We’re starting with this question:
What 👄 special writing techniques does the author use? List examples.
You’ve probably already spotted my age-old problem.
- ✅ Yes, it has depth and complexity.
- ❌ No, it’s not remotely deep. Nor is it complex.
Three Problems
This is a BOB, bottom-of-Blooms, question. Students name a technique and list an example. That’s Remember or Understand.
As usual, I didn’t try answering my own question ahead of time (I call this tasting my soup). My students had to deal with a strangely worded question. I don’t know what I meant by “special writing techniques.”
Finally, it’s a one-off. Once they list their examples, they’re off to the next question on the worksheet. No, it was not about “special writing techniques.” The next question was, I kid you not, “Are you left with any Unanswered Questions?” (I wrote about my problem with Unanswered Questions here.)
First: Aim For Analyze
To get to the higher levels of Bloom’s, I like to aim for Analyze. And, to Analyze, we need many options to compare, contrast, and categorize.
As a teacher, I used a book called Shakespeare’s Wordcraft to find lots of juicy writing techniques. Here’s a big list of repetition from The Bard:
- Queen Elizabeth: O no, my reasons are too deep and dead. Too deep and dead in their graves.
- King Richard: Is the chair empty? Is the sword unsway’d? Is the king dead?
- Brutus: Remember March, the Ides of March remember!
- King Henry: Much is your sorrow; mine ten times so much
- Lear: Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow!
- Proteus: Sweet love, sweet lines, sweet life!
- Hero: How wise, how noble, how rarely featur’d
- Suffolk: Dead in his bed, my lord. Gloucester is dead.
- Bolingbroke: The shadow of your sorrow hath destroy’d the shadow of your face.
- King Richard: Come, I have learn’d that fearful commenting leads to dull delay. Delay leads to snail-pac’d beggary.
- King Henry: We few, we happy few, we band of brothers
Important! Rookie Ian always asked students to provide their own list of examples. Then we’d stop there. Now, I want to give students a list of fabulous examples. Then, I’ll ask students to think about that list.
Climb Bloom’s
Now, I’d have my students categorize these examples into 3 or so groups. They choose the criteria, of course. This is Analyze! I’d start like this:
Looking these examples of repetition, I want you to partner up two lines that go together. You can pick why they go together. Then, make another pair that go together for a different reason.
After that, I’ll have them flesh out their groups.
Continue grouping the examples. Try to end up with 3 or 4 groups. Again, you can pick why the examples go together.
Finally, they name their groups.
Pick a title for each category. Limit it a few words.
Then we can naturally move up to Evaluate.
Which of the groups you made features the most powerful use of repetition?
Teachers, can use any criteria that you’d like there. Make sure it’s sharp, though!
Could we get up to Synthesize? Sure!
Take the weakest example of Shakespearean repetition on the list and improve it. Can you make it more powerful?
Could we go around the room and find the most surprising re-write of Shakespearean repetition? You bet! We’re Evaluating again.
Compare this to my original idea:
What 👄 special writing techniques does the author use? List examples.