Theme Copy that

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Theme Copythat ROCKS
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HS THEMEdevelopment
Design Photography Copy Workbook pages 1-2
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THEME DEVELOPMENT
Concept/theme
Cover
Endsheets
Title/Last page
Opening/Closing
Divisions
Sidebars
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TONE
What would your theme be if it was a body of
flowing water? Would it be like the Mississippi?
Or a quiet stream in a dark forest? Or a rush of
water running in the gutter after a heavy rain?
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TONE
THE CREATIVE PROCESS BRAINSTORMING

• Next, how does the reader enter into the
  water?
• What sort of craft (tug boat? kayak? raft?
  Ski-Doo? rubber boots?) does the reader use?

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TONE

• Finally, where does the river go?
  Or, alternatively, what is its source?
•  

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TONE

• Stephen Kings IT begins with a boat made from a
  sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen
  with rain being followed by a small boy in a
  yellow slicker and red galoshes.
• Unfortunately, a couple of pages into the novel,
  the boy is pulled into a storm sewer by It.

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TONE

• Choose the right tone for your theme

Tone is the way that you "speak" on paper.
Tone depends on the words you choose to express
this style - simple words, scientific words,
slang words.
Tone depends on the style you choose formal,
informal, technical, chatty, poetic.
Tone is how your words come across to the reader.
(It will be different for every theme.)
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TONE

•  

Check this out Sincere She rose from her
chair when I came in and exclaimed with a smile
"Wow! Nice outfit!"
Envious She glanced at me quickly and muttered
reluctantly, "Um, yeah . . . nice outfit."
Sarcastic She gave me one look and said, with a
short laugh, "Yeah, right! Nice outfit!"
Insulting She looked at me incredulously and
said, "Eww! Nice outfit!"
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TONE WORDS

• matter-of-fact
• anxious
• detached
• determined
• apprehensive
• musing
• assertive
• nostalgic
• hesitant
• hopeful
• optimistic
• humorous
• bold
• impassioned
• pensive
• earnest
• incredulous
• persuasive

• carefree
• elevated
• playful
• informative
• enthusiastic
• inquisitive
• excited
• proud
• comical
• provocative
• reflective
• ironic
• reminiscent
• confident
• know-it-all
• resigned
• strong
• wondering
• sincere

• solemn
• unapologetic
• upbeat
• urgent
• sentimental
• whimsical.
• contemplative
• forceful
• formal
• agitated
• conversational
• forthright
• light
• critical
• frank
• lighthearted
• frantic
• lively
• amused

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whatchamacallie
Fine Mess
Pay AtTENtion!
Can You Top This?

• matter-of-fact
• anxious
• detached
• determined
• apprehensive
• musing
• assertive
• nostalgic
• hesitant
• hopeful
• optimistic
• humorous
• bold
• impassioned
• pensive
• earnest
• incredulous
• persuasive

• carefree
• elevated
• playful
• informative
• enthusiastic
• inquisitive
• excited
• proud
• comical
• provocative
• reflective
• ironic
• reminiscent
• confident
• know-it-all
• resigned
• strong
• wondering
• sincere

• solemn
• unapologetic
• upbeat
• urgent
• sentimental
• whimsical.
• contemplative
• forceful
• formal
• agitated
• conversational
• forthright
• light
• critical
• frank
• lighthearted
• frantic
• lively
• amused

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VOICE
Choose the right VOICE and TONE for your theme
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Dont view theme copy as an opportunity to
blacken the readers eyes
Welcome to 2009 at the high. We have been through
it all this year, from bomb threats to entire
family brawls in the compound. You know what they
say You can plan a picnic but you damn sho
cant predict the weather. So we dogged the
bottles the class of 2008 hurled in the
courtyard. And we tolerated being locked out of
our own school every morning. Because in the end,
we love this placeGoodbye Class of 2009. You are
all the sexiest beasts alive.
AWFUL THEME COPY
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THINK PLAN before you start writing
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Use repetition
          Remember the day I borrowed your brand
new car, and I dented it? I thought you'd kill
me, but you didn't. And remember the time I
dragged you to the beach, and you said it would
rain, and it did? I thought you'd say, "I told
you so," but you didn't. Do you remember the time
I flirted with all the guys to make you jealous
and you were? I thought you'd leave me, but you
didn't. Do you remember the time I spilled
strawberry pie all over your car rug? I thought
you'd hit me, but you didn't.
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Use repetition
And remember the time I forgot to tell you that
the dance was formal, and you showed up in jeans.
I thought you'd drop me, but you didn't. Yes,
there were lots of things you didn't do. But you
put up with me, and you loved me, and you
protected me. There were lots of things I wanted
to make up to you when you returned from Vietnam.
But you didn't. -Leo Buscaglia
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Use Repetition
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Keep it short
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Be specific Theme Mphasis Tone unapologetic
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Consider Lists
From F. Scott Fitzgerald's story "The Crack-Up"
          Seen in a Junk Yard. Dogs, chickens
with few claws, brass fittings, T's elbow, rust
everywhere, bales of metal 1800 lbs., plumbing
fixtures, bathtubs, sinks, water pumps, wheels,
Fordson tractor, acetylene lamps for tractors,
sewing machine, bell on dinghy, box of bolts (No.
1), van, stove, auto stuff (No. 2), army trucks,
cast iron body, hot dog stand, dinky engines,
sprockets like watch parts, hinge all taken apart
on building side, motorcycle radiators, George on
the high army truck.
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Try a list Theme this is not a yearbook Tone
expansive
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Be a name dropper Theme when life gives you
lemons, make lemonade Tone resigned
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Try 1st Person Theme Patterns Tone familiar
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Try a conversation Theme en route Tone
conversational
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Vary the length of sentences
 This sentence has five words. This is five
words, too. Five word sentences are fine. But
several together become monotonous. Listen to
what is happening. The writing is getting
boring. The sound of it drones. It's like a stuck
record. The ear demands some variety.
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Now listen. I vary the sentence length and I
create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a
pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short
sentences. And I use sentences of medium length.
And sometimes when I am certain the reader is
rested, I will engage him with a sentence of
considerable length, a sentence that burns with
energy and builds with all the impetus of a
crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of
the cymbals, and sounds that say listen to this
it is important. Gary Provost on the Rhythms of
Sentence Length
Vary the length of sentences
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Experiment with parallel structure

• Use prepositional phrases as in
• "History will show that he walked away with
  _____with _____and with _____.
• or
• "She walked down _____through _____ and across
  _____."

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Show Dont Tell
Novelist Robert Newton Peck explains "show versus
tell" in his Secrets of Successful Fiction
          Readers want a picture---something to
see, not just a paragraph to read. A picture made
out of words. That's what makes a pro out of an
amateur. An amateur writer tells a story. A pro
shows the story, creates a picture to look at
instead of just words to read. A good author
writes with a camera, not with a pen.
          The amateur writes "Bill was
nervous."           The pro writes "Bill sat
in a dentist's waiting room, peeling the skin at
the edge of his thumb, until the raw, red flesh
began to show. Biting the torn cuticle, he ripped
it away, and picked at the mangled skin until the
receptionist called his name."
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MATH THEME COPY
If bus A leaves the corner of Palo Verdo and
Arizona Avenue at 646 am at a speed of 35 mph,
but only has to drive 6 miles, while bus B leaves
the corner of Somerton Avenue and Highway 95 at
the same time having to drive 20 miles at 50 mph,
what will be the difference in the time both
buses arrive on campus? Students knew better
than anyone else that math was inevitable. It was
emphasized at school like nothing had ever been
before. We had math lessons in classes such as
English, art and even during that extra time in
our fourth hour called advisory time. For the
first time, students were required to pass all
three sections of the AIMS test to graduate
reading, writing and math. Math was the area that
most students had the most difficulty with thus,
the reason for all the math.
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Top-10 List Theme Copy
Making it all COUNT Top ten reasons students had
to make use of every minute 10. Seniors were
in trouble with the police As part of the new
schedule, lunch became 36 minutes instead of the
55-minute period last year. Seniors who went out
to lunch had to find new ways to save time in
order to get back to school on time. 9.
Administrators made a split decision. To cut
down on long lines in the cafeteria during
lunch, administrators made a split lunch part of
the
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Getting motivated for The first day of
school has never been easy, but as Alarms went
off for 1,447 students August 22, teens dragged
out of bed, donned their this-is-my-look
outfits and headed for another 181
days of classes. They Didnt expect a strict new
attendance policy (only two free tardies a
semester, get a third, BAM, Go to detention).
Neither were they pre- pared for the dress code
(wear a Big Johnson tee-shirt or one
depicting drugs, alcohol or tobacco, Boom, Off
it comes). But summer was over, and as Students
took up the old routines of school, there was
no Excuse but to try and make the best of it. It
was some- thing everyone had to do.
Embedded Message Copy
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1st PERSON INANIMATE THEME COPY
Am I just a school? I am senior square at
lunch. l am A-1O at test time. I am Newman Field
at kick at kickoff. I am the stage at curtain
call. Am l just a school? I am six building
sections A-F. I am your teacher who helped you
after school. I am the step you broke your heel
on at Homecoming. I am what you have made me. Am
l just a school?
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Do you remember your finest hour? Do you remember
your worst? Maybe you dont. I do. So, am I just
a school? Cheer wildly. Slap on the Ram bumper
sticker. Paint your faces blue. Make me
proud. Then tell me, am I just a school? Well, am
I, friend? Am I?
1st PERSON INANIMATE THEME COPY
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I am six feet of green separating you from a
birdie. I am the three-point line at the
buzzer. I am fourth and goal and no time-outs. I
am a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded. Am I just a
game? I am a grandma with a giant foam finger. I
am a watered-down cup of The Thirst Quencher. I
am two skinned knees and a bruised ego. I am a
double-fault at game point. Am I just a game?
1st PERSON INANIMATE THEME COPY
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I am a high-stepping, prime time trip to the end
zone. I am Air Ball, the grim specter of
basketball death. I am the inappropriate word
that was worth the red card. I am RAMS! on the
count of three. Am I just a game? Do you know the
depth of defeat? Have you scaled the peaks of
victory? Am I just a game? Go deep. Ace the
serve. Swing for the fences Sink the long
one Then youll know, you can tell me Am I just a
game?
1st PERSON INANIMATE THEME COPY
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GIMMICK THEME COPY -- alliteration
STARTING WITH All last year, anytime we asked
about the new ABC schedule, administrators gave
us an artful answer, which left us anticipating
academic agony. But when the buildings closed
for summer break, believers in this new set of
ABCs broke the news that wed be battling the
books for an extra hour. Built in to the new
schedule was a seventh period to break the
boundaries of boring academic basics. Certainly,
changes loomed ahead. Contact period now came at
noon instead of the close of the day, and classes
commenced an hour before the rooster crowed.
Clearly, we were learning a new set of ABCs.
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GIMMICK THEME COPY (onomatopoeia)
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GIMMICK THEME COPY (onomatopoeia)
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GIMMICK THEME COPY (onomatopoeia)
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