Smiley Face Tricks

Smiley Face Tricks are used to make your writing better.

We will learn 8 different ways to make your writing better, by

making it sound better.

Magic Three

• Three parallel groups of words• Separated by commas• Used to create a poetic rhythm

or add support for a point (Elaborate & Explain)

Example 1

I was so excited that I jumped up & down, cried

huge tears of joy, and plastered a huge smile on

my face.

Example 2

My palms became sticky and shaky, my neck tingled with anticipation,

and my heart puttered with emotion.

Example 3

• I love to relax by reading a favorite book, sitting in my yard watching my animals, or eating out with friends and family.

What to do?

Every time you use a Smiley Face Trick, remember to put a smiley face on the periphery

(edge) of your paper, next to it.

Let’s Practice

With those at your table, create 6 Magic Three

sentences. Be prepared to share.

Smiley Face Tricks

Figurative Language

Figurative Language• Non-literal comparisons• Used to add “spice” to your

writing• Helps paint a vivid picture for the

reader

Different Types of Figurative Language

• Simile•Metaphor• Hyperbole• Personification

Simile

• Comparing two things, using “like” or “as” or “than”.• Example: (copy at least 2)–She is pretty like a summer day.–He is as fast as a jaguar.–He is faster than a jaguar.

Metaphor

• Directly comparing two things, usually using “is”

• Example:– She is a summer day when she smiles.–He is a jaguar when he races down the

street.

Hyperbole

• An exaggeration, to express a strong point.• Example:–The books weigh a ton.–I am doing a million things right

now.

Personification

• Placing human-like characteristics on an item• Example:–The sun smiled on me today.–The wind kissed my cheek gently.

Your Turn

• Come up with 2 examples for each type of figurative language.

• Then, draw a picture to support your statement.

BE PREPARED TO SHARE

• Simile• Metaphor• Hyperbole• Personification

Smiley Face Tricks

Specific Details For Effect

Specific Details for Effect

• Use your five senses to create a specific explanation of what your

writing is trying to express.

• Help the person visualize and imagine, through your words.

5 Senses• Hear

• See

• Smell

• Touch

• Taste

Specific Details For Effect

• Example 1:

• “ I started shivering. I could taste blood in my mouth and smell it in my nose. It had a cold, metallic taste that made my stomach twist inside out. I tore away from Pieter’s grip and ran back to the rail, emptying my stomach over the side.” P. 54 Letters from Rifka

Specific Details for Effect

• Example 2:

• “Before I could finish, water, a wall of water, rose up over me. Pieter grabbed me around the waist and hurled me away from the side. The water came crashing down over our heads, slamming us onto the deck. Pieter held onto me as the water sucked at my body, trying to pull me overboard.” P. 54 Letters from Rifka

Your Task

1. Pick any item in your possession2. Write 15 sentences describing

EVERY aspect of the item.3. Remember to consider all 5 of

your senses.BE PREARED TO SHARE.

Smiley Face Tricks

Repetition For Effect

Repetition For Effect

• Repeating specifically chosen words or phrases to make a point• To stress certain ideas for the

readers

Repetition For Effect

Example 1: “He wrote that at Ellis Island you are neither in

nor out of America. Ellis Island is a line separating my future from my past. Until I cross that line, I am still homeless, still an immigrant. Once I leave Ellis Island, though, I will truly be in America.” P. 57 Letters from Rifka

Repetition For Effect

• Example 2:

• “While I was shopping with the lady from the HIAS that first week, I saw a hat that I wanted, a hat that would cover my baldness. I thought if I only owned such a hat, it would not matter so much that I was bald… but I did not have the money.” P. 45 Letters from Rifka

Your Turn

Write 3 paragraphs about today.

Think about what happened, at certain parts of the day. Each paragraph should include at least 1 Repetition for Effect, giving you a total of AT LEAST 3 for this task.

Make sure to put

a smiley face

next to each

Repetition for

Effect.

Smiley Face Tricks

Expanded Moments

Expanded Moments

Instead of “speeding” past a moment, writers sometimes spend some time explaining a certain part of the story

in detail.

Examples:

“Then Pieter bent over and kissed me! Right on my lips, Tovah. A warm kiss, with the soft blond hairs of his mustache tickling me.” p. 52 Letters from Rifka

“The treatments are not so bad as I feared. I walk to the convent once a day. The nun in charge of my case is Sister Katrina. She washes my scalp with a green soap that makes my eyes water. Then she puts me under a violet light. The light warms my head.” p. 37 Letters from Rifka

Your Turn

Write one paragraph,

explaining one specific

moment of your day.

Make sure to explain

every single detail. Let

the reader feel as though

they are you.

Smiley Face Tricks

Humor

Humor

Good writers know when to add a bit of humor, something funny, to their paper. This can make a potential boring paper into an interesting and entertaining paper, lifting someone’s spirits.

Example:

• “There I was on the first day of school—the picture-perfect girl. My new outfit looked like something from my big sister’s magazine, my hair—for once– was having a good day, and I was strutting in my new shoes. Little did I know that I was trailing a three-yard piece of Charmin behind me. So much for using the bathroom right before class.” (Ledbetter p.106)

Your Turn

1. Write about something that has happened to you that you think/thought was funny. Try to write it down and capture it in words.

2. Then, read it out loud. Does it still sound funny?

3. If it does not, figure out what you can add/change to make sure your words capture the humor.

Smiley Face Tricks

Hyphenated Modifiers

Hyphenated Modifiers

Sometimes a new way of saying something can make all the

difference. Hyphenated adjectives often cause the reader to “sit up and

take notice” of what you have written.

Examples

The teacher looked at me with her I-am-going-to-give-you-a-detention look.

When I was getting dressed for school, my mom had this you’d-better-wear-that-red-sweater-your-grandma-knitted-you-or-else look.

He gave me a let’s-be-friends handshake.

She gave me the I-don’t-like-your-shirt look.

Your TurnWrite 10 different

sentences using hyphenated words in each one. There must be at least 3 words or more in the hyphenated phrase.

Smiley Face Tricks

Full-Circle Ending

Full-Circle Ending• This is a special type of ending that

effectively “wraps up” the pieces. • One way to do this is to repeat a phrase-

perhaps with slightly different words-from the beginning of your writing.

Example:

From beginning:I sit quietly on the old wooden deck, watching the

birds soar through the humid air. The ocean’s waves are like wrinkles gathered up in place.

From end:The clouds are so delicate, so fragile, yet a single

plane could not break their perfect form. I sit quietly on the old wooden deck, watching the birds, the waves, the clouds.

Your Turn

Beginning: Write 5 sentences to start off a short story about something that has happened to you in 7th grade.

End: Write 5 sentences to end the short story. BUT, this time reword what you initially wrote.

The End

• Go forth and improve your writing!!