Stability in Motion

Stability in Motion by Marina Keegan

Descriptive Writing Biggie expressed his identity through his poetry. Marina Keegan expresses her identity through her prized possession: her 1990 Camry Toyota. In this descriptive essay, Marina describes her car as a representation of her personality and her life. She appeals to all the senses as she describes the sounds, smells, feelings, appearance and texture of the vehicle. This car is a reflection of her values and interests. It is a “moving” portrait of her identity. We will be using this descriptive essay as a “mentor text” to recognize the “6 Traits of Writing”. You will then write your own descriptive essay about an object that defines you.

What is a descriptive piece of writing?

A. Descriptive paragraphs include details that appeal to the five senses: sight, taste, touch, smell, and hearing. In a descriptive paragraph, the writer must convey information that appeals to all the senses, in order to give the best possible description to the reader.

B. It must have a purpose. What is the message you are trying to convey?

C. It has precise language such as strong nouns. Eg. Tulip instead of flower; mansion instead of home.

D. Strong verbs (He slammed the book down)E. Comparisons and literary devices such as similes (speaks like a

queen) and hyperboles (strong as an ox)

To Do:A. Read and Discuss1. Read the essay and take notice of the sensory words and imagery. 2. Discuss ideas- What makes this essay engaging and interesting? Why

is it a descriptive essay? How does this car reflect her identity?

B. 6 Traits of Writing 1. What are the 6 Traits? See video https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=oAp5w-ZKeXk2. Analyze the Six Traits in the first few paragraphs. Use the handout

as your outline. 3. Create a “logophile” with 8 words from the essay. 4. Review the essay again and circle or mark:

a. As many times as you see the “rule of 3”b. Short, declarative sentences where she has a variety of

sentence lengths

Stability in Motion

c. Poetic devices such as alliteration, simile, metaphord. Examples of sentence combined that use either a “FANBOY”

or a “THAMO” or a semicolon. 5. Answer the questions in FULL on a new document

6 Traits of Writing Ideas—the main message. Organization—the internal structure of the piece. Voice—the personal tone and flavor of the author's message. Word Choice—the vocabulary a writer chooses to convey meaning. Sentence Fluency—the rhythm and flow of the language. Conventions—the mechanical correctness.

In the descripitive essay, “Stability in Motion” anaylze the use of the six traits in the first paragraph. Follow the formatting below: Ideas-

Organization-

Voice-

Word Choice-

Stability in Motion

Sentence fluency-

Conventions-

Questions for “Stability in Motion”. You are welcome to work with a partner or group to help answer these questions. Please answer these on a separate document. Be sure to set up your page with your name, date and title. You may copy and paste the questions below OR integrate the question into your answer. Eg. #1. The significance of the title is …..

1. What is the signficance of the title?2. a. Mariam uses “indirect characterization” to describe her

grandmother. Find the passages about her grandmother and circle them. b. What kind of details are we given about her that show that her grandmother is organized?

c. What adjectives would you use to describe her grandmother based on her characterization? Eg. “My grandmother accumulated a meager twenty-five thousand miles, mostly to and from the market, my family’s house and the Greek jewelry store downtown.” Based on the description of her actions, I would say she is “safe, settled, committed to family and likes expensive jewelry.”

3. The first paragraph uses figurative language to engage and interest the reader immediately. Keegan personifies the car as a living body.

a. Find other examples in which she personifes the car. Circle them and then record 1-2 examples.

b. Why do you think she uses personfication so frequently as a device for this essay?

4. Where does the author use “pathos” to create emotion and sympathy for the character?

5. Explain how imagery is used to describe her life on page 147. 6. Keegan concludes her essay with “a circle”. She links the final image to

an idea back at the beginning of the story. a. What is the image? b. Do you think this was an effective way to conclude her essay?

Stability in Motion

7. This is a descriptive essay. What features make it so? (see definition of “descriptive writing” above. )

8. Based on this essay:a. how would you describe Marina’s identity? What seems to be

important to her? Do you think she is proud of who she is? b. How is her identity different than yours? How do you feel about

these differences? Do you agree with her choices? Her lifestyle?