th
9
grade writing journals
Why do we write? To document
thought
Beauty or Brains?
“Beauty is only skin deep,” the cliché claims. If
you had to choose between beauty and brains,
which would you pick? Which do you think
would get you further in life? Which do you think
would make you happier?
1
Partly Cloudy
How many words relating to weather can you
think of? List as many words as possible in
alphabetical order, before the timer goes off. Try
to think of one word for every letter.
2
Texting and Driving
In PA, it’s illegal to send texts while
you’re driving. Imagine the state made
a law that it was illegal to text
someone else if you know they’re
driving. Do you think that would be a
fair law? Would you follow it? Why or
why not?
video
Personal Personification
Personification is a literary device that gives a non-living
object the characteristics of a living thing. For example,
a writer might say that the wind sighs, the rain laughs,
and the leaves whisper. The poet Carl Sandburg wrote
a poem called “Fog” that begins with personfication:
“The fog comes on little cat feet”.
Write a second line, rhymed or unrhymed, to follow
Sandburg’s line. For example…
The fog comes on little cat feet
And creeps silently past my bedroom window
Survivor
What does it take to be a survivor? In a test of
survival, what traits or qualities allow someone to
succeed? What kind of situations would you need
to use those skills in? Do you think you are a
survivor?
6 Word Story
The famous writer Ernest Hemmingway once
supposedly wrote a story with only 6 words to win a bet.
(For sale: baby shoes, never worn) It had to have
emotion, and a beginning, middle and end. Whether or
not the story’s true, it’s inspired other writers to try the
same. Here are some examples from other writers:
-Computer, did we bring batteries? Computer?
-Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time
-It’s behind you! Hurry before it
-K.I.A. Baghdad, Aged 18 - Closed Casket
-Two wives, one funeral, no tears
Now, write your own 6 word story!
Compare and Contrast Characters
Each word or phrase is a character trait. Write R
if it describes Rainsford, Z if it describes Zaroff,
and B if it describes both characters.
1. honorable
2. clever
3. experienced hunter
4. cruel
5. arrogant
6. moral
Hidden Similarities
Sometimes things that are not alike really do have
something in common if you look hard enough.
You have to challenge yourself and think outside
the box, there is no one right answer.
• How is a jar of peanut butter like a train?
• How is a kitten like a truck?
• How is a baby like a fork?
• How is a football like spinach?
The Woman and the Bandit
In your journal, number 1-6 and make sure you
have a few lines below.
When the bell rings I’m going to tell you a short
story about a woman, her husband, a bandit, a
ferry captain, a lover, and a pickpocket…
Then I’ll ask you three questions that you’ll
answer in your journal
Arranged Marriage
In some cultures, marriages are arranged. The
parents, sometimes with the aid of a matchmaker,
choose mates for their children. If your parents had
to choose a mate for you, what kind of
characteristics and qualities do you think they
would look for? How would your parents’ choices
differ from your own? Would you want to marry a
person they picked for you? Why?
Present
• What is the best gift you were ever
given? Why’d you get it? What made
it so great? Who gave it to you?
Answers, Answers, Answers
In school you’re used to being asked questions,
but there’s often only one right answer. For the
questions below, there can be a lot of answers. For
each question, write 3 possible answers.
1. What is beautiful?
2. What is depressing?
3. What is striped?
4. What is empty?
5. What is complicated?
6. What is green?
Questions, Questions
Try to think creatively, and come up with a
question for each of the answers below.
1. The answer is Corn Flakes.
2. The answer is upside down.
3. The answer is black and white.
4. The answer is never.
5. The answer is cool.
6. The answer is bumpy.
Writing Journal- Lottery
• If you won the lottery for 10 million dollars
this week, what would you do with the
money? (Think about what you might buy,
who you would give it to, would there be any
left over, would you save it for something?)
Never Ever
Think about all of the older people you knowteachers, parents, coaches, neighbors, friends,
relatives, acquaintances. Probably one or several of
the adults you know have provided you with an
example of how not to live your life. Look ahead
to your future, and think about the one thing you
will not let happen. Begin by writing: The one
thing I will never do is…
Animal Alphabet
How many animals can you think of? Try to think
of as many as you can, in alphabetical order,
before the timer goes off.
Bathtub
We all know what a bathtub is supposed to be
used for. Let your mind go and try to list as many
uses for a bathtub as you can before the timer
goes off.
Dream Vacation
Think about all the places in the world you would
like to see. If you could have a free one week
vacation anywhere in the world, where would you
go? Why? What do you like about it? What
would you do there?
Writing Journal- I’m proud of…
• What are 3 things about yourself you are the
most proud of? Why? (it can be a skill,
something about your personality,
something you accomplished, etc). If you
had to sum up yourself or your life, what
would you say?
A Christmas Memory- Mood
Based on the following details from the story,
how would you describe the mood so far? Suspenseful?
Peaceful? Sad? Nostalgic? Explain your thinking.
“the kitchen of a spreading old house in a country town” “a
cheery crunch, scraps of miniature thunder sound as pecan
shells collapse”
“dusk turns the window into a mirror: our reflections mingle
with the rising moon as we work by the fireside in the
firelight”
“the black stove, stoked with coal and firewood, glows like a
lighted pumpkin”
Figurative Language
Below are quotes from “A Christmas Memory.” Each of
them are examples of what type of figurative language?
Define it, then write 2 examples of your own. (hint, starts
with an s)
“ we unreel our kites, fell them twitching at the string like sky
fish as they swim into the wind”
“As if I expected to see, rather like hearts, a lost pair of kites
hurrying toward heaven”
“dollar bills, tightly rolled and green as May buds”
“The black stove glows like a lighted pumpkin”
“the sun, round as an orange”
“red berries shiny as Chinese bells”
“my friend wants our tree to blaze like a Baptist window”
Revenge
Are you the kind of person who gets even, or gets
revenge on people? What would someone have
to do to make you mad enough to want revenge?
What would you do to them?
Cask of Amontillado
In the video of “Cask of Amontillado” how did
the director create the mood and the setting, and
help the story seem suspenseful or frightening?
What were some techniques he used?
Sentences? Tell if the following are
complete sentences or not. If not, fix them!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Does this safari guarantee I come back alive?
Your Safari guide in the past.
Safaris to any year in the past.
We guarantee nothing, except the dinosaurs.
He glanced across the vast office.
The light of the time machine on his thin face.
Sound of Thunder Analogies
1. annihilate: injure :: flood :
a. breeze b. damage c. leak
2. Eckels : Travis ::
Eckels
a. butterfly b. dinosaur c. Travis
3. Infinitesimal : Gigantic :: Energetic :
a. sluggish b. terrific
c. tiny
Analogies- An analogy compares words or
concepts, based on how they are alike or related
to each other.
Ex. Dog is to puppy as cat is to kitten (a young dog
is a puppy, just like a young cat is a kitten)
scissors : cut :: broom : ___________
a. clean b. dust c. sweep d. dirty
kindness : friend :: cruelty : ___________
a. meanness b. enemy c. war d. unkindness
Types of Analogies include:
• Synonym (happy : joyful :: sad : depressed)
• Antonym (inflation : deflation :: frail : strong)
• Characteristic (tropical : hot :: polar : cold)
• Part/Whole (finger : hand :: petal : flower)
• Degree (mist : fog :: drizzle : tropical storm)
• Type (golden retriever : dog :: salmon : fish)
• Tool/Worker (pen : writer :: voice : singer)
• Action/Object (fly : airplane :: drive : car)
• Item/Purpose (knife : cut :: ruler : measure)
• Product/Worker (poet : poem :: baker : pie)
Imagery or not?
1. “Eckels glanced across the vast office at a mass and tangle, a
snaking and humming of wires and steel boxes, at an aurora
that flickered now orange, now silver, now blue. There was a
sound like a gigantic bonfire burning all of Time”
2. “TIME SAFARI, INC. SAFARIS TO ANY YEAR IN THE PAST.
YOU NAME THE ANIMAL. WE TAKE YOU THERE. YOU SHOOT IT.”
3. "Makes you think, If the election had gone badly yesterday, I
might be here now running away from the results. Thank God
Keith won. He'll make a fine President of the United States.“
4. “They sat in the ancient wilderness. Far birds' cries blew on a
wind, and the smell of tar and an old salt sea, moist grasses, and
flowers the color of blood.”
5. It came on great oiled, resilient, striding legs. It towered thirty
feet above half of the trees, a great evil god, folding its delicate
watchmaker's claws close to its oily reptilian chest.
Analogies 2
1. Lifejacket: boat ::
: car
a. Medicine b. seatbelt
c. emergency
2. Ignite: extinguish :: harvest:
a. Plant b. relax c. autumn
List the 5 most important things about
this house