http://www.roanestate.edu/owl/Types.html

The Technique: Sensory writing--an essay that focuses on what is seen, heard, smelt, etc.

The Examples:
Momaday, N. Scott.  "Riding is an Exercise of the Mind".  Elements of Literature, 3rd Course.   pg. 401. 
Smith, Michael.  "The Curse of the Dump".  Online Writing Lab (OWL).  Roane State Community College. 
Peddicord, Jenna.  "Creative Writing--Sensory Details" ProBLOG.  One-sentence samples of sensory detail. 

The Assignment: Read Momaday and answer the questions.  Describe a place using sensory writing.  Choose a place that other students are probably not familiar with, but which you know well.  Examples could include your grandparents' house, a place you played as a child, or somewhere you traveled with friends or parents.  You may wish to make this writing first person as Momaday did. 

Technique:  Subjective Writing: Going Beyond the Physical Appearance. 

The Examples: 
Quindlen, Anna.  "Homeless".  Elements of Literature, 3rd Course.   pg. 460
Rylant, Cynthia.  "The Best Gift of My Life".  Elements of Literature, 3rd Course.   pg. 394. 
Dunn, Stephen.  "The Sacred".  Elements of Literature, 3rd Course.   pg. 435. 

The Assignment: Inject meaning into an object or an activity.  Think of something that has significant meaning to you and explain how the object or activity is more than it seems on the surface: It's not just baseball, it's much more than that. 

Objective: Contrast

The Examples:
Gipson, William.  "McDonald's and Fox's Diner".  Online Writing Lab (OWL).  Roane State Community College. 
Berven, Ella .  "Shades of Being Human".  Online Writing Lab (OWL).  Roane State Community College. 

The Assignment: Write an essay that compares two people or things that might appear at first to be very similar, yet hold differences.  As an introduction, begin with a paragraph or two that discusses both people or items, and then use an alternating pattern. 

Suggestions: Write about the difference between:
Being snobby and being proud; a partier and an alcoholic; getting along and knuckling under to peer pressure, a liberal and a conservative, a winning sports team and a losing one; a great coach and a mediocre one; two restaurants, two schools, two stables, two people, two school subjects, two sports, two sports teams, my two best friends, mom and grandma, mom and dad, two ferry lines, the difference between a relationship that's going to succeed and one that's going to fail.

Objective:  Definition

The Examples: 
Turner, Ben.  "An Extra Large Editorial (Subjectively Speaking) ".  Online Writing Lab (OWL).  Roane State Community College. 
Kim.  "Caught in the Net".  Writing Resources.  Kamehameha Schools Distance Learning

The Assignment:  Write an essay that defines something.  The subject of your essay cannot be something simple that has a straight-forward definition upon which nearly everyone agrees--it should be either something of an opinion, or something that is difficult to define.  Use strong visual images and practical, precise details.  Get the reader to look at your topic through a new lens.  Click here to get more help. 

Suggestions: ambition, bad date, beauty, charisma, citizenship, common sense, conservative, courage, dedication, feminism, frustration, generosity, good parent, good/bad boss, good/bad coach, good/bad parent, great vacation, greed, gumption, happy marriage, healthy appetite, heroism, honor, human rights, humility, integrity, intelligence, kindness, laziness, leadership, liberal, maturity, modesty, optimism, peace of mind, peer pressure, persistence, personality, physical fitness, political correctness, pride, progress, racism, responsibility, right to privacy, self-assurance, self-respect, sense of humor, sensitivity, sexism, skanky, sloth, sophistication, sportsmanship, success, successful island business, successful student, successful teacher, team player, thrift, true friendship, trust, respect, vanity, virtue, etc.

Objective: Cause and Effect

The Example:  Patton, Rebecca.  "The Desired Look: Nothing But Bones".  Online Writing Lab (OWL).  Roane State Community College. 

The Assignment: 

Suggestions: How people end up failing/succeeding in school; how a sports team makes it to the top; the causes of failed relationships;

Technique:  Exaggeration; Overstatement

The Example:   Soto, Gary.  "The Talk" 377.  A writer describes his feelings about the awkwardness of growing up and contrasts those feeling with a hope for the future. 

The Assignment: write an essay or reminisce that includes some exaggeration--be careful not to overdo it. 

Descriptive Essay
Answers Question: What is it like?
Has defined subject and takes a stance / Makes a point
Organized by space, an aspect, or writer's perspective
Has sense of purpose
Uses strong visual images
Includes practical and precise details
Supports underlying point using creative approaches allows reader to see topic through a new lens
Employs word choice and sentence structure that support mood
XXXX As per ELA 9  Michigan Merit Curriculum Course Requirements, Page 30-31

Lessons for Week 3:
Write to describe  (Burke, Lesson #16)
Write to define  (Burke, Lesson #17)
Write with Information  (Atwell, Lesson #51)
Order the Information  (Atwell, Lesson #52)
Write an effective paragraph  (Burke, Lesson #23)

Essay Writing: Choose One:
Write to persuade another person to stand up for what is right.
Write to prove social action is still necessary / unnecessary
Answering Focus Questions in Essay Form:
xxx  What themes are represented across the texts?
xxx  What does information from the texts tell us about societal beliefs ?
xxx  How do these texts inform you about your prejudices? 
Defend a position on a social injustice and present multi-genre project.
Make a specific point about personal freedoms
Explain use of literary devices in texts
Discuss the roles of women and the impact that they had on the story
XXXX As per ELA 9  Michigan Merit Curriculum Course Requirements, Page 30-31

Lessons for Week 1:
Itches to Scratch in Essays  (Atwell, Lesson #7)
How Do I Scratch the Itch?  (Atwell, Lesson #50)
Begin an essay  (Burke, Lesson #20)
Effective Essays: Teasing Out Criteria  (Atwell, Lesson #49)
Write to inform  (Burke, Lesson #18)

Persuasive Essay: Do Each of the following in your essay:
Address an interesting and controversial subject
Take a position /thesis based on fact, value, or policy
Consistently support stand  Use effective lead and closing argument
Anticipate reader bias
Provide relevant information
Support with facts, examples, stories, expert quotes, graphics
Refute alternative perspectives
Avoid use of logical fallacies (e.g., appeal to emotion, false analogy)
XXXX As per ELA 9  Michigan Merit Curriculum Course Requirements, Page 30-31

Lessons for Week 2:
Develop a topic  (Burke, Lesson #19)
Craft an effective argument  (Burke, Lesson #21)
Leads for an Essay  (Atwell, Lesson #53)
Experiment with Essay Conclusions  (Atwell, Lesson #54)

Technique: 
The Example:  Lincoln, Abraham.  "Not Much of Me" 348 & "With a Task Before Me"  350
The Assignment:


Technique:  exposition--explaining something
The Example:   Ackerman, Diane.  "The Round Walls of Home" 420
The Assignment:


Technique:  Setting
The Example:  Jacobs, Harriet A.  "Loophole of Retreat" 427
The Assignment:


Technique: 
The Example:  Joseph, Chief.  Excerpt from An Indian's View of Indian Affairs 447
The Assignment:


Technique: 
The Example:  Krents, Harold.  "Darkness at Noon" 454
The Assignment:


Technique: 
The Example:   Kuralt, Charles.  "Misspelling" 468
The Assignment:


Technique: 
The Example:  Cisneros, Sandra.  "Those Who Don't" 475.  A very short writing about prejudice
The Assignment:


Technique:  The Stereotyping Example
The Example:   Angelou, Maya.  "When I Lay My Burden Down" 357.  A writer expresses her anger against White People and portrays them in a poor light. 
The Assignment: Hate Writing--write about something that you hate.  Portray an example of a behavior that you dislike.  The example should repulse the reader.  Do not do as Maya Angelou did and choose a race, creed, or persuasion of people. 

Lessons for Week 4: