Today we talked about formal and informal voice, which is an element on our rubric for the Romeo and Juliet project that we’re finishing up. We went over seven guidelines:

1. Avoid using colloquial words/expressions
2. Avoid contractions (write out full words – cannot, will not, should not, etc.).
3. Write in third person. Two exceptions: 1) literary “we” and 2) business letters.
4. Avoid clichés (use many, was absent, etc.)
5. Avoid addressing readers using second person pronouns (use one, one’s, the reader, the reader’s, etc.)
6. Avoid using abbreviated words (use full versions – like photograph, television, etc.)
7. Longer and more complex sentences are preferred (short simple sentences reflects poorly on the writer)

Afterward, we had some practice with detecting and transforming informal voice.

Homework

• English I Honors: 
  • continue working on the phrase practice;
  • continue your work on your RJ paper.