| In informational writing, voice can be formal or informal. |
A formal voice is most appropriate for serious school reports and formal letters. Usually, slang and casual phrasing is not appropriate in this type of writing as it is for friendly letters and other, more entertaining writing.
Volcanoes are crazy scary and crazy awesome! They can explode with a BAM! Or they can ooze lava that burns everything in its path. Wow! These super-cool mountains are super-HOT! |
Volcanoes are openings in the earth’s surface from which molten rock called lava can erupt. The lava can flow out slowly, or it can explode violently out of the openings. |
| Authors use language to reveal the personalities and feelings of their characters. |
Jeremy snuck up on Joe.
“Boo!” he said suddenly. Joe nearly jumped out of his skin.
“Why do you always do that, Jeremy?” he asked, frowning. “You know I can’t stand it!”
“Calm down!” said Jeremy. “I’m just fooling around.” He started bouncing on his toes and making jabbing motions like a boxer. “You want to fight about it, buddy?”
Joe had to laugh. Jeremy looked hilarious jabbing at nothing in the air and bouncing around like that. “Okay, okay!” he said, cracking a grin. “But I’m gonna get you next time, so you’d better watch out!”
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❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ | Go to the next page to practice working with author's use of language. |
3rd Grade Reading - Author's Use of Language Lesson
