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Author’s Craft How authors create…
Author’s CraftHow authors create…
What is Author’s Craft?
Author’s craft is how the author uses literary devices and narrative elements to tell a story, persuade, or inform an audience.
Ways Authors Craft Their Worko Word Choice
o Sentence structureo Flashbackso Comeback lineso Show don’t tello Dialogueo Rhyme
o Sensory Detailso Simile o Metaphoro Onomatopoeiao Transitiono Voice o Exaggerationo Foreshadowing
How do authors use word choice?
• Word choice– Uses descriptive words adjectives
• Words that make your work sound exciting and livelier. Helps readers picture exactly what is being said.
Examples of word choice• Laugh: guffaw, chuckled, titter, giggle, cackle,
snicker• House: home, hut, shack, cabin, mansion,
residence• Old: mature, experienced, antique, relic, senior,
ancient• Fat: obese, plump, corpulent, husky, full-figured
Which passage is the most liveliest?
VS
What is an author’s structure?• Author’s structure is
how the author organizes the information.
• Clues:
– Changes in sentence length
– Punctuation (dashes, periods, colons, exclamation marks)
• More Clues:
– Compare and contrast
– Cause and effect
– Sequence
– Key words (but, yet, nevertheless, however, although)
– Dividing Paragraph
– Diction
How should I be thinking when I read?
oWhat does the text want me to know?oWhat does the text want me to think?oWhat does the text want me to feel?oHow does it do all of the above?
Let’s Read Market Bowl!• Identify the author’s craft
in the story.– Moral– Culture– Text– Comeback lines– Figurative language– Layout of the book or text
The Use of DialogueProvides
conversation between characters or objects.
5 Types of Text Structure
Description SequenceCause and EffectProblem and SolutionCompare and Contrast
Quick! Look!
What did you see?
For two minutes, draw what you think you saw.
Quick! Look!
Identifying description in a
textDescription A topic, idea, person,
place, or thing is described by listing its features, characteristics, or examples.
Example of
descriptionIt was the best birthday cake ever! It was three layers high and covered with soft white icing swirling like drifting snow. Chocolate sprinkles and miniature marshmallows dotted the cake. There were three tall colorful candles, each with a cheerful flame. My excitement increased as I blew out the candles. When I cut into the cake, I could see the fluffy icing between the layers of chocolate and vanilla cake. The room smelled like a bakery. This was going to be a cake to remember!
Identifying sequence in a text
Describes items or events in order or tells the steps to follow to do something or make something.Examples: Recipes or directions
Sequence / Order of ImportanceSteps described in the order they
occur.
Put on Shoe
Make Two Loops
Tie Loops Together
TightenLaces
Get bread
Open jars
Spread peanut butter
Spread jelly
Combine slices
Enjoy.
Does not take place at any specific point in time.
Identifying sequence in a text
Read the paragraph, then answer the question below.
Yolanda gathered everything she would need for the job and took it to the backyard. After she poured warm water all over her dog, she began to rub the foamy shampoo into his coat. She poured some more water on Buttons to rinse all the soap away. Then, just as she reached for the towel, Buttons shook himself from head to toe. Now Yolanda was almost as wet as her dog!
Cause and EffectExplains reasons why something happened.
Or explains the effects of something.
Not feeding it.
Not petting it.
Not loving it.
Why Dogs Run Away
Lots of Karate Movies in 60’s
Many Karate Schools Opened.
Nunchuck sales Increased 400%
Hospital caseswent up.
Problem and SolutionAuthor states a problem and solution(s).
Similar to cause and effect.
MissingBooks
Putting inthe Closet
GettingLockers
Eagles wereendangered.
Make laws to protect them.
Basically Cause & Effect is an opinion with an answer.
Compare and ContrastCompare = find similarities Contrast = find differences
Shows what’s in common and what’s different.
Apples &Oranges
Fruits
Have Seeds
Healthy
Colors
Tastes
Locations
Cats vs. Dogs
VS
Comparing All of the Text StructuresSequence:
Goose bumps make me shiver. First I get cold. Then I shake all over.
Description:
Goose bumps make me shiver. I get little bumps on my skin. They look like sesame seeds.
Compare and Contrast:
Some people get goose bumps from fear. Others get goose bumps when they are touched emotionally.
Cause and Effect:
Goose bumps make me shiver. When the temperature drops below 45 degrees, my skin crinkles into goose bumps.
Problem and Solution:
Goose bumps make me shiver. But they disappear as soon as I cover up with a jacket or sweater.
Identify the Text Structures
A.cause and effect
C.Problem and solution
B. description D. Sequence
Read the paragraph below, then answer the question.
Judy was getting a new kitten. Her dad helped her get everything ready. First, they bought a little bed and put in a soft blanket. Next, they made sure they had kitten food and water. When everything was ready, Judy and her dad drove to the pet store to pick out a kitten. Judy chose a brown and white kitten and named her Ruby.
Figurative Language
Figurative and Literal Language
Literally: words function exactly as definedThe car is blue.He caught the football.
Figuratively: figure out what it means
I’ve got your back.
You’re a doll. ^Figures of Speech
How do authors use word choice?• Word choice
– Uses figurative language• Simile• Metaphor
SimileComparison of two things using “like” or “as.”
Examples
The metal twisted like a ribbon.
She is as sweet as candy.
Important!Using “like” or “as” doesn’t make a simile.
A comparison must be made.
Not a Simile: I like pizza.
Simile: The moon is like a pizza.
MetaphorTwo things are compared without using “like” or “as.”
Examples
The world is a stage.
I was lost in a sea of nameless faces.
The typical teenage boy’s room is a disaster area.
SimileTwo things are compared using “like” or “as.”
HAMSTERS
My hamster isas smart as an inventor,
as friendly as a dog,as fast as a race car,as smart as a mouse,
and as active as an athlete
MetaphorTwo things are compared without using “like” or “as.”
Examples A Friend A friend is an open hand
A friend is a happy landA friend is a pot of goldA friend is someone I can holdA friend is a beautiful flowerA friend has a lot of power
What happens to a dream deferred?
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore--
And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over-- like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
HyperboleExaggerating to show strong feeling or effect.
Examples
I will love you forever.
My house is a million miles away.
Personification
Giving human traits to objects or ideas.
Examples:
The sunlight danced.
Water on the lake shivers.
The streets are calling me.
The use of figurative languageToday, I took my kite to the park. I had no
trouble getting it up into the air. It took off like a rocket! As it tugged and pulled, I let out more and more string. Soon my kite was flying so high that I was afraid it might be hit by a passing plane!
Mosquito Lake• Mosquito Lake is a fisherman’s dream—and worst
nightmare. The fish grow as big as buses there! When the last one was snagged, it took 50 people just to reel it in. How do the fish get so big? They devour the mosquitoes that gave the lake its name. These aren’t buzzy little insects. These critters are more like giant buzzing helicopters! A chomp from one of them can suck the blood right out of a person in two seconds flat.
How do authors do this?
They choose how to organize and structure their text.
Writing PromptThink about a time when you ignored directions and your results did not turn out well. What did you learn from this situation?
Before we get started: http://mstraiteducationresources.weebly.com/authors-craft.html
Betty Botter By: Mother Goose
Betty Botter bought some butter, but, she said, the butter’s bitter; if I put it in my batter it will make my batter bitter, but a bit of better butter will make my batter better.
So she bought a bit of butter better than her bitter butter, and she put it in her batter and the batter was not bitter. So ’twas better Betty
Botter bought a bit of better butter.
Tongue Twisters Are Some Examples of Alliteration
• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?
• How much wood would a woodchuck chuck If a woodchuck would chuck wood? A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could chuck If a woodchuck would chuck wood.
• Silly Sally swiftly shooed seven silly sheep. The seven silly sheep Silly Sally shooed shilly-shallied south. These sheep shouldn’t sleep in a shack; Sheep should sleep in a shed.
Your turn!
R.I.P.
R.I.P.
• Things• Something• Sad• Nice• Great• Like • Good
• Small • Cool• Went• Fun• Mad• Happy
R.I.P.
• May the Lord rest in peace the words we are not going to try to use.
Now that you are an official author…Carefully choose
your words and sentence structure.
Writing PromptThink about a time when you ignored directions, and your results did not turn out well. What did you learn from this situation?
