Friday, January 21, 2011

Savoring Powerful Language

Excerpt from Jerry Spinelli's Maniac McGee:

"They say Maniac McGee was born in a dump. They say his stomach was a cereal box and his heart a sofa spring. They say he kept an eight-inch cockroach on a leash and that rats stood guard over him while he slept. They say if he was coming and you sprinkled salt on the ground and he ran over it, within two or three blocks he would be as slow as everybody else. They say. What's true? What's myth? It's hard to know .... But that's OK. Because the history of a kid is one part fact, two parts legend and three parts snowball. And if you want to know what it was like back when Maniac McGee roamed these parts, well, just run your hand under your movie seat and be very, very careful not to let the facts get mixed up with the truth."

How did the language strike you?

Start your meeting today by looking for some passages of great language in your book. Each member find one section and read it aloud to the group. Talk a little bit about each section. What makes the language special, beautiful, or powerful? When you're done, pick one passage to record in Photo Booth. Put the video of the passage in the drop box.

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