Identify, in small groups, the different authors and literature the class has read so far this year. Choose, in small groups, an author previously read by the class, and identify the different elements that make up his or her literary style. Write short pieces imitating this style which will then be read aloud. Written on the board prior to class are the names of the writers and works the teacher has chosen. Students form small groups as the class begins, then choose one author and together write a description of that author's style that they would give students who have not yet taken this class.
Students then share their answers.
List as many as you can find. Students then return to their small groups, where they go back to the author they originally described. Students individually craft paragraphs that imitate this writer's style as closely as possible. Students will be evaluated based on their participation in class and small group discussions, and their creation of pieces imitating the writings of one of the author's studied in class. Choose one that you remember especially well from your own past and write an essay in which you describe what effect this work had on you as a child.