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LITERATURE SAMPLE 1: WRITING ADVANCED
INTRODUCTIONS
THE SMATTERING
"On rare occasions, the writer may 'flood' the
reader with impressions, bits, pieces,
fragments, shards of description, facts, quotes,
and notes, and eventually let the reader piece
all these together into one unified whole."
(Writing Solutions by Thomas Fensch, p. 61) This
technique is a listing of appropriate bits of
relevant information about the topic. Example:
"Cannery Row is a poem, a stink, a grating
noise, a quality of light" (Cannery Row by John
Steinbeck)
Another example is Herman Melville's description
of Benjamin Franklin. "Printer, postmaster,
almanac maker, essayist, chemist, orator,
tinker, statesman, humorist, philosopher, parlor
man, political economist, professor of
housewifery, ambassador, projector,
maxim-monger, herb-doctor, wit: Jack of all
trades, master of each, and mastered by
none--the type and genius of the land, Franklin
was everything but a poet."
EXTENDED METAPHOR / EPIC SIMILE / ANALOGY
You learned to use stated metaphors, similes,
and analogies in basic introductions; here you
will learn to write extended metaphors, similes,
and analogies which are either stated or
implied. This mature type of introduction allows
you to create images within your paper. You will
be weaving a thread through the essay to tie
together ideas and to give yourself a stronger
voice.
Think of a character or situation that relates
to your topic:
SIMILE: Many jobs for teenagers are like
enslavement.
LITERARY SIMILE: Ethan Frome is like a slave
METAPHOR: Many jobs for teenagers are
enslavement.
LITERARY METAPHOR: Ethan Frome is a slave to
circumstance.
Make a list of possible words associated with
the character or situation:
WORDS ASSOCIATED WITH ENSLAVEMENT: CHAINS,
MASTER,
IMPRISONMENT, BONDS, CAPTIVE, VICTIM, SERVILITY,
CAPTIVITY
Use these words subtly throughout the essay as
nouns, verbs, adjectives, and possibly adverbs.
Save at least one exceptional word for a theme
statement in your conclusion.
FOLLOW THE STEPS BELOW:
After reading and understanding the prompt,
think of a comparison between a character
involved in the prompt and something or someone
else. State the comparison as follows:
___________________ is
like_________________________
Example: In "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard
Connell, General Zaroff is like a hungry lion.
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