RAFTS
World War I in Art and Literature
All writing, whether it’s a note for your mother
or a formal persuasive essay is planned around certain elements:
R: A role from which to do the writing.
A: The audience to whom you will write.
F: The format or type of writing
you will choose to do.
T: The topic about which you will
write.
S: A strong verb that dictates the
tone/mood that the piece will take.
In other words, for every piece of writing you will tailor
it to meet your topic, make sense to your audience, and fit your general format. Most often, the role you assume is “you”
– student, friend, sister/brother. In a RAFTS assignment, you are encouraged to “break out” of your role
and try something new – to pick a role related to your text and shape your paper around that role. You choose from
a variety of options and fit them into the RAFTS format to generate your prompt:
RAFTS Format: as a (role), write a (format)(strong verb)
about (topic) to (audience).
Example: As a military psychologist, write a letter worrying about
the impact of WWI to a a politician responsible for the
war.
