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Lesson 15

We will examine one of the ways authors control the pace of their writing and then practice controlling pace in our own writing.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I understand how authors make effective stylistic choices?

  • Can I make effective stylistic choices in my own writing?

Texts

Core

  • Unit Reader
    • Chapter 4, excerpt from Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance, HarperCollins Publishers, 2016
    • “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” excerpt from Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, Gloria E. Anzaldúa, Aunt Lute Books. Reproduced with permission from the estate of Gloria Anzaldúa., 1987
    • “Mother Tongue,” Amy Tan, Threepenny Review, Reprinted by permission from Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency., 1990
  • Digital Access
    • “My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation,” excerpt from The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin, Dial Press, an imprint of Random House, 1962

Materials

Tools

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss

We will examine passages from the texts we have read.

As a class, discuss the following question:

  1. What do the following passages have in common?

    I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language—the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. Language is the tool of my trade. ("Mother Tongue," Amy Tan)

    From kids and people my own age I picked up Pachuco. Pachuco (the language of the zoot suiters) is a language of rebellion, both against Standard Spanish and Standard English. It is a secret language. ("How to Tame a Wild Tongue," Gloria Anzaldúa)

    Take no one’s word for anything, including mine—but trust your experience. Know whence you came. (The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin)

    Wherever you have turned, James, in your short time on this Earth, you have been told where you could go and what you could do (and how you could do it) and where you could live and whom you could marry. I know your countrymen do not agree with me about this, and I hear the saying "you exaggerate." They do not know Harlem, and I do. So do you. (The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin)

    In other words, despite all of the environmental pressures from my neighborhood and community, I received a different message at home. And that just might have saved me. (Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance)

Activity 2: Write – Discuss

We will examine how authors can control the pace of their writing. We will discuss how the authors we have studied control the pace of their writing.

Add the following definition to your Vocabulary Journal:

Pacing: Pacing is a stylistic device that authors use deliberately to control the speed and rhythm of their writing. In writing, length controls speed. Short sentences and dialogue quicken the reader’s pace and help create a feeling of intensity, urgency, and speed. Short sentences can also be used to emphasize a point made in a longer sentence. Longer sentences that are full of details slow the pace, creating a feeling of depth and importance for the reader.

With a partner, discuss the following questions:

  1. For each passage, what is the effect of having a short sentence follow a long one?

  2. What is the function of the longer sentences?

  3. What is the function of each short sentence?

Activity 3: Write

We will practice controlling pace in our writing by pairing long and short sentences.

Think about an important aspect of your community you want to communicate to your reader.

Write a pair of sentences, focusing on controlling the pace of your writing for your reader. Pair one long sentence that expresses your idea with a short sentence that highlights, punctuates, or amplifies it.

Share your sentence with a partner or in a small group.

Activity 4: Read – Write

We will add stylistic strategies that we might use on our Culminating Task to our writer’s toolbox.

Step 1

Think about the texts you have read in this section. Review your notes and annotations for each text and respond to the following questions:

  1. Which text is most effective in examining and portraying its author’s community?

  2. What does the author of this text do to make the piece effective? Consider stylistic strategies like form, vocabulary, tone, diction, sentence structure, as well as any literary devices (e.g., simile, metaphor, imagery).

Step 2

Reference the “Writer’s Rhetorical Toolbox” section of your Learning Log. Add any additional techniques used by authors in this section that are interesting to you. Then respond to the following question:

  1. Which of these strategies would you like to try in your own writing for your Culminating Task?