3. Oftentimes, we tend to think
of imagery as simply creating a visual picture for the reader. However, imagery includes any experience with
the five senses. Effective imagery is
built on effective diction and detail, so as you can see, voice involves multiple
building blocks all depending on one another. Which of the passages creates the most
intricate sensory experience for you, as the reader?
The passage from Miss Nelson is Missing! by Harry Allard and James Marshall gave a better sensory experience because of the better use of voice and diction. Instead of just saying, "Never mind, open those books", the author decides to add voice to the character and says,“Never mind that!” snapped Miss Swamp. “Open those arithmetic books!” Miss Nelson’s kids did as they were told." This shows Miss Nelson's frightening personality much better than just bluntly saying "Miss Nelson is scary and bossy and the students do as they're told."
6. Tone is examined last because
understanding the tone of a work requires an understanding of all the elements
writers use to create it: diction,
detail, figurative language, imagery, and syntax. Remember that tone is the expression of the
author’s attitude toward his / her audience and subject. There are as many different tones as there
are feelings (i.e., serious, light-hearted, playful, sarcastic, accepting,
bitter, anxious, forceful, harsh, humorous, sympathetic, nostalgic, detached,
etc.).
The tone of Miss Nelson is Missing! is bitter. The excerpt is bitter because the kids are yelling and fooling around when they have the kind and caring teacher, Miss Nelson but then they get taught a lesson when the new mean teacher comes in. "“Now settle down,” said Miss Nelson in a sweet voice. But the class would not settle down. They whispered and giggled. They squirmed and made faces. They were even rude during story hour. And they always refused to do their lessons." The story quickly takes a turn when Miss Nelson disappears and leaves the kids with a harsh teacher that bitterly makes children obey her.
The tone of Speak is harsh and distasteful. The main character's best friend, who has now become a completely different person due to a foreign exchange student, is filled with harsh feelings and words for the main character. The main character is annoyed by the fact that they were once best friends because of the way that the old best friend is being a jerk. "Rachelle: [Snorts. Stands back from mirror, turns head from side to side to admire the black mess that looks like goose poop across her cheekbones] “Pas mal.”" Both the main character and her best friend, Rachelle, are viewing each other in harsh ways that are full of distaste. The main character makes fun of the way Rachelle puts on her makeup, and Rachelle responds to the main character (that is in pain), with French words that aren't helpful at all to her.
7. Characterize or explain the voice of your creative non-fiction piece
so far. How do you know? How would we
know it is YOUR piece? What purposeful choices have you made to create voice?
Is this a strength or weakness of your writing?
My creative non-fiction piece sounds much like a huge complaint. It is about how social media is getting out of hand and everybody's always on they're phone or the internet. The piece sounds like a big complaint because I use facts to prove how social media is flawed. I also use a personal experience in the piece. You can tell that it's my piece because in my personal experience, I talk like myself. I use adjectives in a way that nobody else would even want to use. I use a bit of sarcasm in my writing to really bring out the parts of me that hate how everybody spends too much time on their phone. Using my own voice in writing is both a strength and a weakness. It strengthens my writing because it helps give the push I need to really persuade the audience into believing that social media is bad. Using my voice can become a weakness because sometimes I say some really dumb things that people are better off not hearing.
No comments:
Post a Comment