Which adjectives might your friends use to describe your personality?

• happybrave funny• pleasing passionate irreverent• ridiculous riveting sarcastic• earnest tentative detached• scholarly caring gracious• bizarre subtle thoughtful• delightful concerned timid• warm frightened curt• thrilling thoughtful introspective• cleverentertaining superficial • profound mistrustful critical

Just as we can describe the personalities of our friends, as readers we can describe the

personality of a piece of writing.

Some Six-trait rubrics describe a writer’s voice as being as distinct:  

“As individual as fingerprints.”

See if you can recognize the writers of the following texts:

I'm Nobody! Who are you? Are you—Nobody—Too? Then there's a pair of us? Don't tell! They'd advertise—you know! How dreary—to be—Somebody! How public—like a Frog– To tell one's name—the livelong June—To an admiring Bog!

The voices of . . . • 1. Jerry Seinfeld

– Seinlanguage. Bantam Books, 1993.

• 2. Rick Mercer− The End of (Daylight Savings) Time.

www.rickmercer.com, 2011.

• 3. Emily Dickinson– The Poems of Emily Dickinson.

Harvard University Press, 1951.

• 4. Dr. Suess– And to Think That I Saw it on

Mulberry Street. Vanguard Press, 1937.

What is voice again?1. Style2. Flavor3. Tone4. Commitment5. Sincerity6. Reflection of the

writer7. Interest8. Connection (not only

between writer and topic, but also writer and reader)

How does voice relate to the other traits?

One way to think of voice is as one color on an artist’s palette.– It could be thought of as distinct from other

colors.• Add a little black, and the voice of a piece can

change to a dark one. Poe?• Add a little white, and the voice can become

more cheerful. ______?• Add a little green (for weird) and the piece

takes on a different perspective._________?

And/or it could be thought of as created through the use of other colors (red, white and blue used in certain proportions create lavender).

In that sense the writer mixes traits like an artist mixes colors

to create voice.• Word choice helps

create voice.• Sentence fluency helps

create voice.• Ideas help create

voice.

How can a student writer achieve strong voice?

Writing from the heart will help.• Emotions/feelings• Values• Beliefs• Important people and events• Crucial issues• Things that matter to the writer

So how can you add voice to your essay?

Originality, maturity, intelligence, a worthy topic, a well-developed sense of humor—all contribute to excellent writing, and are a reflection of the student's personality and character; these are the things that add to the voice of your essay. Here are a few tips:

Get real. Write about what you know, not what you think the reader wants to hear. And, don't use "big" words that are not part of your normal vocabulary to try to impress the reader—it won't.

Get to the point. In other words, don’t “dance around” your subject or go off on unrelated tangents.

Avoid saying “I think,” “I feel,” or “I believe.” Since you are the one who is writing the essay, the reader can safely assume that you think, feel, and believe that what you’re saying is true!    

Humor. Use humor sparingly, and be sure to “test drive” any humorous passages by letting someone else read them.

Focus on the positive. Most of us have faced problems, failures, and/or obstacles in our lives. Talk about what you learned from them. Stay focused on the positive aspects rather than the negative.

Use examples! Broad, general statements are fine—as long as you support them by giving examples.

Vary your sentence style. Use a combination of simple, complex, and compound sentences. Doing this will help keep your reader engaged in your essay.