Randy Seldomridge

RE 5130

October 30, 2002

Mad about Adjectives

Read the following sentence from The Cafeteria Lady from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler. Notice how the author describes the ingredients Wanda, the cafeteria lady, uses to cook with.

All the kids say that Wanda uses natural ingredients in her dishes: organic rats in her ratatouille…sweaty socks in her moussaka…gooey ghouls in her goulash…real sand and witches in her sandwiches.

Mike Thaler has used adjectives to jazz up his sentences. Not only has he made the sentence more interesting, he has created a sense of humor within the story.

Adjectives are used in writing to describe nouns. They make the noun more interesting. Examples of adjectives are: blue (any color), creepy, smart, funny, etc. Imagine the above sentence without the adjectives: All the kids say that Wanda uses ingredients in her dishes: rats in her ratatouille… socks in her moussaka… ghouls in her goulash…sand and witches in her sandwiches. Which one is more interesting to read?

Using the Mad Lib format, try your hand at writing some sentences using adjectives. Use the following example to write a story consisting of five sentences in which you leave out the adjectives. Then, have a partner make a list of adjectives (one for each blank). After your partner has completed your list of adjectives, read your story to your partner, substituting their adjectives in your blanks. You should have a humorous story that is very descriptive.

This story is about a/an ______doctor in our community. He performs

1

______experiments in his lab. He turns himself into a/an ______

2 3

monster he calls Mr. Seldomridge. After a tip from a/an ______

4

neighbor, the police catch the doctor. The moral of this ______story

5

is: Beware of monsters in your classroom.

Adjective 1 ______

Adjective 2 ______

Adjective 3 ______

Adjective 4 ______

Adjective 5 ______

Rubric

Your partner agrees that your short story has the adjectives missing.

You can substitute your partner’s adjectives in your blanks to create a humorous story.

Your story with missing adjectives is written in the Mad Lib format (like the example used in class).

Your writing is neat, legible, and not rushed.