Designed to combine the science and the art of teaching composition, this series of assignments encourages junior high and high school writing students to explore tone, original visual images, point of view, and other literary techniques. One assignment asks students to write a number of paragraphs alternately using sarcasm, humor, melancholy, and a journalistic tone. Another assignment teaches students to avoid using figures of speech that are "dead fish" by acting out some cliches and trite sayings to prove that the images evoked are not only over-used, but also not terribly interesting to see. Each of the assignments described includes comments on objectives, a list of materials, a description of the activity's focus, an explanation of the activity, practice suggestions, and extended applications. Students work through a series of small assignments until they are ready to experiment with writing descriptive essays, dialogues, and summaries. (AEW)