Advanced Techniques and Special Effects

As I read this week's assigned chapters from Noden, I couldn't help but question how the advanced techniques, as described in chapter 5, could be taught to younger and more inexperienced writers. Should they be taught to inexperienced writers? Of run-ons, Noden writes, "Like fragments, run-ons are powerful structures when used skillfully by professional writers." Does this mean that it is impossible for students of the English language to efficiently use run-ons and fragments meaningfully? I do not believe that this is the concept that Noden is intending to express, or that he is trying to create any sort of debate. However, I do think that there is value in sharing these types of creative techniques with students. Though these techniques do not meet the grammatical standards typically held in a secondary classroom, there is definitely importance in demonstrating that writing does not have to be a boring task of following rules. In teaching this kind of material, teachers must be careful, making it clear that run-ons and fragments must be used for reasons, rather than utilized constantly.

In chapter 6, Noden discusses the way in which writers can use grammar to create special effects in their writing. This reminded me of chapter 3, when Noden discussed using rhythm to make writing musical. I felt that this chapter was similar in that the writer is able to breathe life into a text by rearranging or changing punctuation to create a noticeable effect.

I really appreciated Noden's discussion of Dawkin's Punctuation Hierarchy. This is the first time that I have every encountered this and feel that it makes sense of exactly how to use punctuation for special effects, such as a pause. I think that the chart provided in the book could be something that would work well as a handout. Students could use the hierarchy as a tool to assess what type of effect they are going for, and choose their punctuation accordingly. It also works to familiarize students with some punctuation that they may be somewhat less comfortable using, such as the semicolon and the colon.

Some of the other ideas in the chapter that I found to be very appealing were shape poetry and "tantalizing" title use. These topics connect in that they help readers to develop a first impression of a text before they begin reading it. The shape poetry section of this chapter was very interesting to me, and I think that having students study shape poetry and create their own would be a great project for a poetry unit. The title pattern suggestions would make another great handout, as it could help students write titles for any documents that they have to write for school and in the future. Titles should be catchy and meaningful, but they are often difficult to generate. Therefore, giving students these templates could help them to generate ideas and create effective and exciting titles for their papers. I also really appreciated the strategy that followed along with the tantalizing titles theme, using Amazon.com to find examples of how authors use grammatical structures in their titles.