IWW
Practice-W Exercise Archives
Exercise: Sound off!
These
exercises were written
by IWW
members
and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its
members.
You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that
you found
them at the Internet Writers Workshop
(http://www.internetwritingworkshop.org/).
Prepared by: Lani Kraus
Posted on: Sun, 11 Mar 2001
Last week we used light -- in many variations -- to illuminate our
passages. But, not everyone responds to visual cues.
Sit down with someone you know. Ask that person to tell you about a
wonderful day when he was pre-teen. Watch his eyes. His eyes may raise
as
he thinks of images of a special day. His eyes may gaze toward his ears
as
he listens for the memories. Or, he may lower his eyes, as he recalls
the
feelings inspired by those special moments. Try a few more questions
that
tap into his memory, and you'll find a preferred sense that this friend
employs.
Most people use their sense of vision most comfortably, but not
everyone. There are certainly those who are most deeply moved and
entranced by sound. So how to reach these potential readers?
Listen to this incredible line by Joyce Carol Oates (from "We Were
the
Mulvaneys"):
"Marianne's pretty face lit up in its customary dazzling smile. "Hi,
Della
Rae!"--the very voice, a lilting soprano, of Caucasian privilege."
I read that line and said to myself, "Holy macanoli! What a line!"
Can you reach a music lover? Can you make me hear bells?, or birds
sing?,
or perhaps Asian oppression?
For this exercise, write a scene, no more than 300 words, in which
you
employ sound in order to move and involve your reader.
Have fun!
Web site created by
Rhéal Nadeau and
the administrators of the Internet Writing Workshop.
Modified by Gayle Surrette.
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