Goodbye, Vietnam & Inside Out & Back Again, A Wri: Writing Light

What verbs does Madeleine L’Engle use to describe the way light moves in the examples below?

Example 4: Light began to pulse and quiver. Meg blinked… She couldn’t shove through the strange, trembling light…

Example 5: The light spread until the patch of Dark Thing had vanished, and there was only a gentle shining…Then, slowly, the shining dwindled until it, too, was gone.

• pulse, quiver, trembling, spread, dwindled

• patch, vanish, gentle

• twinkle, smash, through

What verbs do Gloria Whelan and Thanhha Lai use to describe the way light moves in Examples 1-3?

Example 1:

the light danced

Example 2: the sun glanced off the water and came at us from all sides.

Example 3:

The full moon shines on 

the bulkiest lump. 

Moonlight turns us silver.

• bounced, dribbled, kicked

• bulkiest lump

• sun, water, sides

• danced, glanced, came at us, shines, turns

Look at Hope Larsen’s drawings here. What other verbs (besides the ones that appear in the Madeleine L’Engle original) could you use to describe what the shadow here (the white thing - in this case, an ABSENCE of light) does in these panels?

Choose Example 1, 2 or 3, then discuss what the description reveals (shows) about tone (mood) and setting.

Choose one of the student-authored passages below. What verbs does the author use to describe the way the light or darkness moves in the example you chose?

Example 8, from the Silver Cliff

As she reaches the first row of headstones, the misty air freezes her face, and blue lights dance across the top of the cliff.

Example 9, from Uncaged

Sun shines through orange clouds. Needles of light poke the dark dust.

Example 10, from Hardware Stall

Behind the counter, the owner’s teeth sink into a chunk of apple. Light pours onto her cheekbone, eyes lock on the unknown.

Example 11, from The Sky Blooms with Light

Balloon-shaped clouds 

levitate above the sun and the sky blooms with light. An arc of colors reflects onto my gray ceiling.

Discuss what the description in the student example you chose reveals (shows) about tone (mood) and setting.

In the example below, light takes a “shape.” What’s the shape, and how does it impact tone? How would tone change if the authors had used a different “shape noun”?

Sun shines through orange clouds. Needles of light poke the dark dust.

• The shape is 'clouds,' which creates a calm tone; using 'shadows' would darken the tone.
• The shape is 'light,' impacting the tone by making it bright; using 'darkness' would enhance the mood.
• The shape is 'needles,' impacting the tone by creating tension; using 'rays' would soften the tone.

Personification is a comparison between a non-living thing and a person. How is light personified in the example below? What does light do here that’s something people do?

Example 1: It was only a morning sun, but the light danced on the water and the heat felt like the middle of the afternoon.

• Light shines brightly on the water; shining is something people do.

• Light is personified by 'dancing' on the water, an action that people do.
• Light warms the water like a heater.
• Light reflects off the water's surface.

1. Review the Strong Writing anchor chart then choose an example from the READ section and discuss how its light description illustrates (shows) the following:

• 1. Sensory details

• 2. Motion

• 3. Tension