LESSON 4.5
Create the Old Section Idea

We start Nonfiction with Narrator essays by discussing the narrator.  He or she is the main idea of the Old Section.

If I could be any wild animal,


We need to make the narrator interesting just as we did the main character in our stories. There are two ways to do that:

  • Borrow from the Old Section
  • Borrow from the Why Section

Borrow from the New (RH) Variable

The main character is “I.” We need to make the “I” interesting.

Pretend your prompt is:

What explorer have you most liked during this semester’s unit on the European exploration of the Americas? Why?

This RH variable is made up of—

Ponce de Leon
Spanish exploration
European exploration of the Americas
Florida
Unfulfilled dreams (according to myth, de Leon was searching for the Fountain of Youth.)

You decide on the last. You discuss unfulfilled dreams in the New Section (RH Variable) and mention it in the Old Section (LH Variable).

Now the What/Why Statement looks like this:

Write the First Sentence

The first sentence of the Old Section should—

  • be short and simple
  • include the word I
  • include an emotion
  • include the idea you borrowed from the RH variable.

Activity 4.4.2 – Small Group

Write the first sentence of the Old (LH) variable you created in Activity 4.4.1

For example:

Like most teenagers, I have a lot of unfulfilled dreams.

Activity 4.5.1 – Small Group

      A. As a small group, create the What Statement for this prompt:

If you could have any pet you want, what would it be?

  1. Brainstorm animals
  2. Decide on your subject
  3. Brainstorm the “parts” of your subject
  4. Write the What Statement
  5. Write the first sentence of the Old Section

*

Borrow from the Why Section

Another way to make the I interesting is to borrow from the Why Section. Let’s take the same prompt:

What explorer have you most liked during this semester’s unit on the European exploration of the Americas? Why?

Your What/Why Statement is:

Now the What/Why Statement looks like this:

The first sentence of the Old Variable might read like this:

I have been fascinated with myth for a long time, because I am Blackfoot.

Activity 4.5.2 – Individual

As a small group, answer the following.  Do not use an animal we have discussed.

  • If you could own a rare animal, what would it be?
  • Fill in the blanks that have question marks
  • Why would you own that rare animal? Fill in the Y section. Do not have a tautology..
  • Fill in the Y Section
  • Determine 2-3 parts of the Why Section.
  • Write the first sentence of the Old Section.