What is a Mentor Text?
What is a Mentor Text?
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A mentor text is any piece of writing that can be used to teach a writer about some aspect of a writer's craft.
A mentor text is any piece of writing that can be used to teach a writer about some aspect of a writer's craft.
- Examples of good writing (structure, craft/style, content/ideas, mechanics, etc.);
- An opportunity to notice and be impressed, identify the tools of good writing, learn to use the tools.
GREAT WRITERS LEARN FROM MENTOR TEXTS
GREAT WRITERS LEARN FROM MENTOR TEXTS
The goal is to inspire, inform, and infuse your writing
The goal is to inspire, inform, and infuse your writing
Lots of great writers learned how to write by imitating other writers.
Lots of great writers learned how to write by imitating other writers.
In his memoir, Stephen King tells how, for him, "imitation preceded creation." He says, "I would copy Combat Casey comics word for word in my Blue Horse tablet, sometimes adding my own descriptions where they seemed appropriate."
In his memoir, Stephen King tells how, for him, "imitation preceded creation." He says, "I would copy Combat Casey comics word for word in my Blue Horse tablet, sometimes adding my own descriptions where they seemed appropriate."
PRACTICE VERSUS PLAGIARISM
PRACTICE VERSUS PLAGIARISM
We use a mentor text for practice, not plagiarism.
We use a mentor text for practice, not plagiarism.
Plagiarism is trying to pass off someone else's work as your own. Copying (or imitating) a mentor text is about reverse engineering. Like a mechanic taking apart a car to see how it works, in studying mentor texts we examine a text closely, seeing what writers do in terms of structure, style, ideas and mechanics, and then we try it imitate the things we notice in our own writing.
Plagiarism is trying to pass off someone else's work as your own. Copying (or imitating) a mentor text is about reverse engineering. Like a mechanic taking apart a car to see how it works, in studying mentor texts we examine a text closely, seeing what writers do in terms of structure, style, ideas and mechanics, and then we try it imitate the things we notice in our own writing.
Remember when you were learning to ride a bike? Perhaps you had training wheels and someone holding onto the handlebars to help you stay steady as you rode. As you got better, though, you no longer needed that steadying. You knew how to ride the bike yourself.
Remember when you were learning to ride a bike? Perhaps you had training wheels and someone holding onto the handlebars to help you stay steady as you rode. As you got better, though, you no longer needed that steadying. You knew how to ride the bike yourself.
"Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write." ~Annie Proulx
"The sharp odour of pine—wood, bark, cones, and needles—slivered through the air like blades, but beneath that, the fox recognized softer clover and wild garlic and ferns, and also a hundred things he had never encountered before that smelled green and urgent."
(Balzer and Bray, 2016 1-2)
WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?
You might have noticed the sophisticated punctuation (em dash —) which is used here to embed detail.
You might have noticed the repetition of 'and' (polysyndeton) used here to create rhythm.
You might have noticed the used of concrete nouns (clover, wild garlic, ferns) to add specificity and create a picture in the reader's mind.
Practice incorporating these craft moves in your own sentences:
Student Example: The sharp odour of rain—metallic, raw, and wet—filled the air like water, but under that, something else from the sky that was musty and dry.
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