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English 9

Halloween/Adventure Story Guidelines



1. You are going to write a scary scene or story. It does not have to be a
traditional story with a beginning, middle and end; it can simply describe a
place, scene, person, or situation.

2. You may want to start with any of the following story starters:

- Struggling to free himself from the grasp of the vampire, Harry
- Unlocking the mysterious trunk, Sarah
- Walking up the dark steps to the attic, Igor
- Reaching for a flashlight
- Make up your own!

3. The Challenge: Use as many complex sentences and participial phrases,
appositive phrases as possible. Strive for sentence variety and fluency. (See
back for you Writing Tool Box.)

4. Describe, Describe, Describe. Write using details consider the senses:
sight, smell, hear, taste, and listen. Vivid description.

5. You will be graded on the following:

Quality of writing and sentence structure: simple, compound and
complex sentences. (Use variety.)

Variety of sentence starters

Use of grammar (Participial phrases and complex sentences: adverb
and adjective clauses. See other side.)

Ability to write descriptively, using the senses

6. Length: 2 to 4 pages, typed, double-spaced. Go back & edit as you go over.
Due: Wednesday, October 29, 2014 (Typed 1st Draft for Peer Editing and
Sharing.)

Final Draft: October 31, 2014. Be prepared to read for classmates.







Strategies for Spicing Up Sentences & Bringing
Sentence Variety to Your Writing

The Basic Sentence:

Pat walked to the haunted house.

Use Dependent Clauses:

1.) Use a Dependent Clause in a Complex Sentence (introduced by a
Subordinating conjunction:
2.) Time: after, before, as, as soon as, as long as, since, until, when, while,
whenever
3.) Cause: because, since, due to the fact, now that, as, in order that
4.) Contrast: although, even if, even though, though
5.) Condition: if, but that, except that, if only, in case, provided that, unless,
whether

After she dropped off letters at the Post Office, Pat walked to the haunted
house.
Because she wanted to get the latest ghost detector, Pat walked to the
electronics store, a Mecca for paranormal gadgets.

6.) Use an Adjective Clause in a Complex Sentence (introduced by a relative
pronoun: who, which, whose, that)

Pat, who left school early to get the new Bruno Mars album, walked to the
haunted house.
Pat, whose taste in music is amazing, walked to the haunted house.
Pat walked to the haunted house, which is the scariest place in the city.

Use Participial Phrases:

1. Use a Participial Phrase (-ing verb form) or (-ed, -en for past participle)
Singing at the top of her lungs, Pat walked to the haunted house.
Laughing hysterically at the vampire, Pat ran out of the haunted house.
Pat, scared by the sounds coming from the basement, walked to the haunted
house.


Use Appositive Phrase:

Pat, a local jokester, walked to the haunted house.
Pat, the student on my soccer team, walked to the haunted house.

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