1. ASManager2_6.zip Driver
2. f_auth1.txt File Contents

f_auth1.txt Driver File Contents (ASManager2_6.zip)

Name: <  >
Class: <  >
Date: <  >

One Fall Author

Read this short passage from An American Childhood by Annie Dillard. Then, imagine you are the squirrel in this passage! Write a short story or poem about what you see as you travel across the trees.

"In those first days, people said a squirrel could run the long length of Pennsylvania without ever touching the ground. In those first days, the woods were white oak and chestnut, hickory, maple, sycamore, walnut, wild ash, wild plum, and white pine. The pine grew on the ridge tops where the mountains' lumpy spines stuck up and their skin was thinnest.

Wild grapevines tangled the treetops and shut out the sun. Few songbirds lived in the deep woods. Bright Carolina parakeets -- red, green, and yellow -- nested in the forest. There were ravens then, too. Woodpeckers rattled the big trees' trunks, ruffled grouse whirred their tail feathers in the fall, and every long once in a while a nervous gang of empty-headed turkeys came hustling and kicking through the leaves -- but no one heard any of this, no one at all."

Prewrite

To get started, think about the passage and answer these questions.

What sense of "time" do you get from the passage? (What year do you think it is?)

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How does the passage make you feel?

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What creatures inhabit the world?

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Where is that world?

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What does the world look like; feel like; sound like?

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Is it a world you would like to be a part of? Why or why not?

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Name and save this file now.  (Press Ctrl-S, type a name for the file, and press Enter.)

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Now, pretend you are the squirrel in the passage! What is the strongest or most meaningful image (picture) you see as you travel across the trees? (This may be a good image to begin writing about.)

Describe the image (picture) in a few words.

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Describe what you see, feel, and hear.

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What is most important about your world? (Remember, you're the squirrel!)

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How do you want others to feel about you?

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Write a draft of your story or poem. You can start with:

"As I travel across the trees, I see...."

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Rewrite/Edit

Reread your story or poem. Check to see if you used words like I, me, and mine. Then, read your story out loud to a friend. Ask your friend to suggest words that would make your story more colorful and descriptive. Add these words to your story or poem.

If you haven't done so already, name and save this file now.  (Press Ctrl-S, type a name for the file, and press Enter.)

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end of activity
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