Techniques for Writing: Fun With Writing
Discovering Standards: What's Good Writing?

The more conscious you are of what you value as a reader, the better those values can guide your writing. Discover your own standards as you play this game.
Here are some excerpts from published works. As you skim each one, ask "Is this good writing?" and make notes recording your first impressions.

A. My sister and I had memorized the lesson perfectly. We said it to each other at home, one chanting, one listening. The teacher called on my sister to recite first. It was the first time a teacher had called on the second-born to go first. My sister was scared. She glanced at me and looked away; I looked down at my desk. I hoped that she could do it because if she could, then I would have to. She opened her mouth and a voice came out that wasn't a whisper, but it wasn't a proper voice either. I hoped that she would not cry, fear breaking up her voice like twigs underfoot. She sounded as if she were trying to sing through weeping and strangling. She did not pause or stop to end the embarrassment. She kept going until she said the last word, and then she sat down. When it was my turn, the same voice came out, a crippled animal running on broken legs. You could hear splinters in my voice, bones rubbing jagged against one another. I was loud, though. I was glad I didn't whisper. There was one little girl who whispered.

B. Some men found that their senses were quickened by a wound; their ingenuity rose to exceptional heights under stress of danger. But I was one of the other kind. I was not so much afraid as utterly disheartened. There I was, a mud man in a confusion of noise, flashing lights, and the stink of gelignite. I wanted to quit; I had no more heart for the game. But I crawled, with the increasing realization that my left leg was no good for anything and had to be dragged, and the awful awareness that I did not know where I was going. After a few minutes I saw some jagged masonry on my right and dragged toward it. When at last I reached it I propped myself up with my back to a stone wall and gave myself up to a full, rich recognition of the danger and hopelessness of my position.

C. Me and him and Shug sitting out on the porch after dinner. Talking. Not talking. Rocking and fanning flies. Shug mention she don't want to sing in public no more—well, maybe a night or two at Harpo's. Think maybe she retire. Albert say he want her to try on his new shirt. I talk bout Henrietta. Sofia. My garden and the store. How things doing generally. So much in the habit of sewing something I stitch up a bunch of scraps, try to see what I can make. The weather cool for the last of June, and sitting on the porch with Albert and Shug feel real pleasant. Next week be the fourth of July and us plan a big family reunion outdoors here at my house. Just hope the cool weather hold.

D. "We're going to have to control your tongue," the dentist says, pulling out all the metal from my mouth. Silver bits plop and tinkle into the basin. My mouth is a motherlode. The dentist is cleaning out my roots. I get a whiff of the stench when I gasp. "I can't cap that tooth yet, you're still draining," he says. "We're going to have to do something about your tongue," I hear the anger rising in his voice. My tongue keeps pushing out the wads of cotton, pushing back the drills, the long thin needles. "I've never seen anything as strong or as stubborn," he says. And I think, how do you tame a wild tongue, train it to be quiet, how do you bridle and saddle it? How do you make it lie down?

E. I want to devote my time to reading and writing, with everything else secondary, but I can't do that in prison. I have to keep my eyes open at all times or I won't make it. There is always some madness going on, and whether you like it or not you're involved. There is no choice in the matter: you cannot sit and wait for things to come to you. So I engage in all kinds of petty intrigue which I've found necessary to survival. It consumes a lot of time and energy. But it is necessary.
1) Now go back and read each passage more carefully. Which one do you like the best? Give that passage a 1 and list three reasons for your judgment. Which passage do you like the least? Give that one a 5 and list three reasons for your judgment. Rank the others 2, 3, and 4, judging them on writing quality. There are no right or wrong answers, so use your own taste.
2) Form a group with three or four other people who have ranked these passages. Compare your rankings and discuss your reasons. Wherever there are disagreements, argue and try to convince each other. See if you can arrive at some agreement on how to rank these passages.
3) As a group, make a list of five qualities of good writing. Give an example of each quality by quoting phrases or referring to techniques you found in the passages above.
4) Working individually, jot down your thoughts on these questions: What do you look for in good writing? What do other people seem to look for? Turn your thoughts into a paragraph entitled "What Is Good Writing?" Support your ideas by quoting brief portions of the passages above to show what you mean.

all tecniq,proces,assement and etc u can download in this link;
http://www.4shared.com/office/Db43LQYs/Definisi_writing.html