Writing in the Frame: Narrative

Forget the too-sweet chocolate bunnies and endearing marshmallow peeps.   Don’t bother me with the brightly-colored plastic eggs hidden in the nooks and crannies of the yard.   I’m not that concerned with what treats might be hidden in my Easter basket.   What I’m really looking forward to is the Easter Bread.   For generations, my family has made a traditional Italian Easter Bread, light enough to rise off the plate of its own accord, sweet enough to temper even the worst bad mood, flavored with lemon, vanilla or anise, braided into a beautiful wreath whose ends are joined by a colorful hard-boiled egg.    My mother’s, grandmother’s, and great-grandmother’s handprints all may be found in this bread.  And when my family and I slice it and enjoy it for Easter breakfast, we are enjoying not only a special food, but a long tradition.

So, tutors, you get the idea of the narrative.   It is meant to be a true story, told in the first person.  It is about either a significant event (Basic Writing) or a slice of culture that reveals the significance of the story to the writer (Comp. I).   It should include a lot of description and be a very engaging story with all the elements of narrative:  a particular sequence of events (could be chronological, flashback, or flashforward), have a point of view (in this case, first person), use specific, detailed language, and show the story vs. just telling it.    In my example above, for instance, I tried to show the importance of this piece of my cultural heritage rather than telling you, “My family makes a traditional Easter bread.”   I think we can look forward to a lot of great stories from our students. 

Hands Off the Wheel, Please

It is a real temptation to want to just do the work for a student, especially for one who is struggling and when we can see a clear path through the writing but the student can’t.   We want to spell those words, provide just the right vocabulary suggestion, put in that comma or semicolon, or suggest a different sentence structure.   But keep in mind that the ownership of the writing needs to remain with the student.  They have to stay in the driver’s seat, even if they are driving erratically or off course.  One way to keep ourselves in the back seat is to put the question back to the student.   If a student asks how to spell a word, ask them which letters they can provide.  If a student asks if a sentence is a run-on, explain what a run-on is and some ways to correct it, and then ask the student to correct.   If a student can’t think of a synonym, hand him or her a thesaurus.  Remember that we aren’t editors but rather facilitators of a process.  Keep away from writing on the students’ papers and from manning their keyboards.   Keep your hands off the wheel; resist the temptation to drive the students’ writing.   Hold the line in promoting writing as an active process in which the student must be present and must remain in the driver’s seat

"Scripta Manet, Verba Volant"

If your Latin is as rusty as mine is, that translates to “what is written remains, what is spoken vanishes into thin air.”    As developmental writers, many of our students need to receive information multiple times and from multiple modes in order for it to move from short-term memory to long-term.   I am frequently amazed in the Lab as I look around and see and hear so many wonderful and engaged conversations about writing happening in our small room.   An absorbing conversation is one mode of learning information.  But students also need to write down what that conversation has entailed.   Try to find places during your tutoring session where students can write down some of what is being said.   It might be a bullet point list, a few notes to themselves, or even some complete sentences. It might be handwritten or on the computer screen, in pencil, marker, or drawn out.  What they write down is up to the students, but it is up to us to remind them to record some of those great ideas before the end of the session and before that often hard-to-capture writing vanishes into thin air.   

Writing in the Frame: Descriptive Writing

The snow fell again from the iron-gray sky in rough sheets, relentless and harsh.  Accompanying it like a wild cello was the wind, up and down the scale.   For a lifetime the storm raged and howled as if there were wolves at the door.   But the morning played a different tune.  With a rosy dawn came the forgiving sun, and a quiet landscape frosted in white.  On the middle branches of the one lone pine, a bright cardinal sat and sang its morning, after- storm song.    

So, dear tutors, you get the idea.   Descriptive writing should be descriptive, focused on showing vs. telling, the use of sensory details, and the use of devices including simile and metaphor, personification and hyperbole (can you find a sample of each above?).     Students sometimes get lost in a descriptive assignment and write a great narrative but forget that they are supposed to be incorporating a heavy dose of description.   This week and next we can expect lots of students working on their descriptive assignments.   To help them out, focus on what the assignment is asking for.    Maybe make some lists of descriptors based on senses and emotions, or divide a sheet into physical and emotional qualities, if applicable.  You could help a student come up with a metaphor or two.    It might not be as easy as pie, but with some guidelines, we can help students stay on a vivid track.  (“Picture yourself on a boat on the river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies…”).