The Van Gogh Cafe By Cynthia Rylant

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The Van Gogh CafeBy Cynthia Rylant

• Inquiry lesson on Craft
• by
• Janice Buchanan

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Craft

• Some say magic comes from heaven, and others
  say magic comes from hell, but anyone who has
  ever visited the Van Gogh Café knows that magic
  comes from a building that was once a theater
  from a sign above the cash register that reads
  BLESS ALL DOGS from a smiling porcelain hen on
  top of a pie carousel from purple hydrangeas
  painted all over a ladies bathroom from a small
  brown phonograph that plays Youd Be So Nice To
  Come Home To.

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• Can you identify the craft or crafts used by the
  author?

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Craft

• Some say magic comes from heaven, and others
  say magic comes from hell, but anyone who has
  ever visited the Van Gogh Café knows that magic
  comes from a building that was once a theater
  from a sign above the cash register that reads
  BLESS ALL DOGS from a smiling porcelain hen on
  top of a pie carousel from purple hydrangeas
  painted all over a ladies bathroom from a small
  brown phonograph that plays Youd Be So Nice To
  Come Home To.

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Repeated Words

• From A
• Rylant uses this set of words 4 different times
  after the semi colon to begin the descriptive
  text of what the walls of the café have seen.

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Craft

• Some say magic comes from heaven, and others
  say magic comes from hell, but anyone who has
  ever visited the Van Gogh Café knows that magic
  comes from a building that was once a theater
  from a sign above the cash register that reads
  BLESS ALL DOGS from a smiling porcelain hen on
  top of a pie carousel from purple hydrangeas
  painted all over a ladies bathroom from a small
  brown phonograph that plays Youd Be So Nice To
  Come Home To.

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Semi colon

• Rylant uses the semi colon to separate the
  different occupants of the building that the
  walls have seen over the years.
• Rylant uses very specific descriptive words to
  describe the (different) past occupants
  however,I noticed she doesnt actually give names
  of the previous owners-she leaves it up to the
  reader to figure out for themselves.

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• A run on sentence is craft when done with
  intention as our author Cynthia Rylant did.
• Using semi colons is a great way to intentionally
  create a run on sentence.

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Run on Sentence

• Using the word combination, from a to start the
  new text 4 different times, gives a poetic rhythm
  to the sentence along with the semi colons that
  allow the text to describe many different
  occupants of the café, supporting the original
  argument of why the walls were magical. Thus,
  making the run on sentence smooth and flowing

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• Add to your writers box!
• How can you use Rylants method of Craft in your
  own writing?

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Inquiry Lessonby Janice Buchanan

• Created for EDT 3470
• Lesson designed to use with 4th and 5th grade
  students during a writers workshop.