U4 Writing Practice
Practice writing using literary devices that you learned in U4 Reading and U4 Listening.
Epiphora/Epistrophe
An epiphora or epistrophe is the repetition or a word or phrase at the end of a phrase, clause, or sentence1. To prewrite to include an epistrophe, you can try making a mind map with an important idea that you want to emphasize in the middle of the map and related ideas written around the central important idea. Then, you can choose one word or phrase from those related ideas to repeat in the epistrophe.
Example
A Mind Map
Image: Ana Barraza, 2023
Ideas Chosen by the Author to Repeat
birthdays and seasons
Draft Using Epistrophe
We celebrate the passing years with birthdays and the good times with our friends with birthdays. Birthdays mark the seasons of our lives, the seasons of happiness, and the seasons of hardship. They mark the passing of time.
Another strategy is to write a draft and notice any words or phrases in that draft that you want to repeat. You can then revise the draft to focus more on that idea. This strategy could be done with Stream of Thought writing where you write whatever comes to your mind or timed writing where you give yourself a time limit to write the draft within.
Example
Stream of Thought Draft
Time moves along like the seasons, spring into summer into fall. We go along with the seasons and we celebrate holidays and work at our jobs, but most importantly we form friendships. We have happy times with our friends and sad times. We celebrate friends' birthdays. At birthdays we mark a year passing.
Ideas Chosen by the Author to Include in a Regular Draft
seasons, happiness, sadness, birthdays, time passing
Ideas Chosen by the Author to Repeat
seasons and birthdays
Draft Using Epistrophe
We celebrate the passing years with birthdays and the good times with our friends with birthdays. Birthdays mark the seasons of our lives, the seasons of happiness, and the seasons of hardship. They mark the passing of time.
When revising an epistrophe, you may try adjusting the word order to be easier to read, adjusting the word forms to use parallel structure (See U4 Grammar) if you are writing a list, or changing the word choice to repeat a stronger idea. As you revise your speech, you can add, delete, or strengthen epistrophes to emphasize ideas important to your main idea.
Because epistrophes often involve lists of repeated words or phrases, you should carefully review the punctuation and conjunctions used to combine the items into a list. You can also review the word forms used to have better parallel structure. If you are repeating words at the end of whole clauses or sentences, you should review how those causes or sentences are combined. You may also see multiple simple sentences ending in a period that are intentionally left uncombined when using epistrophes.
1. https://examples.yourdictionary.com/epistrophe-examples.html
Exercise 4.22
Part A
Complete a mind map to make a list of words or phrases you could repeat in an epistrophe on the topic below. Then choose your favorite word or phrase that you would use in an epistrophe on the topic.
Topic: Dreams
What 3-4 words or phrases could you use in an epistrophe about dreams?
________________________________________________________________
What is one word or phrase you could repeat in an epistrophe about dreams?
__________________________________________________
Part B
Write a stream of thought draft for three minutes on the topic below. Write for the whole three minutes and do not erase anything. This draft is only for prewriting and does not need to have good grammar or spelling. Write the words that you think as you think them. It is okay to include the words you think in your native language, but try to keep most of your thoughts in English.
Topic: Discovery
After the three minutes make a list of words or phrases you could repeat in an epistrophe on the topic. Then choose your favorite word or phrase that you would use in an epistrophe on the topic.
What 3-4 words or phrases could you use in an epistrophe about dreams?
________________________________________________________________
What is one word or phrase you could repeat in an epistrophe about dreams?
__________________________________________________
Part C
Reflect on your experiences from part A and part B. Answer each question below by writing 2-4 complete sentences.
1. What were the advantages and disadvantages of making a mind map to prewrite?
2. What were the advantages and disadvantages of writing a stream of thought draft to prewrite?
3. Which of the two strategies did you prefer? Why did you prefer that strategy?
Exercise 4.23
Complete the sentences below so that they form epistrophes.
1. Studying in a new country is a risk. Flying on a plane thousands of miles to a new place is a risk. Living with new roommates in a new apartment ___________________. Going to a new school in a new language ___________________. But, it is a risk that I believe is worth it.
2. Grades motivate me. Money motivates me. Food--food ___________________. However, my dreams motivate me more. Achieving something in this world motivates me more. Making a difference ___________________.
3. Nature can be beautiful. It's forests and mountains and blue skies make me smile. Family ___________________. When I look at my grandchildren, I can't help but smile. There are small happiness all around us.
4. The crime in the city is runny rampant, and I am tired of it. The disrespect of and disregard for others seems neverending, and I'm tired of it. I remember when I could wave to my neighbor and say hi to people walking by, and get a hello back. These days, people walk on by indifferent to the members of the community around them, and ___________________.
5. A good book can transport us. A good poem can transport us. A good song ___________________.
Exercise 4.24
Revise the sentences below so that they include epistrophes using the underlined word.
1. Creativity drives innovation. Collaboration drives new ideas.
2. Technology has brought us many benefits. It is up to us to determine how we will make the most of those advantages.
3. In our homes, we can have an impact. In our workplaces, we can have an impact. In our communities, we can make a change.
4. Humanity has always needed its artists. The ones who preserved the story of the hunt were painters. The ones who recorded the great battles of the Middle Ages were the artists. Today we have greater beauty in our city due to artists. We must continue to teach art in our schools.
5. We can overcome challenges if we work together. We can grow to new heights by working together.
Exercise 4.25
Edit the following epistrophe sentences. Write the improved version of the sentence(s).
1. We must get rid of discrimination in our schools, our workplaces, and in our hearts.
2. Pursuing one's passions is difficult but many things that bring great happiness is difficult.
3. Do you want to start a business, What kind of business. How will you grow that business?
4. I have traveled the world I have seen wonders all over the world this is still my favorite place in the whole world.
5. We can motivate our classmates, our friends in our community, family in community, and strangers in our community.
Anaphrora
An anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a phrase, clause, or sentence. You can brainstorm anaphora using the same strategies as those used for epistrophe.
When writing anaphoras, the word or phrase you repeat will either be used as an introductory phrase, subject, or beginning of a predicate. You may also repeat entire clauses in sentences with more than one clause.
When revising anaphoras, you can consider the same things as you did for epistrophes as they are similar literary devices. You can revise the word order to be easier to read, adjust the word forms to use parallel structure (See U4 Grammar) if you are writing a list, or change the word choice to repeat a stronger idea. As you revise your speech, you can add, delete, or strengthen anaphoras to emphasize ideas important to your main idea. Revising anaphoras to be stronger involves grammar skills so may feel like editing, but the goal is to improve the ideas used in the speech.
Because anaphoras also often involve lists of repeated words or phrases, you should carefully review the punctuation and conjunctions used to combine the items into a list. You can also review the word forms used to have better parallel structure. If you are repeating words at the beginning of whole clauses or sentences, you should review how those causes or sentences are combined. You may also see multiple simple sentences ending in a period that are intentionally left uncombined when using anaphoras.
Exercise 4.26
Brainstorm words that you could repeat in an anaphora about the following topic.
1. climate change: ___________________________________________________________________________
2. artificial intelligence: ________________________________________________________________________
3. animal rights: _____________________________________________________________________________
Brainstorm phrases that you could repeat in an anaphora about the following topic.
4. economics: _______________________________________________________________________________
5. inequality: ________________________________________________________________________________
6. robotics: _________________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 4.27
Use the words or phrases below to create an anaphora on each line.
Example:
The world
The world is always spinning. The world is ever-changing. The world is not going to stand still to wait for us to act.
1. Go
2. I will one day
3. Heavy
4. In the end
5. We were told
5. Yes
6. No
7. Will
8. Stones
Exercise 4.28
Revise these sentences to have better anaphoras.
1. Worker's rights, employer rights, and human rights are why we are gathered here today.
2. Industrial businesses and agriculture businesses have contributed to water pollution in our rivers, lakes, and streams.
3. Inequality, a lack of justice, and political inactivity affect many of our neighbors.
4. Poverty cannot be simply solved, but there are things we can do to reduce it. Insufficiency can be reduced by improving educational systems. Poverty may be diminished through increases in the number of jobs and economic growth. Poverty can be lessened through empowering women. Poverty can be reduced.
5. Small business is the backbone of our community. Businesses that are small provide products, services, and jobs to our local people.
Exercise 4.29
Revise and edit these anaphora sentences. Write the improved version of the sentence(s).
1. Public safety should be one of our chief concerns, public safety should be key topic in this debate.
2. Affordable housing depends on many factors. Affordability housing is hard to come by. Yet, affordable housing is needed now.
3. We can strengthen, can grow, can built our local business through local economic development practices.
4. If we don't, or won't, or can not address the issue of air pollution at the local level, then we will be left waiting for people who don't even live here to clean up our mess.
5. This parade has been hosted in our community for generations. These parades has brought people together.
Juxtaposition
A juxtaposition is a placement of opposing ideas or qualities near each other to emphasize them through contrast. Juxtapositions include oxymorons, but they are not limited to oxymorons. Ideas or qualities are opposing, not just specific words. Therefore, when brainstorming ideas to juxtapose, you first need to decide what you want to emphasize. Then brainstorm a contrasting idea to place near that idea. It is possible to emphasize two ideas (e.g. wealth and poverty) if both ideas are the topics of interest in the speech.
There is no specific construction to use when writing a juxtaposition. It should be noted that if the contrasting ideas are closer together in the sentence or prominently placed within their own clauses (at the start or end), then the contrast might be more noticeable to the audience. If the words or phrases used to express the two juxtaposing ideas are more direct, the contrast might also be more prominent. For example, "wealth and poverty" are more direct than "wealth and lack of money".
When you are revising, review the ideas in your speech and determine the emphasis you want to place on them. You can add or delete any juxtapositions or increase or decrease the directness of any juxtapositions to put emphasis on the ideas you want.
As with epistrophe and anaphora, juxtapositions tend to involve lists and therefore parallel structure. Although only two ideas are listed, it is still a good idea to review the word forms, word order, punctuation, and conjunctions involved. However, ideas can be juxtaposed anywhere in a sentence, so you will need to edit for general English errors when editing juxtaposition sentences.
Exercise 4.30
Juxtapositions highlight an idea by showing it in contrast with an opposite idea.
Match the opposite ideas below. Write the letter of the idea's opposite on the line.
|
|
Exercise 4.31
Complete the sentences below using juxtaposition.
1. The young men are all going to the cities; __________________________________________________________.
2. The powerful nations of the world were silent; __________________________________________________________.
3. A small drop of water __________________________________________________________.
4. My son asked me a question. __________________________________________________________.
5. We can not be absent from our daily lives. __________________________________________________________.
Exercise 4.32
Revise the sentences below to better use juxtaposition.
1. My plane arrived. Her plane lifted off.
2. Youth today draw their phones close, yet their families and friends are farther from them.
3. They had never missed the Arizona desert more than when they went to New York in December.
4. The laughter of the friends that were gathered together to play games pushed back at the dreary world outside.
5. We must fight these false reports with more truthful ones.
Exercise 4.33
Work with a partner to identify the grammar errors in the sentences below. Then write the correct versions of the sentences on a piece of paper.
1. I just read Beauty, and the Beast.
2. There was a deep calm before the stormily began.
3. It took six human employees fix the warehouse computer.
4. I woke up early only to get to class lateness.
5. While old ideas fade new ideas brighten on the horizon.
Symbolism
Symbolism is the use of one thing to represent another. Two ways to brainstorm for symbolism include searching for common symbols that are already used or creating your own original symbol for an idea. For example, you may search the internet, ask a friend, or ask an AI for "symbols that represent happiness" and get the suggestions "smiley emoji", "sun", and "flowers". You could also think of your own original symbol be thinking of what things remind you of happiness. When creating your own original symbol, also keep in mind whether that symbol will be obvious or obscure to the audience. Some symbols authors use are very clear and others perhaps only they know. Some authors do not intentionally include symbols, but the readers later assign symbols. In speech writing, one of the main goals is to connect with the audience, so the symbols you use should be clear or obvious to the audience.
When writing, you may use the symbol briefly or in a longer reference. You might mention the symbol once in a story about something else or a short metaphor. You could also mention the symbol in a longer metaphor that is called an analogy. Determine how much focus you want the audience to have on the symbol to determine how many times or the length of the writing about the symbol should be.
When revising, you may need to adjust the writing around the symbol to integrate it in a strong way or in a way that makes the meaning of the symbol clear. Using confident language with fewer auxiliary verbs can help the symbol integration feel stronger. You may also have to revise the phrases, clauses, and sentences around the symbol depending on the amount of detail you want to give about that symbol and its meaning. You will need to find the right balance between making the symbol clear for the audience and giving too much detail so that you are "too on the nose" or obvious. Too much detail can also distract from the simplicity of the symbol representing the other idea, so careful revision is needed.
Symbols may be used in a variety of ways, so when editing writing with symbols in it, you should edit for general English errors.
Exercise 4.34
Symbols represent ideas.
Next to each idea write things that could represent it as a symbol
Example: loyalty blue, dog, knight
1. friendship
2. honesty
3. progress
4. financial security
5. family
6. love
7. war
8. unity
Exercise 4.35
Part A
Draft 1-2 sentences that use a symbol to represent each idea below.
1. love
2. peace
3. wisdom
4. danger
5. fear
6. despair
7. hope
8. justice
Part B
Reflect on your thinking. Consider these questions:
- What did you think about when you drafted the sentences in part A?
- How did you approach drafting them?
- Was your drafting process effective (successful)?
- Was your drafting process efficient (timely)?
- Would you change your drafting process in any way next time?
Exercise 4.36
Revise the sentences below to better use symbols. Identify the symbol being used by underlining the symbol. Then revise the sentence to use that symbol better or replace the symbol with a better one.
1. If we continue to allow them to pollute our rivers, we could a skull and crossbones sign up at every beach.
2. My opponent does not have your best interests in mind. He is a snake.
3. Like a seed sprouting after a forest fire in California at high elevations, we too shall rise from the ashes.
4. Our town's main street is not really a blank canvas like some may think; it already has wonderful local businesses and historic buildings for use to build a magnificent main street with.
5. Like the triquetra, we must be united.
Exercise 4.37
Edit the following sentences to be better.
1. This ecosystem are like Ouroboros; as they burn down in natural or controlled burns, they make way for and fertilize new growth
2. I brought these flowers the chairman and the board as a symbol of my gratitude to company.
3. These lion like children have fought cancer and one.
4. Each city in our region are a puzzle piece that works together to make our region the wonderful place it is to live in.
5. Our town has been through difficulties, a new dawn is here.
Tone
Tone is the author's attitude toward the subject of the writing. Tone may be something you decide during prewriting or after you have written your first draft. The tone of your speech is your attitude to the subject, so to determine the tone, you can self-reflect. Make a list of the important ideas from your speech. What do you feel about each of those? Consider how you discuss them in your speech. What attitude do you want the audience to know you have towards those ideas?
When writing, you may express tone through word choice. Do you use words with a positive connotation or negative connotation when discussing a topic? Choosing the words you use to have a connotation that matches your intended tone can help you write your speech.
Given that you may use your first draft to figure out the attitude you have for topics, you may do a lot of revising for tone. You may need to change the attitude expressed from negative to positive, positive to negative, or make it more neutral. One strategy you can use to revise for tone is to reread your speech and mark the attitude you show with colors. For example, you can mark a positive attitude with green, a negative attitude with red, and a neutral attitude with purple. This will help you be aware of the attitude you are showing. You can then change the attitude if needed.
Tone may be used in a variety of ways, so when editing writing with tone in it, you should edit for general English errors. Two possible errors to be aware of are that if you are using new, unfamiliar words, you will need to carefully study them to know whether to they fit your sentence and to include them in sentences in grammatically correct ways.
Exercise 4.38
Read the speech below. Then answer the questions.
Greetings to the Children of England
by Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret
In wishing you all 'good evening' I feel that I am speaking to friends and companions who have shared with my sister and myself many a happy Children's Hour.
Thousands of you in this country have had to leave your homes and be separated from your fathers and mothers. My sister Margaret Rose and I feel so much for you as we know from experience what it means to be away from those we love most of all.
To you, living in new surroundings, we send a message of true sympathy and at the same time we would like to thank the kind people who have welcomed you to their homes in the country.
All of us children who are still at home think continually of our friends and relations who have gone overseas - who have travelled thousands of miles to find a wartime home and a kindly welcome in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States of America.
My sister and I feel we know quite a lot about these countries. Our father and mother have so often talked to us of their visits to different parts of the world. So it is not difficult for us to picture the sort of life you are all leading, and to think of all the new sights you must be seeing, and the adventures you must be having.
But I am sure that you, too, are often thinking of the Old Country. I know you won't forget us; it is just because we are not forgetting you that I want, on behalf of all the children at home, to send you our love and best wishes - to you and to your kind hosts as well.
Before I finish I can truthfully say to you all that we children at home are full of cheerfulness and courage. We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our own share of the danger and sadness of war.
We know, everyone of us, that in the end all will be well; for God will care for us and give us victory and peace. And when peace comes, remember it will be for us, the children of today, to make the world of tomorrow a better and happier place.
My sister is by my side and we are both going to say goodnight to you.
Come on, Margaret.
Goodnight, children.
Goodnight, and good luck to you all.
1. What is the tone of the speech above?
2. What words of phrases express Princess Elizabeth's tone?
3. What other possible tones could a speaker have?
4. What words or phrases would express an angry tone? a sorrowful tone? a joyful tone?
Angry tone:
Sorrowful tone:
Joyful tone:
Exercise 4.39
Part A
Read the paragraphs below. What tone is shown in each paragraph? Circle the specific word choices that inform you as the audience of the speaker's tone.
1. A person should be held responsible when they own so many pets that they can't take care of them all. It is inhumane to have 40 dogs or 30 cats. It is animal cruelty pure and simple. How could they think that their pets are happy living like that? If you have dozens of animals in a small house with no room to exercise, it is cruel. If you have so many pets that you can't provide vet care for them, it is cruel. It is terrible and unjust! How dare they.
2. A person who owns so many pets that they can't take care of them all should be shown mercy. It is a terrible thing when animals suffer. We should help the animals in this situation. However, what about the suffering of the human owner? Oftentimes when people have an excess of pets so they can't take care of them, there is a mental health or physical health issue involved. We can't just remove the animals and help the animals. We need to address the underlying issue. Why did the owner collect so many animals? If it is for profit like a puppy mill, then sure, give the owner fines or send them to jail. But what if the owner is innocent and suffering themselves? Doesn't the human deserve as much help as the animals? Don't they deserve mercy?
Part B
After you have determined the tone of each paragraph and found some of the word choices the speakers made to achieve that tone, brainstorm a list of more words that could be used. For each paragraph write 4-5 more words that could be used that match the speaker's attitude.
1. ________________________________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 4.40
Rewrite the paragraphs below so that they have different tones. You may change out words, phrases, and sentences. Your revised version should keep the same main idea sentences. The main idea sentences have been bolded to help you.
A person should be held responsible when they own so many pets that they can't take care of them all. It is inhumane to have 40 dogs or 30 cats. It is animal cruelty pure and simple. How could they think that their pets are happy living like that? If you have dozens of animals in a small house with no room to exercise, it is cruel. If you have so many pets that you can't provide vet care for them, it is cruel. It is terrible and unjust! How dare they.
1. compassionate tone
2. sad tone
3. solemn tone
A person who owns so many pets that they can't take care of them all should be shown mercy. It is a terrible thing when animals suffer. We should help the animals in this situation. However, what about the suffering of the human owner? Oftentimes when people have an excess of pets so they can't take care of them, there is a mental health or physical health issue involved. We can't just remove the animals and help the animals. We need to address the underlying issue. Why did the owner collect so many animals? If it is for profit like a puppy mill, then sure, give the owner fines or send them to jail. But what if the owner is innocent and suffering themselves? Doesn't the human deserve as much help as the animals? Don't they deserve mercy?
4. Outraged tone
5. Hopeful tone
6. Composed and collected tone
Exercise 4.41
Edit the sentences below that use tone. Write the correct versions of the sentences.
1. Project has had nothing but problem and delays.
2. Mental health resource is too few and too difficult for many people to entry.
3. Sports teams contributes to our society by giving inspiration to their fans, and other aspiring athletes.
4. Conservation are costly and complicated; it may helped save a few animals, but it is a waste of taxpayer money.
5. Technology can bring wealthy and prosper to a nation.
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