Writer and Editor C.B. Calsing/ G.G. Royale

One of the best things we can do to improve our writing is focus on verb choice. My sophomore English teacher, Mr. Binder at San Luis Obispo High School, did something that changed my view of verbs forever. He made us write twenty-one, one-to-two page "treatments" on various senses. First the basic ones like seeing, smelling, etc... Then we got into more complicated ones, like irony. The big deal with these activities, though, was that we couldn't use any "to be" conjugations. This set me on the road to stronger writing. Throughout my writing career, I've tried to write entire short stories without any use of "to be." "To Wade Alone" started off like that, seven pages without a "to be" conjugation. This allowed me, in later edits, to be lazy, using weak verbs to fill in based on what the eiditor wanted. So today, I'm going to go over the best ways to write sentences as dictated by verb choice. I'm going to start with the...

Here is the organization structure for our class theme persuasive letter. In paragraph one, please discuss the relationship you have with the song. Where did you first hear it? What does it make you think of? Why is it important to you personally? In paragraph two, tell us what the song has to teach us as a class. This is the paragraph you should quote your lyrics in. In the final paragraph, please convince your reader --  me -- why I should pick it above all others. Here you will use three of the persuasive techniques from the the packet you received at the beginning of the unit.

If it is one to three lines of lyrics: State name of artist and song title immediately before if you have not already. State from which part of the song the lyric is from (verse and number or chorus) Embed the lyrics in the text. Enclose with quotation marks. Add a / between lines if necessary. Example: One of the most inspiring lines from the song, which comes in the chorus, is "I'm beautiful in my way/ 'Cause God makes no mistakes." If the quotation is four or more lines: State name of artist and song title immediately before if you have not already. State from which part of the song the lyric is from (verse and number or chorus) End the line right before the quote with a colon. Set the lyrics apart from the text by indenting a half inch for the entire quote. Do not use quotation marks. Example: "Born this Way" deals mostly with self-acceptance. In the first verse, we get these lines from Lady Gaga: There's nothing wrong with lovin' who you are She...