ASSIGNMENT 2

Pick two of the following activities and try to describe them using sensory images (appeals to the senses), similes and metaphors:

• walking to class on a windy, bitterly cold day
• walking to class on a hot, humid day
• dancing, fast or slow
• jogging
• playing an instrument
• swimming
• shooting a basketball or throwing a football
• attending a concert
• kissing someone you love

ASSIGNMENT 3

In Chapter 1, page 7, Roy Peter Clark advises writers to show, don't tell: "Reveal telling character traits. Don't say "enthusiastic" or "talkative," but create a scene in which the person reveals those characteristics to the reader." That's just what Rosalind Bentley does in the profile discussed on pages 196-97 and page 208 in Chapter 8.

Try to do a character sketch or profile. Make certain that you are able to observe your person and that you can talk to others who know the person. On a piece of paper jot down a list of words that describe your person. For instance, your list might include enthusiastic or talkative, or it might include nervous, intense, laid back, funny, and so on. Then construct a brief sketch of your character that contains scenes, anecdotes, quotations (or dialogue) and description that show those qualities to the reader. The class might exchange the sketches and try to make of list of the characteristics class members see in the sketch or profile.

ASSIGNMENT 4

Use the coffee shop concept for a series of writing exercises that give students an opportunity to practice writing well but also allow them to demonstrate how well they are mastering the course concepts and material:

1. Choose a coffee shop and try to capture the atmosphere of that shop at two or three different times of the day. Write a feature or sketch in which you create a picture and feel for the people and the place.

2. Choose two different coffee shops and write a brief sketch that captures the atmosphere, qualities and people that make the shops different. How might this be written for a trade publication rather than a general audience? (Recall what you learned about different media audiences in Chapter 3.)

3. Do a review article of all coffee shops within a reasonable distance of your school or college for your college newspaper; then adapt the review for the Web, writing for either citysearch (www.citysearch.com) or Sidewalk (national.sidewalk.msn.com). How might the same material be written as a feature for a local television news program? (Recall what you learned about writing with visual images in Chapter 7.)

4. Interview the owner or manager of a coffee shop and find out about the customers the shop serves. What is the target market? Is marketing or demographic data available? Based on your own observations and interviews and any data you acquire, write two print ads for the shop and one radio ad.

5. If a coffee shop is trying a new product or service, students should write a press release announcing the product or service.