April 28 & 29, 2026
Agenda
1 - View the PowerPoint. You don’t have to take notes, but whatever notes you take can be used on your next starter quiz.
2 - Assignment: TTTC: “On the Rainy River”.
While we read, fill in quotes or paraphrases & citations that show examples of each element of a good personal narrative.
After we read, you should:
Fill in the last column with why you think each quote is or isn’t a good example of that element.
Answer the questions below/after the chart.
3 - Descriptive Writing Assignment: “On the Rainy River”.
See assignment directions below.
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The author of a non-fiction text needs to communicate with an audience, the reader or listener. He or she needs to put the audience into a position of understanding, and one of the best ways of doing that is to describe the person, scene, event, or object in such a way that the senses are stimulated.
A Place
The description of a place can be organized in a variety of ways. The writer might think in terms of physical space and paint a big picture the way James Fenimore Cooper does or give details the way a video camera might capture them if shooting from an airplane. A room can be described from to bottom, around the walls, or from furniture to floor.
A Person
A person’s face, gait, character, clothing, and behavior can be described, sometimes in the same passage. Writers often use an effective zoom-in strategy and allow one feature to speak for the rest. For example, a young child’s disheveled clothing could tell a story itself.
An Event
Interwoven with narration, an event or episode can be depicted in a variety of ways. The image of a flame thrower scorching brush could open a description of a memoir of trench warfare, and the smell of burning flesh can both repulse and draw a reader in.
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What can I use as a fresh comparison to help the audience see, smell, hear, feel, or taste what I am experiencing?
What different methods could I use to organize this description?
How will this description help me achieve my overall purpose for the piece?
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Description relies on imagery, language that appeals to the senses. Quote passages that appeal to as many senses as possible.
Touch
Sight
Taste
Smell
Hearing
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Why does O’Brien use this descriptive passage in this chapter?
What is his purpose in including it?
