Tell Me about Your Life as a Trapeze Artist: Interview into Narrative Essay

My great-grandmother marked the day in her journal when she received her first icebox. What was she using for refrigeration before then?

One acquaintance traveled the world with the army during the Vietnam years and isn’t even allowed to tell me what he did, though he likes to tell me about the strange food he ate on those trips.

But I’m not the only one who knows interesting folks.

People in your family, your church, and your neighborhood have led remarkable lives as well. They’ve fought in wars and been in accidents. They’ve experienced disasters, invented things, started their own businesses, overcome debilitating abuse or sickness, beat the odds, seen the world, or eaten raw squid.

These people want to tell their stories to someone who will listen. And your children, in interviewing these people, will come away with a new perspective on history and life. This type of writing activity is well worth the effort.

Be the Advice Columnist

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Dear Listening Ear,

My girlfriend and I were shopping yesterday, and I saw her steal a necklace from the store. Today she gave the necklace to another friend as a birthday present. Should I tell someone about my friend stealing? Should I tell the girl who has the necklace that it’s stolen?

Signed,

Confused in Corning

Your Resume

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Who is this guy?

“I can build moveable bridges for you and also blow them up. If you want your enemies’ bridges destroyed, I can do that as well. I’m pretty handy designing and making catapults and trebuchet for your defense or offense. In times of peace, count on me as an architect to design not only buildings but also waterways. I can also sculpt or paint anything you would like. Oh, and by the way, if you want a demonstration of anything I’ve listed here, I’ll be glad to oblige you. Let’s set up an appointment on your property.”

These are paraphrases from a real resume penned in the late 1400s.

Who is this guy, and would you hire him?

Noah: Devoted or Demented?

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Noah was a righteous man who obeyed God. No, he was a psychotic mess who heard voices and saw visions.

God destroyed the earth in a worldwide flood because mankind’s sins were so great. No, he flooded the earth because we were cruel to animals and were destroying our planet.

Well, which is it?

Welcome to this week’s high school writing prompt. Is it about the new movie Noah?

Yes. And no.

Should We Ban the Word “Bossy”?

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Bossy girls have been in the news—not really the girls themselves but the word bossy when describing girls or young women.

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s former Chief Operating Officer, wants to ban the word bossy when describing girls. She believes it mischaracterizes young women with leadership skills. It seems that girls with leadership skills are sometimes called bossy, which demeans their talents, goals, abilities, and even themselves, while boys with leadership skills are not considered bossy. They are considered future leaders. You can learn more about Sandberg’s campaign by clicking here.

Other people believe the word bossy

National Reading Month

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Treasure Island. The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Frankenstein. Pride and Prejudice.

What books should everyone read?

To celebrate National Reading Month in the United States, Amazon posted “100 Books to Read in a Lifetime.” What books do they think everyone should read? Here’s a sampling from their list,

What’s Your Story?

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Have you lived through an illness? Been in an accident? Are you stuck in the middle in your family? Do you have a tendency to lie? Are you afraid of what others think about you?

Can you imagine putting your trouble, weakness, or sin on a piece of paper for all to see?

Cardboard story

That’s just what teens in one group did. They wrote the negative or troubling thing about themselves on one side of a large piece of cardboard and showed it to viewers. Then they flipped the cardboard around to show how God helped them or to reveal a truth about themselves that God showed them. You can view their “cardboard testimonies” here.

Change Nouns to Verbs for Clear Writing

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

change nouns to verbs Ever wonder why some writing is so confusing? You read it once. It makes no sense. You read it again and hope for the best.

Most business, legal, and government writing rely on lengthy and unclear sentences and plenty of nouns.

Nouns stop the forward motion of the sentence and often make the sentence longer, like this:

The addition of a 10-minute warm-up routine made the winning of the gold medal possible for him.

Why not punch up the sentence with specific, active verbs? This generally makes sentences shorter, and it definitely makes them easier to understand, like this:

How a Tiny Tick Almost Stopped Her

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Angeli Vanlaanen has had it rough. When she was ten years old, she fell ill and continued to experience symptoms until she was twenty-four: headaches, sore muscles and joints, fatigue, fainting, blurry vision, and so forth.

The diagnosis

Still, she pushed herself to learn how to ice skate and snow ski. Her sport of choice is women’s halfpipe skiing, which she competed in despite the severe pain in her joints and her other physical ailments.

Doctors had long ago given up trying to diagnose her illness. Maybe she was making up the symptoms. Maybe it was all in her head—that is, until her aunt

The Enumerative Essay: Parking Spaces and Baseball

SHARON’S BLOG

My husband Terry gave me the idea for this writing prompt though he didn’t know it at the time.

A love of lists

Last summer we drove to our local grocery store, and as Terry pulled into a spot, he said, “I like to park here because . . . ,” and he listed four reasons why he likes to park in that particular place. Now that you know how exciting our lives are, you’ll be happy to know that his love of lists surfaced yet again—at the ball park.

We were watching the Indianapolis Indians play the Rochester Redwings when one of the Indians smacked a ball and headed toward first. Terry leaned over to me and said, “There are nine ways to get to first safely.” Or was it seven?

Terry was halfway to writing an enumerative essay because he began with a number (four or nine) and had a secure idea of a list.