The Writer as Artist: Basic Brush StrokesAdapted by Harry R. Noden’s 2nd Edition Image Grammar: Teaching Grammar as Part of the Writing Process

Writers are Artists

“The writer is an artist, painting images of life with specific and identifiable brush strokes, images as realistic as Wyeth as abstract as Picasso” (1).

Five Basic Brush Strokes

“Just as the painter combines a wide repertoire of brush stroke techniques to create an image, the writer chooses from a repertoire of sentence structures” (4).

The participle

The absolute

The appositive

Adjectives shifted out of order

Action verbs

Painting with Participles

Defined as ing verb placed at the beginning or end of sentence

Both methods, -- adding several participles or adding one or two participial phrases – paint more detailed images.

For example, picture a nest of snakes curling around some prey.

One may write, “the diamondback water snake attacked its prey.”

Or, “Hissing, slithering, and coiling, the diamondback snake attacked its prey.”

Also, “Hissing its forked red tongue and coiling its cold body, the diamond-back snake attacked its prey.

Personal Dictionary and Grammar Quiz: Week

OnePut an MLA heading on your quiz.

Write three sentences.

Use one vocabulary term in each sentence, correctly.

Include a participle or participial phrase in each sentence.

Underline all vocabulary words and participles.

Painting with Absolutes

Defined as simply combining a noun or verb with an ing participle.

Either way the cat gets up the tree, but in the second instance, he climbs with flair, and the dog chasing him is amazing.

For example, picture a cat going up a tree.One may write “The cat climbed the tree.”

Or, “Claws digging, feet kicking, the cat climbed the tree.”

Personal Dictionary and Grammar Quiz: Week

OnePut an MLA heading on your quiz.

Write three sentences.

Use one vocabulary term in each sentence, correctly.

Include an absolute in each sentence.

Underline all vocabulary words and absolutes.

Painting with Appositives

Defined as a noun that adds a second image to a preceding noun. The appositive is often used to amplify still images.

Scavenger follows raccoon in the sentence; it’s set off with commas and enriches the image of the painting. To add more vivid details, writers frequently expand the appositive to an appositive phrase with added details.

For example, by adding a second image to the noun raccoon in the sentence “The raccoon enjoys eating turtle eggs,” the writer can enhance the first image with a new perspective.

One may write “The raccoon, a scavenger, enjoys eating turtle eggs.”

Or, “The raccoon, a midnight scavenger who roams lake shorelines in search of food, enjoys eating turtle eggs.”

Personal Dictionary and Grammar Quiz: Week

TwoPut an MLA heading on your quiz.

Write three sentences.

Use one vocabulary term in each sentence, correctly.

Include an appositive in each sentence.

Underline all vocabulary words and appositives.

Painting with Adjectives Shifted Out of Order

Adjectives out of order, used more often by authors of fiction, amplify the details of an image.

The effect creates a spotlight and intensifies the image, giving it a profound rhythm instead of the elementary cadence of the original.

Consider a description of a mysterious sound.One may write, “And then, suddenly, in the very dead of the night, there came a clear, resonant, unmistakable sound to my ears.”

Or, “And then, suddenly, in the very dead of the night, there came a sound to my ears, clear, resonant, and unmistakable.”

Personal Dictionary and Grammar Quiz: Week

ThreePut an MLA heading on your quiz.

Write three sentences.

Use one vocabulary term in each sentence, correctly.

Include several adjectives shifted out of order.

Underline all vocabulary words and adjectives that have been shifted out of order.

Painting with Action Verbs

By eliminating passive voice and reducing being verbs, writers can energize action images.

Passive voice can weaken images by freezing the action often inherent in a sentence. Improve the power of sentences by replacing as many being verbs as possible.

The runaway horse was ridden into town by an old white-whiskered rancher.

The old, white-whiskered rancher rode the runaway horse into town.

The grocery store was robbed by two armed men. Two armed men robbed the the grocery store.

Personal Dictionary and Grammar Quiz: Week

FourPut an MLA heading on your quiz.

Write three sentences.

Use one vocabulary term in each sentence, correctly.

Include several action verbs.

Underline all vocabulary words and action verbs.