Introductions to Essays Selected for Publication

Please post the introductions to the essays that your group selected for publication in the Pearson Buzz. Introductions should be no more than 50 to 75 words and should give reasons for the essay's selection for publication.

Online Notebook for November 28 to December 4

This week, please comment only on weather. Write about anything that comes to mind, but please remember to consider the five senses when observing the world of weather around you!

100 Word Place Description with NO Adjectives

Following Keith Grey's ideas, write a 100 word (strict limit, please) description of a place that uses NO adjectives of any kind. Use metaphors as Grey suggests and a have a character interacting with the environment. Good luck!

Online Notebook for November 20 to 27

This week, concentrate on describing someone using a metaphor (or simile). Make your description 50 words or fewer. Remember fresh metaphor is best!

The Caption Contest

Just for fun, we'll try writing a caption to match this week's Caption Contest from The New Yorker magazine. Be sure to check the links provided in the article on how to win for more ideas and information on writing the best caption. Have fun! Enter your caption as a comment to this post, but, if you are brave, register at The New Yorker and submit it by Sunday night for a chance to win!

Here are the three winning entries:

	"I am useless until I have my morning turkey." Submitted by Corey Lowney Wappingers Falls, N.Y.
	"I was actually hoping for a boy." Submitted by Antonia Boyette Los Angeles, Calif.
	"I miss the cash bonuses." Submitted by Robert Becker Northford, Conn.

Article: "How to Win The New Yorker Caption Contest"

Online Notebook for November 13-20

Make this week a description of something seen or heard or felt or smelled or tasted that is part of the natural world. See you next Thursday!

In the Beginning: A Dilemma

Take your character from last week's exercise (or use a new character if you wish) and give them a dilemma (a problem). Connect it to the character's ambition or secret. Write about the same number of words, but concentrate on conflict and making a beginning to a story.

In Keith Grey's words: "Decide how you are going to start your story. Can you think of an opening scene that will help you explain the Dilemma to your reader?" Link to podcast if you'd like to view it again.

Discovering a Story through a Character

Fiction writer Ali Smith uses this exercise to help her find a story:

"Think of a person you've noticed, but don't know—a drugstore clerk, a bus driver, a politician, a celebrity. Using the first-person, write a two page scene [200 to 300 words is plenty] that describes a moment in the life that you imagine for that person. What is he/she thinking about? What matters to him/her? What doesn't? How does his/her mind work?"

Also, use the information from Keith Gray's, Episode 2: Characters, to help you make this character as realistic as possible.

Online Notebook for November 6-13

Continue making observations for the notebook. This week, try something different: comment on a TV show you watched, a book you are reading, a newspaper article you liked/disliked. Keep it short. Last week's were fun and interesting. Try to make at least one post here this week.