An Activity to Teach Students to Avoid Cliches
Create a Cliche Graveyard with Lake Superior's Banished Words List
Jan 7, 2009
Banishing cliches is a good way to start a writing unit, because a cliche list is a valuable tool for any writer. The problem with teaching students to avoid cliches is that, to many students, cliche phrases such as "when pigs fly" are not cliches at all; they are unusual and interesting phrases. In addition to providing a list of standard cliches to avoid, teachers can borrow from Lake Superior State University's banned word list to create new, relevant cliche lists for students.
Lake Superior State University's Banished, Mis-Used, Over-Used, and Useless Words List
Every year, Lake Superior State University collects tired phrases. Teachers can collect the same information from their students; a cliche for students might be slang from notes and texts, or phrases they are tired of hearing in the halls.
The university submission form is simple and asks for the following information:
- name
- word to banish
- reason for banishment
The university then reviews the entries and decides which words will be officially banished from use. The 2009 word list included:
- "bailout"
- "desperate search"
- "game changer"
- "green"
- "maverick"
- "not so much"
In 2008, the following words were declared cliches and banned.
- "perfect storm"
- "post 9/11"
- "under the bus"
- " 'x' is the new 'y'"
Creating a Cliche Graveyard in the Classroom
A cliche graveyard provides a class resource to say goodbye to cliches. As cliches are discovered, they are written on tombstones and put on a black-backed bulletin board.
Supplies Needed
- tombstone cut outs
- scissors
- pens/markers to write on the tombstone
- cliches to bury
- tacks or a stapler to put the cliches gravestones on the bulletin board
Before teaching the lesson, the teacher should copy little tombstones on white paper. Some good templates are available for free online and through cli art. Students who are old enough to be learning to avoid cliches are also old enough to use scissors and cut out their own tombstones.
Student Instructions for a Cliche Graveyard
Words and phrases that you are tired of are personal cliches. Overused words and phrases that you hear on television, in movies, or read in books are also cliches.
- Collect cliches (tired phrases) that should no longer appear in student writing in this class. For each word or phrase that you collect, cut out a tombstone.
- Write the cliche on the tombstone, so that the class can bury the phrase.
- Attach the cliche to the bulletin board, so the class can see that there is another banned cliche to avoid in student writing.
Teachers may want to make a master list of cliches, including the student list, to provide to students. Cliche lists are so numerous that they are available across many websites and books.
