Grammar for Writing: Level Orange — Chapter 15

Mapmaker, Mapmaker, Make Me a Map World map from the sixteenth-century book Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, considered to be the first modern atlas. Imagine that it is the late 1400s, and you are at the court of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain. The court is abuzz. An upstart sailor from Italy named Columbus plans to sail west to find India. West! Impossible! After all, everyone knows Earth is flat. If you sail due west, you will fall off the edge into. . . what? Columbus plans to go where no one has gone before. You might want to go with him! Choose a historic pioneering expedition from the past, such as the journeys of Marco Polo into Asia, Stanley and Livingstone into Africa, Christopher Columbus to North America, or Vitus Bering to Alaska; or imagine a future trip by a space explorer. The trek you choose can have taken place as early as the crossing of Asians over the land bridge to Alaska or be planned for far in the future, such as the first mapping of Mars. Keep a journal of your travels and draw a map of your journey. Write a minimum of four entries in your journal. Include descriptive notes about plants, animals, people (and/or extraterrestrial beings), and geological features you see on your journey. Write about startling finds, expectations, and obstacles. Then draw a map that illustrates your trek and landmarks seen along the way. STEP 1: Initial Search Begin your research with visits to the following Web sites: The History of Mapmaking Explore various aspects of the site. Surveying and Mapmaking Read about instruments used in early mapmaking. Antique Maps of China Search through the various antique maps. Fantasy Mapmaking Research how to make a map. Search for specific information about mapmaking or cartography. Take notes on recording land forms, locating sites on a map, understanding latitude and longitude, and general information about maps. STEP 2: Focus Your Search Focus your search on a specific geographic region, such as North America, South America, China, and so on. Use cluster diagrams to organize the facts you have discovered about travels in that area. Then choose the trek that most interests you. (See Grammar for Writing, Level Orange, page 11.) Search the Internet for more information on the adventure you chose and explore other resources, such as an encyclopedia, atlas, newspaper and magazine articles, and map collections. STEP 3: Define Your Audience Make the information in your journal informative and intriguing to people interested in exploration. You will need to draw readers into your trip with imaginative adventures and realistic details. STEP 4: Develop an Outline Develop an outline for the four journal entries. Include (1) planning the trip; (2) plants, animals, people (and/or other living beings) you met along the way; and (3) plotting landmarks and landforms that will help other pioneers. Maps are full of capitalization: Names of countries, states, counties, towns, and cities; monuments and parks; rivers, lakes, and mountains; forests, deserts, and oceans – all of these are proper nouns and must be capitalized. Be sure you understand the rules of capitalization. (See Grammar for Writing, Level Orange, Chapter 15.) Professional writers include all the senses when describing an experience. Think about your reaction to these firsts: seeing a platypus, eating a pineapple, smelling a gardenia, hearing a trumpeter swan, or feeling a spider crawl up your arm. For your journal, imagine encountering many "firsts" on your expedition, and write vivid sensory descriptions of these experiences. STEP 5: Organize Your Ideas and Write a Rough Draft Make a list of all the plants, creatures, people, and geographic sites you will encounter. Next to each item, add five descriptive terms, one for each sense. Apply this information to your outline, and write a rough draft of each journal entry. Next, draw and color your map. Rely on the mapmaking information you have collected to add authenticity to it. Mountain Gates Serenade by Louis Archambault STEP 6: Revise, Edit, and Proofread Your Writing Reread your journal entries. Be sure that your paragraphs describe in detail your imaginary trip, and that your sentences are varied. If necessary add more details and sensory descriptions to your paragraphs to make readers feel that they are actually making the trip with you. Make sure the map correctly illustrates your journey, and that names and places are capitalized. Edit your writing for grammatical errors; then proofread your work carefully for spelling, punctuation, and capitalization errors. STEP 7: Publish Your Work Present your journal entries in diary form; read excerpts from your journal to the class and display the map. Be prepared to answer questions. About the painting: Members of the Lewis and Clark expedition camp for the evening. Sacajawea prepares a meal for her husband, Charbonneau, as Cruzatte plays a serenade to celebrate their entry into the Rocky Mountains in July, 1805. Copyright ©2007 by William H. Sadlier, Inc. All rights reserved.