So in my AP class this week we've been talking/reading/writing about concrete imagery as a rhetorical device. We did a fun little exercise (in preparation for their upcoming definition essay) where they had to define an abstract term concretely. Example: Joy (abstract term) is when the old lady in front of you speeds up (concrete image). I gave them a few examples, and then they came up with their own. They all came up with some really great ones, such as:
Patience: Listening to a child tell a story.
Frustration: when everytime you go into the boys' bathroom, the cover of the soap dispenser is broken off and the soap is spread all over the ground. (I told him just to wipe his hands on the floor. He didn't go for it.)
Anger: When you go to a fast food place, and the person behind the register is "a kid you'd fought." (I'd classify this more as 'worry'...)
But my personal favorite is the one that doubled me over, shared by a rather slender girl of average height with a very confused look on her face:
Sadness: when, on your 16th birthday, your family gives you a personal exercise program.
This reminded me of when I went home for Christmas Break my freshman year, and then returned to school and promptly received a large envelope from my dad containing a newspaper clipping entitled, "How to Avoid the Freshman 15." Um, thanks.
P.S. Today one of my 9th grade classes finally figured out my 'real' first name....Constance. They narrowed it down to "Co..." and then went through every possible name they could think of....it took them a very long time, and came only after we'd cleared away other possibilities such as Consuela and Constantinople...
1 comment:
I think it would be great if Constantinople were the female family name to pass on....if I ever have a girl, I might jump on that bandwagon....
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