(SFT #6 & #7)
Smiley Face Trick #6
Humor
~Mary Ellen Ledbetter
Humor
• Professional writers know
the value of laughter; even
subtle humor can help turn
a “boring” paper into one
that can raise someone’s
spirits.
EXAMPLES:
• “He laughed? I’m nothing. I’m the rear end
of nothing, and the devil himself smiled at
me” (Andrew).
• “And you—yes, you Justin!—were the guilty
party who, after I took off my shoes to enjoy
the hot pavement in early spring, put a frog in
them. Of course, I didn’t look at the shoes
when I put them back on; it was the squish
that gave your prank away” (Liz).
• After I had finished all the ten million things
I had to do, I decided to go on a bike ride. I
straddled the banana seat of my ten speed
blue-and-silver Shwinn and set off. The wind
kissed my face and blew back my hair.
Halfway to Taryn’s house I realized just
where I was going: to Taryn’s house. I
decided to keep going and then I could
confront her about Brett. As I turned the
corner, what I saw next was the most
terrifying thing that has happened to me
(Ponder, Danielle, “Taryn’s House”).
Now find the Humor in the following excerpt
from this published author.
“Man, I got problems.”
“You think you got problems. Yesterday my sisters brings
her I-wish-I-had-better-weaves friends by the house. They be
like actin’ like you gotta do whatever they say. Then they lose
their mind.”
“They done already lost they mind, what you talkin’ about?”
“I mean all sudden like they wanna take they shoe off, like
they all had on one big shoe or somethin’.”
“So man, they just wanna be all comfortable like.”
“Yeah, but they feet smell like year-old ham or gym socks
on Thursday, you know just waitin’ for Saturday wash. Then they
act like it’s they house and they go try to fix themselves a meal
in your kitchen. They eat your macaroni and cheese, your newly
baked cornbread, and drink your Kool-Aid.”
“Not your Kool-Aid, brother!”
“See, told you I got problems.”
“I mean if I was you, and they was my sisters. I’d been
movin like yesterday” (Disu, Taiwo, “I got Problems”).
Smiley Face Trick #7
Hyphenated
Modifiers
~Mary Ellen Ledbetter
Hyphenated Modifiers
• Connecting words that modify
something with hyphens.
Sometimes a new way of saying
something can make all the
difference; hyphenated
adjectives often cause the
reader to sit up and take
notice.
EXAMPLES:
• Dad’s nose thing. I don’t know about you, but I’ve
already noticed some of those Grand-Canyon-like
pores and those unsightly black hairs creeping out like
Shirley Temple’s tendrils or something.
• Just last week when my parents were both late
getting home from work for the third time, I was
minding my own business watching cartoons when I
hear her high-pitched “I-am-the-boss-of-you”
voice tell me to turn off the TV and vacuum the floor.
• Yesterday my sisters brings her I-wish-I-hadbetter-weaves friends by the house.
Now find the hyphenated modifiers in the
following excerpts from published authors.
• “She’s got this blonde hair, with dark highlights, parted in
the middle, down past her shoulders, and straight as a
preacher. She’s got big green eyes that all guys admire
and all girls envy, and this I’m-so-beautiful-and-I-know-it
body, you know, like every other super model” (Ileana).
• My worst enemy, my brother Alex, was making his way
to my destination. He had a bad reputation of taking long
showers and leaving the room with the lingering scent of
awful cologne. I looked at him, and he stared right back.
It was like an old Western cowboy movie. Suddenly he
shot me his don’t-even-think-about-it look. So of course I
retaliated with my world-famous-make-me look (Mescall,
Meagan, “My Worst Enemy”).
The tables are turned now. Write a vignette (a small illustrative sketch—using words
to portray a scene that shows who characters are) persuading the reader to feel sorry for
Leah McKay using
Smiley-Face Tricks #6 AND #7: HUMOR & HYPHENATED MODIFYER
Leah McKay swished her hips as she was walking
by my desk today. I know that doesn’t sound strange,
but I can’t stand it when she does that. I mean I do
not see why every guy in the world drools over her. So
she has beautiful blonde hair, bouncy curls, buys her
clothes from stores that I can’t even pronounce, and
was voted most popular at a school across town she
doesn’t even go to.
“Excuse me, but, Dena what is the answer to
number six?”
“Excuse me, but Leah, my name isn’t Dena. It’s
Serena, and if you can’t get the answer to number six,
that’s your problem.” …(YOUR STORY BEGINS HERE)