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Composition (Writing)

Within Language Arts

Man is in front of a screen with text that reads, "Understanding Your Essay Topic," above a drawing of a hamburger and a drawing of a maze. Other text appears on screen.

Still image from: Abbreviations for Kids

Man stands outside next to a body of water. Text next to him reads, "What kind? Which one? How many?" Caption. We used adjectives to answer the questions.

Front of a steam engine train parked on the tracks. Text on image reads, "The train is a mildly popular attraction." Caption. Each of these tells us to what degree the train is popular.

Man with mouth open and left palm facing camera sits beside graphic inset of a lined spiral notebook that reads, "A, P English Exam." Caption. What are the nuts and bolts.

Talking man is in front of a screen with text that reads, "Strong Thesis Statement," above other instructional text and clip art drawings.

Man stands in front of a wall of guitars. Caption. Knowing when to use capital letters is important.

Medium shot of a man seated in the concave section of a small desk with several sheets of pale yellow paper laid out in front of him. Caption. Gareth as narrator. Put his writing desk at the right angle.

Closeup of a child's hand writing on a lined notepad. Caption. Your writing may reflect your life, just going and going.

Woman speaks directly to camera in a restaurant setting. Text next to her reads, "Nouns, Phrases, Clauses." Caption. That connect 2 elements of the same kind, such as...

Multi-colored border of markers pointing down and crayons pointing up against a white background.

Man looks at a screen with text that reads, "Writing a Hook," above various colorful clip art drawings.

Green background with a clip art drawing of a smiling, brown-haired woman on the left, and a pencil on the right. Text in the middle of the screen reads, "Editing your writing for kids! Teaching without frills."

Man stands on a stage decorated with oversized letters and punctuation marks. Caption. Exclamation points are also used in a command.

Young man speaks to camera. Next to him a digital image of a yellow legal pad with a text overlay that reads, "Genres and Subgenres." Caption. When we talk about genres and subgenres.

Woman faces camera against a braille background, gesturing with both hands out and forward. Caption. Good communication skills are powerful tools in everyday life.

Young woman wearing a purple blouse speaks to camera, looking up and to her left with mouth open wide. Caption. What about you?

Woman faces camera and smiles wide against a braille background. Caption. Man as narrator. In an expository composition.

Woman faces camera against a braille background, gesturing with 1 hand up as if to punctuate her words. Caption. Before you start, ask 3 basic questions.

Young woman wearing a purple blouse speaks to camera. Caption. We're going to learn different writing strategies.

Man with cartoon image of Mark Twain in background. Caption. Communication is what it's all about.

Orange background with a clip art drawing of a smiling, brown-haired woman on the left, and a magnifying glass and a blue notebook on the right. Text in the middle of the screen reads, "Evaluate sources for relevance. Teaching without frills."

Orange background with a clip art drawing of a magnifying glass in the bottom left corner. Text in the middle of the screen reads, "Evaluate sources for reliability. Teaching without frills."

Closeup on a child writing a list on a sheet of lined paper. Caption. And succeed in the skill of written expression?

Blue background with a graphic of an essay outline on the left. Text on the right reads, "How to create an outline. Teaching without frills."

Man stands in front of a screen showing clip art drawings of various items. Text title above clipart reads, "Start essay with strong introduction." Text in banner reads, "Background information."

Man points in front of a screen showing a drawing of a house being built near drawings of a person celebrating an A+ paper and 1 crying over an F minus paper. Text title above drawings reads, "Starting your essay, introduction paragraph."

Illustration. Teaching without Frills. White cloud against a pink background with text that reads, "How to Write an Imaginative Narrative for Kids! Episode 2. Brainstorming." Below this, a cartoon woman looks up with a curious expression.

Illustration. Teaching without Frills. White cloud against a pink background with text that reads, "How to Write an Imaginative Narrative for Kids! Episode 6. Closing." Below this, a cartoon woman looks up with a curious expression.

Illustration. Teaching without Frills. White cloud against a pink background with text that reads, "How to Write an Imaginative Narrative for Kids! Episode 5. Events." Below this, a cartoon woman looks up with a curious expression.

Illustration. Teaching without Frills. White cloud against a pink background with text that reads, "How to Write an Imaginative Narrative for Kids! Episode 4. Introduction." Below this, a cartoon woman looks up with a curious expression.

Illustration. Teaching without Frills. White cloud against a pink background with text that reads, "How to Write an Imaginative Narrative for Kids! Episode 3. Planning." Below this, a cartoon woman looks up with a curious expression.

Illustration. Teaching without Frills. White cloud against a pink background with text that reads, "How to Write an Imaginative Narrative for Kids! Episode 7. Revising." Below this, a cartoon woman looks up with a curious expression.

Illustration. Teaching without Frills. White cloud against a pink background and oversized pencil and text that reads, "How to Write an Imaginative Narrative for Kids!"

Pink background with drawings of 2 adults and 2 kids on the right, and 1 boy holding a blank paper on the left. Text in the middle of the screen reads, "How to write for your audience. Teaching without frills."

Black text on a cloudy sky background reads, How-To Writing. Episode 1. Brainstorming. Below this, illustrations of a thought bubble, pen, and stack of paper.

Black text on a cloudy sky background reads, How-To Writing. Episode 4. Revising Steps. Below this, illustrations of a thought bubble, pen, and stack of paper.

Black text on a cloudy sky background reads, How-To Writing. Episode 5. Writing a Closing. Below this, illustrations of a thought bubble, pen, and stack of paper.

Black text on a cloudy sky background reads, How-To Writing. Episode 2. Writing an Introduction. Below this, illustrations of a thought bubble, pen, and stack of paper.

Black text on a cloudy sky background reads, How-To Writing. Episode 3. Writing Steps. Below this, illustrations of a thought bubble, pen, and stack of paper.

Color illustration. Girl sits on her knees looking up at a man with large, elephant-like ears. He reaches towards shelves with small jars and bottles. Caption. Female reader as narrator. Everyone is whizzpopping.

Woman in coat using a megaphone. Caption.They plan on doing it again.

Digital illustration of a magnifying glass on left and a pencil on right. Title card at center reads, "Informational Writing. Episode 2, Choosing a Topic."

Digital illustration of a magnifying glass on left and a pencil on right. Title card at center reads, "Informational Writing. Episode 8, Making a Glossary."

Digital illustration of a magnifying glass on left and a pencil on right. Title card at center reads, "Informational Writing. Episode 3, Making a Plan."

Digital illustration of a magnifying glass on left and a pencil on right. Title card at center reads, "Informational Writing. Episode 7, Table of Contents."

Digital illustration of a magnifying glass on left and a pencil on right. Title card at center reads, "Informational Writing. Episode 1, What is it?"

Digital illustration of a magnifying glass on left and a pencil on right. Title card at center reads, "Informational Writing. Episode 6, Writing a Closing."

Digital illustration of a magnifying glass on left and a pencil on right. Title card at center reads, "Informational Writing. Episode 5, Writing a Draft."

Digital illustration of a magnifying glass on left and a pencil on right. Title card at center reads, "Informational Writing. Episode 4, Writing an Introduction."

Woman with long brown hair faces camera looking off to 1 side. Caption. To get some basic information.

Waves breaking on shoreline. Caption. The beginning establishes the context of the story.

Magazine open to a 2 page article titled, "Amazing Science." Caption. Boy as narrator. Identify all of the nouns in each sentence.

A pink background with a clip art drawing of a brown-haired woman on the left, a pencil on the right, and title text that reads, "Opinion writing." Black text in the middle of the screen reads, "Episode 2. Choosing an opinion writing topic."

A pink background with a clip art drawing of a smiling, brown-haired woman on the left, a pencil on the right, and title text that reads, "Opinion writing." Black text in the middle of the screen reads, "Episode 8. Editing your opinion writing."

A pink background with a clip art drawing of a smiling, brown-haired woman on the left, a pencil on the right, and title text that reads, "Opinion writing." Black text in the middle of the screen reads, "Episode 3. Making an opinion writing plan."

A pink background with a clip art drawing of a smiling, brown-haired woman on the left, a pencil on the right, and title text that reads, "Opinion writing." Black text in the middle of the screen reads, "Episode 7. Revising your opinion writing."

A light pink background with a clip art drawing of a smiling, brown-haired woman on the left, and a pencil on the right. Black text in a box outline in the middle of the screen reads, "Episode 1. What is opinion writing?"

A pink background with a clip art drawing of a smiling, brown-haired woman on the left, a pencil on the right, and title text that reads, "Opinion writing." Black text in the middle of the screen reads, "Episode 6. Writing a draft, conclusion."

A pink background with a clip art drawing of a smiling, brown-haired woman on the left, a pencil on the right, and title text that reads, "Opinion writing." Black text in the middle of the screen reads, "Episode 4. Writing a draft, introduction."

A pink background with a clip art drawing of a brown-haired woman on the left, a pencil on the right, and title text that reads, "Opinion writing." Black text in the middle of the screen reads, "Episode 5. Writing a draft, reasons and examples."

Black and white photo of a manual typewriter with sheet of paper in roller that reads, Once upon a time.

Green background with a clip art graphic of a smiling, dark haired woman on the left, and 3 speech bubbles with adjectives on the right. Text in the middle of the screen reads, "Parts of speech. What is an adjective? Teaching without frills."

Green background with a clip art graphic of a smiling, dark-haired woman on the left, and 3 speech bubbles with adverbs on the right. Text in the middle of the screen reads, "Parts of speech. What is an adverb? Teaching without frills."

Closeup of a person holding a label card that reads, "Emotive Language". Caption. Emotive language; this appeals to our emotions.

Green background with a clip art graphic of a waving woman with brown hair and a yellow shirt on the left and a megaphone on the right. Text in the middle of the screen reads, "Persuasive writing. Episode 2. Brainstorming."

Green background with a clip art graphic of a waving woman with brown hair and a yellow shirt on the left and a megaphone on the right. Text in the middle of the screen reads, "Persuasive writing. Episode 6. Draft."

Green background with a clip art graphic of a waving woman with brown hair and a yellow shirt on the left and a megaphone on the right. Text in the middle of the screen reads, "Persuasive writing. Episode 5. Introduction."

Green background with a clip art graphic of a waving woman with brown hair and a yellow shirt on the left and a megaphone on the right. Text in the middle of the screen reads, "Persuasive writing. Episode 3. Planning."

Green background with a clip art graphic of a waving woman with brown hair and a yellow shirt on the left and a megaphone on the right. Text in the middle of the screen reads, "Persuasive writing. Episode 4. Reasons."

Green background with a clip art graphic of a waving woman with brown hair and a yellow shirt on the left and a megaphone on the right. Text in the middle of the screen reads, "Persuasive writing. Episode 1. What is it?"

3 teenage girls gather around a computer in a library and smile as they look at the screen. Caption. It's vital that you don't copy or steal someone's homework.

Young woman holds a red book in her lap, looking off with a pleasant expression. Behind her, an illustrated backdrop of a sofa chair that's made to look like she's sitting in it. Caption quote. To keep them away from the flame in the early stages.

Wide shot of a flock of birds flying over a grove of trees. Caption. Keep irregular nouns in mind while we see what's next.

Interior shot of a museum exhibit with several lifesize dinosaur fossils. Text on image reads, "The dinosaurs in this exhibit lived about 200 million years ago." Caption. About 200 million years ago describes the verb, lived.

Woman speaks to camera with a slight smile and eyebrows raised. Caption. That are especially confusing when it comes to pronouns.

Woman raises eyebrows and tilts head slightly while wearing a blue cardigan and gold glasses attached to a necklace. Caption. First, there is the statement.

Closeup of a woman with long brown hair staring into camera. Caption. Mastering punctuation is more than memorizing rules.

Closeup of a woman looking into the camera and speaking. The words, introductory clause or phrase, rest of the sentence, appear below her. Caption. But what's an introductory clause or phrase?

Closeup of a woman looking into the camera and speaking. The words, the result was a moment of glory, and a trip to the hospital projected below her. Caption. That's a lot of power for one little mark.

Man in front of a projected image of open and closed brackets. Caption. So our rules for parentheses we can apply to brackets.

Woman stands on a stage decorated with oversized letters and punctuation marks. Caption. That's 1 time when we use quotation marks.

Pink background with title text that reads, "Episode 2: Brainstorming" over a graphic of a woman with a ponytail and 2 thought bubbles. The left bubble has a graphic of a smiling boy and a girl, and the right bubble has a graphic of a house.

Pink background with title text that reads, "Episode 3: Introduction" over a graphic of a woman with a ponytail and a graphic of a yellow pencil writing on a page that reads, "One snowy day."

Pink background with title text that reads, "Episode 6: Revising" over a graphic of a woman with a ponytail and a graphic of a yellow pencil writing on a page that reads, ""Oh no!' Mary said." The word "said" is crossed out and replaced with "cried."

Pink background with title text that reads, "Episode 1: What is it?" over a graphic of a woman with a ponytail holding up her left index finger. A thought bubble has a graphic of a yellow book with a graphic of a boy titled, "Realistic Fiction."

Pink background with title text that reads, "Episode 5: Writing a Closing" over a graphic of a woman with a ponytail and a graphic of a yellow pencil writing on a page that reads, "Finally."

Pink background with title text that reads, "Episode 4: Writing a Draft" over a graphic of a woman with a ponytail and a graphic of a yellow pencil writing on a page that reads, "Mary and Sam went outside in the snow."

Woman stands in front of a man seated at a desk. Caption. Female as narrator. I'm here for the third time to apply for my satire license.

Closeup of a child's hand writing in a notebook with an overlay of a semicolon and a colon. Caption. Use the colon and semicolon correctly in your writing.

Teenage boy writes on a sheet of paper in a classroom setting. Next to him, 3 blocks with text that read, "My ideas, my use of dialogue, my thoughtful analysis." Caption. Or maybe your cool use of dialogue?

Young man faces camera with his brow furrowed and lips parted in mid-speech. Caption. Using good grammar is not a case.

Woman faces camera teaching a grammar lesson on the use of the verb, do. Text appears below her in a box that reads, "I do, you do, he does, we do, they do." Cut-out image of a White Out bottle next to the text box is labeled, "Grammar, Part 1."

Woman faces camera teaching a grammar lesson on participles. Below her, a text box reads, "Participle, verb that we tinker with and use like an adjective." Cut-out image of a White Out bottle next to the text box is labeled, "Grammar, Part 1."

Seated woman faces camera teaching a grammar lesson. Caption. But before we talk about complex sentences.

Seated woman faces camera with camera angle askew. Text above her reads, "And use some verbs as nouns." Below her is a diagram with the word, "Verb," with an arrow pointing to, "Nouns." Cut-out images of White Out bottles border each word.

Woman faces camera with her hands held directly in front of her with palms down and arms bent at the elbows. Caption. Either way, we end up with a better overall sentence.

Man sits and speaks to camera gesturing with 1 hand with eyebrows raised. Caption. But the writing process isn't linear.

Woman sits and speaks to camera on a staged set. Text on backdrop reads, "Think about 2 things. 1. The demands of the assignment. 2. What about assignment interests you? Caption. Let's go back to Nathan's freewrite.

Woman faces camera and appears to be teaching. Overlay of a sheet of notebook paper reads, "Preliminary Thesis. In high school, kids separate into different social groups." Caption. Using this preliminary thesis as a guide for his paper.

Closeup of a typed, high school term paper. Text on image reads, "Paper number 2. High School Groups." The first paragraph of the paper is in partial view. Caption. His first comment is Nathan's title for the paper.

Closeup of woman holding easel with clips on top of paper pad. Caption. One frequently asked question is, where do you get your ideas?

Talking man stands in front of screen with the text that reads, "Topic Sentences," above a drawing of a boy with a red umbrella and a drawing of a man doing math on a chalkboard.

Black and photo photo from the Civil War of a men running through explosions in a blown up forest. Caption. The poet Walt Whitman served in a medical unit.

Sports action shot of women playing basketball on a court. Text on image reads, "Fast players are good at intercepting the ball." Caption. Therefore "are" can be called the linking verb.

Woman with glasses in a black shirt demonstrates sign language in front of a black curtain. White text in a red box at the bottom of the screen reads, "Language."

Black and white frame of men running down a road and away from a dinosaur. Caption. Narrator. Horror fiction has many subgenres.

Labeled pictures provide visuals for a sentence. Boxes with words appear below.

Man stands in front of a screen showing a scribble and an emoji hand, plus a photo and drawings of houses. Text title above drawings reads, "Organize your writing into a clear paragraph."

Crumpled lined paper with digital text in varying fonts that reads, "Writing a personal narrative, episode 1. Brainstorming." A clip art graphic of a light bulb is in the bottom center.

Crumpled lined paper with digital text in varying fonts that reads, "Writing a personal narrative, episode 7. Editing." A clip art graphic of a red check mark and a red X is beneath the text.

Crumpled lined paper with digital text in varying fonts that reads, "Writing a personal narrative, episode 2. Planning and Pre-writing." A clip art graphic of a light bulb is to the left of the lowest text.

Crumpled lined paper with digital text in varying fonts that reads, "Writing a personal narrative, episode 8. Publishing." A clip art graphic of an open book is beneath the text.

Crumpled lined paper with digital text in varying fonts that reads, "Writing a personal narrative, episode 6. Revising." A clip art graphic of a thumbs up and a thumbs down is beneath the text.

Crumpled lined paper with digital text in varying fonts that reads, "Writing a personal narrative, episode 5. Writing a closing." A clip art graphic of a traffic light on a red and white striped pole is to the left of the text.

Crumpled lined paper with digital text in varying fonts that reads, "Writing a personal narrative, episode 4. Writing a draft." A clip art graphic of a yellow pencil scribbling on paper is in the bottom center.

Crumpled lined paper with digital text in varying fonts that reads, "Writing a personal narrative, episode 3. Writing an introduction."

Young man wearing a white collared shirt looks slightly below camera, standing against a red backdrop. Caption. Develop a cure for an illness and survive a natural catastrophe.

5 white clay tablets of varying sizes with etched lettering scrawled across the top. Caption. These tablets from the Middle East.