Weekend Warm-Up

Think about your earliest memory with an animal (this could be a pet or wild creature). Was it positive or negative?

Now flip your experience and write about it. (i.e., a good memory turns out very badly)

Spit and Polish: Imagery

Imagery can appeal to any of the five senses (touch, smell, taste, hearing, sight). Using specific adjectives can help a reader experience the world a writer is trying to create.

Choose an object from home or classroom. Write at least one adjective for each of the five senses to describe the object. Blend your descriptions into a paragraph about that object.

Writing Prompts: Killer Quotations

"Out of life's school of war: What does not destroy me, makes me stronger."

• Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900), The Twilight of the Idols (1899)

What do you think Nietzsche meant by this quotation?

Use the quote as a prompt for freewriting.

Writing Prompt: What If?

What if you could change your skin color at will? What color would you choose? Why?

Remember, you can choose any color, not just natural skin tones.

Word of the Week: Aggrieve

AGGRIEVE (uh GREEV)

• verb: to mistreat; to do grievous injury to; to distress

The hideous behavior of the troll aggrieved the neighboring townsfolk.

Now write!

Use the word aggrieve in a freewrite exercise. How many synonyms can you generate? How about antonyms?

Weekend Warm-Up

You have to hide.

Now.

Your life depends on it.

Where will you go? Will you wear a disguise? How do you feel? Who is looking for you, and why do they want you dead?

Spit and Polish: Adjectives

Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns. They can add detail and interest to writing, but beware: too many adjectives can really clog otherwise clear writing.

Add adjectives to make the following sentences more interesting:-

1. Bob wrote about an experience.
2. He flew in an airplane.
3. He ate food for dinner last night.
4. Bob's paper would have been more interesting if he had described his experience.

Remember, too many adjectives can hurt. Are there other ways to add interest to the sample sentences without adjectives?

Writing Prompt: Killer Quotation

"The summer night is like a perfection of thought."

• Wallace Stevens (1879 - 1955)

What do you think Stevens meant by this quotation?

Use the quote as a prompt for freewriting.

Writing Prompt: What If?

What if your friend told you of a secret plan to run away from home?

What would you do?

Why?

Word of the Week: Harry

HARRY (HAR ee)

• verb: to harass; to annoy
  

Insurgents harry an opposing army; harassment is their main strategy.

Now write!


Use the word harry in a freewrite exercise. How many synonyms can you generate? How about antonyms?

Weekend Warm-Up

Imagine you are the leader of a large church congregation. People look up to you, inspired by your rock-solid belief and unwavering faith. Write the speech/sermon/homily that you would deliver after you've decided to confess to embezzling church funds for the past ten years.

Spit and Polish: Verbs

Verbs are words that show action or state of being.

Walk, run, eat, read, and sleep are all action verbs. Am, is, have, was, and has are all verbs, too.

List verbs that describe actions in which you have engaged today. Try to choose the most ineresting forms...avoid state of being verbs and go for action.

Writing Prompt: Killer Quotation

"Whenever evil befalls us, we ought to ask ourselves, after the first suffering, how we can turn it into good. So shall we take occasion, from one bitter root, to raise perhaps many flowers."

• Leigh Hunt (1784 - 1859)

What do you think Hunt meant by this quotation?

Use the quote as a prompt for freewriting.

Writing Prompt: What If?

What if you never attended school? How would your life be different? Would life be better or worse? What would you do instead of school?

Write about it. Feel free to post your response in the comments section.

Word of the Week: Ostracize

OSTRACIZE (AHS truh syze)

• verb: to shun; to shut out or exclude a person from a group

Mike was ostracized by the other boys in the locker room because he wore socks with his sandals.

Now write!

Use the word ostracize in a freewrite exercise.How many synonyms can you generate?How about antonyms?

Weekend Warm-Up

You've been working at the same job for ten years, and you love it. This morning, you receive a pink slip, indicating you've been laid off.

Write about your reaction, either as a journal entry (diary, etc.) or a short narrative in the first person.

Spit and Polish: Pronouns

Pronouns are words that can take the place of nouns. Personal pronouns include I, you, we, he, she, they, and it.

Try filling in these blanks:

1. Tyson borrowed my bike, but __________ never returned it.

2. __________ ate dinner before __________ finished my homework.

3. __________ like to play basketball more than I do.

How did you know which pronouns were right in each sentence?

Writing Prompt: Killer Quotation

"A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin."

• H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)

What do you think Mencken meant by this quotation?

Use the quote as a prompt for freewriting.

Writing Prompt: What If?

What if you could have a super power? What would you choose?

Write about it. Feel free to post your response in the comments section.

Word of the Week: Prattle

PRATTLE (PRAT ul)

• verb: to chatter on and on; to babble childishly

Nicole prattles endlessly about the only things that interest her: boy bands, shopping, and vampires.

Now write!

Use the word prattle in a freewrite exercise.
How many synonyms can you generate?
How about antonyms?

Weekend Warm-Up

While taking a shortcut through an alley, you find a $50 bill on the ground. A phone number is written in ink on the upper border. A few dark splotches mark the back of the bill.

What do you do with it?