read an article from 2005 called “The Scent of the Nile”, and complete the below questionnaire.
30 words max for each question, shorter is fine, be precise and exquisite.
Please give your answers in essay form, use complete sentences that explain themselves, and give context. Make it stylish! Use the techniques in the Style Guide. Don’t copy and paste, paraphrase! Make the writing your own.
PREFERRED WRITING TECHNIQUES GIVE CONTEXT -It is important to write essay answers to questionnaires using complete sentences with CONTEXT so that each essay answer could stand alone as a communicative and persuasive copy for someone who has no knowledge of that week’s film or other media asset. Indicate what and who you’re writing about, don’t assume that the reader knows or has seen the question you are responding to.
AVOID WORD REPETITION -One thing that can wreck the STYLE of any answer is the repeated use of the same word, or even a variation on that word, especially in the same sentence, when that repetition is not done intentionally or for effect.
CREATE WORD PICTURES -The point of the class questionnaires, aside from being tools to make sure you watch the films and listen to the podcasts, is for you to have consistent practice in the art of WRITING WITH STYLE. That means using evocative word choices (use action verbs, use illustrative adjectives). Write in a way that paints a picture in the reader’s minds in such a way that would compel someone to engage in the film (or podcast) even if they’ve never heard of it.
WRITING WITH STYLE -The ability to write with style will be invaluable to your career, so use our class questionnaires as exercises to better your own abilities as a writer. Because like it or not, a large part of being able to do what you want to do will require you all to be good writers.
PUNCTUATION AND SPACING ON THE PAGE FOR EMPHASIS – If you are working in Adobe Acrobat (which you should be), It’s quite EASY to do a paragraph break. You can go bold. You can italicize. You can even underline!
REQUIRED WRITING TECHNIQUES ALLITERATION – Using multiple words with the same starting letter or sound in a pattern that is pleasing.
RHYTHM and MUSICALITY – read your copy OUT LOUD to create this effect on the page. REPETITION OF WORDS – Used for an aesthetic effect or to make a point, not randomly or accidentally.
USE OF FAMILIAR PHRASES or COMMON SAYINGS – and/or turning a known phrase around.
ASK A PROVOCATIVE QUESTION… to which you either give the answer or purposefully withhold it.
PARAGRAPH BREAKS – for emphasis, or to create a rhythm, or to highlight a phrase and make it stand out.
BE CREATIVE – replace commonplace adjectives and adverbs with more expressive choices. Instead of “very hot,” maybe “scorching”?
WRITE WORD PICTURES – use your words to paint visual images in the mind of your reader. Be illustrative. Avoid generic descriiptions.
GIVE CONTEXT – For the questionnaires, always incorporate elements of the question into your response. Don’t assume that the reader is aware of anything! Let alone the question to which you’re responding.
BE PROFESSIONAL – When referring to historical figures or people who are actually alive, use their full name (first and last) the first time you introduce them. Later, use their last name or their full name (you may include honorifics such as Ms., Mr., etc. but do not refer to actual persons by their first names – ever!). You don’t know these people! However, with fictional characters the opposite applies. Fictional characters should always be identified by their first names.
NO “I STATEMENTS” – Never refer to yourself in your writing with words such as “I”, “Me”, “To me”, “I think”, “For me”, etc. As a professional writer, you are a neutral character even if what you are relaying is in fact a personal response. This takes a bit of extra thinking. Describe your thoughts and feelings without identifying them through the use of “I”, “Me”, etc.
