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Action Verbs as a Method of Elaboration
Action verbs are methods of elaboration, ways to help writers make a point
in their writing.
EXAMPLE:
Mama taught me how to be a lady. One of her most important rules
was not to pick at myself or my clothing, at least in public. When I
was a child, if any part of me itched, ached, burned, or generally felt
the need to be scratched, rubbed, blown on, or tickled, I learned to shift
my weight ever so nonchalantly as I sat or to recross my legs—at the
ankles, like a lady—or to perform any number of secret maneuvers to
relieve these untimely annoyances.
v NOTE: The author has used dashes, which are considered a sophisticated form of punctuation; these are used as a type of parenthetical insertion, an interrupter.
ACTIVITIES
Copyright © 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
1. Begin your writing with a topic sentence, as in the example. Use at least
five action verbs to make your point.
2. After five minutes, pass your writing to a neighbor, who will underline
your action verbs and check to determine whether they were used as
support for your topic sentence.
The Writing Teacher’s Activity-a-Day
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Denouement
Copyright © 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
The denouement is the part of a narrative that comes after the climax. Its
purpose is to pull things together, to explain events.
EXAMPLE:
That year Miss Starr taught him math and science and history, but
best of all she taught him stories. She gave him the greatest gift of
all—words. And when she’d read about other little boys—some
who had lost grandmothers or uncles or fathers even—he cried. No
one noticed, but he felt the tears form in the corners of his eyes.
He’d pretend to drop a pencil or his crayons or suddenly have to
dig through his backpack so he could wipe the tears before they
had a chance to give him away. Or she’d read about friendship and
love and perfect worlds, where no one went away, no one died, and
everyone was happy.
v This excerpt is from a vignette about a little boy who had lost his
father and was comforted by this ‘‘goddess’’ of a teacher.
ASSIGNMENT
1. Identify what you believe to be the climax.
2. What part would be the denouement?
3. Write a different denouement for a story you have read in class.
The Writing Teacher’s Activity-a-Day
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Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is giving readers a hint of some important event, character
trait, or other pertinent information? that will be revealed later in the piece.
EXAMPLE:
Every day after school five-year-old Kevin would sneak up to the
Christmas tree strung with blinking lights like miniature stars on a
clear night and touch each gift in its turn. At first he just felt them to
make sure they weren’t fake like the ones in Macy’s windows. Then
Kevin started shaking them and thrilled to his own little secret—that
he felt like one of Santa’s helpers.
Little did Kevin suspect that all those innocent times were leading up
to something. All it took was one week of going over and over paper
and bows and checking and rechecking which presents had his name
written on them.
Of course Kevin’s parents knew, and of course Kevin tried to act surprised on Christmas morning, but deep inside he realized that some
things are better left as secrets, and not once did Kevin ever forget
that lesson.
ASSIGNMENT
Underline the clues that foreshadowed Kevin’s opening a present before
Christmas.
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The Writing Teacher’s Activity-a-Day
Copyright © 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Finally, Kevin’s curiosity and imagination triumphed. One week to
the day, Kevin opened his first present—the shiny red toy truck he
had asked for. It was all he could manage to do to rewrap the treasure
in his childish way.
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