2. CAPITAL LETTERS
Capital letters are about twice the height of lowercase letters.
Some of you need to work on your handwriting. Some problems I noticed:
• Not distinguishing properly between capital and lowercase letters
• Lowercase letters that fill up the entire space
• Stray marks between letters. (Use a legible pen that doesn‟t stray.)
• Writing that is too light to read or of uneven weight/ darkness (Don‟t
write essays in pencil.)
• Writing that is so small that it is difficult to articulate distinguishing marks
of individual letters, especially vowels. (also r vs v)
• Uncrossed T‟s, disconnected loops as with a, o, b, and d
3. COLLECT WORDS WITH
CAPITAL LETTERS
Exclude words that are the first word of a sentence.
Write words you find with capital letters on a sticky note.
Any time you find words that go together as a unit, put them
all together on one sticky note.
If a capitalized word is the first word of dialogue or a
quotation, you must record the quotation marks before the
word to show this.
4. Lucky Trimble crouched in a wedge of shade behind the Dumpster. Her ear near a
hole in the paint-chipped wall of Hard Pan‟s Found Object Wind Chime Museum and
Visitor Center, she listened as Short Sammy told the story of how he hit rock-bottom.
How he quit drinking and found his Higher Power. Short Sammy‟s story, of all the
rock-bottom stories Lucky had heard at twelve-step anonymous meetings—alcoholics,
gamblers, smokers, and overeaters—was still her favorite.
Sammy told of the day when he had drunk half a gallon of rum listening to Johnny
Cash all morning in his parked „62 Cadillac, then fallen out of the car when he saw a
rattlesnake on the passenger seat biting his dog, Roy.
- Susan Patron, The Higher Power of Lucky (2006)
COLLECT WORDS WITH
CAPITAL LETTERS
5. The girl crouched in a wedge
of shade behind the large, metal
trash container. Her ear near a
hole in the paint-chipped wall of
the museum, she listened as the
short man told the story of how
he hit rock-bottom.
Lucky Trimble crouched in a
wedge of shade behind the
Dumpster. Her ear near a hole in
the paint-chipped wall of Hard
Pan‟s Found Object Wind Chime
Museum and Visitor Center, she
listened as Short Sammy told the
story of how he hit rock-bottom.
WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
6. COLLECT WORDS WITH
CAPITAL LETTERS
Exclude words that are the first word of a sentence.
Write words you find with capital letters on a sticky note.
Any time you find words that go together as a unit, put them
all together on one sticky note.
If a capitalized word is the first word of dialogue or a
quotation, you must record the quotation marks before the
word to show this.
8. WORDS THAT NEED
CAPITAL LETTERS
Proper nouns (specific names of people, places, cultures, and brand names)
The pronoun I
Proper adjectives (proper nouns used as adjectives)
Titles (books, songs, TV shows, movies, poems)
First word of a direct quotation
Titles used before a person‟s name
Initialisms (DVD)
12. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
All week I worked hard, for I knew
when friday came we would finally get
to put on the pads.
13. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
Finally it was time to head to
huntsville, tx were my visit would
begin.
14. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
There were many plans to do, She
moved the date until May instead of
March.
15. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
My Senior Class was the first class at
my school to have a senior field day.
16. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
I ended up in the Hospital for three
days to run test.
It turned out I was great thanks to
the grace of god.
17. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
I couldn‟t wait to hit someone and
feel the Adrinline run through my
body.
18. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
Attending Church was very
important to me because without God
I would not have made it this far in life.
19. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
My Mom found out She was pregnant.
My mom just popped out the words, “i‟m
pregnant,” that moment In my life was so
happy.
20. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
“Down, set, hut” The Quarterback
yelled out as I took off on my route.
21. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
“OH MY GOSH!” I screamed
22. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
“I wonder what we‟ve done this time,”
I mumbled to my friend Jeni. “Who
knows?” She replied.
23. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
What a magical experience for
anyone that was 17!
24. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
Instead, they won three tickets to the
Chicago Bulls versus the Boston Celtics.
I was so excited to see Michael Jordan
play.
25. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
A significant event in my life would have
to be when I found out that I was graduatin-
g from Humble High.
26. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
That was my life changing story.
27. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
On August 12, 2008, my mom gave
birth to my little brother, and that was
the most significant thing in my life.
28. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
Attend the University of Sam
Houston St.
29. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
My cousin decided to play “I SPY” to make
the trip more fun.
After a while we finally made it to the theme
park “Six Flags Over Texas.”
30. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
June 8th, 2009, I was on my way to
Arlington, Texas for a family vacation to
Six Flags Over Texas.
31. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
There were things wrong with this story (the biggest hole was probably Roger‟s failure to
simply start over with a different glue), but it was cute, it was fairly original, and I knew I has
done some pretty good writing. After a long time spent studying the markets in my beat-up
Writer‟s Digest, I sent “Happy Stamps” off to Alfred Hitchcock‟s Mystery Magazine. It came
back three weeks later with a form rejection slip attached. This slip bore Alfred Hitchcock‟s
unmistakable profile in red ink and wished me good luck with my story. At the bottom was
an unsigned jotted message, the only personal response I got from AHMM over eight years
of periodic submissions. “Don‟t staple manuscripts,” the postscript read. “Loose pages plus
paperclip equal correct way to submit copy.” This was pretty cold advice, I thought, but
useful in its way. I have never stapled a manuscript since.
- Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2001)
