫ Last-minute political victory
 ▫ Picnic in some special place
Narration & Description
Purpose
    • Introduce or illustrate a complicated subject
      ▫ Often used to support some other strategy
        such as causal analysis or argument
    • Analyze an issue or theme
      ▫ Example: new awareness of patriotism
        because of travel in a foreign country
         Narrative purpose (what happened) and
          descriptive purpose (what it felt like) linked to
          other purposes
         Could explain what caused new awareness (why
          it happened) or to argue that everyone needs
          such awareness (why everyone should reach the
          same conclusions)
    • Report actions and describe feelings
      ▫ Autobiography, history, fiction (most
        common)
Narration & Description
Audience
   • Consider
     ▫ How much do I tell my audience?
       (narration)
       Personal experience – few people will know it
        before you tell it
       Add or delete material to fit occasion
     ▫ How much do I show my audience?
       (description)
       Unusual subject – include a lot of info,
        especially if it‟s technical
       New images & insights that create a fresh
        vision of the subject
Narration & Description
Strategies
    • Beginning
      ▫ Experiences and an essay about the
        experience are NOT the same
        Memory will be disorganized and poorly
         defined
      ▫ Experience to essay
        Locate the central conflict
          Between writer & himself
          Between writer & others
          Between writer & environment
Narration & Description
Strategies (cont’d)
 • After identifying the conflict
   ▫ Arrange action so readers know
      How conflict started
      How it developed, and
      How it was resolved.
   ▫ Types of arrangement (choose pattern according to
     purpose)
      Simple chronological order (1, 2, 3, 4, …)
        Angelou‟s “My Name is Margaret” – describes an evolution of
         events leading up to the broken china
        Think of a movie that is told in chronological order…
      Start in the middle or near the end (4, … 1, 2, 3)
        Williams‟ “The Village Watchman” – describes impact of social
         stigma
        What about Seven Pounds starring Will Smith – begins at the
         end then winds its way back
Narration & Description
Strategies (cont’d)
    • After identifying the conflict & deciding the plot
      sequence
         Establish pace – the speed at which the writer
          recounts events
           Quick – omit details, compress time, summarize
            experience
           Slow & careful – include every detail, expand on time,
            present the situation as a fully realized scene
         Select details – make scenes and summaries
          effective
           Special details that satisfy the needs of readers and
            further your purpose
           Objective or technical to help reader understand
           Subjective or impressionistic to appeal to readers‟ senses
           Present details so they form a figurative image or create
            dominant impression
Narration & Description
Strategies (cont’d)
     • In order to identify the conflict, decide the
       plot sequence, vary the pace, and select
       details
          Determine point of view
           “I” OR “he” or “she”
           Choose position – how close do you want to be
            to the action in time and space
            ▫ Involved in action
            ▫ View it as an observer
            ▫ Tell as events are happening or many years after
              they‟ve taken place
Narration & Description
Points to Remember
      1. Focus your narrative on the “story” in your
         story – that is, focus on the conflict that
         defines the plot.
      2. Vary the pace of your narrative so that you
         can summarize some events quickly and
         render others as fully realized scenes.
      3. Supply evocative details to help your readers
         experience the dramatic development of
         your narrative.
      4. Establish a consistent point of view so that
         your readers know how you have positioned
         yourself in your story.
      5. Represent the events in your narrative so
         that your story makes its point.
In this excerpt
from her graphic
novel Persepolis:
The Story of a
Childhood (2003),
Marjane Satrapi
recounts the
reaction of young
schoolgirls to the   Some argue that
law requiring        the veil debases
them to wear “the    and even erases
veil.”               female identity.
                     Others argue that
                     it provides women
                     with safety and
                     secret power. How
                     do the characters
                     in Satrapi’s
                     narrative feel
                     about this
                     regulation?
Narration & Description – Day 2
Modes of Discourse
Patterns of Development
Organizational Strategies
When you come in…
 • What is your story?
   ▫ Write down several important events that have
     occurred in your life.
   ▫ How have those events shaped the person you are
     today?
 • Get out your laptop (you‟ll need it later).
Narration & Description
Points to Remember
          1. Focus your narrative on the “story” in your
             story – that is, focus on the conflict that
             defines the plot.
          2. Vary the pace of your narrative so that you
             can summarize some events quickly and
             render others as fully realized scenes.
          3. Supply evocative details to help your readers
             experience the dramatic development of
             your narrative.
          4. Establish a consistent point of view so that
             your readers know how you have positioned
             yourself in your story.
          5. Represent the events in your narrative so
             that your story makes its point.
“Maria” from West Side Story
• Movie Summary: West Side Story is the
  award winning adaptation of the classic
  romantic tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. The
  feuding families become two warring New
  York City gangs- the white Jets led by Riff
  and the Puerto Rican Sharks, led by
  Bernardo. Their hatred escalates to a point
  where neither can coexist with any form of
  understanding. But when Riff's best friend
  (and former Jet) Tony and Bernardo's
  younger sister Maria meet at a dance, no one
  can do anything to stop their love. Maria and
  Tony begin meeting in secret, planning to run
  away. Then the Sharks and Jets plan a
  rumble under the highway - whoever wins
  gains control of the streets. Maria sends Tony
  to stop it, hoping it can end the violence. It
  goes terribly wrong, and before the lovers
  know what's happened, tragedy strikes and
  doesn't stop until the climatic and
  heartbreaking ending.
• Scene Set-up: Tony and Maria have just met
  at a dance. Bernardo, Maria‟s brother, orders
  Maria to go home and tells Tony to stay away
  from his sister. Tony leaves in a happy daze.
• Watch scene from movie.
Read Judith Ortiz Cofer’s “The Myth of
the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named
Maria”
 Purpose
 1. Why does Cofer introduce the conflict between custom and
    chromosomes? How does this conflict help explain the concept of
    stereotype?
 2. How does this narrative help accomplish Cofer‟s “personal goal in her
    public life?”
 Audience
 1. In what ways does Cofer use the references to Maria and Evita to
    identify her audience?
 2. How does she use the example of the piropos to educate her audience?
 Strategies
 1. How does Cofere use the details of Career Day to explain how a cultural
    stereotype is perpetuated?
 2. How does she manipulate point of view at her “first public poetry
    reading” to illustrate how she intends to change that stereotype?
Narration & Description – Day 3
Modes of Discourse
Patterns of Development
Organizational Strategies
When you come in…
• Get out your computer.
• Turn in your answers to the questions about
  Cofer‟s “The Myth of the Latin Woman…”
• Discuss with the people at your table Cofer‟s
  story.
 ▫ What (if any) new understanding did you have
   after reading this story?
 ▫ What message about a person‟s identity does she
   convey?
Discuss Judith Ortiz Cofer’s “The Myth of
the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named
Maria”
 Purpose
 1. Why does Cofer introduce the conflict between custom and
    chromosomes? How does this conflict help explain the concept of
    stereotype?
 2. How does this narrative help accomplish Cofer‟s “personal goal in her
    public life?”
 Audience
 1. In what ways does Cofer use the references to Maria and Evita to
    identify her audience?
 2. How does she use the example of the piropos to educate her audience?
 Strategies
 1. How does Cofer use the details of Career Day to explain how a cultural
    stereotype is perpetuated?
 2. How does she manipulate point of view at her “first public poetry
    reading” to illustrate how she intends to change that stereotype?
“The Myth of the Latin Woman…” –
How does it measure up to TAKS?
  • With your group, use the TAKS Writing Rubric
    to find “Score Point 4” examples of each criteria.
    ▫   Focus & Coherence
    ▫   Organization
    ▫   Development of Ideas
    ▫   Voice
    ▫   Conventions
  • You must write down specific examples from the
    passage for each of the criteria.
OERs
  • Answer the question.
  • Support your answer with direct,
    textual evidence.
  • HALT!
Answer the question and support it
with details from the text.
          • What does Judith Ortiz Cofer learn
            from her encounter with the man who
            sang to her in the hotel?
          • What is Cofer‟s primary goal in writing
            “The Myth of the Latin Woman…”?
          • How did Cofer change throughout the
            narrative? (You must have two quotes
            from the text.)
Current Events Essay
• Instructions on Wiki
• Due Monday, 3/8 (do NOT wait until the last
  minute, you will have a weekend essay as well)
Narration & Description – Day 4
Modes of Discourse
Patterns of Development
Organizational Strategies
AP Multiple Choice Practice – 2001
Released
When you come in:
1. Turn in your OER questions from our last
   meeting

2. Answer the following:
  1. What process do you go through when
     answering a multiple-choice question? (On the
     AP exam, or TAKS)
Pre-reading Strategies:
Annotating the Passage
1. Read the questions! (Do not look at the
   answer choices)
2. Underline keywords in each question
3. Locate „Line #‟ questions.
 1. Circle key words from question where they
    appear in the passage
 2. Make any special notes (ex: missing word?)
4. Bracket relevant Line Ranges
Answering Strategies
Question order:
1. Answer the line # questions
2. Answer remaining questions

Individual Questions:
1. Try to come up with an answer before you even look at the
    choices
2. Eliminate wrong answers first
3. Try to narrow it down to two
4. Find the “Poser” (primary distracter)
  1. May use „big words‟ from the text which actually have little to
       do with the question
  2. May be long and involved, meant to trigger the “I don‟t
       understand it, so that must be it!” reflex
Review your choices
• Compare your answers to your group‟s choices
• Discuss (quickly) how you arrived at the correct
  answer, or what distracted you

• Be prepared to present your findings to the
  class!
Weekend Essay
•    Using the story you came up with earlier this
     week, answer one of the following:
•    Write about a time when…
    1. you were proud of someone else.
    2. you helped another person.
    3. you inspired someone else.
Narration & Description – Days 5 & 6
  Modes of Discourse
  Patterns of Development
  Organizational Strategies
Final TAKS Push
•   Writing Prompt – View Range Finders
•   Score your own Essay
•   Beth‟s survey
•   It‟s Thematically Linked!