Week 5 — Readings & Resources

Your primary reading is Chapter 5 (in this module). Everything below is the optional, go-deeper layer — pick what helps, skip the rest.

How to use this page

This page has 10 items (4 readings and 6 videos). Allow 69–78 minutes for everything. Each group points back to the matching chapter section and class-session segment, so use the full menu when you want more practice, or take the quick path below.

Every video here has captions: turn them on with the CC button in the player. The chapter covers the same ideas in text.

Pick-one quick path (18–20 min total)

• Show, Don't Tell: Why it Works — Writing with Andrew
• Clear & Concrete Language — Writing Center Resources
• What is Purple Prose and How to Avoid It — Reedsy

① Which job is this piece doing? Telling a story or explaining a task

Chapter 5, Section “Narration versus exposition: two jobs for one experience” · Session 1, Segment 1, “Narration and exposition” · Remember: a story wants the reader to live through a moment and see a point, and an explanation wants the reader to understand or to do something.

• Purpose: What's Writing For, Anyway? — Study Hall — an episode on how a piece's purpose shapes what it looks like, from writing that communicates to writing that persuades or reflects; watch it before you choose the mode for your first major essay, and notice that persuading is the job this week sets aside. (video, 11 min) (captions: creator)
• How to write a Process Essay (both directional and informational) — Writing Better — explains two kinds of process writing, the kind that tells a reader how to do a task and the kind that explains how something works, with an example of each. Use it while working through the Week-5 module overview. (video, 10 min) (captions: automatic)

② How do I make a reader feel it? Showing, concrete words, and scenes

Chapter 5, Section “Show, don't tell: sensory evidence instead of named feelings” · Session 1, Segment 2, “Showing, concrete words, and scenes” · Remember: showing is specific sensory evidence, not more adjectives, and the scene goes to the moment that carries the point.

• Show, Don't Tell: Why it Works — Writing with Andrew — explains showing and telling as a matter of claims and evidence: a telling sentence asks the reader to trust you, and a showing sentence hands them the evidence. (video, 9 min) (captions: automatic)
• Improve your Writing: Show, Not Tell — engVid — takes plain, flat sentences and rebuilds them with specific detail, one at a time; pause before each rewrite and try your own version first. (video, 6 min) (captions: creator)
• Show, Don't Tell — Writing Studio Handouts — a handout with three ways to show: be specific, illustrate an abstract idea with a concrete example, and tap the senses. Try the practice revisions at the end. (reading, 5–8 min)
• Clear & Concrete Language — Writing Center Resources — a short page that sets concrete language beside abstract language, with paired examples you can test yourself on. (reading, 3–5 min)
• NARRATIVE SUMMARY vs SCENE: Definitions, Examples, & How to Balance Them In Your Writing — Write with Claire Fraise — the difference between moving quickly through time and slowing down for one moment, with advice on when to use each; the examples come from fiction, and the same choice applies to a true story. (video, 12 min) (captions: automatic)

③ How do I keep the reader on track? Order, transitions, and cutting

Chapter 5, Section “Order and transitions: chronological order for stories, process order for explanations” · Session 2, Segment 3, “Order, transitions, and cutting” · Remember: pick an order, signal every move with a time or sequence transition, and cut until one concrete detail does the work.

• Transitions — Writing Center Tips & Tools — jump to the table of transitional expressions and read the Time and Sequence/Order rows, the words a story or an explanation uses to signal each move; the earlier sections are optional. This builds on Week 3's work with transitions that name a real relationship. (reading, 4–6 min)
• What is Purple Prose and How to Avoid It — Reedsy — what over-written prose looks like and a few ways to cut it, starting with piled-up adjectives and adverbs. (video, 6 min) (captions: automatic)

Optional one-stop reference (free online reference)

• Narrative Essays — Online Writing Lab (OWL) — a one-page reference on what a narrative essay is and why it needs a clear point; read the guidelines list and skip the menus around it. (reading, 3–5 min)

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell your instructor and use the reference above in the meantime.

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