Smiley Face Tricks
Smiley Face Tricks are used to
make your writing better.
We will learn 8 different ways to
make your writing better, by
making it sound better.
Magic Three
• Three parallel groups of words
• Separated by commas
• Used to create a poetic rhythm
or add support for a point
(Elaborate & Explain)
Example 1
I was so excited that I
jumped up and down, cried
huge tears of joy, and
plastered a huge smile on
my face.
Example 2
My palms became sticky and shaky,
my neck tingled with anticipation,
and my heart puttered with
emotion.
Example 3
• I love to relax by reading a
favorite book, sitting in my
yard watching my animals, or
eating out with friends and
family.
What to do?
Every time you use a Smiley
Face Trick, remember to put a
smiley face on the periphery
(edge) of your paper, next to it.
Let’s Practice
With those at your table,
create 2 Magic Three
sentences.
Be prepared to share.
Smiley Face Tricks
Figurative
Language
Figurative Language
• Non-literal comparisons
• Used to add “spice” to your
writing
• Helps paint a vivid picture for the
reader
Different Types of
Figurative Language
• Simile
• Metaphor
• Hyperbole
• Personification
Simile
• Comparing two things, using “like” or
“as” or “than”.
• Example:
–She is pretty like a summer day.
–He is as fast as a jaguar.
–He is faster than a jaguar.
Metaphor
• Directly comparing two things,
usually using “is”
• Example:
– She is a summer day when she smiles.
– He is a jaguar when he races down the
street.
Hyperbole
• An exaggeration, to express a strong
point.
• Example:
–The books weigh a ton.
–I am doing a million things right
now.
Personification
• Placing human-like characteristics on
an item
• Example:
–The sun smiled on me today.
–The wind kissed my cheek gently.
Your Turn
•Simile
•Metaphor
•Hyperbole
•Personification
• Come up with 1 example for each type of
figurative language.
BE PREPARED TO SHARE
Smiley Face Tricks
Specific Details
For Effect
Specific Details for Effect
• Use your five senses to create a
specific explanation of what your
writing is trying to express.
• Help the person visualize and
imagine, through your words.
5 Senses
• Hear
• See
• Smell
• Touch
• Taste
Specific Details For Effect
• Example 1:
• “ I started shivering. I could taste blood in my
mouth and smell it in my nose. It had a cold,
metallic taste that made my stomach twist
inside out. I tore away from Pieter’s grip and
ran back to the rail, emptying my stomach
over the side.” P. 54 Letters from Rifka
Specific Details for Effect
• Example 2:
• “Before I could finish, water, a wall of water, rose
up over me. Pieter grabbed me around the waist
and hurled me away from the side. The water
came crashing down over our heads, slamming us
onto the deck. Pieter held onto me as the water
sucked at my body, trying to pull me overboard.”
P. 54 Letters from Rifka
Your Task
1. Pick any item in your possession
2. Write 7 sentences describing
EVERY aspect of the item.
3. Remember to consider all 5 of
your senses.
BE PREARED TO SHARE.
Smiley Face Tricks
Repetition For
Effect
Repetition For Effect
• Repeating specifically chosen
words or phrases to make a point
• To stress certain ideas for the
readers
Repetition For Effect
Example 1:
“He wrote that at Ellis Island you are neither in
nor out of America. Ellis Island is a line
separating my future from my past. Until I
cross that line, I am still homeless, still an
immigrant. Once I leave Ellis Island, though, I
will truly be in America.” P. 57 Letters from
Rifka
Repetition For Effect
• Example 2:
• “While I was shopping with the lady from the
HIAS that first week, I saw a hat that I wanted,
a hat that would cover my baldness. I thought
if I only owned such a hat, it would not matter
so much that I was bald… but I did not have
the money.” P. 45 Letters from Rifka
Your Turn
Write a paragraph about
this class.
Think about what
happened, at certain
parts. You should use
Repetition for Effect, AT
LEAST twice for this task.
Smiley Face Tricks
Expanded
Moments
Expanded Moments
Instead of “speeding” past a moment,
writers sometimes spend some time
explaining a certain part of the story
in detail.
Examples:
“Then Pieter bent over and kissed me! Right on my
lips, Tovah. A warm kiss, with the soft blond hairs
of his mustache tickling me.” p. 52 Letters from
Rifka
“The treatments are not so bad as I feared. I walk to
the convent once a day. The nun in charge of my
case is Sister Katrina. She washes my scalp with a
green soap that makes my eyes water. Then she
puts me under a violet light. The light warms my
head.” p. 37 Letters from Rifka
Your Turn
Smiley Face Tricks
Humor
Humor
Great writers know when to add a bit of humor,
something funny, to their paper. This can
make a potential boring paper into an
interesting and entertaining paper, lifting
someone’s spirits.
Example:
• “There I was on the first day of school—the
picture-perfect girl. My new outfit looked like
something from my big sister’s magazine, my
hair—for once– was having a good day, and I
was strutting in my new shoes. Little did I
know that I was trailing a three-yard piece of
Charmin behind me. So much for using the
bathroom right before class.” (Ledbetter
p.106)
Your Turn
1. Write about something that has happened to
you that you think/thought was funny. Try to
write it down and capture it in words.
2. Then, read it out loud. Does it still sound
funny?
3. If it does not, figure out what you can
add/change to make sure your words capture
the humor.
Smiley Face Tricks
Hyphenated
Modifiers
Hyphenated Modifiers
Sometimes a new way of saying
something can make all the
difference. Hyphenated adjectives
often cause the reader to “sit up and
take notice” of what you have
written.
Examples
The teacher looked at me with her I-am-going-to-giveyou-a-detention look.
When I was getting dressed for school, my mom had this
you’d-better-wear-that-red-sweater-your-grandmaknitted-you-or-else look.
He gave me a let’s-be-friends handshake.
She gave me the I-don’t-like-your-shirt look.
Your Turn
Write 3 different
sentences using
hyphenated words
in each one. There
must be at least 3
words or more in
the hyphenated
phrase.
Smiley Face Tricks
Full-Circle Ending
Full-Circle Ending
• This is a special type of ending that
effectively “wraps up” the pieces.
• One way to do this is to repeat a
phrase-perhaps with slightly different
words-from the beginning of your
writing.
Example:
From beginning:
I sit quietly on the old wooden deck, watching the
birds soar through the humid air. The ocean’s
waves are like wrinkles gathered up in place.
From end:
The clouds are so delicate, so fragile, yet a single
plane could not break their perfect form. I sit
quietly on the old wooden deck, watching the
birds, the waves, the clouds.
Your Turn
Beginning: Write 5 sentences to start off a short
story about something that has happened to
you in 8th grade.
End: Write 5 sentences to end the short story.
BUT, this time reword what you initially wrote.
The End
• Go forth and improve your writing!!