Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Chapter Two News Values and Story Ideas 59 Chapter Two Chapter Two Writers’ Workshop Example: Using the noun needle, you could write: The needle hemmed the dress. 2. Now improve the two nouns in your sentence a little. Make them more specific by modifying them: Her flashing needle hemmed my prom dress. 3. Create at least four participles or participial phrases to modify the subject of your sentence. Examples: darting in and out of the crisp satin puncturing the cloth drawing closed the sutures pulling the scarlet thread 4. Choose the three best phrases from the four or more phrases you created. Write several versions of your sentence with these participial phrases. Experiment with the order of the phrases and their location. For instance, try it this way: Her flashing needle, puncturing the cloth, drawing closed the sutures, pulling the scarlet thread, hemmed my prom dress. Or: Her flashing needle hemmed my prom dress, puncturing the cloth, pulling the scarlet thread, drawing closed the sutures. The core SVO sentence remains the same, but the participial phrases foreshadow the possibility that this will be a bloody prom night. Is there a vampire in the audience? WORKSHOP 2.2 W ORKSHOP 2.2 Congratulations! It’s Triplets! Mini-Lesson: Using Three Specifi cs or Mini-Lesson: Using Three Specifi cs or Three Modifi ers Three Modifi ers There is something about three. Three little pigs. Three wishes. Three chances to spin straw into gold. We write with threes: “… one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Abraham Lincoln described America at Gettysburg as “government of the people, by the people, for the people…” In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson’s prose talks about “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” President Barack Obama used this principle of three when he wanted Americans to remember the 9/11 attacks as he announced the death of Osama bin Laden. He said, “On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family.” Apply It! Almost every part of speech can be used effectively as triplets. Try triplet prepositional phrases, using this as your sentence: We played hide-and-go-seek. Now describe where you played the game. Example: in the basement in the attic and in the garage Mini-Lesson: Triplet Verbs Triplet verbs have a long and dignified history. In 47 B.C.E. when Julius Caesar had conquered the city of Zela (now Zile, in Turkey), he is reported to have penned this perfect tricolon, a form of triplet, using three verbs: “Veni, vidi, vici—I came, I saw, I conquered.” A less dignified verb triplet might be: He danced, sang and generally made a fool of himself. Notice that the triplet verbs can be parallel, as in the example above, but they can also zoom, create a sequence, or ascend or descend in importance or gravity. Zooming: He located where the mosquito had bitten him, clawed at it with his nails and did not stop until pink-white plasma tinted with blood oozed from the sore. Sequential: He grabbed the gallon jug of milk from the fridge, twisted off the cap and began to gulp. Ascending: We pledge our lives, our liberty and our sacred honor. Descending: We live to learn, love and die. Apply It! Use the sentence frame below to answer the question “What do you live for?” Example: I live to complain, criticize and correct. I live to _____, _____ and _____. Extend Your Knowledge Visit the Journalism website for additional examples and practice. Extend