Skills Board--March 28, 2023

Welcome to a new week of our Writing Workshop! I hope you are picking up some new techniques and ideas while sharpening your writing skills along the way!

Idiom of the Day:
The shopping mall was set to be built, with plans and blueprints ready to go; however, the funding fell through, and the construction workers were back to square one!

Note: The conjunction however indicates a change has occurred. Ask yourself what was happening at the beginning of the sentence, and what may have to happen as a result of this. Think of our cause and effect exercises, and imagine how one situation always affects something else!

Idiom of the Day #2:
Kara did not know what else she could possibly do next for her boss. She had bent over backwards, but nothing seemed to be good enough for Mrs. Smith!

Note: In this idiom, as in all idioms, the words are not to be taken literally (at face value). We have to actually look back at the previous sentence AND at what follows the idiom to understand what is going on. 

3. Cause and Effect 
Please fill in the blanks in the following sentences with something that could logically happen. You may be providing a cause or an effect in each one.

a. Because there were only a few customers in the restaurant, the owner decided to ____________________.

b. Sandra had never danced in a recital before, so she _____________________________________________.

c. _____________________________________________, but John still got the job!

d. _____________________________________________, yet Timothy wanted to try for it anyway!

4. Grammar Challenge
Directions: Add a clause to the sentence below.
a. Lynnette was visiting her friends in Maine.
(Note: If you get stuck, think about using the conjunction who, where, or while to introduce your clause.)

5. Literary Device #1
Foreshadowing is an author's method of dropping hints (like clues!) about what will happen later in the story.
Anton Chekhov, who wrote The Lottery Ticket, the short story we read on Friday, used a technique later referred to as Chekhov's gun. Chekhov felt that every element of a story must have meaning or else it shouldn't be there! The reason why his principle is called Chekhov's gun is that if, for instance, a story stated that someone had a weapon or even that a weapon was said to be kept in a cabinet, there had to be a reason for this. It had to appear again later in the story. This is an example of foreshadowing, which means the writer is providing a clue that will later appear again and allow the story to make sense!

An example: In The Lottery Ticket, Ivan is immediately shown opening a newspaper...in the very first sentence of the story! This newspaper plays an important role in the story; it is not just a prop that the character used and tossed away! What did this newspaper (and its contents) later represent as the story came to a close? 

6. Literary Device #2
Irony occurs in a story when a character does something we do not expect him to do; often, it is exactly the opposite of what we would expect.

An example: A high school student applies for a job to be a lifeguard. HIs mom is astonished he did this because he has had a fear of water since he was a small child. It is ironic that this young man wants to take a job that requires him to constantly be around something he is afraid of. We would not expect someone with a fear of water to become a lifeguard.

When we read the short story The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant today, we will be shown several examples of irony at its best! I bet all of you will be able to identify at least one example when we have finished reading. 

7. Greek/Latin Roots
labor-
Meaning: work
Origin: Latin labor
Examples: collaborate, elaborate, laboratory, laborious
Sentence: It would have taken the students a long time to work on the project individually, so they decided to collaborate to finish it quickly.
Sentence: When Jane mentioned how she had once won an art competition, the teacher asked her to elaborate on this point.
Sentence: He was mixing chemicals in the laboratory in order to find a new vaccine.
Sentence: Crocheting a sweater, stitch by stitch, can be a laborious task if you don't enjoy the process!

8. Fact or Opinion
a. Everyone enjoys the weekend!
b. You should take up golf--it's so relaxing.
c. Did you know that Alaska is our largest state?
d. What a kind person Joe is!
e. Jerry will join us later in the evening.
f. Tom knows everything! [What literary device is being used here, as well?]
g. This is the best pie I have ever eaten!
h. Sydney's laptop took ten minutes before it booted up today.
i. Passing all five HiSETs will earn you a high school diploma!
j. Tami can type 95 words per minute.
k. Sol can skate faster than his little brother, but he is not as fast as his brother Lenny, who is a professional hockey player.

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