Unit 3: Activity 2- Strategies used by the writer to communicate with his or her audience, the writer's purpose and evaluation of a descriptive essay "Lou's Place"

STRATEGIES USED BY THE WRITER TO COMMUNICATE WITH HIS OR HER AUDIENCE

• Sensory data (sensory details description)-for e.g. "The paint on the wall has cracks and there is a perennial smell of hamburgers permeating the air."

• Adjectives-for e.g "......the place (noun) looks a little squalid (adjective)..." and "....a haze (adjective) of aromas (noun).

• Descriptive sequence (spatial-order description)-for e.g. "When entering the door at Lou's....seems to consist of a maze of rooms. The first room, through the door, is the main part of the restaurant.There is another, rarely used dining room,off to the right."

• Figurative Language for e.g.(personification)-for e.g."The old juke box  reigning in the corner is brought to life "

• Comparison and Contrast-for e.g."...I experienced another trip through time' s door; it was as if nothing had changed, nothing except, the amount of gray in her hair." and "... Some of the old men had passed on; they have since been replaced by ..."young 'uns" ..."

• Informal language (colloquialisms)  and level of language formality is casual-"She ....often...with the strongest East Tennessee accent "It don't matter how pore a body is..."' and the "doins of them young'uns..."

THE WRITER"S PURPOSE AND HOW THIS IS ACHIEVED IN THE ESSAY

The writer's purpose is to highlight the historical and social importance of "Lou's " to its generations of patrons since 1954. This is evident in the phrases "...proud of her 'A' rating and prominently displays it."; "...added during the oil well boom of the seventies"; "the old juke box...starts blasting tunes that cover at least twenty years of change in musical tastes and " ..."the restaurant begins it's shift as the town's social center."."The writer takes the reader on a journey through time and space as he or she enters this nostalgic cafe.This is evident in the phrase "It seemed as if we had opened the door to decades."The description of the writer's personal experiences of dining at Lou's: a walk through "the maze of rooms" at Lou's, to have a meal there at various seating arrangements,to play music on "the old juke box",  to over hear conversations of the "busybodies or gossips"and to experience the hospitality of "Lou" appeals primarily to the sense of sight and less frequently sound and smell. The use of descriptive adjectives create paintings or photographs in my mind  of people young and old who walk in , sit, play music, gossip, dine and then leave at premeditated hours of the day or night. For example, "Even though the news branch never stops,...it is replaced by young people, heralding the evening" Furthermore, I could put a face to many of the townsfolk from the 'old men', the 'young 'uns', "the women's information league' and so forth. The cafe atmosphere is casual and the use of colloquialism and contractions reflects that. Such an  example is  "It don't matter how pore a body is."

6 TRAITS WRITING RUBRIC TO EVALUATE THE DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY "LOU'S PLACE"

	4- Excellent	3-Very Good	2-Satisfactory	1-Needs Improvement
Ideas	-paints a picture for the reader -well focused on the topic -clear ideas are well supported with interesting and vivid detail	-creates some clear images for the reader -focused on the topic -ideas are well supported with details	-sometimes strays from the topic -ideas are not well developed -more details are needed	-poorly focused on the topic -ideas are unclear -few details are given
Organization	-well focused on the topic -logical organization -excellent transition -easy to follow	-generally focused on the topic -some lapses in organization -some transitions -usually easy to follow	-somewhat  focused on the topic -poor organization -few transitions -difficult to follow	-not focused on the topic -no clear organization -no transitions -difficult or impossible to follow
Word Choice	-precise, vivid and interesting word choices -variety of word choices	-fairly precise, interesting and somewhat varied word choices -wording could be more specific	-vague, mundane word choices -wording is sometimes repetitive -more descriptive words are needed	-very limited word choices -wording is bland and not descriptive
Sentence Fluency	-uses complete sentences -varying sentence structure and lengths	-uses complete sentences -generally simple sentence structures	-occasional sentence fragment or run-on sentence -sentence structure is used repeatedly	-sentences are difficult to understand
Conventions	-proper grammar usage -correct spelling -correct punctuation -correct capitalization	-few errors of grammar and usage -most correct spelling, punctuation and capitalization	-errors in grammar, usage and spelling sometimes makes understanding difficult -some errors in punctuation and capitalization	-frequent errors in grammar, usage, spelling, capitalization and punctuation make understanding difficult or impossible
Voice	-voice is fitting for the topic and engaging -well suited for audience and purpose	-voice is fairly clear and seems to fit the topic -suited for audience and purpose	-voice rarely comes through -not always suited for audience and purpose	-voice is weak and inappropriate -no sense of audience and purpose