To the first class in this unit, I bring enough oranges (or other seasonal citrus fruit) for each student. (Note: I have used this activity in several classes using two Seeing & Writing editions and so far only one student was allergic to citrus and had to have a fellow classmate hold her orange.) With an orange, an ordinary object, as the Seeing & Writing chapter suggests, my class and I discover other invention methods. As a matter of introducing this exercise, I explain that before class, they likely would have thought writing an essay about an orange would be a daunting task. After all, how much can one person say/write about such an ordinary object. Then, I explain that if students learn to observe closely from this fun activity, they will be so familiar with their particular orange, they will be able to distinguish it from everyone else’s in class. I tell each class that when I used this activity my first semester as a TA, two student athletes, one a football player and another a wrestler, almost came to blows because someone mistook his orange for someone else’s. So, I caution them to observe carefully (note the connection to the overall concepts in Seeing & Writing). Students then choose an orange at random from the bag I have brought. Then, they spend a few minutes on each of the following invention strategies. • Description: Freewrite, noting all the characteristics of your orange, until time is called. Here, I give my students a couple of points of reference, one end of the orange I refer to as the stem end and another, the flowering end. After this freewrite, if anyone would like to share what he/she came up with, I allow time for that. • Comparison and Contrast: In peer editing groups, decide whose oranges wins the beauty contest and then Olympics. Each group gets decide on categories and overall winners in each. Then, we compare the winners between groups and discern the most beautiful and athletic orange in the class. • Narrative: Tell the story of your orange, including how he/she came into your possession. Again, I ask for volunteers to share what they came up with. Sometimes, they are very factual saying, “My orange grew up on a farm in Florida…until my teacher picked it up at the local grocery.� Others, they are very inventive, giving their orange a name, personality, and life story. Having prepared them with this tactile, fun activity, for homework, I have the students read Larry Woiwode’s “Ode to an Orange� and the orange crate ads and begin an essay on an ordinary object. The essay begins with them answering the following questions: • What is the inanimate object you have chosen for the Observing the Ordinary essay? • What is your background knowledge of the object? • What are your preconceptions about this object? • What observations will you need to make of/about the object for this essay? • How will your perspective likely affect your thinking about the object? The next class period, we discuss planning methods they have found effective in the past and ones they have learned from class (either through reading or activities) they think will be helpful. And with the answers to the above questions, they begin their essays in earnest. The completed essays that emerge from this unit include topics like: • the running shoes that others would consider trash took me to award winning track meets • the treehouse I built with my father left lasting memories including a continued interest in woodworking • the keyboard to my computer, a window I have on the world.