MACDUFF EVERTON FOR TIME

Narrative
1
MACDUFF EVERTON FOR TIME
Sylvia Earle, here at Big Sur in California, sees many threats to the world’s oceans.
Exploring the Deep
“
Narrative
1
You have to love it before you are moved to save it,”
says world-famous marine biologist Sylvia Earle.
She is talking about the greatest love of her life—the
ocean. And if anyone in the world knows what it will take
to save the millions of species that live in our oceans, it’s
Earle.
The oceans define the earth. They cover almost 75%
of the planet and hold 97% of its water. Nearly half of the
world’s population lives within 60 miles of the sea.
Scientists say that 10 million to 30 million species of sea
life may still be undiscovered.
UNDER THE SEA
Earle, 63, takes fish personally. She has gone on at least
50 diving expeditions and spent more than 6,000 hours
under the sea. In 1970 she was captain of the first team of
women to live beneath the ocean’s surface. The five
“aquanauts” spent two weeks in an underwater laboratory—a small structure—off the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Since 1979, when she walked freely on the ocean floor
1,250 feet beneath the water’s surface, Earle has been
known as “Her Deepness.” She holds the world record for
the deepest dive by any human outside a submarine.
Now, Earle has a new job: explorer-in-residence for
the National Geographic Society. As the leader of a fiveyear project, Earle will use a zippy new submarine to
study the waters of the 12 national marine sanctuaries—
Level 6
underwater areas similar to national parks that are protected by the U.S. government.
THREATS TO THE OCEAN
Earle is terribly concerned that people are polluting and
overfishing the ocean. Fishing methods that use trawlers
to dredge the ocean floor also destroy underwater habitats. Earle calls the trawlers “bulldozers.”
Another threat comes from man-made fertilizers,
which wash off fields into streams and eventually into the
ocean. This encourages the harmful overgrowth of algae
and the spread of toxic germs that can kill fish and cause
human health problems. Billions of fish died along the
middle and southern Atlantic coast of the U.S. in recent
years, and pollution is the main suspect.
Earle offers several solutions to these problems. She
urges people to take action, to volunteer to clean a beach.
She also hopes people will learn as much as they can
about how the ocean keeps all of us alive. “Far and away
the greatest threat to the ocean, and thus to ourselves, is
ignorance,” she says. “But we can do something about
that.”
Earle sits on a rock and stares out at her beloved sea.
She claims the key to the earth’s future is not to be found
among the stars. “The future is here,” she says, “on this
aquatic planet blessed with an ocean.”
©TIME Inc.
1
Why do you think half the
world’s population lives within
60 miles of the sea?
2
Was Earle a good choice as
explorer-in-residence for the
National Geographic Society?
Why or why not?
3
What personality traits does
Earle possess that suit her
profession?
4
Does Earle feel people are living
up to their responsibility to the
ocean? What might she say in a
nationwide address?
Writer’s Response
1
In the first paragraph, why does
the writer refer to the ocean as
“the greatest love of her
[Earle’s] life”? When do people
usually use this expression?
2
How does the title “Her
Deepness”—used in the fourth
paragraph—affect readers’ view
of Earle?
3
Why does the writer include
Earle’s comparison of trawlers
to bulldozers?
4
For what reason might the
writer end this article with a
look to the future?
Level 6
”
Reader’s Response
The facts about a person’s life can be
impressive, but the
feelings and commitment
behind the accomplishments
have a greater impact. Sylvia
BIOGRAPHICAL
Earle has had an impressive
SKETCHES
career in marine biology,
including some ‘firsts’ and
‘world records.’ However, I
found her quiet devotion to
the world’s oceans most moving. In telling readers about Sylvia Earle, I wanted to capture her
passionate commitment to and unselfish love of the sea.
To do this, I decided to let her speak for herself. That’s why I
began and ended the article with quotations: ‘You have to love it
before you are moved to save it’ and ‘The future is here on this
aquatic planet blessed with an ocean.’ The words are simple and
direct but full of honest feeling.
I also began several paragraphs with sentences expressing
Earle’s feelings and attitudes. She ‘takes fish personally.’ She ‘is terribly concerned’ about the ocean’s precarious situation. Putting her
concerns into action, she ‘offers several solutions,’ ‘urges people to
take action,’ and ‘hopes people will learn.’ By injecting Earle’s feelings, hopes, and concerns into the article, I hoped to take it
from a mere list of accomplishments to a full portrait of a
committed professional—one with a vision for the future.
✏
”
Think about a memorable
experience you’ve had near the
water—maybe a lake, ocean or
river. What happened? Write a
narrative about your experience.
✏
Imagine you work for a bigcity aquarium. As public relations
specialist, you are to design the
posters advertising Earle’s
upcoming demonstration-lecture at your aquarium.
Write the copy and make illustrations for the poster.
Take information from the article and make up the rest.
✏
Write a public-service ad for radio that will
persuade people to volunteer to clean up a local
polluted site. Be sure to give compelling reasons why
they should act and tell them exactly what action is
needed.
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
Narrative
2
ANDERS OVERGAARD
Schwarz hangs
with Gus Gutz,
Harry Hairball and
other pals.
Serious About Fun
Narrative
2
A toymaker with a gutsy way of doing business
L
arry Schwarz, 29, has tinkered with toys all his life.
As a child, he would pull apart his toys, then glue a
mishmash of the parts together. He’d make toy
rockets, cars, and buildings out of boxes. Although he put
his toys away long enough to become a child actor, a
stand-up comic, and even a lawyer, nothing could shake
Schwarz’s childhood passion. In 1997 he started the
Rumpus toy company, where he invents all the toys.
Schwarz knows it takes guts to compete with giant toy
companies like Mattel and Hasbro. That’s why he invents
wacky toys like Gus Gutz, a stuffed doll with 12 squishy
vital organs, and Sy Klops, a one-eyed doll.
“We try to create clever stuff we want to play with,”
says Schwarz. Even the boxes are playful. Printed outlines
and instructions on some Rumpus toy boxes allow you to
turn them into clubhouses, TVs, buses, or gliders.
Level 6
Schwarz dreamed up many toys while in law school.
Instead of taking notes in class, he filled 26 notebooks
with toy sketches! Still, he managed to get his law degree.
Today, instead of working in a courtroom, Schwarz skateboards around two pinball machines, a toy showroom, a
Dalmatian named Kirby, and 21 employees at Rumpus’
New York City headquarters. The youngest worker is
Tanner Zucker, 18, who oversees Rumpus’ website,
www.rumpustoys.com.
Schwarz loves to hit the highway in his Rumpus Road
Rocket, a multicolored, retired school bus. He visits hospitals and schools, bringing toys, good cheer, and advice.
Says Schwarz: “If you believe in something enough and
think you can do it, you really should give it a try.”
©TIME Inc.
Reader’s Response
1
What does the name Rumpus
suggest about Schwarz’s toy
company?
2
What do Rumpus toy boxes
suggest about the philosophy of
this toy company?
3
How would you describe
Schwarz’s personality?
4
Would you like to work at
Rumpus toys? Why or why not?
5
What are some reasons
Schwarz might have chosen an
old school bus as a corporate
vehicle?
For a story about a toy
company tycoon, I
thought it would be
appropriate to use playful language. I was lucky because
CHOOSING
Larry Schwarz provided plenty
EFFECTIVE
of word play in his products.
Presenting the lowdown about
WORDS
a fun business in funny language was practically done for
me.
First, there was the company name: Rumpus sounds
funny. It suggests a noisy but good-natured commotion, with folks
having a lot of fun. Then there were the unusual and laughable toy
names like Gus Gutz with the removable organs and Sy Klops with
the one eye (a play on the Odyssey’s one-eyed giant Cyclops). Even
Schwarz’s choice of names for his corporate wheels, Rumpus Road
Rocket, is as colorful as the old school bus he repainted and uses to
advertise.
With givens like these, it was easy to complete the zany mood
with just a little tinkering with language and description. Words like
mishmash and wacky help maintain the attitude of having fun. Add
in descriptions of the distracted law student sketching toys instead
of taking notes; the toy tycoon skateboarding through his wild, oneof-a-kind headquarters; and the determined inventor careening
along in a rainbow-colored, old school bus full of wacky
toys, and you have the ingredients for an article as happy
and fast paced as a Marx Brothers movie.
”
Writer’s Response
1
In the title of the article, the
writer combines words that
seem to contradict each other:
serious and fun. Why?
2
Why does the writer use the
word gutsy to describe
Schwarz’s way of doing
business?
3
Schwarz has invented many
toys. Why does the writer
choose to mention these two—
Gus Gutz and Sy Klops?
4
Why does the writer describe
Schwarz’s actions at law
school, at his headquarters, and
in his “Road Rocket”?
5
Why does the writer tell readers
about the youngest employee of
Rumpus?
Level 6
✏
Imagine you are an
employee of Rumpus and a lifelong
friend of Larry Schwarz. Write an
account of what it is like to work
there and what it has been like to
be Schwarz’s friend all these
years.
✏
Pretend you are the
personnel director for Rumpus. You are
looking for a bright young person with unique ideas to
come to work in the toy development department.
Write a help-wanted ad for this position.
✏
Which of your toys was (is) your favorite? Why?
Write a narrative about your experiences with this toy.
Include details to help your reader understand why it
was (is) a favorite.
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
3
Narrative
DOUG MILLS/AP
Mr. Speedy
Sprinter Michael Johnson is
still burning up the track
O
ther runners used to laugh at the funny way
Michael Johnson ran. Most sprinters lean
forward, lift their knees high, and take long
strides. Michael runs with his back arched. He
doesn’t lift his knees. He takes short strides.
“There’s no way this guy is going to run fast!” the
other sprinters chuckled.
Nobody is laughing now. Michael has become
one of the greatest sprinters of all time.
A SPEEDING CAR
Michael has dominated the 200-meter and 400meter events since 1990. He won 58 straight 400meter finals from 1990 to 1997. He was unbeaten in
200-meter finals 32 times from 1994 to 1996.
Michael ran his best at the 1996 Olympics. No
man in history had won the 200-meter race and the
400-meter race at the same Games. Michael
planned to be the first.
He won the 400 in 43.49 seconds. Three nights
later, he blasted the 200 in 19.32 seconds.
And he’s not finished yet. Michael plans to set
more records and win more medals.
Narrative
Michael has a secret: confidence. When he walks to
the starting line, his game face seems to say, “You
guys don’t have a chance!”
Michael is also very organized. Before a race, he
sets out his uniform,
socks, and shoes. He
picks out the clothes he’ll
wear after the race. He
puts details of his workouts into an electronic
organizer.
“I try to prepare as
much as I can,” says
Michael. “When the gun
goes off, I want to know
that I’ve done everything
to get ready.”
Attending Baylor University in Waco, Texas, he won the
national college championship in the 200 as a senior. After
graduation, in 1990, Michael went to Europe to race the world’s
top sprinters. The super-fast guy with the strange-looking
stride had the track world buzzing in a hurry.
Michael has had his ups and downs since 1996. A hamstring
injury knocked him out of the early part of the 1998 season.
But Michael is back. He is eager, hungry, and fast. And he
still has big plans for the 200 and the 400. Win or lose, one
thing is for sure: No one laughs at the “funny” way Michael
runs anymore.
DOUG MILLS/AP
3
CONFIDENCE GAME
Michael (379) set the 200-meter world record (19.66 seconds)
at the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials.
SUPER FAST
Michael joined the track
team as a sophomore in
high school. As a senior,
he finished second in the
200 in the Texas state
high school meet.
Level 6
Michael shattered his own world record at the 1996 Olympics.
©TIME Inc.
Reader’s Response
1
Why are other sprinters
intimidated by Michael
Johnson?
2
How does being organized help
Michael win?
3
What effect might Michael’s
confident, determined game
face have on opponents?
4
Do you think runners will now
try to copy the way Michael
runs? Why or why not?
Using different kinds of
sentences adds richness
to any writing. If all
sentences are the same length
and structure, readers find it difVARYING
ficult to read an article, no matSENTENCE
ter how interesting the subject.
As a sportswriter, I also aim to
LENGTH
create sentences that are as
hard-hitting and direct as the
athletes I describe.
One way to achieve a nononsense, driving style is to
draft short sentences with action
verbs. Of course, an entire article of short sentences would become
monotonous. But by interspersing short, medium, and long sentences,
I get the variety I need and express ideas the way I want.
For example, in the lead to ‘Mr. Speedy,’ the two opening sentences
each contain 12 words. The last three, which focus on Johnson, contain
6, 5, and 4 words. Look at the difference in these two:
Most sprinters lean forward, lift their knees high, and take long
strides.
Michael runs with his back arched.
Now read the lead paragraph aloud. Can you hear how the contrasting
sentences complement each other? The variety also makes the shorter
sentences stand out. Reread the article with an eye to discovering how
its sentences are put together. You’ll see that many key sentences are
very short:
Michael has a secret: confidence.
But Michael is back.
Now you know one secret to writing with power. Try it out!
Writer’s Response
1
In the subtitle of the article, why
does the writer italicize the
word still?
2
Why might the writer have
begun this piece by telling how
runners used to laugh at
Michael?
3
Why is the word and italicized in
the fifth paragraph?
4
For what reason does the writer
include information about
Michael Johnson’s high school
career?
5
Why does the writer end the
article by again referring to
Michael’s “funny” way of
running?
Level 6
✏
Interview a winning athlete
from your school district. Study this
article to see what type of
information you can include in a
profile of a sports figure. Try to
vary your sentence length to make
your narrative lively and
descriptive.
”
✏
Imagine you are a 400meter runner competing against Michael Johnson at
the 1996 Olympic games. Write about the experience:
warming up, lining up next to Michael, hearing the
starter’s gun, running the race.
✏
Pretend you are a sportswriter about to interview
Johnson. Write out the questions you want to ask him.
Use this article and other background information to
write answers you think he would give you.
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
Narrative
4
ERICH SCHREMPP/PHOTO RESEARCHERS
4
Race the Wind
Narrative
W
hen the sand began kicking up and lashing our
faces, I started to worry that maybe we had
made a mistake. Maybe we should have left the
beach.
That afternoon, my dad had stood on the deck of our
home and laughed as our neighbors packed up their cars
and headed inland. They left to spend the night in motels
or at friends’ homes that were out of range of the
approaching summer storm. My dad believed his family
was made of stronger stuff.
Challenging the weather to dampen our spirits, my
sister, my mom, and I lit a fire on the beach. Dad told
jokes, using stick skewers to cook up marshmallows that
tasted like the burned bark.
Level 6
Now, it was 6:30 p.m. and all laughter
evaporated. Our eyes were drawn to the sky.
A dark wall of clouds marched toward us.
The red sunset bled through the storm
clouds, turning the sky into a swirling torrent of dark fire. Below, the black waves of
Lake Michigan grappled and slammed
against each other as they sent icy tendrils
toward the sky. Both sky and lake appeared
locked in a dangerous battle and we were
trapped in the middle.
“Look!” My sister, Kim, spotted it first.
Her tiny finger pointed toward the horizon.
It was a waterspout—a tornado whose funnel was made of fresh water—and it was
heading straight for us.
In a flash, we were all on our feet. My dad
began mumbling, “It’s okay, it’s okay.” The
wind started screaming and now we were
running toward the cottage. My mom
stopped next to the front door. “Where can
we go?” She shouted the question at my
dad.
Most cottages on this part of Lake
Michigan had been built without basements—and ours was no exception. The
huge bay windows and rickety construction
of the cottage interior wouldn’t offer safety
from high winds.
I turned to look at the sky. Now it didn’t
look beautiful. It looked deadly. This liquid
sister of the tornado wouldn’t wait for us to
get in the car and drive to safety.
“Under the deck!” my dad yelled. We
scrambled beneath the deck, pressing ourselves against the foundation of the cottage.
Between the deck supports, we watched the
approaching storm in silent terror.
The 200-foot-high waterspout shot
toward us, not in the lazy way of a wave but
as if it had been fired from a cannon the size
of the sun.
My dad shouted, “Hold on!” and something else I couldn’t hear over the screaming
wind. I think he was praying.
The spout sprinted over the final stretch of water, an
animal eager to make the kill. It lunged over the crashing
waves, it twisted through the blood-red sky, and then it
hit the beach.
The waterspout literally skipped. And then like a monster of the night that is exposed to the sun, this monster of
the water began to disintegrate when it hit land. By the
time it reached our cottage, it was nothing more than a
strong gust of water-colored wind that pelted our bodies.
The rest of the storm raged for an hour and then simply
blew away.
“Next time, we’ll stay inland at Grandma’s. Okay?” my
dad said, tears of relief in his eyes.
We all agreed that would be a good idea.
©TIME Inc.
1
Why does the narrator’s father
laugh at the families who left?
2
When does the family stop
thinking of this experience as a
challenge and an adventure?
What does it become?
3
What change does the father
undergo during this experience?
Do you think it will be a lasting
change? Explain.
4
Do you think the cottages
described in the narrative were
designed to be lived in yearround? Why or why not?
”
Reader’s Response
A metaphor is a powerful tool; used well it
breathes life into a
description. By comparing the
thing described to another
EXTENDED
well-known object or occurMETAPHOR
rence, a writer creates a
framework that is both concrete and imaginative. This
framework holds many sights,
sounds, feelings, etc., which
become associated with the
object being described. If the similarities between objects compared are strong, the metaphor can be extended for a number of
lines in the description.
The storm-swept sky and lake I describe in ‘Race the Wind’
provided just such an opportunity. The colors, movements, and
overall mood were so warlike, it seemed as though huge mythical
armies were clashing. The movements of clouds, air, and waves
were as violent, swift, and angry as those of foes intent on destroying each other. In the fourth paragraph, I extended this comparison by the use of verbs that describe actions of combatants:
marched, bled, grappled, slammed. Like a massed army, the
clouds present a ‘dark wall.’ Lake and sky are ‘locked in a dangerous battle.’ I hoped the power of this comparison would
arouse the same fear of danger and death in readers that
the characters at the lake felt.
”
Writer’s Response
1
The opening paragraph does not
follow the chronological order of
the rest of the narrative. Why
didn’t the writer place this
paragraph in order?
2
List the different descriptions of
the father’s reaction to the
storm. Describe how each
reaction signals a change in the
father’s attitude toward the
storm.
3
Why does the writer use so
many comparisons to monsters
and wild beasts in describing
the storm and waterspout?
4
What mood does the writer
suggest when he writes “the red
sunset bled through the storm
clouds”?
Level 6
✏
Think of a time when you felt
you were in danger. Did your
instinct for survival kick in? Write a
narrative describing the situation
and how you reacted to it.
✏
What kind of natural
catastrophe could occur in your
community: earthquake? flood?
tornado? hurricane? Prepare a
public-service poster explaining the actions people
should take to be safe in one of these emergencies. If
necessary, locate information from the local Red Cross
chapter or your school library.
✏
What awesome sight have you observed in
nature? Write a poem or a paragraph communicating
the power and beauty of this natural event. Try to
include an extended metaphor in your description.
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
Narrative
5
Jurassic Junkyard Art
Dinosaurs made of bumpers invade Texas
Narrative
5
J
ohn Kearney wouldn’t get angry if you called his
sculptures pieces of junk. He just might agree with
you! Kearney earns a living turning junk into art. His
favorite material: car bumpers.
Visitors to the 1998 State Fair of Texas in Dallas got a
look at Kearney’s gleaming artistry. They probably also
got a crick in their necks! Towering over the Dallas
Museum of Natural History, on the state fairgrounds,
Level 6
were Kearney’s Chromosaurs—giant dinosaur models
made entirely of chrome car bumpers. Kearney’s
Tyrannosaurus rex, triceratops, and stegosaurus weigh a
total of eight tons. They were on display to entertain fairgoers and promote the museum’s dinosaur exhibit.
Kearney and three helpers built the dinosaurs
between 1988 and 1991 for a Chicago businessman.
Kearney’s biggest challenge: the T. rex. At 18 feet, it’s the
tallest of the three. He built it in two pieces and in two
states: the upper half in Massachusetts, the tail end in
Illinois! It is the tallest sculpture the artist has ever made.
Kearney, 74, got hooked on recycling junk into art
when he was a third-grader. He discovered the beauty of
bumpers by accident more than 40 years ago. The
Chicago artist was searching a junkyard for interesting
stuff and came up with a bunch of old chrome bumpers.
“I tossed them onto the grass, and they fell into the shape
of a ballet dancer.”
Kearney’s Chromosaurs have been exhibited in two
states. Now they have retired to the Dallas museum. Will
Kearney ever retire? “It depends,” says the grandfather of
five, “I don’t know whether I’m going to run out of
bumpers or steam first.”
©TIME Inc.
ARIANE KADOCH/DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Kearney’s two-ton
T. rex lands in
Dallas. Below, the
artist climbs his
stegosaurus.
Reader’s Response
1
Why might the expression
“junkyard art” sound a little
strange to someone?
2
How would most sculptors react
if you called their pieces “junk”?
3
Would you like to spend a day
with John Kearney? Why or why
not?
4
If you had to describe John
Kearney in three words, what
would they be? Give reasons for
your choices.
Writer’s Response
1
How does the author catch the
reader’s interest in the first
sentence?
2
Where does the word
Chromosaur come from? How
does the author make this clear?
I guess it’s safe to
say that writers are
people who like to
fool around with words.
That’s not as funny as it
PLAYING
sounds. Some people tinker
WITH WORDS
with cars, kick balls, or take
photographs. I think words
are just as much fun. I’ve
been playing with them ever
since I was little.
So as a writer, I’m doing
what I want to do, just like a
professional ball player (only I don’t make so much money!).
And I’m still playing. For instance, in coming up with a title for
this story about the junkyard sculpture, I thought of the T. rex in
the movie Jurassic Park, and then I heard that same ar sound in
the word art. So that got me to thinking about Jurassic art.
Throwing in another j sound with the word junkyard gave the
title a nice ring: ‘Jurassic Junkyard Art.’ I don’t think that anyone
has ever put those three words together before!
I didn’t make up the word Chromosaur, but I wish I had.
What a great way of saying chrome dinosaur. Actually, sometimes these invented words make it into the dictionary. Lewis
Carroll, who wrote Alice in Wonderland, came up with the word
chortle. It’s a combination of the words chuckle and
snort, and it means a snorting laugh. I wish I’d thought
of that one too.
✏
Imagine that you visited the
Dallas Museum of Natural History,
not knowing that the Chromosaurs
would be on display. Write a letter
home to a friend, describing your
impressions.
✏
3
Why do you think the author
includes the fact that Kearney
has five grandchildren?
The Dallas Museum is
preparing a press release to
inform news outlets about the
Chromosaur exhibition. Write the information
that might be included in this notice.
4
Twice in the last paragraph, the
author uses a form of the verb
retire. Each use has a slightly
different meaning. What are the
two meanings?
✏
✏
Level 6
”
Interview an artist in your community. Write a
profile of him or her and share it with your classmates.
Write two letters to a local Dallas newspaper,
one saying that the Chromosaurs are a great idea, the
other one arguing that they are a ridiculous waste of
money.
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
Narrative
6
ILLUSTRATION FOR TIME BY DAVID COWLES
Satoshi Tajiri used his
childhood memories to
dream up a cast of critters.
Meet the quiet genius behind the Pokémon universe
Narrative
6
A
ttention Pokémaniacs: Who is most important in
the world of Pokémon?
(a) Ash Ketchum
(b) Mew
(c) Satoshi Tajiri
(d) Mewtwo
(e) Pikachu
The answer may surprise you: it’s (c) Satoshi Tajiri,
34, the shy, soft-spoken creator of Pokémon, which means
pocket monster. In an exclusive interview with TIME
reporter Tim Larimer, Tajiri explained how he got the
Poké ball rolling during his childhood in Japan.
“Everything I did as a kid is kind of rolled into one thing:
Pokémon,” says Tajiri.
As a boy, Tajiri collected bugs. “Every new insect was
a wonderful mystery,” he said. “And as I searched, I would
find more.” Tajiri also spent lots of time playing video
games and taking them apart to figure out how to make
his own.
In 1991 Tajiri came across a Nintendo Game Boy.
When he saw that two Game Boys could be linked with a
cable, inspiration struck. “I imagined an insect moving
back and forth across the cable,” he recalls. “My idea was
for information to go back and forth, to be shared.”
Just as Tajiri had collected bugs as a kid, the object of
the Pokémon games is to collect all of the more than 150
monsters. That goal is reached by arranging fights among
Pokémon and trading with other Pokémon trainers for
Level 6
SHUZO OGUSHI FOR TIME
rare ones. Trainers include Misty, Brock, and 10-year-old
Ash. In Japan the Ash character is named Satoshi, after
his creator.
Nobody at Nintendo was too excited by Tajiri’s strange
new game, but they decided to take a chance on it anyway
and released Pokémon in 1996.
Unknown to Nintendo, Tajiri had added a secret twist
in the Pokémon programming: a mysterious monster
known as Mew, who plays a big part in the new movie.
“You have to acquire Mew by interacting,” Tajiri says.
“Without trading, you can never get Mew.” The Mew
mystery got people talking about the game and made it
even more popular.
The final piece of the Pokémon puzzle was a yellow
pipsqueak named Pikachu, the thunder mouse who is
Ash’s cute sidekick. His popularity drew more kids—especially girls—into the Pokémon craze.
Pokémon fever spread even faster in the United States
than it had in Japan. More than 2 million of the starter
games were sold in 1999, the year Pokémon was introduced. The animated series was also a huge hit, while
Nintendo-sponsored gatherings called Pokémon League
training tours drew thousands of kids at a time.
But Pikachu, Grimer, Squirtle, and the rest of the gang
had better watch out. You don’t have to be an out-of-work
Power Ranger to know that today’s craze fades as soon as
the next big thing comes along.
©TIME Inc.
1
Why might a reader not think of
choosing Satoshi Tajiri as “most
important in the world of
Pokémon”?
2
What connection can you see
between Tajiri’s love of bugs and
his invention of Pokémon?
3
How do you think trading
monsters added to the success
of Pokémon?
4
Why are the Power Rangers
described as being “out-ofwork”?
5
Does the writer think that
Pokémon will continue to be a
big seller? Use details from the
article to support your opinion.
Writer’s Response
1
What new word does the writer
introduce in the first sentence of
this article? What does it mean?
2
What word does the writer use
in the third-to-last paragraph
that may partly explain
Pikachu’s popularity with girls?
3
By referring to the Pokémon
craze as a “fever” in the secondto-last paragraph, what is the
writer suggesting?
4
Why might the writer have
begun the article with a
multiple-choice quiz?
Level 6
”
Reader’s Response
You probably know
that poets choose
their words very
carefully in order to create
THE SOUND
the effect that they intend—
beauty or humor, mystery or
OF LANGUAGE
maybe even terror. But
what about magazine journalists like me? I consider
each word as carefully as a
poet would. When I wrote
‘Poké Power,’ for instance, I
knew that I wasn’t writing a poem, but I still worked hard to
select the words that I thought would catch a reader’s attention.
Let me give you two examples: ‘The final piece of the
Pokémon puzzle was a yellow pipsqueak named Pikachu.’
Read that sentence aloud. What do you notice about it? All
those p’s really catch your attention, don’t they? Originally, I
used character instead of pipsqueak in that sentence, but I
knew it didn’t sound quite right, so I searched the word bank
in my mind and came up with pipsqueak, which was perfect.
And, in the last paragraph, I had originally written ‘today’s
fashions vanish as soon as the next big thing comes
along,’ but don’t you think ‘today’s craze fades’ sounds
a lot better? Maybe I am a poet after all.
✏
”
Every two or three years a
craze like Pokémon sweeps through
the country. Interview an adult
about a craze that he or she
remembers well. Write an article
about this craze, based on your
interview. Be sure to use at least
one direct quote.
✏
Imagine that the Pokémon
craze is still as popular as ever and that Satoshi Tajiri
has run out of ideas! He asks you to come up with some
new creatures for the game. Invent five new Pokémon
characters, name them, and write a paragraph
describing each of them.
✏
Satoshi Tajiri was an avid collector of insects as a
boy. Write about a collection that you have or would like
to start.
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
7
Narrative
Hotshots: Kids in Sports
TANISHIA LOPEZ
Triathlete
Age: 11 Grade: 6th
Hometown: Rome,
Georgia
Football Player
Age: 13 Grade: 8th
Hometown: San Jose,
California
Alexander Coville almost blew it. He was racing at the
1998 IronKids triathlon national championships. He won
because he kept his cool.
Alexander was competing in the junior division (ages
7 to 10). Junior triathletes swim 100 meters, bike 3.1
miles, and run six-tenths of a mile. The athlete with the
fastest time wins.
Alexander led after the swim. He ran to his bike.
Oops! Wrong bike! He found his bike, hopped on, and
took off.
Then he dashed through the run. It’s his favorite
event.
Alexander won the division in 16 minutes 9 seconds.
Basketball Player
Age: 9 Grade: 4th
Hometown: Hobart,
Indiana
Narrative
7
JARED ARAMBULA
“I imagine my opponents are saying bad things about
me,” says Tanishia Lopez. “That makes me play hard.”
Tanishia plays nose tackle. She is the only girl on the
Oak Grove (California) Renegades.
The Renegades won the 1998 Pop Warner championship in the junior-midget division. They beat the
Greyhounds of North Carolina, 14-2, in the title game.
Tanishia must have imagined the Greyhounds were
talking nasty. The Renegade defense gave up only one
first down!
Jared Arambula was born with a disease called spina bifida. He plays in a wheelchair basketball league.
WHAT’S THE NAME OF YOUR TEAM?
JARED: The Rollin’ Rebels. We were 11-1 last season. I
averaged ten points a game.
HOW DO YOU SHOOT?
JARED: With both hands. I’m not strong enough to put
the ball up with one.
IS WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL ROUGH?
JARED: Yes. Players get knocked to the floor. But I’m not
scared. I like to play rough.
WHAT’S YOUR BEST MOVE?
JARED: I’m good at hitting layups. But I’m working on a
behind-the-back dribble. Then I’ll be able to sink a
reverse layup.
RALF-FINN HESTOFT/SABA
Level 6
JASON GROW/SABA
GREG FOSTER
ALEXANDER COVILLE
©TIME Inc.
Reader’s Response
1
How might some people have
reacted if they had grabbed the
wrong bike in a triathlon?
Explain why.
2
What personal qualities do you
think it must take for Tanishia
Lopez to play on an all-boys’
football team?
3
What do you find the most
surprising statement made by
Jared Arambula? Explain.
4
Choose one word that you feel
describes each of these
athletes. Explain why for each
case.
Writer’s Response
1
Why does the writer use the
word Oops! in the description of
the IronKids triathlon? What is
the effect on the reader?
2
In the story about Tanishia
Lopez, why does the writer put
the word nasty in italics?
3
Interviewers have to ask
questions that will call for
interesting answers. Which of
the questions that the writer
asks Jared Arambula do you
find most intriguing? Explain.
4
What common element do you
notice in the first paragraph of
each sketch?
Level 6
When my editor
said he was assigning me to write portraits of these amazing student athletes, I was excited.
CREATING
Then he added, ‘By the way,
THUMBNAIL
each piece has to be under
SKETCHES
100 words. We need space
for the photos.’
How do you say anything
special about someone in
under 100 words? A piece
that short takes only about
half a minute to read aloud! Well, it’s not easy, but it can be
done. One way is to focus on an incident that will catch the
reader’s attention and say something about the character at the
same time. With Alexander, that was easy. He told me about the
time he almost took off on the wrong bicycle but then found his
own and won the race. That took cool, I thought, and that’s the
incident I used.
I liked the idea that Tanishia gets all psyched up for games
by imagining that her opponents are mean. That makes her
mean when she plays. So I focused my sketch of her on the fact
that in the championship game she must have been imagining
terrible things to give up only two points.
Little portraits like these are called thumbnail
sketches. Sometimes they’re harder to write than articles five times as long.
✏
”
What makes people tick?
Choose three fellow students who
interest you and write short
biographies of them in the style of
“Hotshots.” Try to focus on an
incident or quality in their lives
that briefly sums them up.
✏
Imagine that you are a
minority of one, like Tanishia Lopez, on
some club or team. Write a journal entry describing the
experience.
✏
Imagine that Alexander Coville’s teacher
assigned the class to write about “What I Did During
My Summer Vacation.” Alexander chooses to write
about the 1998 IronKids triathlon. Write what you
think he would say.
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
Narrative
8
ERIC BRISSAUD/LIAISON
Narrative
8
Panic in
Paris
T
he elevator door slid open. The
crowd inside let out a collective
gasp of excitement. But no one
was more excited than my mom. This
110-pound woman is not normally
rude, but suddenly she had all the
courtesy of a linebacker diving for a
fumble. My mom charged through
the door, nearly knocking over an
elderly, German tourist.
Great, I thought, just what we
need: an international incident.
My mom wasn’t interested in the
sights, she just wanted air. If there’s
one thing that frightens my mom
more than cramped spaces, it’s
heights. And we were now 889 feet
above the Paris cityscape. Maybe we
should have taken the Eiffel Tower off
Level 6
our “to do” list.
By the time I caught up with her,
she had pressed her entire body
against a huge steel girder that zigzagged through the structure. The
Eiffel Tower was her giant teddy bear.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“What?” she said defensively, her
arms wrapping around the support
and her face flushed. “I’m having a
great time.”
“Yeah, I can tell. Let’s go,” I said.
My mom replied, “I can’t.”
Amidst the twinkling reflection of
the City of Lights, I saw terror in her
eyes. She was so scared of heights, she
couldn’t move. I imagined French
experts dropping from helicopters in
a desperate attempt to free their
beloved Tower from the crushing
hug of this tiny American.
I was going to have to think of
something—and fast.
“I know, Mom!” I shouted, making her jump. “We don’t have to get
back in the elevator. We can walk all
the way down.” Before she could
think about it, I took her arm and led
her over to the stairs.
Hoping to distract her, I pulled
out our Paris guidebook and called
out facts about the Tower as we made
our way down. There’s a total of 1,652
steps. Forty tons of paint are used on
the Tower every year. The Tower
sways about 4 inches in strong winds.
Judging from my mom’s horrified
gasp, this last fact was one that I didn’t need to share. We kept walking
for twenty long minutes.
Finally, we headed down the last
flight. I pushed the steel exit gate.
“See? That wasn’t so bad—”
The gate didn’t move. I felt a
twinge of panic. I pushed again, still
no movement. Were we trapped? My
hands repositioned for better leverage. I shoved again and again against
the gate. Out of breath, I felt on the
verge of tears. I hated being locked
in. What was wrong with this door!
“Qu’est-ce que c’est la probleme?”
A young French security guard
stood on the other side of the gate.
He repeated his question. The fact
that I didn’t understand French only
made me panic more. I banged violently on the door, rocked against it.
Still nothing.
The guard smiled now. He pointed up and said in English, “The sign.
Read it.”
I followed his pointing finger to a
sign that hung above the gate. It said:
“Tirez.” I looked at the guard blankly.
What did that mean?
“The sign,” the guard told me. “It
says ‘Pull.’”
Stepping back, I stopped pushing
the gate. I pulled instead. It swung
open easily on greased hinges. Now
my face burned from embarrassment, not panic.
“Karen, you really need to learn
to relax,” my mom said, laughing as
she breezed past me.
©TIME Inc.
Reader’s Response
1
How does the narrator feel
about her mother’s fear of
cramped spaces and heights?
2
In what way is the Eiffel Tower
like a “giant Teddy bear” to the
narrator’s mother?
3
Why does the guard smile at the
narrator when she tries to exit?
4
How would you describe the
mother’s feelings at the end of
the story?
Writer’s Response
1
What does the writer mean in
the first paragraph when she
says her mother had “the
courtesy of a linebacker”?
2
Why do you think the writer
includes her fantasy about
French helicopters coming to
save the Eiffel Tower?
3
Why do you think the writer
includes a sentence in French?
What effect does this have?
4
What does the writer mean by
using the word breezed in the
last paragraph? Why does she
choose this word?
Level 6
Writers love to make
their readers laugh—if
they’re trying to be
funny, that is! There are a
number of ways of doing this.
MAKING
You can write silly dialogue,
PEOPLE LAUGH
invent a really absurd plot, or
maybe make one of your characters so stupid that the reader
just has to smile.
My favorite way of adding
humor to my writing is to visualize a really ridiculous situation and then to exaggerate it until it
becomes almost like a cartoon on television. This is a technique I
used in ‘Panic in Paris.’ I should tell you that this is a true story. My
mom and I really did go up the Eiffel Tower, and she really did get
so scared that we had to walk down. But I took a few liberties with
the details.
First of all, although my mom did hurry to get off the elevator,
she didn’t charge like a linebacker. She’s just too nice (and small) for
that. And although she held on tight to the railings, there was never
a question that she would have to be pried free by squads of French
experts dropping from helicopters. You didn’t believe that, did you?
But I hope it made you laugh.
The last situation is true, though. I did hammer at that stupid
door when I should have been pulling it. It’s funny to write
about, but there was nothing funny about it at the time!
✏
Write an account of a trip you
have taken to a famous place, but
don’t describe the place at all.
Instead, recall the details that
made that visit memorable—the
weather, your companions, the
crowds, maybe the food. Was it
funny or dreadful? Help the
reader share your experience.
”
✏
Relatives are sometimes
very strange. Write about one of your family members,
including the sort of details that would make your
reader laugh.
✏
Many of us have been in a situation in which we
didn’t understand the language that was being spoken.
You may have been in a foreign country, a friend’s
house, or even a restaurant. Recall such an incident
and describe how the inability to communicate made
you feel.
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
Narrative
9
WILL CROCKETT
Stott makes artificial rain fall on soil samples in her lab.
Cared-for soil doesn’t wash away.
She Digs Her Dirty Job
9
W
hen most people look at a plowed field, they
see dirt. Diane Stott sees something more
precious. “It’s not dirt,” she says as she
crosses a field in northern Indiana. “That’s why I’m
wearing the T-shirt.” Her shirt is printed with a single
word: SOIL.
Stott, a microbiologist, studies soil for a living. She
works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory. Work by
Stott and other soil scientists helps save one of earth’s
most valuable resources. Without rich, healthy soil,
the world could not produce enough food.
FOOD FOR EVERYONE
Diane Stott
JOB
Soil
conservationist
EDUCATION
Narrative
SAVE THE SOIL!
Soil seems to be everywhere: in fields, in backyards,
clinging to the soles of our shoes. But the nation’s fertile soil is vanishing at an alarming rate. For every
bushel of corn produced in the U.S., about a bushel of
soil disappears.
How? Rain can wash loose soil into streams and
rivers. To replace an inch of washed-away topsoil,
plants and other matter on the surface must break
down for hundreds or even thousands of years. Soil
disappears when houses or malls are built on land
where crops could be planted. Pollution also ruins
soil, making it unsafe for planting.
Level 6
For the past 10 years, Stott and
other experts have worked hard to
slow the damage. “The rates of soil
loss may sound pretty bad,” she
says, “but those rates have been
reduced by about half since the
mid-1980s.”
Stott collects samples from
fields and studies them in her laboratory. She can test soil to determine whether or not it has enough
nutrients to grow good crops. She
can also test for toxic contaminants.
She recommends ways for
farmers to hold onto the soil they
have. One way is a method called
conservation tillage, or no-till
farming. Tillage is plowing and
preparing land for planting. No-till
farmers do not plow their fields.
They plant crops in a bed of grasses or other plants that will keep
soil from washing away, even during heavy rainfall.
Farmers also learn to conserve
soil by plowing along the natural
lines of the land, not in straight
rows. And Stott and other scientists recommend adding the mineral gypsum to soil, which prevents erosion.
Ph.D.
in soil science
MISSION
Protecting U.S.
farmland from
erosion
By helping preserve soil for food
crops, Stott is helping the world
avoid a hunger crisis. Every year
the world’s population increases
by nearly 8.9 million. By the 21st
century, there will be 6 billion
people. “There are going to be so
many new people to feed that I
believe a food crunch is coming,”
Stott says.
If farmers follow the suggestions Stott offers, there will be
more soil and more agricultural
products for the world. Since lost
topsoil often winds up in waterways, preventing soil erosion also
helps keep lakes, rivers and oceans
clean. Stott and her colleagues are
eager to share their hard work and
ideas with farmers, environmental
groups, farm organizations, and
other scientists: “We’ll pretty
much talk to anyone who cares
about food.”
©TIME Inc.
Reader’s Response
1
What are some questions you
would like to ask Dr. Stott about
soil?
2
Why do you think it is important
to Dr. Stott that soil is not called
“dirt”?
3
What other elements do you
think will be necessary to avoid
a “food crunch” when the world
population grows?
4
What do you think has caused
the rate of soil loss to be
reduced by about half since the
mid-1980s?
Writer’s Response
1
This article was reported by one
person and written by another.
What elements of the article do
you think the reporter
contributed?
2
How does the title “She Digs
Her Dirty Job” add to the overall
effect of the article?
3
Why do you suppose the writer
chose this topic for an article?
4
Why did the writer include the
population figures?
Level 6
I saw something on
the television news
about soil conservation. The very next day there
was something in the news
CHOOSING
about the world population
AND
approaching 6 billion peoRESEARCHING
ple. It seemed to me there
A TOPIC
was a connection, and I
thought I would pursue it in
order to write an article. I
called a reporter friend of
mine and asked him if he
knew anyone at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s soil laboratory. He did, so he tracked down Dr. Stott and talked to her.
He sent me a tape of his interview with her.
I knew that I needed to add some information. I called Dr.
Stott with a couple of questions. That’s how I got the information about her that I put in the sidebar, for one thing. And I did
some research to find out more about such things as how soil is
made, what can make it unsuitable for growing crops, and what
the word tillage means. I also found out about the role of contour farming, which is what plowing along the natural lines of
the land is called. It conserves soil without changing it.
Although I did use the Internet, I found much of what I wanted the old-fashioned way—in encyclopedias and dictionaries.
All this research paid off, don’t you think?
✏
”
Imagine that you are Diane
Stott. Write an account that tells
what happened when you met with
a group of farmers to explain how
to save the soil on their farms.
✏
Diane Stott has an unusual
job that was fun to read about.
Interview someone in your
community who has a unique job. Write a
narrative about this person’s career and share it with
your class.
✏
Many of us have had some “dirty” experience
with dirt. Have you ever been caked with mud? Write a
narrative telling how and why you got so dirty. If you’ve
never had such an experience but can imagine it, make
one up.
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
Narrative
10
JANINE EXNER FOR TIME FOR KIDS
Michael Agnes looks it all up in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Big-Book Boss
Narrative
10
A dictionary editor chooses his words wisely
M
But Agnes and his team do not invent words; they
report them. “Language reflects the interests, activities,
and concerns of the people who use it,” says Agnes. “If
people say it, we report it. People are so inventive and
such a delight!”
Some of the new entries in the latest dictionary are
aw-shucks, blended-family, and, one of Agnes’ personal
favorites, roadkill. The words in the dictionary today are
a lot different from those found in the first American dictionary in the late 1700s. Modern language requires
words to describe medicine, computers, and changing
lifestyles.
If you think you’ve found some words that haven’t
made it into the big book yet, send them to Webster’s New
World College Dictionary, 850 Euclid Avenue, #306,
Cleveland, OH 44114. The editors will consider your
ideas. You have their word!
Level 6
©TIME Inc.
ichael Agnes lives for words. As a child, he
couldn’t wait for a chance to look up new ones in
the dictionary. Today, Agnes makes a living from
his love for words. He is the editor in chief of Webster’s
New World College Dictionary.
The latest edition of the dictionary has more than
160,000 words. That’s almost 100,000 more than an early
dictionary created by Noah Webster in 1828. Agnes might
not remember all the words, but he’s seen them! As editor, Agnes has final approval of each word in the dictionary.
Fortunately, he has help. He works with a team of
about nine other editors and readers who look for new
words and write their definitions. The team also decides
which words to take out of the dictionary because they
are no longer used. When is the last time you used the
word endophagous? (It means feeding on the inside of an
animal or plant.)
1
Besides his love of words, what
qualifications do you think
Michael Agnes probably has for
being editor of a dictionary?
2
Where do you think Agnes and
his editors look for words to add
to the dictionary?
3
How do you think they decide
that a word like endophagous is
no longer used?
4
Why do you think the latest
edition of the dictionary has
100,000 more words than the
1828 edition? Why might there
be so many new words?
”
Reader’s Response
Like most writers, I
use dictionaries all
the time. In fact, I
own
at
least ten! I don’t
CONNECTING
expect all kids to share a
WITH YOUR
writer’s—or dictionary ediAUDIENCE
tor’s—love
of
words.
(Although the future editor
of Webster’s New World
College Dictionary might be
reading this right now!)
Nevertheless, I thought that
the kids might like to meet Michael Agnes and learn something
about his job. Otherwise, they might never think about the fact
that it is real people who put a dictionary together. So I tried to
make sure some of the information and examples would be of
special interest to kids.
As I talked to Michael Agnes, I realized that would be easy
when he told me that one of his favorite new words is roadkill!
I thought roadkill was a great word, and I was sure kids would
like it too. He helped me find aw-shucks and blended-family,
two other new words that I thought kids also might like to know
about. And he’s the one who came up with the not-used-anymore word endophagous. Pretty creepy, huh? Just
what you kids like, I know. Anyway, Michael Agnes is a
person kids can connect with!
✏
Writer’s Response
1
Why did the author explain how
words are taken out and added
to the dictionary?
2
Why did the author include new
words such as aw-shucks,
blended-family, and roadkill?
3
How did the author let you know
what kind of a person Agnes is?
4
Why did the author include a
way for you to send words to the
dictionary editors?
Level 6
”
Do you know of another
person whose childhood interest
led to his or her career? Talk to that
person or do some research. Write
several paragraphs about the
person’s career development.
✏
Follow the directions in the
last paragraph of the article. Find
one or two real words that are not
in the dictionary. Write a letter to Michael Agnes
explaining why you think they should be included.
Include evidence of their use and what you think they
mean.
✏
Imagine that you are interviewing for a job as a
dictionary editor. You have some ideas about what you
like and don’t like about dictionaries. Write down what
you would say.
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
Narrative
11
BOB ROSATO/SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
Slam . . . Bam . . . JAM!
Jamal flew into the end
zone against the 49ers.
I
magine you are an NFL safety and your team is
playing the Atlanta Falcons. Running back Jamal
“Jam” Anderson has the ball. He’s thundering toward
you.
You have a problem.
Jamal’s 5' 11", 234-pound body hits like a battering
ram. His stiff arm can pound you like a jackhammer.
It’s your job to tackle this guy. Good luck!
Jamal has tattooed a lot of NFL defenders with his stiff
arm. “My dad taught me that move when I was nine,” says
Jamal. “I used to practice my stiff arm against walls.
Boom! Stay away!”
Narrative
11
A CAREER YEAR
Jamal had the best season of his five-year
career in 1998:
• He led the NFC in rushing yards (1,846).
• He set the NFL single-season record for
carries (410).
• He led the Falcons to a 14-2 regular-season record and the first Super Bowl
appearance in team history. (The
Falcons lost to the Denver Broncos, 3419.)
• He created the best touchdown dance of
1998. Jamal flapped his arms and
hopped around the end zone after each
score. The dance is called the Dirty Bird.
“I have fun playing football,” says Jamal.
“If it’s not fun, I’m done.”
some!” says Jamal. “I’ve been playing since I was seven.
Now I get paid for it. It’s crazy!”
Jamal was drafted by the Falcons in 1994. At training
camp, the names of the team’s running backs were written on a board. Jamal was number 5, the last guy on the
list.
Jamal was a rookie from the University of Utah. He
had a lot to learn. But there was no way he was going to
stay number 5. He took a marker and drew an arrow from
his name to the top of the list!
By his second season, Jamal had become the Falcons’
number 2 back. The
Falcons moved his name to
the top of the list in 1996.
He has been the starter
ever since.
READY TO RAM
Jamal missed the first 14
days of training camp in
1999 to work out a new contract. He signed a deal
worth $32 million on
August 11.
Jamal is ready for another “Jam”-packed season. “I
don’t make predictions,” he
says. “I’m just going to do
the best I can.”
Uh-oh, defenders: You
have a problem!
LAST TO FIRST
Jamal always seems to have fun. When he
speaks, his eyes open wide. His voice is
charged with excitement. “Football is aweLevel 6
Jamal gained 96 yards the
hard way in Super Bowl
XXXIII.
AL TIELEMANS/SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
©TIME Inc.
1
What do you think makes Jamal
Anderson a good football
player?
2
Why do you think he started
doing his Dirty Bird touchdown
dance?
3
Why do you think fans like his
touchdown dance?
4
Based on this article, do you
think Jamal played many games
during his first season with the
Falcons? Why or why not?
”
Reader’s Response
People who play
professional football
are tough. They
slam
into
each other every
CHOOSING
minute as they try to get that
WORDS
football to the goal or to preTO SUIT
vent the other team from
YOUR TOPIC
doing it. So I knew that I had
to find words and phrases
that would help readers get a
sense of the excitement and
tough physical action that is
basic to what Jamal does. That’s why I said Jamal would be
thundering toward you instead of just saying he would be running. And that’s why I compared his banging into you to a battering ram and a jackhammer. Those are both images that give
readers a good sense of what it must be like to meet Jamal on
the football field.
When I interviewed Jamal, I was struck by his love for playing football. For him, it really is a game that is fun to play. To get
across that feeling, I said his voice was ‘charged with excitement’ when he talked about playing the game. The word
charged has more excitement than a word like filled.
Carefully choosing your words can make an article come
alive for a reader. But your choices have to fit your
topic. It would be silly to use thundering, charged, and
battering ram in an article about gardening!
”
Writer’s Response
1
Why do you think the writer
gave this article the title
“Slam . . . Bam . . . JAM”?
2
Why did the writer begin the
article by having you imagine
you were facing Jamal in a
football game?
3
Why do you suppose the writer
listed Jamal’s touchdown dance
as one of the highlights of his
1998 season? How is this
different from the other
highlights?
4
How does the writer try to
convey to the reader that Jamal
does more than have fun when
he plays football?
Level 6
✏
Watch a football game or
another sports event and closely
observe one of the “star” players.
Then write several paragraphs that
tell the story of the game and the
star player’s role in it. Choose your
words carefully.
✏
Think back to the most
exciting time you’ve had playing in a
game or taking part in a sports event. Write a narrative
about this experience. Include details that help your
reader feel your excitement.
✏
You are a sportscaster for a local television
station. Write a newscast script describing a Falcons
game during which Jamal Anderson made several
touchdowns.
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
Narrative
12
KEN MARTIN/AMSTOCKPHOTO 2000
STEVE DUNWELL
Narrative
12
Safe Harbor
“Coming about!”
Someone screamed a warning, but
it was too late.
Distracted by the beauty of the
summer day and the stunning Boston
skyline, I didn’t notice the danger.
The captain was turning the vessel.
This meant that the mainsail, weighted down with a heavy beam, or boom,
would switch to the other side of the
sailboat.
Normally, I’d simply duck beneath
the swinging boom. But today,
because my head was in the clouds,
my body would soon be in the water.
The boom swept across the deck
with the speed of a wrecking ball and
connected squarely with my chest.
My lifejacket absorbed some of the
blow, but the impact still lifted me off
my feet. For a brief moment, I literally flew over the waters of Boston
Harbor.
In the split second before I hit the
surface of the water, I remember
thinking: “Well, at least the water is
clean.”
Even this comforting thought
would have been lost to me a few
years ago. Back then, I would have
been desperate to escape the liquid
clutches of the harbor. Why? In 1985,
Level 6
Boston Harbor was the filthiest harbor in the U.S. A deadly combination
of sewage, chemicals, and fuel had
transformed the waters into a toxic
brew that poisoned wildlife, drove
away boaters, and left swimmers with
strange and unpleasant rashes.
Now, as I popped back to the surface after being briefly submerged, I
felt exhilarated by the water. After I
was knocked off the boat, it kept sailing to a spot where it could turn
around. Treading water, I waved, letting my friends know I was okay. As I
waited for them to pick me up, I considered the water.
This gentle harbor borders one of
the oldest cities in America and was
the scene of the Boston Tea Party. And
yet for decades, humans had been
treating it like a giant toilet.
Fortunately, that changed in 1986
with the formation of an organization
called the Boston Harbor Clean-up.
The group turned the water from
deadly to delightful. By the end of the
20th century, the group wants swimmers to glide safely through the water
and fishers to pluck healthy catches
from the harbor.
The group has almost reached its
goal. The U.S. government has strict
tests that water must pass before it’s
considered safe for fishing and swimming. Boston Harbor has passed
these tests on numerous occasions.
But success has its price. It took an
investment of five billion dollars to
construct a new sewage system that
would be less polluting to the water
and would promote interest in the
harbor.
I felt a nip on my toes from a passing fish and realized that there is no
way to put a price tag on the benefits
of the clean-up efforts. Already harbor porpoises, a breeding colony of
harbor seals, as well as striped bass
and sea and shore birds have
returned to the cleaner waters off
Boston.
Now, I watched as the captain
sailed the boat toward me, the vessel
still moving slowly in the current. Two
of my friends reached over the railing,
trying to help me back onboard. Our
hands locked for a moment but then
broke free. The sailboat glided away.
The captain called, “We’ll come
about and try again!”
My friends yelled apologies for not
pulling me onboard. “That’s okay!” I
shouted. “The water’s fine!”
©TIME Inc.
1
Based on this narrative, would
you feel comfortable swimming
in Boston Harbor? Why or why
not?
2
The phrase “safe harbor”
usually means a place where
you can go and be protected.
How does this phrase apply to
the article?
3
Give three reasons why the
writer wasn’t scared when she
fell off the boat.
4
Does it sound like the narrator is
a knowledgeable sailor? Explain
your answer.
Writer’s Response
1
What was the author’s purpose
in writing this article? Why do
you think so?
2
In the first several paragraphs,
the author tells about a
dramatic moment when she fell
off a boat. Why does she do
this?
3
4
How does the author let you
know that she thinks the
pollution of Boston Harbor was
particularly sad?
How does the author persuade
you that the harbor is now really
clean?
Level 6
”
Reader’s Response
I live in Boston, and
I’ve always loved
the harbor. Like
most people here, I was very
disturbed by its filthy state
CRAFTING
in the 1980s. And I’ve been
A LEAD
thrilled with its cleaned-up
condition. So I wanted to
write about it. However,
every time I tried, the article
seemed dry and uninteresting for kids—just another
dull article about pollution. It’s an important topic, I think. But
how could I make kids want to read about it?
Then I fell off the boat. ‘That’s it!’ I said to myself. ‘That’s
the lead for my story!’ I realized that what happened to me that
day was an exciting story in itself. And it certainly gave me a
lead into telling about the clean water. I would have been
upset if this had happened when the harbor was so filthy. But
this time it was actually kind of fun. I knew I was safe, so I
could relax and enjoy the experience. And it’s that contrast that
I felt made a great hook for the story.
It’s important to ‘grab’ your audience with a good lead.
Usually if people read the first paragraph or two,
they’ll read the rest of a story. Sometimes it just takes
awhile to find the right lead into your topic.
✏
People in most places have
had experience with cleaning up
polluted areas. Find out about one
in your area. Write an article about
it. Tell what caused the pollution,
how it was cleaned up, and how
further pollution has been
prevented.
”
✏
Write a letter to the editor
of your local newspaper. Point
out a local example of pollution that you think
needs to be addressed. Give some ideas of what needs
to be done and why.
✏
✏
One way to prevent pollution is by recycling.
Make a poster that encourages people to recycle
newspapers, cans, bottles, and so on.
Find out about the Boston Tea Party. Imagine
you were a participant. Describe Boston Harbor as you
knew it before and during the “Tea Party.”
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
Narrative
13
FREE THE CHILDREN
Why does Craig Kielburger work so hard? To help kids like these in Zimbabwe.
Kids Are People Too!
Narrative
13
A Canadian teen fights to put an end to child labor
H
e doesn’t have a driver’s
license, but Craig Kielburger,
16, sure has drive! His strong
belief that he can make life better for
children drives him far from the
comforts of his home in Toronto,
Canada, and into slums and
sweatshops across the globe, where
kids as young as 2 years old are forced
to work. Craig is on a crusade against
child labor and is determined to get
other kids to join the fight.
“Who can better represent children than children?” asks Craig, the
founder of Free the Children, a
human-rights organization run by
Level 6
kids. He formed Free the Children
when he was 12, after reading an article about a former child slave in
Pakistan who was killed for speaking
out against abusive child labor. Now
Craig meets with world leaders to
speak for those who have no voice:
the world’s 250 million child laborers.
Thousands of members throughout the world, between the ages of 8
and 18, have helped Craig raise nearly $1 million for his projects. These
include programs to house and educate freed child laborers in India.
Now, Craig has written Free the
Children, a book about his crusade.
Some money from book sales will be
used to provide poor families with
materials that will help them earn
money, so their kids can go to school
instead of work. He hopes his tales of
kids burdened with dangerous work
will inspire more kids to get involved.
“Youth should have a voice at all levels of government,” says Craig. “If
young people don’t believe in and
challenge themselves, no one will.”
If you’d like to lend a helping
hand, write to Free the Children at 12
East 48th Street, New York, NY,
10017, or check out their website:
www.freethechildren.org.
©TIME Inc.
Reader’s Response
1
How does the photo help
reinforce themes described in
the article?
2
List two adjectives that describe
Craig Kielburger’s personality.
Explain why you chose each
one.
3
Why don’t the world’s 250
million child laborers have a
voice?
4
Do you think Craig would think
it was wrong for high school kids
to have after-school jobs? Why
or why not?
5
Why do you think so many
children around the world are
forced to work?
Writer’s Response
You might expect that I
write the title of an
article first. In fact, it is
the last, and among the most
important, act of creating the
piece.
A good title is like a diving
TITLES
board. It provides a springboard
into the writing, and can launch
the reader a long way into
understanding what it is about.
A great title doesn’t simply
repeat the main point of the
article. It creates wonder and opens your mind to the bigger picture
suggested by the writing. It doesn’t just describe the article, it adds
meaning to it.
When I had finished the article, I thought about what Craig
Kielburger and thousands of other kids were doing: showing their
compassion and determination to stop a cruel injustice. I thought
about those millions of kids forced to work in awful conditions: treated worse than beasts of labor. The assertion that came to me was
‘Kids Are People Too!’
This title rang true because it points to the humanity of the kids
who are working to help abused children. They are showing that
they are not only people but caring, responsible people. At the same
time, it protests the inhuman way child workers are treated. These
children tug at our hearts, reminding us that all people should have
basic rights and be treated decently. The title becomes a
battle cry and a reminder not to sell our children short.
✏
Study the picture of Craig
and the Zimbabwe children. What
might have happened the day the
picture was taken? Write an
account of that day.
”
1
The writer begins with a play on
words. What is it, and why is it
appropriate?
2
The word crusade is often
associated with descriptions of
devotion and fervor. Why did
the author use it to describe
Craig’s actions?
3
The numbers 2 and 250 million
appear in the article. Why has
the writer included them?
Imagine that you are a 6-year-old child who is
forced to work all day in a shoe factory. Write what you
would say to Craig and what he would say to you.
4
List three reasons the writer
might have included
information about the book Free
the Children.
✏
Level 6
✏
Suppose you are a member
of Free the Children. Design an ad
for its website that will persuade
kids to join the organization and
help the cause.
✏
When and why was child labor outlawed in the
United States? Find out and write an article explaining
why child labor should be ended worldwide.
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
Narrative
14
JOEL RICHARDSON/THE WASHINGTON POST
Ronda Jo averaged 13.6
rebounds per game in
1998–99.
“I’m a team player,” she says. “That is my biggest
strength.” Ronda Jo speaks with sign language. She uses
an interpreter to talk to people who can’t “sign.”
You wouldn’t know that Ronda Jo and her teammates
are deaf from watching them play. They can’t hear the referee’s whistle, so they watch the ref’s hand signals.
The game looks different only during timeouts and
when the coaches send in plays from the sideline. Players
and coaches use sign language to talk to one another.
STAMPING FEET
Gallaudet players also can’t hear the cheers of the crowd.
But they can feel them. Their fans cheer a little differently. They don’t scream. Instead, they clap their hands and
stamp their feet. The players can feel the vibrations rock
the arena!
Gallaudet was 24-6 in 1998–99. They reached the
round of 16 in the Division III NCAA tournament. It was
the best season in school history!
Ronda Jo has been Gallaudet’s best player the past
three seasons. Her goal is to lead the school farther in the
NCAA tournament—possibly to the championship game.
After college, Ronda Jo may try out for the WNBA.
“But I need to improve my consistency and my defense,”
she says.
Ronda Jo may make it in the WNBA. She may not. But
one thing is certain: Being deaf will have nothing to do
with it.
BARBARA KINNEY
No Limits
Ronda Jo Miller runs and shoots hoops
with the best. Oh, yeah: she’s deaf.
R
Narrative
14
onda Jo Miller’s jump shot is sweeter than a
chocolate kiss. She leaps like a kangaroo on a pogo
stick.
And she can make her friends giggle—sometimes just
by giving them a funny look!
About the only thing Ronda Jo can’t do is hear.
GAME TIME
Ronda Jo is a whirlwind on the basketball court. She leaps
across the lane and grabs a rebound. She spins and fires
the outlet pass to start a fast break. She sprints down the
court and finishes the break with a layup.
At 6' 2", Ronda Jo plays center for Gallaudet
University, the world’s only college for the deaf. All of
Gallaudet’s opponents are hearing schools. Thanks to
Ronda Jo, Gallaudet has become a powerhouse in
Division III women’s college basketball.
Ronda Jo is Gallaudet’s best player. She is also one of
the top Division III players in the country. She handles
the ball like a guard. She scores from inside and outside.
Ronda Jo led Division III in scoring in the 1998-99 season, with 26.3 points per game. She also averaged 13.6
rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game.
Level 6
Ronda Jo says “I love you” using sign language.
©TIME Inc.
Reader’s Response
1
Do you think Ronda Jo would be
a fun person to spend time with?
Why or why not?
2
What does the writer mean
when she ends the narrative,
“But one thing is certain: Being
deaf will have nothing to do with
it”?
3
Despite her impressive scoring
and rebounding statistics, why
does Ronda Jo assert that being
a team player is her “biggest
strength”?
4
Do you think Ronda Jo is in good
physical shape? Why or why
not?
Few tools are
as useful to the
sportswriter as
the action verb. Whether
it expresses physical or
ACTION
mental action, a verb
VERBS
creates a specific picture
in the reader’s mind, and
it focuses the mind on
the action described. A
sportswriter is a teller of stories—the stories of sports
heroes. Vivid action verbs (as well as sensory details)
bring the story to life and engage the reader, making the
story memorable.
To do justice to Ronda Jo’s story, I knew I would
need to create an exact picture in the reader’s mind of
her thrilling moves on the court. Run-of-the-mill verbs
wouldn’t do to describe this young woman’s inspiring
level of play. She doesn’t just jump, she leaps. She doesn’t just turn, she spins. She doesn’t just pass the ball, she
fires it. She doesn’t run down the court, she sprints.
Verbs like these not only create a specific picture, they give a feel for the level of excellence
Ronda Jo has achieved.
Writer’s Response
1
Why does the author compare
Ronda Jo’s shot to a chocolate
kiss and her leap to a
kangaroo’s?
2
List the verbs the author uses
under the subhead, “Game
Time.” Why does the author use
these verbs?
3
Why does the author include
Ronda Jo’s stats from the ’98’99 season?
4
For what reasons did the author
include descriptions of the ways
deaf players adjust to the rules
of the game?
5
How does the author suggest
that Ronda Jo is realistic about
her basketball career and
completely without self-pity?
Level 6
✏
Watch a sports event.
Carefully observe one athlete. Take
notes that describe his or her
actions. Write a narrative about
this athlete. Use vivid verbs to
bring the athlete to life.
”
✏
You are a sportswriter.
Write a newspaper column making
your case for voting Ronda Jo MVP of the Division III
women’s players.
✏
Suppose that you have been selected to
interview Ronda Jo for your local news station. What
questions would you ask her? Answer as you imagine
she would.
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
Narrative
15
PHIL SCHOFIELD
A Fighter for the Forests
Washington, a group known
for taking legal action to protect the environment. She
soon became its paid director.
Recently, she has prowled the
halls of Congress, wheelchair
and all, for the Forest Water
Alliance, an association of 21
environmental groups.
PROTECTING HABITATS
Phillips’ first battles were
about preserving the forests.
Later she focused on saving
the forests’ endangered animals. Often the best way to
save species is to protect their
habitats.
Two endangered birds, the
spotted owl and the marbled
murrelet, nest in the forests’
ancient trees. Phillips has
fought to save their homes
from logging companies. Now
she’s working to protect the
chinook salmon. Logging has
fouled salmon streams with
silt.
From a plane Phillips
scans the forest between
Seattle and the Cascade
Mountains. She sees bald
slopes, logging roads, and
new homes where 500-yearold trees recently grew.
The sorry view only makes
her more determined. Phillips
is creating a national group,
Women for Public Lands
Protection. There’s no stopping her.
Narrative
15
Bonnie Phillips is determined to protect these old trees.
B
onnie Phillips bends down to
touch an odd green plant.
“Look,” she says. “Youth on
Age.” The plant’s name perfectly
describes the way it grows, for
sprouting from the middle of a large
dark green leaf is a new, pale green
one. Phillips can name practically
every plant in this patch of oldgrowth hemlocks and Douglas fir
trees an hour northeast of Seattle,
Washington.
Most of the coastal forests in the
Northwest have been devastated by
logging, but this one is undisturbed.
Level 6
The natural cycle of growth and decay
is easy to see here. Waist-high firs
grow from the rotting trunks of giant
trees that fell 100 years ago, another
example of youth on age.
Phillips learned to love these
woods as a hiker. But 15 years ago, a
medical condition made it difficult for
her to walk. When that part of her life
ended, Phillips decided to express her
love for the Northwest’s forests in a
different way: she became an activist
for saving what’s left of them.
Phillips joined the Pilchuk chapter
of the Audubon Society in Everett,
©TIME Inc.
1
What do you think motivated
Phillips to become an activist
for saving the Northwest’s
forests?
2
Why is protecting their habitats
often the best way to save
species of animals and plants?
3
Why might Phillips have been
made a leader in the Audubon
Society and the Forest Water
Alliance?
4
Reread the end of the article.
How do you imagine Phillips’
role in environmental activism
will change in the near future?
”
Reader’s Response
An appositive phrase
is a useful tool in the
writer’s tool chest.
Writers are always looking
for interesting ways to turn a
APPOSITIVE
phrase, to tuck and fold one
PHRASES
idea so that it fits within
another, and to group words
so that they express ideas
smoothly.
An appositive phrase is
a noun phrase tucked in behind another noun or pronoun to
identify or explain it. Here is one sentence with an appositive
phrase that I used in the article:
‘Phillips joined the Pilchuk chapter of the Audubon Society in
Everett, Washington, a group known for taking legal action to
protect the environment.’
There are three other appositive phrases in the article. Can
you find them?
Appositive phrases add context and make content more specific. They make sentence structure more complex and interesting. They save space by inserting information inside one sentence that would otherwise require a separate sentence.
When writing about a busy activist like Phillips, appositives
are useful to explain and describe groups with which
Phillips is associated and the species for which she has
battled.
Writer’s Response
1
Why does the author begin this
article with a close-up view of
Bonnie Phillips explaining a
forest plant?
2
What effect does the author
gain by using the verb prowled
to describe Phillips’ activity in
Congress?
3
Why does the author only
describe activities that relate to
Phillips’ desire to save the
forests?
4
The author began with a
closeup of the forest. He ends
with a panoramic description of
it. What does this wide view
accomplish? How do these two
different views serve as good
“bookends” for the article?
Level 6
✏
Interview a member of a
local environmental group. Find out
why he or she joined this group.
What projects is the group working
on? Write a narrative about the
person and share it with your
class. Use “A Fighter for the
Forests” as a model for your
piece.
”
✏
Start an environmental
group at your school. Write a letter to Bonnie Phillips
asking her for advice on how your group can make a
difference.
✏
Imagine you run an advertising agency in
Washington. You have been hired to create a logo and
public service ad for the Forest Water Alliance, asking
for public support of your association. Use words and
images to inspire people to help.
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
Narrative
16
BILL RAY FOR LIFE
Toss Me a Line!
Narrative
16
I
t’s one of those horrors you hear
people talk about. You’re on stage
in the middle of a play. The
actors, the audience—everyone—is
waiting for you to speak. But you
can’t
remember
your
lines.
Unfortunately for me, this was not a
nightmare. This was real. I stood
frozen on the long stairway of the set
for the musical Mame.
How did I—a clumsy linebacker
on the school football team—get
here? It’s simple: That afternoon,
Mrs. Smela, our high school drama
teacher, had sprinted up to me in the
hall, her crazy hair standing straight
up like cobras reacting to a snake
charmer’s music. “One of my actors
is out sick!” she shouted at me. “He
has just one line and you’re the only
one who fits his costume! Please,
Stan, please, say you’ll do it!”
I felt sorry for her and said,
“Sure.” I mumbled something about
how the show must go on.
“You won’t regret your decision!”
she bellowed, patting me on the arm.
But now, in the middle of the performance, I think no one regretted
my decision more than she did. On
stage, I opened my mouth to speak.
Nothing came out.
Level 6
My mind raced. I knew the scene
called for a toast. All the actors had
raised their glasses full of grape juice,
and now I was supposed to say something. What that something was, I
couldn’t tell you if my life depended
on it. Not only had I forgotten my
line, but I also couldn’t breathe, swallow, even blink.
And that’s not good if you wear
contact lenses.
Doink! With an audible sound,
the contact lens popped out of my
left eye and whizzed toward the
audience. I didn’t think, “Hey, I’m on
stage in a play. There are 450 parents
and friends watching me.” I thought,
“Holy cow! That’s my expensive contact lens!”
In one motion, I tossed aside my
glass of grape juice—barely noticing
the purple juice splatter the guy next
to me—and plucked the flying lens
out of the tension-filled air.
In the process, my arm accidentally pushed against Andrea Marozas,
the girl playing Mame. She lost her
balance and stumbled down the
stairway. Sure, she lost a shoe that
banged down the steps like a cement
Slinky. But she was good. By the end
of the stumble, she managed to turn
her movements into a little disco-like
dance. (I hear she’s working in a big
New York City theater now. Of course,
I hear about this through other people.
Andrea’s still not talking to me after
that night.)
At that moment, I wasn’t interested
in evaluating her performance. I was
too busy wondering, “How can I keep
my contact lens moist so it doesn’t
crumble?”
Without thinking, I stepped down
to Andrea. I snatched the glass out of
her hand and plopped the contact lens
in it. She gave me a look that would
have driven Sir Laurence Olivier from
the stage, screaming in terror.
“Darling,” she hissed at me, a fake
smile plastered on her face. “You’re
such a silly! I want to give a toast!” She
grabbed her glass back. “To life!” she
screamed quickly, worried I’d interrupt
again.
And then she drank the juice from
the cup. All of it, including my contact
lens.
No one was happier—with the possible exceptions of Andrea and Mrs.
Smela—than I when I returned to the
football field. In football, the only lines
I had to remember were “Grrr!” and
“Get out of my way!”
©TIME Inc.
Reader’s Response
1
What adjective do you think
most students at this high
school would use to describe
Mrs. Smela? Explain your
choice.
2
3
Why can’t Stan recall his line?
4
What was the funniest part of
this narrative? Explain your
choice.
5
Why doesn’t Andrea Marozas
yell at the narrator for ruining
the scene?
Why doesn’t he keep up a
pretense of remaining in
character after his contact lens
pops out?
Writer’s Response
A farce is a kind of
comedy characterized
by exaggerated and
improbable situations. A farce
is likely to include horseplay
CREATING
and glaring inconsistencies.
AN
While Mame is not a farce, the
ATMOSPHERE
onstage situation I was about
to describe had all the elements of a farce: a misplaced
football player frozen by stage
fright, an escaped contact lens,
a talented star trying to save
the scene from disaster. My job was to make readers see how laughable the situation was.
One way was to create the right atmosphere. I began with Mrs.
Smela, describing her as a caricature with outlandish hair and a theatrical approach to life’s problems. Figurative language also helped
to create humor. Mrs. Smela’s hair bobs and weaves ‘like cobras;’
Andrea’s shoe bangs down the stairs ‘like a cement Slinky.’
A second tool I used was description of actions and their results.
Readers can picture a hulking linebacker tossing his grape juice and
leaping for the contact lens in midair. They could follow the shoved
star’s stumble downstairs, the linebacker’s grab for her glass, and
her gulping down the lens. The actions themselves are absurd and
unexpected onstage.
Did you laugh as you read this narrative? If you did,
then I succeeded.
”
✏
1
What mood does the author set
in the first sentence by using the
word horrors?
Write a profile of a local
actor. Ask your high school drama
teacher for suggestions. Find out if
your subject ever had any funny or
scary experiences on stage.
2
For what reasons might the
narrator tell readers he is “a
clumsy linebacker”?
✏
3
What does the author’s
description of Mrs. Smela add to
the narrative?
4
What reasons might the author
have for describing Andrea
Marozas’ actions and reactions
in depth?
Level 6
What was your first
experience speaking in front of a
group? Write a narrative describing the thoughts and
emotions you had at the time.
✏
Pretend you are Andrea Marozas, looking back
on this incident years later. How do you feel about it
now? Tell the story of the staircase scene from your
point of view.
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
17
Narrative
Hotshots: Champions
17
Narrative
TRACY FRANKEL
MICHAEL A. SMITH
DREW ENDICOTT
GRANT WIECZOREK
JULIAN CROSSWELL
ANJELICA DE ANDA
Swimmer
Age: 13 Grade: 8th
Hometown: Carmel, Indiana
Cross-country Runner
Age: 11 Grade: 6th
Hometown: Elmont, New York
Softball Player
Age: 11 Grade: 6th
Hometown: Lake Elsinore, California
Grant Wieczorek (wiz-or-rek) gave
himself a cool present on the day
before his 13th birthday: a national
swimming record!
Grant set the record in January
1999 at the Center Grove Invitational
in Indiana. He blazed through the
100-yard freestyle event in 48.9 seconds. It was Grant’s last race in the
11–12 age group.
“I was nervous before the race,”
says Grant. “I knew it was my last
chance at the record.”
Grant had a spectacular year in
1998. He was ranked number 1 in the
country in his age group in seven
freestyle events: 50 yards, 100 yards,
and 200 yards; 50 meters, 100 meters,
200 meters, and 400 meters.
Julian won the 1998 cross-country
national championship in the division
for boys age 10 and under. The race
covered 3,000 meters, or about two
miles.
HOW DID YOU WIN THE
RACE?
JULIAN: I used strategy. I waited
until everyone got tired, then I made
my move.
WEREN’T YOU TIRED TOO?
JULIAN: No. I train a lot. Besides,
it was cold that day. I ran extra fast so
that I could finish and get inside
where it was warm.
DO YOU LIKE TO TRAIN?
JULIAN: Yes. I train with my older
brother Marc. He gets behind me
when we run and says, “Faster!
Faster!”
Anjelica de Anda steps up to the plate,
she swings ... kapow! That ball is outta
here!
Anjelica walloped two monster
home runs at the 1998 girls’ 10-andunder fast-pitch softball tournament.
Anjelica’s team, the Southern
California Heat, finished second in
the tournament.
Anjelica hit both home runs in a
semi-final game. They were the only
home runs of the tournament. Each
dinger easily cleared the outfield
fence, which was 175 feet from home
plate!
“My teammates hugged me after
the homers,” says Anjelica. “Then
they asked if they could use my bat!”
The Heat finished the season with
an 85-27 record.
Level 6
©TIME Inc.
1
Which of the three sports in the
article appeals to you the most?
Why?
2
Grant and Julian both won right
before the birthday that would
make them ineligible in their
age groups. Do you think that
gave them “an edge”? Why or
why not?
3
Do you think these three kids
are likely to continue in their
sports? Why or why not?
4
Why did Anjelica’s teammates
want to use her bat?
”
Reader’s Response
Details,
details,
details! If there’s one
thing I’ve learned as
a writer, it’s to include
DETAILS
important details. Even in
very short articles like these
I wrote about the three kids
who are sports standouts, I
found room for details. Why?
Because it is details that
make a topic come alive for a
reader. If I had just written that Grant Wieczorek was ranked
first in seven events, you probably would have been impressed
but not fascinated. However, when I included details like his
winning that 100-yard freestyle the day before his 13th birthday—in his last race in the 11–12 age group—you knew that race
was really special to him. It’s that kind of detail that makes writing interesting for readers, I think.
Different kinds of details work best with different topics. In
writing about Julian, for example, I thought the details of what
he actually said during our interview would help readers get to
know him. And Anjelica is such a power hitter that I wanted
everyone to know how far she hit those homers! However, I had
to be accurate and provide the additional detail that her
team did not win the tournament, despite her incredible feat.
”
✏
Writer’s Response
1
Why do you think the author
calls these three athletes
“hotshots”?
2
Why do you think the author
chose these three kids to write
about?
3
What is the author’s attitude
toward these three kids? How
can you tell?
4
Why might the author have
decided to write the article
about Julian as a dialogue?
Level 6
You are a feature writer for your
local newspaper. Write an article about
one of your school’s top athletes. Tell
the story of one specific game, meet,
or other situation. Bring your story to
life with specific details.
✏
Imagine that you are a sports
announcer for a television station.
Plan an interview with one of the
three athletes in this article. Write
the interview as a dialogue between the two of you.
✏
Write a letter to one of the three kids profiled in this
article. Tell him or her why you are impressed with the
athletic feats described in the article. Add anything else you
like.
✏
Suppose you are one of the three kids in the article.
Write a journal entry about a day that was special to you in
your sport. Explain how you felt and why.
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
Narrative
18
KELVIN JONES/DREAMWORKS
DREAMWORKS
Rick Farmiloe in his studio with a sketch of the camel’s head
They’re Playing His ’Toons
Narrative
18
Animator Rick Farmiloe adds his touch
to The Prince of Egypt
R
ick Farmiloe spent one day at work riding camels
around a parking lot. “I took videos of them, of how
they get up and how they walk,” he says. “I studied
those videos like crazy. I drew camels for hours.”
Farmiloe, 41, is a film animator at DreamWorks studios. He created a very graceful, lifelike camel that slinks
across the desert in the animated film The Prince of
Egypt.
For other films, Farmiloe has drawn goofy sidekick
animals, which are his specialty. Remember Scuttle, the
albatross from The Little Mermaid? or Abu, Aladdin’s
monkey? Farmiloe created those, too. But for The Prince
of Egypt, based on the Bible story of Moses, he had to get
serious.
“I couldn’t have the camel walking around smoking a
cigar, tipping his hat,” says Farmiloe. “We needed to treat
him like a real camel.”
Growing up in Santa Rosa, California, Farmiloe knew
Level 6
The camel finds Moses after a
sandstorm.
he had artistic flair. “I used to make little storybooks with
drawings in them. I’d draw in the margins of my school
papers,” he recalls. “I couldn’t help it.”
He studied film, art, and animation in college. His first
job was at a company that made TV cartoons. “I learned
the basics about animation,” he says. After a year, he went
to Disney studios, where he worked on Beauty and the
Beast, The Rescuers Down Under and many other movies.
When his boss at Disney started DreamWorks, he asked
Farmiloe to come along.
Farmiloe’s next challenge will be to create lifelike
characters that are all horses. “They’re tricky,” he says.
“The mouth is way down low, and it’s really tiny. And the
eyes are up on top of the head, on the side. It’s hard to get
an expression.” Sounds as if the DreamWorks parking lot
may soon be full of horses. And Rick Farmiloe will be
there riding them, doodling their long faces, and figuring
out how to turn them into unforgettable characters.
©TIME Inc.
Reader’s Response
1
Why didn’t Rick Farmiloe think
a humorous camel would be
appropriate for The Prince of
Egypt?
2
Did Farmiloe’s boss at Disney
like the work Farmiloe was
doing? How do you know?
3
What does it take to be an
animator? How do you know?
4
An animator essentially draws
cartoons, so why does an
animator make his or her work
as realistic as possible?
Writer’s Response
I liked English in
school and didn’t
have much trouble
getting decent grades in
that subject. But my best
NARROWING
friend had a horrible time
A TOPIC
in English. She just didn’t
seem to be able to speak
or write very well in class,
although she had no problems talking out of school!
She was very artistic, though. She was always drawing
something.
I wanted to write an article about artistic people like
her who became successful even though they weren’t
good writers. When I got started, though, I realized that
writing about successful artists was much too big a topic
for a one-page article. I needed to focus the topic more
narrowly. So I thought about one type of art that would
interest kids—cartoons. I would write about cartoonists.
Well, as you can see, that didn’t work, either. Still too
much. So I decided to write about just one cartoonist.
Focusing on one person meant I could give some interesting details about the person, his work, and his
work history. Just what I thought kids would like
to read.
✏
”
1
What is surprising about the
first paragraph of the article?
Why do you think the writer
starts off with this?
2
What is the play on words—or
pun—in the title?
Your school is going to
publish a magazine about
interesting people in the
neighborhood around the school.
Write an article about a person
whose character, personal history,
or career will appeal to readers.
Tell an anecdote, or story, about
the person.
3
How did the writer make clear
to you that Farmiloe needed
preparation as well as talent to
succeed as an animator?
Write a letter to a cartoonist. Ask for
advice on how to prepare yourself to be a cartoonist or
animator. Include some comments you have about
his/her work.
4
Why do you think the writer
included Farmiloe’s comments
on animating horses?
✏
Level 6
✏
Pretend you are Rick Farmiloe, trying to create
“lifelike characters that are all horses.” Describe
several of your ideas. Add sketches if you can.
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
Narrative
19
TOM WAGNER/SABA
Isahaya Bay’s waters once covered the land where Hirofumi Yamashita stands.
Narrative
19
Struggling to Save His Bay
A
mudskipper wriggles between
puddles and dunks its
chocolate-colored head deep
into the cool marshy ooze of Isahaya
Bay in Japan. Hirofumi Yamashita
(he-ro-foo-mee yah-ma-shee-ta) has
spent over 25 years fighting to save
the bay, in part because he wants the
rare mudskipper fish, which “walk”
on their flippers, to keep their home.
The mudskipper fish is just one of
hundreds of aquatic species found in
Isahaya Bay on the Ariake (air-ee-ahkee) Sea. In 1972, when Yamashita
was a young marine biologist, he realized that a plan by the Japanese government would suck the life out of
Level 6
the late 1970s, the plan was still alive,
but the dikes to block the water had
not yet been built.
Yamashita, a researcher at the
Ariake Sea Fisheries Experiment
Station, persuaded local fishermen to
oppose the project. He told them how
harmful blocking the bay would be to
their rich fisheries. By 1982, the government halted the plan.
But modern Japan has a record of
building and growing while paying
little attention to its environment.
Some local politicians insisted that
the dikes were still needed to protect
against ocean storms called typhoons.
Politicians and construction companies even offered fishermen bonus
money to support the plan.
Yamashita received mysterious,
threatening phone calls, but he would
not give up. Japan’s Ministry of
Agriculture offered him $268,000 to
drop his campaign. He said no.
The fight is far from over. In April
1997, workers built one dike made of
293 steel plates, which cut off part of
Isahaya’s tidal flats from the sea. The
mudskippers hunt for food in the
puddles that remain. Dump trucks
rumble through the dirt, preparing to
build a second dike. But Isahaya has
drawn the world’s attention. The
Japanese news media, which long
ignored the battle, now reports on it.
Yamashita fights on from his house
above the bay. He just knows that his
crusade will be lifted up by a big wave
of support from environmentalists all
around the planet.
this bay. The plan: to block the sea
from the bay so the land would dry up
and could be planted with crops.
Yamashita launched a campaign to
save the area. His effort has given
new life to Japan’s environmental
movement, which was never very
strong. Says Yamashita, now 64: “We
are trying to reverse a case of humans
acting like aliens toward their own
planet.”
THE PLAN TO SHUT OUT THE SEA
Turning Isahaya Bay into dry land
was first proposed in 1952 as a way to
increase farmland and boost Japan’s
food supply after World War II. By
©TIME Inc.
Reader’s Response
1
How successful do you think
Yamashita’s campaign will be?
Why?
2
How old was Yamashita when
he launched his plan? Why do
you think he has kept at it for so
long?
3
What are the main arguments
for and against the plan to block
the sea from the bay?
4
What does the abandoned boat
in the photograph show about
the bay?
Writer’s Response
1
Why do you think the author
chose to write about Hirofumi
Yamashita and his campaign to
save Isahaya Bay?
2
Why did the author begin his
article with the sentence about
the mudskipper?
3
Why does the author include
details such as the amount of
money offered to Yamashita to
drop the campaign and the
number of steel plates in the
dike?
4
Why did the author include a
map of Japan?
Level 6
A campaign like
Yamashita’s has a
long history. It is
important that a writer make
WRITING
the sequence of events in
ABOUT A
that history clear to the readSEQUENCE OF
er. Sometimes you can do
that by giving dates and
EVENTS
lengths of time. I started by
telling readers that the campaign had gone on for over
25 years. But readers need to
know how it started, so the
next main point I made was that Yamashita began his campaign
in 1972. However, the plan to block the sea from the bay had
been first proposed by the government in 1952, although nothing came of it. It took Yamashita about ten years to persuade
fishermen to oppose the plan, and in 1982 the government
stopped the plan. But apparently both the government and
industry decided to carry out the plan after all, because in 1997
one dike was built and preparations were proceeding to build a
second one.
I thought the best way to make this sequence clear was to
include the dates as I explained the sequence of events. To
make sure readers know that the campaign is still going on,
though, I made sure in the last paragraph to tell them
that Yamashita expects support from environmentalists right now.
✏
Reasearch the history of a
local river or garbage dump that has
been cleaned up. Write about the
cleanup. Describe the sequence of
events.
”
✏
Imagine that you are
Hirofumi Yamashita. Write
several journal entries for
important dates in your
campaign to save Isahaya Bay.
Explain how you feel about your victories and your
defeats.
✏
✏
Working on behalf of Yamashita’s campaign, you
take out a full-page advertisement in major newspapers
to enlist support. Write the ad.
You are going to make a TV documentary about
Yamashita and his campaign. Write an outline,
including a list of scenes.
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
Narrative
20
TODD GIPSTEIN/CORBIS
The Bus Ride
Narrative
20
T
he winter wind ripped across
Minneapolis and tore through
the skyscrapers. It finally
smacked against me so hard that my
feet literally left the icy pavement. As
I brushed an icicle from the tip of my
nose, I thought, this is it. It’s too cold.
The bus is never going to arrive, and
my graduate school classmates will
find me lying here. Because no one, I
decided, can survive winter in
Minneapolis.
Then the bus pulled up. It seemed
that all the people who live in the
Minneapolis metropolitan area had
the exact same idea to ride this exact
bus at this exact time. As I shoved
against the wall of people, I wished
for a giant shoehorn. Somehow, I
wedged myself onboard, and the collective body of the bus absorbed me. I
stood holding the handrail as the bus
started to move.
Something jabbed me in the back.
I ignored it. Or tried to ignore it. The
suffocating effects of city life were
reaching an intolerable level. I was
jabbed in the back again. And—strike
three!—again. That was it. I couldn’t
take anymore. All the pushing, the
shoving—the jabbing!
I whirled around. Turning so vio-
Level 6
lently in the tightly packed conditions
produced the same effect as pulling
out the bottom layer from a stack of
blocks. Everything tumbled and shifted as passengers around me struggled
to find their balance. Too bad, I
thought. I was having a bad day and
now they would too.
I discovered the source of the jabbing. It was the corner of a white cake
box. Currently, the cake box was
being juggled back and forth in the
mittened hands of a young woman.
She was about twenty-three and wore
a bright red hat. On her coat was a
button that read: Have a great day!
My first reaction was not a kind
one. I hesitated to help her and, in
that moment, the box went crashing
to the wet floor.
The woman squealed and reached
for the box. There wasn’t enough
room for her to bend to pick it up. But
I was already moving. I sank straight
down like a diver going into the
murky depths of a dangerous ocean
and plucked up the box by its blue
ribbon.
“Thank you,” she said, taking it
from me.
“I’m sorry,” I said. And I was. I had
been a jerk and now look what I had
done. One side of the box had bent
open, and I could see the smashed
cake that was inside.
“It’s okay,” she said. “You couldn’t
know this was my first day in
Minneapolis.” She took a breath. “And
my birthday.”
My heart skipped a beat. I imagined her all alone in her new, empty
apartment with nothing but birthday
candles to keep her warm. And now I
had ruined even that for her. “I am
sorry,” I repeated.
She just smiled and said, “Well, all
cake tastes the same. Squished or
not.”
I thought, I could learn a lot from
her.
I’d like to say that I burst into song
and led the whole bus in a rousing
rendition of “Happy Birthday.” Or
that I gave her a winning lottery ticket. Or presented her with a new car.
No. I can’t say any of that happened.
But I did give her the rest of my
life. Because, you see, on that cold,
miserable winter morning on a bus in
Minneapolis was where and when I
met my wife.
And it was her birthday.
©TIME Inc.
1
Describe the narrator’s mood in
the first three paragraphs. Why,
most likely, has he responded this
way to Minneapolis?
2
What does “strike three!” mean in
the third paragraph?
3
Why did the narrator hesitate to
help the young woman struggling
with the cake box?
4
What does the narrator learn from
the young woman’s response?
5
Why do you think the narrator
remembers this incident in such
detail?
”
Reader’s Response
Any story that
keeps us interested
involves a struggle—maybe more than one
struggle. The hero or heroDEVELOPING
ine grapples with ideas, eleCONFLICT
ments, or people who are at
odds with him or her. The
conflicts provide a context
against which the characters
show ‘what they’re made of.’
In this narrative, I used conflict of several sorts. First, the
struggle with the cold and wind established my attitude that
Minneapolis was too much for me. Then the struggle with the
mass of humanity on the bus showed my tendency to react
childishly and more firmly established my tendency to feel
sorry for myself. Finally, the conflict with the anonymous backjabber focused attention for the first time on a particular
enemy—making it obvious even to me that my attitude was selfish and out of line. This final conflict revealed the immediate
source of my pain as a young woman struggling with exactly the
same foes as me. Only she was meeting them with a smile and
a positive attitude.
Conflict had brought my character full circle. It
had revealed my weaknesses and taught me a lesson
that would last a lifetime.
”
Writer’s Response
1
2
3
4
In the first paragraph, the writer
includes some of the narrator’s
thoughts, such as “brushed an
icicle from the tip of my nose” and
“classmates will find me lying
here.” What insights into the
narrator’s personality do these
details give you?
In the fourth paragraph, the writer
compares the effect of his motion
to that of “pulling out the bottom
layer from a stack of blocks.” How
does this comparison clarify the
action in this scene?
What do the descriptive details
about the young woman with the
cake reveal about her personality?
Why do you think the writer chose
exactly these details and no
others?
What details does the writer
include about himself that reveal
his inner change of heart?
Level 6
✏
Remember a time when you
were uncomfortable for a prolonged
period of time. What comparisons
could help you describe your
discomfort? Write about this
incident, bringing it to life.
✏
First meetings can be
memorable. Think of the first
time you met your best friend or another
memorable first meeting. Were you at your best? your
worst? Write a story about the meeting.
✏
Do couples fall in love at first sight? Or does love
develop over time, as they get to know each other?
Think of reasons and examples to support your position.
Write your explanation to convince your classmates
that you are right.
© Teacher Created Materials, Inc.