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Grades level iconsGrades 9–12
Session time icon60+ minutes
Genre information iconNarrative
Video resource type iconVideos

Notice What You Notice with Austin Bunn

by Austin Bunn
Fiction writer, playwright, and screenwriter Austin Bunn shares a writing prompt that will get you noticing--and reimagining--the objects you see everyday.
About the Author

Austin Bunn is an award-winning screenwriter, playwright, and fiction-writer. His work has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The Pushcart Prize, Best American Science and Nature Writing, Best American Fantasy, among many others. His short film, “Campfire,” won the 2023 Provincetown International Film Festival’s award for Best Queer Short Film. Bunn is an Associate Professor at Cornell University.

What Your Students Will Learn

You will learn how to use sensory details to convey different points of view.

Common Core Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.D Common Core Standards Icon
Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.3.D Common Core Standards Icon
Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.
What You Will Do

STEP 1 Watch the video and then answer these questions, in your writing journal: “Imagine you are walking into a new place for the first time. What kinds of details do you notice: the way the room smells, the brightness of the lights, etc.?” STEP 2 Next, write a paragraph that uses sensory language to describe a room that is significant to you, on page 1 of the Notice What You Notice – Handout. If you can, stand in the middle of the room and look around: What do you see, and do any of those sights bring up memories...

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