Further to the recycling theme
Aug. 7th, 2006 10:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bksCleaned out more stuff from the Closet o' Junk at Mom's house -- there are a couple of boxes of books and notebooks from college left over. The box I brought home to go through included Spanish & Russian texts, along with some English stuff. I'd forgotten about some of this stuff -- what a walk down memory lane. Had a writing instructor for composition who made us write imitations of passages by famous authors. Didn't have time (and in theory wasn't supposed to need) to teach grammar or sentence structure, so the imitations were his way of working on grammar and getting a little bit of writing out of us. We had to use the same number of modifying clauses, punctuation, etc., then we would circulate them and critique them.
I'm looking at the grades written on them and wondering what the curve was, because these read as stiff as cardboard. ::sigh:: Writing anything other than a straight up research paper was always my weak spot. I lack imagination and a writing style.
Here's one, based on the longest freakin' sentence I can remember reading outside of a legal agreement:
Any guesses about what long-a$$ sentence that was modelled after? If you can tell me what passage it is in imitation of, you'll win a prize: either ebook or mmp, haven't decided which yet. I don't think it's that obscure, but if no one guesses the title (or at least the author), I'll select one post/guess at random. Hint about author: think big bugs.
I'm looking at the grades written on them and wondering what the curve was, because these read as stiff as cardboard. ::sigh:: Writing anything other than a straight up research paper was always my weak spot. I lack imagination and a writing style.
Here's one, based on the longest freakin' sentence I can remember reading outside of a legal agreement:
Once the playground was the place for all the children to romp; Every day of the school year they played out there; everyone laughing and playing during recess, and before and after school; there were kids who always jumped rope, chanting and hopping while watching the rest of the playground; even when it snowed children went out there, then the romping was delightful - with angels and snowmen and snowballs, too; in the spring and summer days there was kickball on the black top, and then the children got to kick and run and laugh around the bases; the older kids at the middle school stared and thought them silly, but the teachers watched fondly, standing in a group by the school-building amazed by them as they frolicked among their groups in brightly colored clothes, with arms swinging and legs pumping to the rhythm of the ropes, feet pounding away on the hard-packed earth of the playground, sometimes screaming with laughter, sometimes gasping frantically for breath, even turning to see their pursuer then diving behind the sliding board hiding from whoever was "it", or waiting (hoping they'd forget) to hear the ringing of the little bells of their teachers, huddled with their rosey-cheeked friends, every once in a while giggling with glee.
Any guesses about what long-a$$ sentence that was modelled after? If you can tell me what passage it is in imitation of, you'll win a prize: either ebook or mmp, haven't decided which yet. I don't think it's that obscure, but if no one guesses the title (or at least the author), I'll select one post/guess at random. Hint about author: think big bugs.
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no subject
Date: 2006-08-08 01:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-08 02:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-08 02:37 pm (UTC)Madlibs!
Date: 2006-08-08 03:07 pm (UTC)Ack!
Date: 2006-08-08 02:42 pm (UTC)The kickball and bases are mine -- that's my (old) imitation of the opening sentence of something else he wrote. I'd post the original sentence, too, except that would give it away, because the title is in the opening phrase. I think it is fairly well known, since it was in a compendium of literary works used in a college English class.
Re: Ack!
Date: 2006-08-08 03:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-08 02:46 pm (UTC)You haven't missed much, imo.
Maybe The Process? (nt)
Date: 2006-08-08 03:07 pm (UTC)