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The Traits in Action
On the next three pages, student writing examples illustrate the effective use of each trait.

Ideas ■
Effective writing has an interesting topic and fascinating details. In the following passage, Steve Willingham asks a common question and arrives at some uncommon answers.
How big are you? You’re probably just four to six feet tall, but you have about 17 feet of intestines, 46 miles of neurons, and about 60,000 miles of blood vessels. That’s big! What’s more, your brain has about 100 billion neurons, one for every star in the Milky Way Galaxy. In fact, the human brain is the most complex natural system that scientists have ever discovered. So if you ever feel small, remember, you’re huge!
Discussion: Steve engages the reader by asking a question and then provides interesting facts, all leading to an uplifting conclusion.