Eight terms exercise Instructions: Your task is to write a coherent story using eight seemingly unrelated terms. The words may appear anywhere in the piece and can be used more than once—you may pluralize them if you wish. Use your imagination, but remember that the piece must make sense and tell a story. The words and ideas have to be used in an organic way—that is, they cannot feel forced or contrived. They must belong in the piece, not be crammed in randomly just because you have to put them in somehow. It is also not okay to use the terms in ways that are simply convenient. For example, if you were using the terms from the first set of words below it would not be appropriate to write something like this: I was watching a television show about bonfires, poodles, cellophane, and mailboxes while eating a salami sandwich at a nightclub in a strip mall. Again, the goal is to create a narrative wherein the words all belong and do not feel forced or out of place—and tell a story. The exercise is valuable in that it calls on you to display creativity and also to link disparate ideas. When you are writing, you will constantly be confronted with many thoughts, ideas, and pieces of research that may not always seem related but need to be synthesized and placed together into a coherent whole. Here is an example (note that your answer may be longer than this example): mop; pizza; instruments; desk; doctor; hurricane; diamond; tuna Sample Solution: The force of the hurricane was so great that tuna were seen raining down on the small town, miles from shore. The town’s only doctor was kept busy—his desk had piled up with requests to see patients who had been evacuated to the town’s baseball diamond. When he arrived, the doctor took some bandages and instruments out of his case, but before he could mop even one brow, he realized the biggest problem was hunger, not injury. Fortunately, a nearby restaurant was able to deliver several dozen free pizzas. You have randomly been assigned the following terms: Harneet: bonfire; poodle; television; cellophane; mailbox; strip mall; nightclub; salami Shawn: muscle; bookcase; clouds; engineer; sweater; bicycle; treehouse; supermarket Ian: vacation; eye glasses; seamstress; motor; flower; architecture; candy; carpet Michael: telephone; bricks; clock; snowshoes; remote control; junk food; cardboard; lens Daryl-Hannah: broccoli; elephant; Venezuela; detective; movie; mathematician; stapler; flyer Rebecca: shorts; Antarctica; discipline; butterfly; piano; plastic bag; mushroom; highway Tyra: Bulgaria; lettuce; domino; cigarettes; easel; dining room; microphone; equator Shauna: billiards; sports car; living room; t-shirt; Moose Jaw; perfume; lava; horticulture Gillian: swimming pool; earrings; charity; newspaper; chocolate; crutches; farm; can Ola: hockey; cocktail dress; kitchen; headache; cockroach; hotel; mask; circle Bryce: gymnastics; asparagus; novel; mirror; baby; parka; elevator; ship Davin: football; jazz; screwdriver; window; mountain; blanket; strudel; sling Joshua: socks; chandelier; teacher; storm; nosebleed; drugs; venom; parallel Zachary: sunglasses; concussion; lock; welcome mat; narcissism; lightning; duck; lacrosse Malaz: steroids; lipstick; pineapple; scientist; Chevrolet; coma; toothache; essay Jessica: business suit; toenails; drugstore; ant; cottage cheese; split-level house; axe; fog Mitchell: martini; swimsuit; elbow; cell phone; dishwasher; car wash; pastry; mail Amy: tequila; beach; pajamas; sandpaper; area rug; horse; toothbrush; diet Travis: coffee; accident; shampoo; pencil; garbage; cardigan; nightmare; ballerina Jaskreet: headlights; faucet; lace; watermelon; education; medicine: topography; alligator Sheridan: moisturizer; pants; croutons; angle; linoleum; speaker; dot; journey Brett: sunroof; exam; monsoon; font; kitchen; oyster; leg; shoehorn Michelle: thermometer; high school; roadblock; chicken; radio; plumber; shingle; spoon Kendall: roof; midterm exams; peach; biology; loafers; window; anteater; lottery

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