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UNITUNIT

1 PersonalWriting

Writing in the Real World: Ella Jenkins 4

Lesson 1.1 Writing About What’s Importantto You 8

Lesson 1.2 Collecting Information 12

Lesson 1.3 Writing to Celebrate 16

Lesson 1.4 Writing About Yourself 20

Lesson 1.5 Writing About Literature:Responding to a Character 24

Writing Process in Action 28

Literature Model: from The Diary ofLatoya Hunter by Latoya Hunter 32

Unit 1 Review 39

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On a visit to the Bahamas, singer and songwriter EllaJenkins found a magical scene of dancers, calypso

singers, and children playing. “Amidst all the things thatwere happening, the ocean had the loudest roar.” Shewrote about those ocean sounds in Come Dance by theOcean, a record album with a message about planetEarth. Like other albums Jenkins has produced over thepast thirty-five years, this one celebrates the lands, cul-tures, and oceans of our world.

Come Dance by the Ocean

by Ella Jenkins

Early this morning when I looked out,I saw some dolphins playing about.One chased two, then two chased one.I’d say that all three had an ocean of fun.

Come on, come dance by the ocean.Come on, come dance by the sea.Come on, come dance by the ocean,Come on, come dance with me.

SongwriterElla Jenkins

Writing in the Real World

A Writer’s ProcessPrewritingGathering Ideas

For Ella Jenkins, songwriting is aform of personal writing

because, in her music, she talksabout the things that matter themost to her. In writing the songsfor the album Come Dance bythe Ocean, Jenkins expressed herfeelings about many things sheloves. She wrote about theexcitement of air travel, the won-der of nature, and the joy ofencountering the world’s amazingvariety of cultures and lands.

Jenkins has had a lifetime inter-est in both music and other cul-tures. While she was in college,Cuban musicians taught her toplay conga drums and maracas.At the same time, she read aboutother cultures and listened tosongs from Africa, India, Egypt,

and other lands. By her mid-thirties, Jenkins was carrying hermessage to young people throughsongs. “You have to respect thatother people come from otherplaces,” she said. “They’re tryingto learn about you, and you wantto learn about them.”

As she travels, Jenkins does alot of personal writing. She said,“I keep notebooks when I travelcalled ‘Random Thoughts.’ I usethem to jot down notes aboutthings that strike me.” WhenJenkins began creating the albumCome Dance by the Ocean, shelooked to this collection of per-sonal notebooks for ideas.

Jenkins encourages everywriter to keep a journal or anotebook of ideas.“Personal writing shouldbe something you do on aregular basis because that

Writing in the Real World 5

Personal Writing

Prewriting Drafting Revising/Editing

Gathering Ideas Setting Down Main Ideas Writing to Celebrate

Writing a Song

6 Unit 1 Personal Writing

improves your skill and puts youin tune with yourself,” she says.“Pretty soon you won’t have justletters and words on the page butsomething very warm and alive.”

DraftingSetting Down Main Ideas

When Jenkins started writingpoems for her album, the notesfrom “Random Thoughts”helped. For example, they pro-vided material for the poem “AWinter Plane Ride.” Jenkins hadwritten the notes that inspiredthis poem on a flight fromPortland, Oregon, to Chicago,Illinois. “It was so exciting to seethe differences between one partof the country and another,” shesaid. “I could have written a lotof little things that I was seeing,but all of a sudden I heard thisvoice, the pleasant voice of thepilot telling us about the sights.You’d have thought I was in classbecause I wrote down everythinghe said,” she recalled.

Later these notes helpedJenkins recall and capture themoment. “Things grab you inlife,” she said. “No one experi-enced that plane ride as I did.Each person on that plane had adifferent experience, so no onecould write about it as I did.”

Once Jenkins knew what ideasand feelings she was going toput in her record album, she thenhad to figure out the words andmelodies for each song. The title

song, “Come Dance by theOcean,” was easy. “I was remem-bering the music by the ocean, thesteel drums,” she said. “I lovedthe way they sounded and howthe head of the group invited usto come on and enjoy ourselves.And I thought, ‘come on’ is agood way of beckoning people.”

Revising/EditingWriting to Celebrate

After writing each song andcomposing the music, Jenkinsrevised her drafts. She also set-tled on an opening verse for thealbum. With this playful song,she invited listeners to celebrateall the things we have in com-mon—nature, music, new places,and people.

For her poem “A Winter PlaneRide,” Jenkins used a free andinformal style. In the poem, shedescribes her flight over snowymountains and colorful canyons.She worked on the poem untileach word was exactly right andconveyed her personal message:look around you, listen, and enjoy.

I see light blankets ofsnow

Lying gently upon the mountaintops

Now the canyons are coming—

Rippled ridges wrapped around colors, cleverly shouting

Yet not making a sound.

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Writing in the Real World 7

Analyzing the MediaConnectionDiscuss these questions aboutthe song on page 4 and thepoem on page 6.

1. How would you describe themood of Jenkins’s song “ComeDance by the Ocean”?

2. What effect does repetitionhave in the song’s secondverse?

3. How does Jenkins establish thesetting for the poem “A WinterPlane Ride”?

4. What two sights does Jenkinscelebrate in “A Winter PlaneRide”?

5. What effects does the repeti-tion of consonant sounds havein the poem?

Analyzing a Writer’sProcessDiscuss these questions aboutElla Jenkins’s writing process.

1. What interests does Jenkinsfocus on in her personalwriting?

2. How do Jenkins’s personalnotebooks help her in herwriting?

3. While drafting “Come Danceby the Ocean,” Jenkins decidedto use and repeat the words“come on.” Why did she think

these words were so importantto the song’s message?

4. For what two reasons doesJenkins encourage others to dopersonal writing?

5. How is Ella Jenkins’s personalwriting process similar to ordifferent from your own?

Examining Writing in the Real WorldExamining Writing in the Real World

Personal Writing

Vary sentence length to makeyour writing more interesting.

To achieve variety in her writing, Ella Jenkins sometimes combinestwo related short sentences intoone smooth longer sentence.

Early this morning when I looked out, / I saw somedolphins playing about.

Combine the choppy sentencesin each item into one sentence.

1. The game was almost over. Wewere losing.

2. Then Louise snagged the ball. She tied the score.

3. An opponent was passing theball. She tripped.

4. Inez rushed toward the ball. Shekicked it to me.

5. I received her pass. I scored thegoal.

See Lesson 2.8, pages 74–77.

Writing About What’sImportant to YouP ersonal writing, writing that you do for yourself, can be

like a conversation with your best friend. It allows youto explore the things that matter most to you.

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LESSONLESSON

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Timewith friends!

Doingmy best!

Feelinggood!

Myfamily!

Music!

Personal writing can include entries made in a private journal, notes kept in a school journal, and letters or postcardswritten to relatives or friends. Some personal writing is meantfor the writer alone. Often, private personal writing laterbecomes a story, poem, or other form of writing that may be shared.

To begin, ask yourself, “What is important to me?” Maybeyour answer is like that of a student in the picture; maybe it’sdifferent. Whatever you write, it’s about what matters to you.

Some kinds of personal writingare just for you.

A letter to a friend is personalwriting in which you share yourthoughts and feelings.

1.1 Writing About What’s Important to You 9

Personal Writing

Explore Thoughtsand Feelings

When something incredibly good orbad occurs, put your reactions on paper.Writing about your thoughts and feelingsmakes them clearer and more accessibleto you.

Journal WritingYou have probably had many ideas and experiences today.In your journal list as many of these as you can recall. Youcan use some of these ideas for personal writing.

For more aboutthe writingprocess, see TIMEFacing the BlankPage, pp. 97–107.

Use Your Own WordsPersonal writing is talking on paper. You can write

as informally as you talk. Experiment by using wordsin unexpected ways or by expressing unusual ideas.Make up words, if you like.

Any subject might be worth writing about,perhaps in a poem, story, or letter you never

send. Follow your thoughts wherever theymay lead. One thought will lead to another.

When you write for yourself, you don’thave to worry about punctuation, spelling,

or grammar—just focus on ideas. Useyour own words and style to writeabout what is important to you. The

model below shows how.

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Pers

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Writ

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Student Model

I am Nancy Young,I remained at the age of twelve for too long,I cannot wait until I reach the mere age of thirteen,Drive a car,Go to college,Go to the prom,And finally,Own my own life. . . .I just want feelings that I can express on paper. . . .All I want is paper,Pen and ink,To bear down on,Make an impression,Of me.

Nancy McLaurin YoungSavannah Country Day School

Savannah, Georgia

The writer uses everydaylanguage to write about apersonal subject: herself.

Do you think most peopleNancy’s age share herconcerns?

1.1 Writing About What’s Important to You 11

Write a LetterImagine, ten years from now, open-

ing a letter and finding a message youwrote to yourself when you wereyounger. Write a message to be openedin ten years. Include three things thatare important to you now. The list youmade for Journal Writing may help you.

PURPOSE To tell about yourselfAUDIENCE Yourself

LENGTH 1–2 paragraphs

WRITING RUBRICS To write an effectiveletter, you should

• include information about things thatare important to you now

• share your thoughts openly

Cross-Curricular ActivityMATHEMATICS Imagine that you have$50.00 to spend in a store of your choice.Write two questions that will help youdecide how to spend the money. Then visitone of your favorite stores and take noteson merchandise that interests you. Includeprices of the items you like. Use your ques-tions and notes to help you make responsi-ble choices of items you would buy whilekeeping within your budget.

Listening and SpeakingWith a group, share your lists of the

items you chose at your favorite store.Talk about ways in which the questionsyou wrote did or did not help you tomake wise selections. Discuss how thegroup members’ decisions are similarand different.

Writing ActivitiesWriting Activities1.11.1

Use the correct forms of bad.

The comparative and superlativeforms of bad are worse and worst.In the letter on page 9, Karadescribes her bad day. Let’s hope itdoesn’t get worse.

Complete each blank with bad,worse, or worst.

I thought I had a 1_____ idea,but yours was 2_____. His ideawas the 3_____ of all. This newidea is 4_____ than the others;it’s the 5_____ I’ve ever heard.

See Lesson 12.3, pages 455–456.

Personal Writing