Looking at the Elements of STYLE. Elements of Style Word Choice Imagery Metaphor/Simile.

Looking at the Elements of

STYLE

Elements of Style•Word Choice• Imagery•Metaphor/Simile

Word Choice

Good word choice includes:1. Sensory Words2. Specific Descriptive Details3. Active Verbs

Word Choice

Sensory language—words and phrases that trigger the senses of touch, sight, taste, smell, and hearing—can bring readers into the writer’s world.

Word Choice•Through sensory language, readers see what you see, hear what you hear, feel what you feel. Read from Guts by Paulsen.

Word Choice

Specific Descriptive Language:• Using Descriptive language is like

the author “calling it as he sees it.”Imagine . . .

Word Choice: Descriptive Language

The author is thinking “midnight black, V8- engined, convertible Ferrari . . .”

Word Choice: Descriptive Language

But he writes “car.” Hmmmm. That’s not calling it as he sees it.

Read from Artemis Fowl

Active Verbs

• Active verbs obviously describe an action:– Crawl– Drag– Plunge– Flee

• Active verbs do NOT use “helping verbs” (is, was, were, have, has)

— were sent, had started, was shot, had discovered

Active Verbs

• Active verbs also do NOT use “—ing”– Looking– Running– Knowing

• Look for original sounding active verbs– Don’t choose: say, said, come, go, see, walk, talk,

hit, eat, read, write, sleep, got, took, want etc

Find the Active Verbs

From the Advertiser’s Sports Page Headlines:

1.Glover surges to one-stroke lead2.Warriors sweep Ohio State3.Punahou tops Kamehameha4.Penn St. stuffs Hawaii in five

Find the Active Verbs

1. “The Crimson Tide was voted No. 1 in The Associated Press poll today. . .”

2. The Hawaii volleyball team opened the new year with a bang, pounding out a 30-20, 30-20, 30-26 rout of Ohio State . . .”

3. “With a birdie on the last hole and a spectacular mid-round surge, Lucas Glover grabbed the first-round lead yesterday . . .”

IMAGERY

Imagery is the use of vivid description, usually rich in sensory words, to create pictures or images in the reader’s mind.

Imagery• Smart Student says, “Wait a minute!

You just said imagery uses descriptive and sensory language!”• Mrs. Urada answers, “Yes!”• “What’s the difference?”• “The three are almost the same!”

Imagery• One way that imagery MAY differ

from descriptive language is that instead of directly “telling” or describing something with adjectives, imagery will SHOW a sensory-filled picture using actions and indirect examples.

Imagery: Showing vs. Telling

• This is an example of an author directly “telling” about the king from “The Lady or the Tiger?”

Telling :•The king was a violent tyrant. (adjective)

Imagery: Showing vs. TellingHowever, good writers SHOW rather than tell. They let us see people and ideas in action.Showing:“. . . for nothing pleased him so much as to make the crooked straight and crush down uneven places.”

Is this Telling or is it Imagery?

1. “There’s a shadow hanging over me”2. “She was staring, openmouthed, the coffee

urn in her hand poised above a cup.”3. “She was snarling. Red and blue sprinkles fell

from the half-eaten donut that she wagged in Alvina’s face.”

4. “How do I say goodbye to what we had?”5. “And let me just make my move.”

Is this Telling or is it Imagery?

1. “Been there done that in my life.”2. “And you come to me on a summer

breeze”3. “You’re everything I thought you never

were and nothing like I thought you could’ve been . . .”

4. “I only wanna see you smile. I just wanna make you happy.”

Is this Telling or is it Imagery?

1. “As she waddled into the elevator, Martin was sure he felt it sink under her weight.”

2. “They’re gonna clean up your looks with all the lies.”

3. “I promise that my love won’t change I will always be in love with you.”

Metaphor & Simile• A good way to describe something—such

as a person, a place, or a feeling—is to compare it to something else.

• EXAMPLE: “She’s as light as a feather.”• EXAMPLE: “My brother is a pig.”• Both create sensory images. A feather

and a pig is something we can see & feel.

Similes

• A simile is a comparison using like or as. It usually compares two dissimilar objects.• For example: His feet were as big

as boats. We are comparing the size of feet to boats.

Metaphor Examples

• A metaphor states that one thing is something else. It is a comparison, but it does NOT use like or as to make the comparison.• For example: Her hair is silk. The

sentence compares hair to silk.

Identifying Similes and Metaphors

1. The baby was like an octopus, grabbing at all the cans on the grocery store shelves.

2. As the teacher entered the room she muttered under her breath, "This class is like a three-ring circus!"

3. The giant’s steps were thunder as he ran toward Jack.

4. The pillow was a cloud when I put my head upon it after a long day.

5. I feel like a limp dishrag.

Identifying Similes and Metaphors

1. Those girls are like two peas in a pod.2. The fluorescent light was the sun during our

test.3. No one invites Harold to parties because he’s

a wet blanket.4. The bar of soap was a slippery eel during the

dog’s bath.5. Ted was as nervous as a cat with a long tail in

a room full of rocking chairs.

Instructions for a Style Response

1. Quote line or lines exactly from the text. Use quotation marks.

2. Identify the Element of Style: Word Choice, Imagery, Simile or Metaphor

3. Complete the sentence starter for your chosen Element of Style.