Craft Lesson 1: “I Can Feel It!” (Description)

Materials:
Book: Standing Against the Wind by Traci L. Jones

Discussion:
When young adults read a story, they automatically get into the characters and the plot of the story. Their attention is grabbed by what the characters are like and what happens in the story. But one thing young adult readers may miss is the variety of descriptive words and phrases the authors use in supporting the story and keeping it alive. With descriptions, the young adult reader has an open window to further understanding the story. They can picture what the character is feeling and what the world around the characters is like.

How to Teach It:
A good story has a lot of description and strong words in order to show and allow the audience to feel what is happening. Description helps the reader to fully understand what a character is going through and experiencing. Strong descriptions of people, objects, and occurrences create a picture which makes a story stand out. Writers make a character and their life realistic by using descriptive words and phrases. Listen to the descriptions and words Traci L. Jones uses in her book Standing Against the Wind:

Ex 1: "The January wind blew directly into Patrice's face. It seemed to reach right through her coat's thin fabric and under her hand-me-down sweatshirt, and pinch her arms with icy, sharp fingers." (Chapter 1, p. 4)

What is Jones talking about when she used the words “icy, sharp fingers” Why did she use those words? Are there really icy, sharp fingers pinching Patrice? What does Jones want you to understand? Jones is comparing the January wind to a bunch of icy, sharp fingers in order to show how cold the wind is upon Patrice’s skin as she walks along the sidewalk. Notice the descriptions Jones uses when she describes Patrice’s clothes. She uses the phrases “thin fabric” and “hand-me-down sweater.” What do think about and picture when you hear “thin fabric?” What about “hand-me-down sweater?” Listen to the descriptions in another example from Standing Against the Wind:

"Patrice glanced from Michael to Monty and felt relief flood through her body." (Chapter 1, p. 19)

What do you feel and think of when you hear the word “flood” in general? What did you think of and picture in your mind when you heard Jones use “flood” in the sentence? What was Patrice feeling? Patrice's emotion of relief is described well. That sentence and the word “flood” allow you to visualize the strong sense of relief she felt.

Bibliography:
Jones, T (2006). Standing Against the Wind. New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux.