Grammar for Writing: Level Orange — Chapter 5

Have You Ever Been to. . .? Lighthouse, Cape Hatteras, NC The United States has 83 million acres of national and historic parks, battlefields, memorials, museums, and monuments. The country also counts national seashores, forests, parkways, lakeshores, wild rivers, trails, and preserves among its treasures. The most popular sites might surprise you: Blue Ridge Parkway (running through Virginia and North Carolina), Golden Gate National Recreation Area (NRA) (San Francisco, CA), and Lake Mead NRA (in Nevada and Arizona). It is to the least visited sites, however, that you will travel. The National Park Service wants to promote some of its lesser-known parks. Your assignment is to produce a travel brochure that will convince people to visit a place they might never have heard of. For example, you might write a brochure explaining that El Malpais National Monument in Grants, New Mexico, with its vast wilderness and volcanic landscapes, is as dramatic as Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park. Research at least three lesser-known national treasures. Choose one, and develop a persuasive brochure that will draw vacationers. STEP 1: Initial Search Begin your research with visits to the following websites: National Park Service Search: Park sites Forest Service/Recreation Search: Recreation sites Great Outdoors Recreation Search: Trails Search for information about national parks and monuments. Take notes on the sites, wildlife, vegetation, and general information about visitors and facilities. Use cluster diagrams to organize the details you have discovered about various parks and facilities. Focus your investigation on one national park, recreational area, or facility in the location that most interests you. (See Grammar for Writing, Level Orange, page 11.) STEP 2: Focus Your Search Search the Internet for more information on the park or site you chose, and explore other resources, such as books, videos, an encyclopedia, an almanac, newspaper and magazine articles, and National Geographic (the magazine or the website). Collect facts, such as what people see and do there, facilities, and descriptive details. Include climate information, such as average temperature, rainfall, best season to visit, and so on. Don't forget to include directions on how to get to the park! STEP 3: Define Your Audience Make your information inviting to vacationing families. Your readers may know something about Yosemite and Yellowstone, but they may never have heard of the park or site you chose. Make your writing style persuasive – use descriptive words such as spectacular, rejuvenating, serene, and breathtaking. Be sure to describe special features that families want to see. You want them to take your advice to visit the park, forest, monument, or historical site. STEP 4: Brainstorm Ideas Brainstorm a list of everything you would want to know about a place if you were planning a visit. Then, organize your list into categories, such as: (1) things to do, (2) places to see, (3) facilities, (4) location, (5) nearby places to visit, (6) wildlife, and (7) regional cuisine. Some sites will attract vacationers who want to hike. Others will draw bird-watchers. You want to pitch your park's best assets. Prioritize your list of categories by what you feel would most attract a vacationing family. Make your brochure lively and exciting; choose specific action verbs and descriptive adjectives and adverbs. See Grammar for Writing, Level Orange, pages 101, 105, and 107. Sometimes the best way to describe a place or create a mood is to use someone else's words. Often, you can find those words in collections of quotations. For example, naturalist John Muir once said, "The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness." Look for just such a quote to add appeal to your brochure. STEP 5: Organize Your Ideas and Write Your Brochure Write a rough draft of your brochure. Remember, a vacation is usually a sensory event. Write about the sounds, smells, sights, and feel of the park or site you are promoting. It is also good to know that sometimes fewer words are best. Tell the story of your site as clearly and concisely as possible. Denali National Park, Alaska STEP 6: Revise, Edit, and Proofread Your Brochure Reread your brochure. Be sure each paragraph has a topic sentence and all sentences in the paragraph support that topic. Add specific, vivid details, as well as anecdotes or quotations, to help readers get a clear picture of the site. Ask: "Will my brochure make readers want to visit this site?" Edit your writing for grammatical errors; then proofread your work carefully for spelling, punctuation, and capitalization errors. STEP 7: Publish Your Work Look for colorful, intriguing, or dramatic pictures for your brochure. Then check out several brochure styles – tri-fold, flyer, accordion-fold, book-style, and so on – that you might receive through the mail. Display your brochure for the class. Copyright ©2007 by William H. Sadlier, Inc. All rights reserved.