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Start-Up Activity
Print out some excellent examples of landscape photography: a mountain towering above a crystalline lake, a river winding beneath a sunset, waves crashing on a rugged shoreline. Pass the pictures around for your students to look at. Point out that in each picture, the photographer focused on one feature or object, perhaps a twisted tree. The photos have an impact because of this focus.
Tell your students that they need to focus their writing, too, to have the best impact. They need to center their ideas on a single strong thought and build everything around it. This chapter will help them do so.
Think About It
“A focus statement maps out the route you are planning to travel in your writing.”

Start-Up Activity
Print out some excellent examples of landscape photography: a mountain towering above a crystalline lake, a river winding beneath a sunset, waves crashing on a rugged shoreline. Pass the pictures around for your students to look at. Point out that in each picture, the photographer focused on one feature or object, perhaps a twisted tree. The photos have an impact because of this focus.
Tell your students that they need to focus their writing, too, to have the best impact. They need to center their ideas on a single strong thought and build everything around it. This chapter will help them do so.
Think About It
“A focus statement maps out the route you are planning to travel in your writing.”