From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler · like a jigsaw puzzle. It leaves no doubts. Well, Saxonberg, read and discover. (Letter to Mr. Saxonberg, the lawyer) Dictation

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

© 2018 Melissa Wiley for bravewriter.com 1


By e. l. konigsburg

© 2018 Melissa Wiley for bravewriter.com



Maybe you’ve heard the educationese term “scope and sequence”? Here's our version: the Brave Writer Spin and Spiral—terms and skills to visit and revisit.

In this issue of the Arrow:

» A plethora of personal pronouns—subjective, objective, and possessive

» An abundance of awesome figures of speech, including alliteration

» A visit from the Grammar Police

» A pretty good pun

» A storyteller who’s telling from inside the story—is she a reliable narrator?

The author, e. l. konigsburg, lived from February 10, 1930—April 19, 2013. She died at age 83, a year older than the age of the narrator of the story in this book. Konigsburg won two Newbery Awards for books she wrote, the first one being awarded to this novel, which she wrote in 1967.

Some authors prefer to use initials rather than their first names when penning their books. J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, J. K. Rowling—these are a few popular writers who follow that practice. What sets e. l. konigsburg apart is that she also omits capital letters for her pen name!

Brave Writer Spin and Spiral



Week OneI listened. I investigated, and I fitted all the pieces together

like a jigsaw puzzle. It leaves no doubts. Well, Saxonberg, read

and discover.

(Letter to Mr. Saxonberg, the lawyer)

Dictation passage page numbers refer to the following edition:e.l. konigsburg. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. New York: Aladdin Books, 1967.



Week OneMeet Mrs. Frankweiler

I listened. I investigated, and I fitted all the pieces together

like a jigsaw puzzle. It leaves no doubts. Well, Saxonberg, read

and discover.

(Letter to Mr. Saxonberg, the lawyer)

Exterior Panorama - Metropolitan Museum of Art by Michael Gray is liscened under CC BY 2.0

Why this passageKonigsburg chooses to open the novel with a letter of instruction by Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler to her lawyer, Saxonberg (we never do

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mgrayflickr/4757374488/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mgrayflickr/

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/



learn his first name). This choice frames the novel as a report by Mrs. Frankweiler to her lawyer to give instructions about what is to be done with her will. This letter prefaces the long narrative about Claudia and Jamie—a narrative in which Mrs. Frankweiler herself appears as a character later in the book!

When a character in the story is the one telling the story, we call that “first-person point of view (POV).” But we could argue that this letter to Saxonberg is written in the rare “second-person point of view,” because the writer (Mrs. Frankweiler, the “I” of this passage) is speaking to a second person, Saxonberg. Almost the only time we encounter second-person POV in fiction is when the book is written as a letter or message to someone else—the “second” person.

This framework, in which Mrs. Frankweiler directly addresses Saxonberg as she unspools her tale, has a powerful effect on the narrative. We feel as if we are eavesdropping on a conversation between two people. It’s as if we’ve steamed open a letter without permission in order to peruse the contents!

As you read the novel, let this question about POV bubble in your brain. Is this a first-person novel, since Mrs. F. is one of the characters in the story she’s telling? Or is it a second-person novel, since she occasionally makes a direct address to Saxonberg? Adding to the interesting complexity of this question, we’ll find that much of the novel reads like a third-person narrative, because Mrs. Frankweiler is telling about things that happen to Claudia and Jamie when she herself is not present.



Whenever we encounter a first-person (or second-person!) narrative, there’s a question that may lurk in the back of our minds. Is the narrator reliable? Can we trust her? Is this character a reliable witness to these events or is there a bias that is present in the storytelling?

How to teach the passage

What to noteA noteworthy feature of this passage is the number of verbs in it. Verbs are the words that tell us the action. In this passage we have the following verbs:

» listened

» investigated

» fitted

The first three verbs take place in the past: listened, investigated, fitted. We call the form these verbs take “the past tense.” If you remove the “ed” from each of them, you will get the root of the verb: listen, investigate, fit. In the English language, we indicate that a verb action took place in the past by adding (in most cases) “ed.” There are exceptions—took, had, left, flew, lost, to name a few.

The next verb, leaves, is in the “present tense.” Mrs. Frankweiler is commenting on the evidence she has gathered and is telling Saxonberg that that evidence “leaves no doubt.” The last two verbs are commands to her lawyer: “…read and discover.”

Note that Saxonberg is spelled with “erg” not “urg” like “Konigsburg”! It’s easy to miss that one since we are conditioned by the author’s name emblazoned on the cover with a noticeable “urg” impressing us.

» leaves

» read

» discover



Sometimes the narrator is manipulating you, the reader, to believe his or her version of the story. For instance, in the book The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, by Jon Scieszka, the primary narrator is the Big Bad Wolf. He attempts to persuade the reader that the version we all know and love is in error, biased by the pig who survived. His agenda is to get the reader to see a different side to the story. Yet usually, the conclusion one draws is that the wolf is an unreliable narrator—that is, a person we can’t trust to tell the true story.

As you read Mixed-Up Files, remember always that the narrative is filtered through Mrs. Frankweiler’s interpretation. We are not getting Konigsburg’s unfettered omniscient narrator viewpoint. As you read, ask yourself if Mrs. F’s personality peeks through. Often it does when she is referring to Saxonberg.

Mrs. Frankweiler makes a bold claim: that her report leaves out no details. Ask yourself: is that possible? Can her account truly include every detail that happened to other people when she was not present to the events herself? What do you think Claudia would say to that assertion? How about Jamie?

It’s a good question: how is history recorded? How do we verify the contents of any account?



The personal pronoun is an abstract concept. There are many sorts of pronouns, but for this lesson, we are focused on the “subjective personal pronoun.” That’s a fancy way of saying we’re going to talk about the words that stand in for people’s names in the subject of sentences and phrases.

Melissa loves cake becomes She loves cake.

The subjective personal pronoun is an intimate label—it assumes that the reader or other speaker knows to whom you refer. The subjective personal pronoun implies knowledge—we already know his name, her whereabouts, their preferences, our limits. Usually information precedes the pronoun, which is why we then use the shortcut: he, she, we, they.

Here are the subjective personal pronouns we use in English:

» I

» You

» He

» She

» It

» We

» You (plural, as in “y’all” or “you guys”)

» They

Grammar notes: Personally, I prefer pronouns



These pronouns make language less cumbersome. We can refer back to people or things with these one-syllable terms that stand in for the longer, more cumbersome names. In a world with no pronouns, you would have to repeat the names of people and things over and over and over. Like this:

“Jamie felt that Jamie’s morning had been well spent; Jamie had seen a lot of pictures and Jamie had learned about pagan. Jamie leaned back and yawned; Jamie was becoming bored…”

Jamie’s not the only one! Are you thoroughly sick of hearing the word “Jamie” by now? Thank goodness for zippy little pronouns like “he”!

Activity

The following shapes contain pronouns. Print them and clip them out. Spread them on a tabletop. Obtain highlighter markers or colored pencils that match the colors of the pronoun shape cutouts.

Photocopy a page from a novel, a textbook, a poem, and a magazine or newspaper. Now, using the matching colored pencils or markers, highlight the pronouns based on the colors of your pronoun shapes. See the frequency of the sorts of pronouns that show up in novels, compared with news items, compared with poetry. See if you can identify if a story is told in first person (using “I”) or third person (using “he” or “she” or “it”).

Are there differences you can detect between fiction and nonfiction writing?



Which pronouns are likely to appear and which are not? For instance, how frequently do you read “we”? In what instances do you find “we”?

Pronouns help us to know what point of view the writing is taking. They help us either feel included (we, you all) or excluded (he, she, they).

Think about the times you write using “I” and the other times you avoid using “I.” Can you think of reasons to explain each?



Subjective Personal Pronouns

I we

you

it

they

yousingular plural

she

he



Week Two The guide told Jamie that some people saved all their lives

so that they could become mummies; it was indeed expensive.

One of the students called out, “You might even say it

costs him his life.”

(Chapter 4, page 55)



Week TwoPun

Why this passage

The guide told Jamie that some people saved all their lives

so that they could become mummies; it was indeed expensive.

One of the students called out, “You might even say it

costs him his life.”


This short passage is packed with good stuff: two indentations, a semicolon, dialogue punctuation, and a delightful pun.

What to noteA few of the terms in this short passage may pose spelling challenges:

» guide

» mummies

» indeed

» expensive

» might



This passage features two single-sentence individual paragraphs. That’s right: each paragraph is one sentence. Not all paragraphs have four sentences, or a topic sentence plus a clincher. Sometimes the entire communication (the information that hangs together) is complete in one line. Then the next line indents for the next package of information.

The first paragraph here is a long sentence that paves the way for the student’s comment, which acts as a punch line—the payoff of a joke.

Notice that the museum guide gives Jamie factual information. But one of the students makes what might be called a smart-aleck remark in return—a joke of sorts. Do you get it? What does the expression “costs him his life” mean? How is it humorous in this context?

One more interesting feature of this passage: lives, life. In English, plurals (many things) are formed by adding “s” to the end of the word. However, sometimes words change how they add the “s.”


Punctuation to notice: that semicolon in the first sentence! Remember that semicolons can connect two independent clauses (phrases that could be sentences on their own). Writers use semicolons when they want to tie two ideas together that relate to one another in an obvious way. Here, the concept of saving money for an entire lifetime is combined with the commentary that it was expensive to have oneself mummified.



Nouns that end in “fe” typically go through a transformation—the “f” turns to a “v” and the “s” for the plural takes an “e.”

life lives

wife wives

half halves

loaf loaves

leaf leaves

hoof hooves

knife knives

scarf scarves

wolf wolves

self selves

thief thieves

elf elves

See if you can find any others in your reading today.



Grammar notes: Pronouns hiding in the middle of the sentenceLast week we looked at the “subjective personal pronoun.” This week, let’s look at the “objective personal pronoun.” Good golly, Miss Molly, what are those?

Rather than labor over the meaning of each of those words, it’s easier to give you a list of pronouns that are found inside sentences (rather than at the beginning of them). You’ll recognize them, I’m sure!

» me

» you (just you, and nobody else but you)

» her

» him

» it

» us

» you (a group of people including you)

» them

These pronouns are called “objective personal pronouns” because they are the object of a verb, compound verb, infinitive phrase, or preposition. What that means in plain English is that these pronouns are found in the middle of sentences referring back to a previously mentioned “subject” or person.

This week’s snide remark contains one of these pronouns:

“You might even say it costs him his life.”



Whose life? The mummy’s! We already know about the mummy from the previous paragraph. Now the objective personal pronoun (“him”) refers back to the mummy without having to repeat the words, “the mummy.” See?

You’ll notice that there is not a lot of variety for the word “you.” It doesn’t change when we mean one person or a whole group of them. It’s “you” for singular and “you” for plural. (In some parts of the country, people use the word “y’all” as a plural form of “you”—short for “you all.” (Makes good sense, don’t y’all think?)

And unlike most other pronouns, “you” doesn’t change when it moves to a different place in the sentence. The subjective pronoun “I” becomes “me” in the objective case—

I bought a book.

The book belongs to me.

But the pronoun is “you” in both cases.

You bought a bike.

The bike belongs to you.

The same thing goes for the pronoun “it”—it stays “it” no matter whether its role in a sentence is subject or object. (But unlike “you,” “it” does change to a new word for the plural: “they.”)

Let’s revisit the colored shapes you cut out last week. Those were for the subjective personal pronouns, remember. Here’s a new set for the objective personal pronouns.



Objective Personal Pronouns

me us

you

It

them

yousingular plural

her

him



Use a similar strategy to week one’s activity. Print and clip the colored shapes for your pronouns. Notice how the shapes and colors match those used for last week’s subjective pronouns. Match them up to see the pairs of subjective and objective personal pronouns together!

Activity

Using the pages you printed and marked with highlighters last week, go through the same writing and see if you can find the objective pronouns. To indicate that these are objective, after you highlight them the correct color, use a pencil or pen to underline them as well.

Here’s an example of what this will look like:

“They got the New York Times the next day. Neither Claudia nor Jamie bought it. The man who left it on the counter while he was looking at the reproductions of antique jewelry bought it. The Kincaids stole it from him. They left the museum immediately thereafter.” (page 56)



Week Three Jamie shook his head. “If you want to go different, you

can take a subway to 125th Street and then take the train.”

“I didn’t say differently, I said different. I want to go back

different. I, Claudia Kincaid, want to be different when I go

back. Like being a heroine is being different.”

“Claudia, I’ll tell you one thing you can do different…”

“Differently,” Claudia interrupted.

“Oh, baloney, Claude. That’s exactly it. You can stop ending

every single discussion with an argument about grammar.”

“I’ll try,” Claudia said quietly.




Week ThreeThe Grammar Police

Jamie shook his head. “If you want to go different, you

can take a subway to 125th Street and then take the train.”

“I didn’t say differently, I said different. I want to go back

different. I, Claudia Kincaid, want to be different when I go

back. Like being a heroine is being different.”

“Claudia, I’ll tell you one thing you can do different…”

“Differently,” Claudia interrupted.

“Oh, baloney, Claude. That’s exactly it. You can stop ending

every single discussion with an argument about grammar.”

“I’ll try,” Claudia said quietly.


Why this passageWhile this is a longer passage than the ones of the last two weeks, it’s a wonderful illustration of how grammar affects meaning in a sentence.



What to noteThe terms that are being contrasted are “different” and “differently.” Let’s look at the two uses:

Claudia had said that she wanted to return to her home feeling different than when she left. She phrased it like this, “I want to go back different.” The term “different” in this usage applies to Claudia’s person—she wants to be different than she was. The word “different” is an adjective applying itself to Claudia’s person.

But Jamie misunderstands her and thinks she means she wants to travel home by a different route. So he says, “If you want to go different….” Because “different” in this instance is related to a verb, it needs to become an adverb (a descriptive word that modifies—changes—the verb). Usually an “ly” ending is added to the root term to make it into an adverb, so “different” becomes “differently.”

Claudia corrects Jamie: “I didn’t say differently, I said different.” She’s explaining that when she used the word “different,” she was connecting it to herself, the subject of the sentence—not to the verb “go.” See the difference?

Spelling notes: Note that the nickname for “Claudia” is “Claude.”

Punctuation notes: This is a dialogue passage, so take a moment to point out where the quotation marks and commas are placed. There’s also an ellipsis—those three dots or periods used when a speaker’s sentence trails off. In this case, Jamie doesn’t get to finish his sentence because Claudia cuts him off!

Two words in the text are italicized for emphasis. When writing the passage by hand, you may underline those words to indicate the italics.

There are three contractions in this passage: didn’t, I’ll, that’s. What are the two words that make up each contraction?



Because this is an especially long passage, feel free to break it into individual sentences to be completed one per day over the course of a week or so. If your child is ambitious and can handle more, that’s fine too.

The squabble over grammar is part of what makes this passage so much fun. It can be really annoying to have someone miss your point because they are busy correcting your grammar. It’s especially annoying when the meaning is perfectly clear, yet the listener is more interested in showing off his or her perfect language skills than in hearing your communiqué.

There’s a lesson to be learned here: Don’t be a grammar jerk! It’s a fabulous skill to know how to use language deftly with accuracy. It’s not a fabulous skill to correct others who are earnestly trying to communicate with you, derailing that communication.

“Oh, baloney, Claude. That’s exactly it. You can stop ending every single discussion with an argument about grammar.”

Truly, Claudia has spent a good bit of her energy scolding Jamie about his usage of the English language, mostly to show off! No one enjoys being on the receiving end of those corrections, though it’s no secret that grammar-snobs absolutely love to be the ones doling out the red-pen advice.

My advice: be a grammar snob about your own writing and let others attend to theirs. In most cases, mistakes are either innocently made, or they represent a dialect or regionalism that gives the language flavor.




We’ve talked about subjective personal pronouns—I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they—pronouns that stand in for the subject of a sentence.

And we’ve talked about objective personal pronouns—me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them—pronouns that stand in for names of people or things elsewhere in a sentence.

Now it’s time for a third batch of personal pronouns—the possessive ones!

Possession means ownership, and possessive personal pronouns are the little words we use to indicate who owns a thing. Possessive pronouns are some of the first words toddlers master when they are learning to talk—that’s how important the concept of “mine” is!

The possessive personal pronouns are “mine,” “yours,” “hers,” “his,” “its,” “ours,” and “theirs.”

» The shoes are Claudia’s. The shoes are hers.

» The money is Jamie’s. The money is his.

» The cake is Melissa’s. The cake is MINE!

Note:

Possessive personal pronouns are not the same as possessive adjectives: my, her, and their.

» For instance: The house is theirs.

» Not: This is their house.

Grammar notes: Possessive personal pronouns—mine, all mine!



The distinction is tricky for kids and difficult to tease apart. Think again of a little child saying “Mine!” Or “Don’t touch it! That’s hers!”

The possessive personal pronoun IS possessive—it owns, grabs, keeps, takes over, controls. It’s possessive like a jealous best friend.

To help your children understand the nuance, ask them to shout the following sentences:

» I won the game! The game ball is mine!

» Don’t take the bike. It’s his!

» Ours is the blue house on the beach!

» This is mine. That is yours, and that over there is theirs!

Try stating a few of these with a British accent (or whatever accent means sophistication to you):

» Two of the brownies are yours, but hers is on the counter next to the mug of tea.

» The points are mine, but the game is yours.

» Ours is the happiest home on the block!

» Theirs is the dog with the floppy ears.

» The ball gown is hung on the wooden hanger; its importance to her could not be underestimated.

Pay attention to the book as you read and identify other examples of possessive personal pronouns for your kids. Of the three types, these are the most difficult to identify.



Week Four “Come now, children. Put away the file. You must tell

me all about your adventure. All, all, all about it. What you

thought and what you said, and how you managed to carry

off the whole crazy caper.”




Week FourHow Mrs. Frankweiler came to know the whole story

“Come now, children. Put away the file. You must tell

me all about your adventure. All, all, all about it. What you

thought and what you said, and how you managed to carry

off the whole crazy caper.”


Why this passageThe book begins with a letter that tells the reader (and Mrs. Frankweiler’s lawyer, Saxonberg) that Mrs. Frankweiler has a story to tell. Then the reader is plunged into the story about the children, with occasional reminders that it is Mrs. Frankweiler telling the tale. The reader has no idea, however, how she could know so much about these two children and their supposedly secret adventure. It’s lovely to see in the book’s conclusion an explanation for how the narrator came to know “all, all, all” the details.



What to noteThe last two sentences of this passage are what are called “sentence fragments.” They do not meet the requirements for “complete sentences.”

“All, all, all about it” is an expression that only makes sense when read with the preceding sentence. It doesn’t even have a verb.

“What you thought and what you said, and how you managed to carry off the whole crazy caper.” This sentence fragment builds from the previous sentences. It implies a subject-verb but never comes right out with it. To make it a complete sentence, try adding, “Tell me…” to the front end. Can you feel how the sentence moves from hanging out in space to becoming a satisfying completion?

Fragments are often a part of dialogue, because when we speak, we do move from fragment of thought to fragment of thought. Sometimes we build up an idea, bit by bit, without having composed a full idea all at once. This leads to a fragmented style of speech. To reflect that in writing, the writer will use end marks between comments, even if the sentence is an incomplete one.

If you read the entire passage aloud, it does sound just like how we talk, doesn’t it?

There is a bit of lovely alliteration at the end of the last sentence: “…carry off the whole crazy caper.” The hard “c” sound repeats just enough to make music. Say it aloud and see if your kids can hear




Grammar notes

it. Ask them to identify the sound that repeats. Alliteration is the repetition of the initial sound in subsequent words.

Another alliterative moment can be found in the first part of the passage: “all about your adventure.” Here, the repeating sound is a vowel—the letter “a.”

Alliteration enhances the musicality of the writing. It’s a wonderful device to learn as you can add it so easily during revision to any piece of writing you produce. Use it like salt and pepper. You don’t need to write tongue twisters! However, a little strategic placement of repeating sounds helps your prose to feel a bit like poetry.

Review all the sorts of personal pronouns we discussed in weeks 1–3: subjective, objective, and possessive.

Activity

Open the novel to any random page and try reading a passage out loud—without using any pronouns at all. Whenever you come to a pronoun in the text, change it to the name or noun it references. Remember in Week 1 when we talked about how cumbersome language would be without pronouns? Those handy little words allow our writing to zip along at a lively pace.



Musical Language

Literary Element

Language rolls off the tongue, even when we read quietly to ourselves. The words form themselves inside and we can hear them sing or squeak, whine or whisper. Authors are choosy about the words they write. Even when we can’t quite fathom that they would choose just that word, you can be sure that they, in fact, did mean to write that very word. The best authors labor over their word choices, so concerned they become about the rhythm, sound, meaning, and “just-rightness” of each one.

One of the ways that authors work with words is to apply what are called “literary devices” to their writing. There are a group of figures of speech that lend additional musicality and enchantment to the writing. Once you know what they are, you can be as deliberate and creative as your favorite writers! It’s a bit like knowing the secret code.

The most common figures of speech are illustrated below:

In previous issues of the Arrow, we’ve taken a look at many of these figures of speech. This time around, let’s examine a whole bunch of them with an eye toward how they create musical language.

SimileA simile compares two similar items. (See how the word simile has the same root as similar?) Similes use “like” or “as” when they make comparisons.



» The beehive is like a little mud house.

» The caterpillar is as long as a yardstick.

» The clouds drifted by like a lazy river.

MetaphorA metaphor also compares two items, but the comparison is direct (no “like” or “as”).

» The beehive is a little mud house.

» The caterpillar is a long yardstick.

» The clouds are a lazy river, drifting by.

Notice how differently the metaphors sound after having read them as similes. A simile is gentler, leaving room for the reader to assent or disagree. There’s no coercion. A metaphor forces two items together unnaturally, requiring them to be equals.

You decide which to use based on how you want the music of your piece to feel.

Would you like your writing to have an invitational quality? Are you asking the reader to take a voyage with you, to experience what you’ve observed? Are you inviting a response that may not agree with yours? Then a simile is the right choice. Similes sound like violins playing in the background. A lyrical quality goes with the simile. It has the look and feel of poetry. Similes leave open the possibility that the comparison is close-but-no-cigar.

If, however, your goal is to wake the reader—to command the reader’s attention and force a new idea to emerge—a metaphor may be a better choice. A metaphor feels insistent.



» The ant is an elephant.

There’s no room for opinion here. The writer has told you how it is and it is up to you to force this sentence into sense. A metaphor doesn’t ask you if you see the same ideas in the original subject (how clouds might look like a river as they travel across the sky). A metaphor tells you in no uncertain terms that rivers and clouds are identical. You must reconcile them. In a way, metaphors create more power in writing. They are like the drumbeat of the writing. Unlike the simile-violin that provides soothing background music, the metaphor-drum is a pounding of comparisons that requires the reader to take sudden notice.

Try it! Write a simile, then drop the “like” or “as.” How does it feel to read it? Do you still like it? Are you a little bit uncomfortable with how direct you are being? Or, alternatively, are you beguiled by its directness? All reactions are welcome!

PersonificationTo personify means that an inanimate object, an idea, or an animal possesses human characteristics: your coffee cup might cry, the swivel chair might get an aching spine, the pet kitten might consider whether she’d prefer to knead your back with her claws or patrol the sunny window, looking for birds.

Personification is the most popular tool in Disney’s animated movie kit. Animals, teapots, dragons, chopsticks, and ovens all behave with personalities! Pick your favorite film and see if you can list as many of the human characteristics assigned to non-humans as possible. You might be amazed at just how detailed the list gets!

Personification plays a role in the quest to create musicality in language. It adds familiarity to the writing. If an oven is shown to be



outraged when “fired up,” if a clock can host a tour and care about being hospitable, if a bunny can comfort a deer, we readers/viewers are able to create connections with the characters. In fact, we make the characters our friends. We feel we know them, because the writer helps us imagine our own emotions residing in these unknown objects and animals.

AlliterationAs we noted in Week Four, alliteration is the device that lets you create a sonic treat for your readers. Alliterated sentences (in the extreme) are tongue twisters! “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers” comes to mind! Dr. Seuss certainly went on a tongue-twisting rampage in Fox in Socks. You might try Googling to find more examples.

In regular writing (the kind not designed to tire your tongue), alliteration creates what we writers call “cohesion.” There’s a sound-thread that runs through the writing, holding all the parts together through the repetition of the initial sound.

One way to practice alliteration is to write slogans for your favorite brands. You only need to alliterate a few of the words (usually at least three is the rule of thumb).

» Cheerios are the choice of choosy kids!

» Sharpie markers make magic on paper.

» Tina’s tacos tease the tongue!

Alliteration is the spice you add to the overall meal. You don’t need alliteration in each sentence. However, if you are revising a freewrite, you might intentionally choose to create at least one sentence with a phrase that repeats a sound. That choice will cause the writing to pop!



OnomatopoeiaThis is the literary device all about sound. The words are spelled to represent how the sounds are shaped in our mouths and how they sound in our ears.

» Bow-wow

» Cheep cheep

» Cock-a-doodle-doo

» Crunch

» Whirrr

» Whiz! Bang!

» Bam!

» Shhhh

It’s okay to use the old standards (many of which are listed above). But it’s also wonderful to create your own! As you hear a sound, ask yourself if you can put it into letters. How might you best represent the sound of water rushing over a fall? How would you differentiate that from the sound of raindrops? Or a shower? Or the spray of a hose?

Find your own ways to convey sounds. As you revise writing, see if there are places you might add sounds. If you are writing about fireworks or guns, add the noises these make. If you are writing about being very quiet at night, try to represent the sounds of whispering and dragging quiet slippered feet across a smooth waxed floor.

Sounds remind the reader that the writing is representing the noisy world we inhabit. Sounds are literally musical in writing for that reason—they are meant to be heard!

» Clunk

» Clink

» Pop

» Meow

» Zzzzzz

» Ding dong

» Ring-a-ling

» Clackety-clackety



HyperboleHyperbole is overstatement. You know how you like to say that you are the best gamer ever? Or that you ate the whole box of cereal? Or that you never want to get in a car again after a long trip?

Each of these ideas is an exaggeration. Of course you will get in another car. But to make a point that drives home a feeling, sometimes we exaggerate! Tall Tales are exaggeration on a grand scale—fashioned into an art form! Hyperbole is most commonly used for humorous effect. As a result, it is highly entertaining in writing.

For instance, one young Brave Writer told his readers all about the medieval trebuchet. This weapon was used to launch items over castle walls in wars. This writer, however, added that if he built a large enough one in his backyard, he could use it to launch his brothers over the fence and crush people with his brothers.

Hyperbole! Would he ever do this? Of course not. But now the readers know something about the writer—that he has a sense of humor, and perhaps a bit of a rivalry going with his brothers.

Hyperbole breaks the reader free from the monotony of mere reporting. It allows the imagination to explore the forbidden edges of a topic. Unless the piece of writing is intended to be a factual report, there is nothing wrong with using hyperbole to make a point or entertain.

IdiomsIdioms are “turns of phrase” that are so common in our daily usage, we don’t even realize that we aren’t quite sure what they really mean.

For instance: At the drop of a hat is an idiom! It means that something



might occur any minute. If we say someone is “chomping at the bit,” we mean that that person is eagerly waiting for a chance to get active in some way. If your friend says she’ll stand by you “through thick and thin,” you know that your friend will remain loyal no matter what happens in your life.

Idioms are a colorful way of conveying information using non-traditional language. Sometimes they become so well-loved and frequently-used, they stop feeling fresh, and we call those idioms “clichés.” However, while you are young, feel free to use any and all idioms. They are a lively use of language and add a feeling of competence and command of language to your writing.



Now that we’ve talked about the primary figures of speech, let’s use them! Take a piece of writing you did recently. Revise that piece of writing by adding each of these literary elements to it. You want the new version to be “musical”—filled with a variety of new ways to express the content. It’s okay if you go over the top—that is, overdo it! Be ridiculous. Pile up the figures of speech until you have a symphony of literary elements busting through your prose.

Read it aloud to yourself and see if you can hear the music coming through your language.

Writing Activity



The target students for the Arrow are young. They are just learning to explore themes, plot, and characterization in books, through natural conversation. To aid you in your desire to draw insight and narrative skill from your children, the Arrow offers this set of nine questions to explore. Remember: your child doesn’t need to answer them all, and this isn’t a quiz. Chase the ones that lead to rich conversation. Ignore the ones that fall flat. The following questions are designed to offer you ways to think about From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

» Use the questions to help you (the parent) think about the book more deeply so that you can pose questions to your child about the story itself. Avoid asking, “How did the book make you feel?”

» Go out for shakes or discuss the book while your child bounces on a trampoline. There’s no need to set up a “test” condition. Let the questions arise in the course of your day as a natural part of your relationship with your child.

» Your child may elect not to answer some of the questions. Sometimes an idea is beyond the scope of the child’s current understanding or is simply not interesting. Pursue the questions that give rise to satisfying exchanges and ignore the others—discernment is an important skill in learning.

» As your child gets comfortable talking through a book, suggest answering one or two of the questions in writing—a few sentences or a short paragraph.

Big Juicy Questions



» For older students (10-12), try a few of the questions as freewriting prompts. Do not look for organization or style, but raw writing that attempts to explore the themes and ideas in the book. This practice is a wonderful foundation for later literary analysis in essay form.

What are some of the reasons Claudia decides to run away from home?

Why does she choose Jamie to go with her? Do you think she made a good choice? What are some of the ways that they complement each other? In what ways do they clash?

How does the relationship between Claudia and Jamie change during the book?

This book was written in 1967—fifty years ago! What did you notice that has changed since that time?

Why does Claudia get so wrapped up in the mystery of the angel statue?

What does Claudia mean when she says that “rich people only have penny wishes”? (page 84)

What do you think Claudia means when she says she wants to go home “different”—different how, and why? Does she change during her time away from home? How?

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What is the role of secrets in the story? Who is keeping secrets, and why?

Why does Mrs. Frankweiler tell the whole story to her lawyer, of all people?

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Hello, Book Club Planners!

This book club guide is packed with ideas for a memorable “book club party school.” Pick and choose the ideas that work best for you, your location, and the children involved. Believe me when I say: even I won’t use all of the ideas included in this guide, but I wanted to provide you with a lot of choices. Go forth and kick-start a lifetime of literary enjoyment for your kids.

Welcome, my artist friends.

Today will join the likes of Lady Claudia and Sir James as we embark on our own epic art adventure. Of course, your parents know that you are here and expect you to return home when our time is done.

We have much to do while you are here. It is our job to supply the museum with a few new pieces to install in the Sculpture Garden. Head over to the table, and you will find some clay waiting for your inspired creations.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art» Turn the front door into a mummy by wrapping it in toilet paper.

Make eyes with construction paper and hang a “Welcome to the Egyptian Wing” sign on the door.

Book Club Party School

From the Mixed-Up Files

By Mary Wilson



» Cover the table with a blue or gold tablecloth. If you have two different tables, use one color in each area. Sketch the mark of Michelangelo, as shown in chapter 6 (page 93), somewhere on the table.

» Learn about Michelangelo using books from your local library or websites.

◊Search: Michelangelo for Kids.

◊Read a short book to the kids or share a summary of what you learned.

» Transform the meeting area into an art museum. Hang images of well-known pieces of art in the room. Shop your local art museum gift shop for postcards or prints. Inquire about any print sets they have available for teachers.

◊Display examples of the artwork mentioned in the book. Examples can be found in library books or online. Open a few books and lay them on a table or prop them up in the meeting area.

◊Bookmark specific online images to print or share using your laptop or tablet.

» The Egyptian Gallery: The Jewelry of Princess Sit Hat-Hor Yunet. (Chapter 4)

» The Egyptian Gallery: Sculpture of a Cat. There are many images online. The book did not specify a specific sculpture, though it did mention gold earrings. (Chapter 4)

» Fountain of the Muses by Carl Milles. This is the fountain where Claudia and James bathe. (Chapter 5)

» A Stately Bed. An exact bed is not specified, but a bed similar to the description can be found by searching online for state bed metropolitan museum of art. (Chapter 3)



» Art of the Italian Renaissance. Claudia and James begin their daily education in this wing of the museum. (Chapter 4)

» Ancient Greek Vases. (end of Chapter 6)

» Artwork by Michelangelo. The Angel is a fictitious work, but there are plenty of paintings and sculptures to choose from.

◊Additionally, display artwork created by your own children. Be sure to label each piece with its name and the name of the artist.

Make Your Own Masterpiece» Sculpt using the Subtractive Method. Transform a piece of

soap into a simple animal using a butter knife or clay sculpting tools. Your artists can draw the outline of an animal onto a bar of soap. Then scrape off bits of soap using the butter knife or sculpting tools to create their animal sculpture.

◊If animal shapes feel too difficult, then your artists can just practice sculpting a simple, basic shape.

» Sculpt with clay. Use Sculpey or air dry clay. If you use Sculpey clay, leave time to bake the finished products.

» “The Angel.” Create your own inspired Angel statue using white Sculpey clay (or air dry clay).

» Greek Vases. Create Greek vases using Sculpey or air dry clay. Paint them to match images you find online or in books.

» Egyptian Cat. Mold your own Egyptian cat sculpture using brown Sculpey clay or painted air dry clay. Decide if your sculpture will have gold earrings.

» Provide toothpicks for your attendees to mark the bottom of their sculpture with their own special symbol. Have the artists display their work in an area labeled, “Welcome to the Sculpture Garden.”



» Let your artists type titles for their artwork on a typewriter, if you have access to one. Tape the title on an index card and fold it in half to stand by their sculpture.

No Cheating Allowed» Play War with a deck of cards. For large groups, ask students to

bring a deck of cards with them. Set a timer and the person with the most cards at the end of a given amount of time is declared the winner.

» Mummy Race. Divide your artists into groups of 3–5 kids. Give each group 2–3 rolls of toilet paper. The group should wrap one member with toilet paper until they have used it all. The first group to use all of their toilet paper wins.

◊Alternative: Both groups wrap their mummies using all of the toilet paper, then the mummies race across the yard. First one to cross the finish line wins.

» Hide and Seek. Lady Claudia and Sir James were very good at hiding. Play hide and seek in the house or the yard with clear boundaries.

◊Alternatively, play Sardines. One person hides and the rest of the group tries to find them. If you find the hidden player, you join them in hiding. The last person to find the group is the odd man out.

The Museum RestaurantGive each of your artists a $.50 budget for the restaurant. Print a simple menu and let them order items that work within their budget. Have change on hand to distribute as needed.



» Affordable main courses include cheese or tuna fish sandwiches, peanut butter crackers, and cereal.

» $.15 Sandwich

» $.10 Pack of Six Peanut Butter Crackers

» $.10 Bowl of Cereal

» Beverages available include coffee and pineapple juice. Water is always an affordable option, even on a tight budget.

» $.05 Coffee

» $.10 Pineapple Juice

» FREE Water

» Side items available for purchase include soup (the type was not specified) and nouilles et fromage en casserole (macaroni and cheese).

» $.15 Soup

» $.15 Macaroni and Cheese

» In lieu of dessert on the menu, hide mini Hershey bars on the floor around the room or drop them randomly as you serve the food. We all know that Jaime would eat them.

» After your artists have enjoyed their meal, invite them to a Hot Fudge Sundae Bar for $.20 a person. They are probably out of money at this point. Suggest that they borrow a few coins from the fountain in the corner.

◊Have a bowl of water in the corner of the room with lots of extra coins in the bottom. Your artists can visit the “fountain” for some spare change.



ALTERNATIVE BOOK CLUB PLANOne can hardly resist a visit to a local art museum after reading this book. An added bonus would be taking the city bus to the museum if you are able to make that work for your group.

Call ahead and arrange a tour or a class with the docents. Ask if a scavenger hunt for kids is available. Otherwise, search online for a generic art museum scavenger hunt list.

After exploring the museum, enjoy a picnic outdoors or dine at the art museum cafe while you discuss the book. Pack sculpey or air dry clay and make your creations outside or in an available space.

TIP - Do not take coins from the local fountain. Ha!

Well done, my little artists. Today’s adventures can be our little secret.

Documents

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler · like a jigsaw puzzle. It leaves no doubts. Well, Saxonberg, read and discover. (Letter to Mr. Saxonberg, the lawyer) Dictation