using grammatical structures to teach writing for teachersbased on the book image grammar by harry...
TRANSCRIPT
Image GrammarUsing Grammatical Structures to Teach Writing
For Teachers Based on the book Image Grammar by Harry Noden
ParticiplesAbsolutesAppositivesAction VerbsAdjectives Shifted Out of Order
The 5 Basic Brush Strokes
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Pick one for your example:
The elephant charged the lions.
The car went into the parking lot
Basic sentences
◦Definition: “-ing” words or phrases tagged on the
beginning or the end of a sentence Example: “-ing” = present participle;
“-ed”= past participle
◦What they can do: Add description to an otherwise bland
sentence or string of sentences. Specifically, they give motion to a sentence.
Participles
Roaring a loud warning screech, the elephant charged the lions.
◦Definition: Simply put, they are nouns + an “-ing”
participle.
◦What they can do: Add description to a noun, a subject,
or a phrase acting as a noun.
Absolutes
Feet stomping, ears flapping, the elephant attacked the lions.
I ran to catch the bus.
Now YOU Try ItAdd an ABSOLUTE
(noun + -ing word).
◦Definition: A noun phrase that adds a second
description, image, or idea to a previous noun.
Simply, it means that you ‘re-name’ a noun with a word or a phrase.
◦What they can do: Add more description to the subject
(person, place, thing, idea) of sentences.
Appositives
The elephant, an angry 1,200 pound beast, charged the lions.
The boat bobbed lifelessly in the Lake Michigan swells.
Appositive “Makeover”
The boat, a small weathered trawler with a faded inscription -- “Lucky Lady” --on the stern, bobbed lifelessly in the Lake Michigan swells.
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I ran to catch the bus.
Now YOU Try ItAdd an APPOSITIVE
(rename the bus or I)
◦Definition: Avoid “passive” voice: It was raining. I had been reading. The cookies were taken. (Watch out for “be” verbs.)
Use a verb that does something!
◦What they can do: Give a sentence ACTION and
movement.
Action Verbs
The elephant attacked the lions.
I ran to catch the bus.
Now YOU Try ItAdd an ACTION VERB
(think of another word for ‘run’ to show more OR less urgency).
◦Definition: Adjectives are descriptive words that
help color and enhance pictures in reader’s minds.
◦What they can do: Give a “safe” and “ordinary” sentence
more sophistication.
Adjectives Shifted Out of Order
The elephant, monstrous and fierce, charged the lions.
I ran to catch the bus.
Now YOU Try ItAdd some ADJECTIVES
(out of order).
Put It All Together
Look back over your practice sentences. Pick and choose parts (brush strokes) that you thought were particularly effective, and see what you can come up with for a final sentence.
Just like in art, the basic brush strokes are meant to be combined and to work together.
.
NEXTReturn to Beginning of Slide Show
The storm woke me in the middle of the night.
The road went around the left side of the barn.
This is a brief introduction and overview of Harry Noden’s 5 Basic Brush Strokes from his book Image Grammar.
They are basic grammatical structures that give movement and “picture” to text.
This is only intended to give the big picture, with practice and further examples to follow.
Return to Beginning of Slide Show
Book Information:Noden, Harry. Image Grammar: Using Grammatical Structures to Teach Writing. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 1999.
ISBN 978-0-86709-466-4 / 0-86709-466-4 / 1999 / 224pp / Paperback (Grade level 6-10)