Brainstorming Lists

To further develop your prewriting, generate a list of specific items from your childhood.  I encourage you to use specific descriptions. For example, you might first think of the word shoes but a more specific example might be red leather pumps. To add authenticity to your work use your home language or the language, names, family, and neighborhood that sound like home.

• Items found in your home
• Items found in your yard
• Items found in your neighborhood
• Names of relatives, especially ones that link them to their past
• Sayings, “Eat your broccoli,’ or “If I’ve told you once…”
• Names of foods or dishes that recall family gatherings.
• Names of places you keep their childhood memories.