DO NOT EAT THEM YET!

Smell your Sourpatch!

Is your mouth watering?

Put the Sour Patch in your mouth!

Don’t spit it out! Don’t swallow it!Don’t chew it!

Let it sit there in your mouth!

Think about what reactions your taste buds are having!

Write down as many adjectives as you can to describe your experience with the Sourpatch?

Tart

Sour

Bitter

Acidic

Powerful

Overwhelming

Harsh

Smooth

Amazing

Exciting

Severe

Sweet

Refreshing

Thrilling

Invigorating

Ridiculous

Sugary

Overpowering

Think of significant people in your life (parents, coaches, teachers, friends, people you admire/detest) and create a simile describingthem with one or more of the words you used to describe your experience withthe Sourpatch.

THE SOUR PATCH IS AS AMAZING AND POWERFUL AS A MEAT LOAF CONCERT.

THE SOUR PATCH IS LIKE MY PARENTS; THEY ARE SOUR AND THEN THEY ARE SWEET.

WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT MY HOOK OR LEAD?

An interesting opening paragraph greatly increases the chance that a reader will actually read (and like) your paper.

7 TYPES OF HOOKS AND LEADS

Description

Dialogue

Powerful Statement

Foreshadowing

Question

Quotation

Figurative Language

DESCRIPTION: THE WRITER DESCRIBES THE SETTING WITH SENSORY DETAIL (IMAGERY).

It was one of those typical classroom days; you know the ones, the teacher drones on and on as the students lifelessly daydream about anything other than what is currently happening, desperately awaiting the salvation that the bell will bring.

DESCRIPTION (CONTINUED): THE WRITER DESCRIBES THE SETTING WITH SENSORY DETAIL (IMAGERY).

I find myself in this room, wondering why they, those purveyors of misery, never let us talk or write about our interests, our passions, our goals. No, it’s always Shakespeare, or grammar, or some other “bloody” story by some old, dead, white guy that I could care less about.

DIALOGUE – START WITH ENTERTAINING CONVERSATION

“Why do we have to do this?”

“This is stupid!”

“I can’t believe this is a requirement for graduation!”

“I hate this!”

DIALOGUE (CONTINUED) – START WITH ENTERTAINING CONVERSATION

These passionate responses are, with some exceptions, the first words that Leander Independent School District seniors express upon first introduction to Senior Project.

POWERFUL STATEMENT: GO FOR THE SHOCK EFFECT WITH A DRAMATIC STATEMENT

I am sick and tired of American high schools teaching me “stuff” that has no relevance to my life. All I do is listen to John Doe educator spout off about how disrespectful I am and how I only care about my phone. And he is so incredibly boring. I mean, unbelievable! Give me the podium and I’ll show you how it’s done.

FORESHADOWING: CAPTURE THE READER’S ATTENTION BY HINTING AT WHAT WILL HAPPEN

I had a dream once. The dream was so real and so vibrant. The teacher had our attention, for he was introducing a new project, and it was like something I had never done before. He kept rhapsodizing about the value and purpose of this project. And I remember one expression in particular; “Finally, I decide,” he exclaimed. Could it be, could it finally be that I have the power, that I have the authority to decide. No, not possible, it was only a dream.

QU

ESTION

? QU

ESTION

? QU

ESTION

? Q

UESTIO

N?

Question: Ask a rhetorical question (one you ask for drama, not for an answer)

Why can’t the American high school educator figure it out? What you care about is not what I care about, and judging by your general demeanor, you absolutely hate your career. I mean, really! Do you realize how boring you are?

QUOTATION: START YOUR PAPER WITH SOMEONE ELSE’S WORDS

Well, perhaps “Professor” Macklemore puts it best; “Take that system, what did you expect?Generation of kids choosing love over a desk. Put those hours in and look at what you get. Nothing that you can hold, but everything that it is” (The Heist).

.

QUOTATION: START YOUR PAPER WITH SOMEONE ELSE’S WORDS

These lyrics communicate the collective angst that high school students across America feel about the current educational system. He is right! The model of the system is to “spoonfeed”the correct answer to us. In fact, they seem to be fixated on “correct.” This is the “correct” way to solve a problem, the “correct” way to approach the writing of an essay, the “correct” way to stand in line.

QUOTATION: START YOUR PAPER WITH SOMEONE ELSE’S WORDS

What if we don’t have to separate a “generation of kids choosing love over a desk?” What if, instead, students can choose what they love while still sitting in that desk.

.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: USE A SIMILE, METAPHOR, OR PERSONIFICATION

As the teacher finished an introduction to Senior Project, I felt as though I was a rested Dorothy, awakening from the nightmare that had been my high school career. Finally, I was free from the witches of teacher onslaught and liberated from the tyranny of the wizard, or more commonly referred to as

“the man.” Yes, finally, I am “the man.”

Take a couple of minutes and think through how you are going to “hook” the reader. Are you going to bore them the same way you have been bored. Write your opening lines.

Quotation

Dialogue

Powerful Statement

Foreshadowing

Figurative Language

Rhetorical Question

Description