After you submitted your midterm reflections, I published a blog post featuring a list of your titles and gave you the opportunity to weigh in on your classmates’ titles and earn bonus points to boot. This post offers you a similar opportunity. (See the directions that follow.)
As I noted in my previous “Winning Titles” post, titles are important because they contain the first words of yours that a reader will encounter. First, a title should be descriptive; it should evoke an image in the reader’s mind. It should also be relevant to your subject; it should convey something about the writing to follow. Lastly, it should be intriguing; it should create in the reader a desire to keep reading. With those traits in mind, review the titles of your classmates’ analyses listed below. Which of ones of these are the most effective and why?
- “Adding Impact to Injury”
- “All Good Things Must Come to an End”
- “The Back Story of ‘Back Story'”
- “Breaking Down ‘The Falling Man'”
- “A Closer Look into ‘The Blind Side'”
- “The Death of School”
- “A Decision of Fate”
- “The Emotional Landscape of Football”
- “Fear Factor”
- “A Few Seconds Can Make a Difference”
- “A Frozen Moment in Free Fall”
- “Frozen in Time”
- “How Fear Changed Football”
- “Humor and Characterization in ‘Me Talk Pretty One Day'”
- “Last Moments”
- “Learning: A Significant Part of Life”
- “The Light in a Field of Darkness”
- “Light, Language, Life”
- “Lost in Translation”
- “Lost in the Moment”
- “Literary Analysis of the School”
- “Maturing and Learning”
- “Michael Lewis’s Message through Fear and Dialogue”
- “The Mindset that Brings Fear”
- “Oher’s Blind Side Journey”
- “Passion Put into Words”
- “The Reader inside a Story”
- “School Hallucinations”
- “Seeing through Blind Eyes”
- “Sink or Swim”
- “Two-Way Street”
- “The Value of Persevering through Discomfort”
- “The White Savior”
Bonus-Point Opportunity
Directions:
- Determine which two or more of your classmates’ titles you deem most effective.
- Compose a comment that includes (1) each title enclosed in quotation marks, (2) a brief explanation of each title’s effectiveness, and (3) a comparison (and contrast) of each. Consider addressing two or more titles with similarities, such as alliteration or wordplay.
- Post your comment as a reply to this blog entry no later than 9 a.m. tomorrow, Friday, October 25. (To post your comment, click on the post’s title, and scroll down to the bottom of the page. You will then see the image of an airmail envelope with a leave comment option.)
I will approve your responses (make your comments visible) after 9 a.m. deadline on Friday morning. Commenters will receive five bonus points for their October 25 Scrabble assignment.
Next Up
Wordplay Day! To prepare for class, revisit the Dictionary and World Builder pages on the Scrabble website. Also review the blog posts devoted to Scrabble.
Jane Lucas 
The two titles I deem most effective are “Seeing Through Blind Eyes” and “Frozen in Time”. “Seeing Through Blind Eyes” is an effective title because it pushes the readers to examine and question how you can see “Through Blind Eyes”. This sparks curiosity which draws the readers to want to know more about the subject itself. “Frozen in Time” is also an effective title because it provides an allusion of someone being physically stuck in time. You can’t physically be frozen in time, but it acts as a foreshadowing component to the story and hooks in the readers to want to know the deeper meaning of this story. Each of these titles is effective “Seeing through Blind Eyes” is a more visual depiction of the story while “Frozen in Time” is a more internal reflection on a moment when someone felt as though they were “Frozen in Time”
“How Fear Changed Football” and “Oher’s Blind Side Journey” are both analytical essays on the first chapter of Michael Lewis’ The Blind Side. The first title is intriguing because it suggests a significant impact on the sport, sparking curiosity about the role of fear in football. The second title is personal and evocative, focusing on Michael Oher’s unique story. The phrase “Blind Side” not only references his well-known position in football but also hints at themes of overcoming adversity and finding support. Both titles effectively blend thematic depth with a personal touch, appealing to readers’ curiosity and emotions.