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Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Much Ado About Language

This week in my Writing for Children class, we have been asked to re-work our manuscripts while paying more attention to language and words.  It sounds almost silly when I put it that way, but there is a lot more to a story than just the story itself.  The words need to have a rhythm, a cadence, and a flow to them.  We need to pay special attention to certain Literary Devices in our stories, and make sure that the way we use them also fits our story's theme or topic.

Some specific Literary Devices we've discussed:
Alliteration, Assonance, Repetition, Metre, Mood, Onomatopoeia, Rhyming, Dialogue, and the Rule of Three.  I won't go into detail on those, because I'm not a literary pro by any means, and I don't want to teach anyone out there who might be reading this the wrong stuff.  But you're welcome to look it up!

More information on other Literary Terms and Devices can be found here:  http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/literature/bedlit/glossary_a.htm

Some books that have specifically good Literary Device and Language usage:
"Where the Wild Things Are," by Maurice Sendak
"Wind-Wild Dog," by Barbara Joosse, Illustrated by Kate Kiesler
"Anna's Table," by Eve Bunting
"The Great Fuzz Frenzy," by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel
"Here They Come!" by David Hyde Costello

Now it's time for me to get back to work!  Chop chop!

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