VOICEJan Oliver-Brear

VOICE

The voice is the writer coming through the words, the sense that a real person is speaking to us and cares about the message. It is the heart and soul of the writing, the magic, the wit, the feeling, the life and breath. When the writer is engaged personally with the topic, he/she imparts a personal tone and flavor to the piece that is unmistakably his/hers alone. And it is that individual something–different from the mark of all other writers–that we call voice.

© NWREL

RESEARCH

• Voice is writing that has to do with a unique personality-on-paper. (Ralph Fletcher)

• Voice is at the heart of the act of writing. (Kirby and Liner)

• Strong voices thrive amidst trust. (Jane Hansen)

RESEARCH CONTINUED

• There are two ways in which you can direct young writers toward more control and sophistication in their writing – exploring the dimensions of their own voices and experimenting with other voices. (Kirby and Liner)

RESEARCH CONTINUED

• The student is expected to . . . write in a voice and style appropriate to audience and purpose. (Texas Education Agency)

THE CHAIR

Directions: Write responses to the lines of the song as I have written them. Your responses should be an average of 10 words each.

PERSONAS

You may choose from a number of personas. What’s a persona? It’s the personality assumed by an individual in adaptation to the outside world. Let’s see the choices. You can be . . .

A swinging single

An older granny type

A health nut

An alien

A feminist

An under-aged girl

A married woman, sneaking out

A call girl

Any other, you must get my OK!

KEEP IT CLEAN, FOLKS –

BUT HAVE SOME FUN!

THE CHOICES

SingleGrannyHealthyAlienGirlMarriedProstituteOther?

The ChairWell, excuse me, but I think you’ve got my chair.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________No, that one’s not taken; I don’t mind if you sit here. I’ll be glad to share.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Yeah, it’s usually packed here on Friday nights. Oh, if you don’t mind, could I talk you out of a light?______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Well, thank you. Could I drink you a buy? Aw, listen to me. What I mean is can I buy you a drink? Anything you please.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Oh, you’re welcome. Well, I don’t think I caught your name.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Are you waiting for someone to meet you here? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Well, that makes two of us. Glad you came.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________No, I don’t know the name of the band, but they’re good, aren’t they?______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Would you like to dance?______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Yeah, I like this song too. It reminds me of you and me. Baby, do you think there’s a chance that later on I could drive you home?______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________No, I don’t mind at all.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Oh, I like you, too, and to tell you the truth, that wasn’t my chair after all.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MODIFICATIONS

For lower level students, I allow them to compose responses of fewer words or to skip responses, depending on the individual’s adaptations.

For higher level students, I challenge them to find other songs with which we could use voice in this manner.

ASSESSMENT

There are 12 responses. If students have completed 10 or more, they get a 100, if they complete 9, they get a 90, and so on. I take off for answers that are too short to develop a voice.

REFERENCES

Fletcher, R. (1993). What a writer needs. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Hansen, J. (2001) When writers read. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Kirby, D. and Liner, T. (1981). Inside out. Montclair, NJ: Boynton/Cook.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading - Subchapter C. High School

6+1 Trait® Writing. (2001). Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. Portland.