Brandon, L. & Brandon, K. (2008). Paragraphs & Essays with Integrated Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company

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Chapter 16 Writing the Research Paper

The Research Paper Defined

The research paper is a long documented essay based on a thorough examination of your topic and supported by your explanations and by both references to and quotations from your sources. The traditional research paper in the style of the Modern Language Association, typically called MLA style, includes a title page (sometimes omitted), a thesis and an outline, a documented essay (text), and a list of sources (called "Works Cited," referring to the works used specifically in the essay).

Ten Steps to Writing a Research Paper

Step 1 Select a Topic
Select a topic and make a scratch outline. Then construct a thesis as you did for writing an essay by choosing what you intend to write about (subject) and by deciding how you will limit or focus your subject (treatment). Your purpose will be wither to inform (explain) or to persuade (argue).

• Your topic should interest you and be appropriate in subject and scope for your assignment.
• Your topic should be researchable through library and other relevant sources, such as the Internet. Avoid topics that are too subjective or are so new that good source material is not available.
  

Step 2 find Sources
Find sources for your investigation. With your topic and its divisions in mind, use the resources and the electronic databases available in your college library and on the Internet to identify books, articles, and other materials pertaining to your topic. The list of these items, called bibliography, should be prepared on cards in the form appropriate for your assignment. From Books, Printed Material Other Than Books, and Computerized Indexes and Other Online Services.

Step 3 List Sources
List tentative sources in a preliminary bibliography

Bibliography and Works Cited, MLA Style
You will list source material in two phase of your research paper project: the preliminary bibliography and the Works Cited list. The MLA research paper form is commonly used for both the preliminary bibliography and the list of works cited. This format is unlike the format used in catalogs and indexes.

Step 4 Take Notes
Take notes in an organized fashion. Resist the temptation to write down everything that interests you. Instead, take notes that pertain to divisions of your topic as stated in your thesis or scratch outline. Locate, read, and take notes on the sources listed in your preliminary bibliography. Some of these sources need to be printed out from electronic databases or from the Internet, some photocopied, and some checked out. Your notes will usually be on cards, with each card indicating key pieces of the information:

A. Division of topic (usually Roman-numeral part of your scratch outline or the divisions of your thesis)
B. Identification of topic (by author's last name or title of piece)
C. Location of material (usually by page number)
D. Text of statement as originally worded (with quotation marks; editorial comments in brackets), summarized or paragraph (in student's own words, without quotation marks), and statement of relevance of material, if possible.

Step 5 Refine Your Thesis and Outline
Refine your thesis statement and outline to reflect more precisely what you intend to write.

Step 6 Write Your First Draft
Referring to your thesis, outline, and note cards keyed to your outline, write the first draft of your research paper.

Step 7 Revise Your First Draft
Evaluate your first draft and amend it as needed (perhaps researching an area not well covered for additional support material and adding or deleting sections of your outline to reflect the way your paper has grown).

Use the writing process guidelines as you would in writing any other essay.

Step 8 Prepare Your Works Cited Section
Using the same form as in the preliminary bibliography, prepare a Works Cited section (a list of works you have referred to or quoted and identified parenthetically in the text).

Step 9 Write your final Draft
Write the final version of your research paper with care for effective writing and accurate documentation. The final draft will probably include the following parts:

• Title pager (sometimes omitted)
• Thesis and outline (topical or sentence, as directed)
• Documented essay (text)
• List of sources used (Work Cited)

Step 10 Submit Required Materials
Submit your research paper with any preliminary material required by your instructor. Consider using a checklist to make sure you have fulfilled all requirements.

Source: Brandon, L. & Brandon, K. (2008). Paragraphs & Essays with Integrated Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Chapter 15 Argument: Writing to Persuade

Writing Argument

Persuasion is a broad term. When we persuade, we try to influence people to think in a certain way or to do something.

Argument is persuasion on a topic about which reasonable people disagree. Argument involves controversy. Whereas exercising appropriately is probably not controversial because reasonable people do not dispute the idea, an issue such as gun control is. In this chapter, we will be concerned mainly with the kind of persuasion that involves argument.

Techniques for Developing Argument
Statements of argument are informal or formal.

For a well – structured college paragraph or essay, an organizing plan is desirable. Consider these elements when you write an argument, and ask yourself the following question as you develop your ideas:

• Background: What is the historical or social context for this controversial issue?
• Proposition (the thesis of the essay): What do I want my audience to believe or to do?
• Qualification of proposition: Can I limit my proposition so that those who disagree cannot easily challenge me with exceptions? If, for example, I am in favor of using animals for scientific experimentation, am I concerned only with medical experiments or with any use, including experiments for the cosmetic industry?
• Refutation (taking the opposing view into account, mainly to point out its fundamental weakness): What is the view on the other side, and why is it flawed in reasoning or evidence?
• Support: In addition to sound reasoning, can I use appropriate facts, examples, statistics, and opinions of authorities?

This is the most commonly used pattern for an essay, which is abbreviated for a paragraph:

Background
Proposition
Refutation (often omitted)
Support 1
Support 2
Support 3
Emphatic restatement of proposition

Your Audience
Your audience may be uninformed, informed, biased, hostile, receptive, apathetic, sympathetic, and empathetic – any one, several, or something else. The point is that you should be acutely concerned about who will read your composition. If your readers are likely to be uninformed about the social and historical background of the issue, then you need to set the issue in context. The discussion of the background should lead to the problem for which you have a proposition or solution. If your readers are likely to be biased or even hostile to your view, take special care to refute the opposing side in a thoughtful, incisive way that does not further antagonize them. If your readers are already receptive and perhaps even sympathetic, and you wish to move them to action, then you might appeal to their conscience and the need for their commitment.

Kinds of Evidence
In addition to sound reasoning generally, you can use these kinds of evidence: facts, examples, statistics, and authorities.

First, you can offer facts. Some facts are readily accepted because they are general knowledge – you and your reader know them to be true, because they can be or have been verified. Other “facts” are based on personal observation and are reported in various publications but may be false or questionable.

Second, you can cite examples. Keep in mind that you must present a sufficient number of examples and that the examples must be relevant.

Third, you can present statistics. Statistics are numerical facts and data that are classified and tabulated to present significant information about a given subject.

Fourth, you can cite evidence from, and opinions of, authorities. Most readers accept facts from recognized, reliable source – governmental publication, standard reference works, and books and periodicals published by established firms. In addition, they will accept evidence and opinions from individuals who, because of their knowledge and experience, are recognized as experts.

In using authoritative source as proof, keep these points in mind:

• Select authorities who are generally recognized as experts in their field.
• Use authorities who qualify in the field pertinent to your argument.
• Select authorities whose views are not biased.
• Try to use several authorities.
• Identify the authority's credentials clearly in your essay.

Logical Fallacies
Certain thought patterns are inherently flawed. Commonly called logical fallacies, these thought patterns are of primary concern in argument.

Eight kinds of logical fallacies are very common.

1. Post hoc,ergo proter hoc (“after this, therefore because of this”): When one event precedes another in time, the first is assumed to cause the other. “If A comes before B, then A must be causing B.”
2. False analogy: False analogies ignore differences and stress similarities, often in an attempt to prove something.
3. Hasty generalization: This is a conclusion based on two few reliable instances.
4. False dilemma: This fallacy presents the readers with only two alternatives from which to choose. The solution may lie elsewhere.
5. Argumentum ad hominem: (argument against the person): This is the practice of abusing and discrediting your opponent rather than keeping to the main issues of that argument.
6. Begging the question: The fallacy assumes something is true without proof. It occurs when a thinker assumes a position is right before offering proof.
7. Circular reasoning: This thought pattern asserts proof that is no more than a repetition of the initial assertion.
8. Non sequitur: This fallacy draws a conclusion that does not follow.


Source: Brandon, L. & Brandon, K. (2008). Paragraphs & Essays with Integrated Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Chapter 14 Definition: Clarifying Terms

Writing Definition

Most definitions are short; they consist of a synonym (a word or phrase that has about the same meaning as the term to be defined), a phrase, or a sentence. For example, we might say that a hypocrite is a person "professing beliefs or virtues he or she does not possess." Terms can also be defined by etymology, or word history. Hypocrite once meant "actor" (hypocrites) in Greek because an actor was pretending to be someone else. We may find this information interesting and revealing, but the history of a word may be of no use because the meaning has changed drastically over the years. Sometimes definitions occupy a paragraph or an entire essay. The short definition is called a simple definition; the longer one is known as an extended definition.

Techniques for Writing Simple Definitions
If you want to define a term without being abrupt and mechanical, you have several alternatives. All of the following techniques allow you to blend the definition into your developing thought.

• Basic dictionary meaning.
• Synonyms.
• Direct explanation.
• Indirect explanation.
• Analytical or formal definition.

Techniques for Writing Extended Definitions
Essay of definition can take many forms. Among the more common techniques for writing a paragraph or short essay of definition are the patterns we have worked with in previous chapters. Consider each of those patterns when you need to writ an extended definition. For a particular term, some forms will be more useful than others; use the pattern of patterns that best fulfill your purpose.

Each of the following questions takes a pattern of writing and directs it toward definition:

• Narration
• Description
• Exemplification
• Analysis by division
• Process analysis
• Cause and effect
• Classification
• Comparison and contrast
  

When you use prewriting strategies of develop ideas for a definition, you can effectively consider all the patterns you have learned by using modified clustering form. Put a double bubble around the subject to be defined. Then put a single bubble around each pattern and add appropriate words. If a pattern is not relevant to what you are defining, leave it blank. If you want to expand your range of information, you could add a bubble for a simple dictionary definition and another for an etymological definition.

Order
The organization of your extended definition is likely to be one of emphasis, but it may be space or time, depending on the subject material, you may use just one pattern of development for the overall sequence. If so, you would use the principles of organization discussed in previous chapters.

Introduction and development
Consider these ways of introducing definition. With a question, with a statement of what it is not, with a statement of what it originally meant, or with a discussion of why a clear definition is important. You may use a combination of these ways or all of them before you continue with your definition.

Development is likely to represent one or more of patterns of narration, description, exposition (with its own subdivisions), and argumentation.

Whether you personalize a definition depends on your purpose and your audience. Your instructor may ask you to write about a word from a subjective or an objective viewpoint.

Source: Brandon, L. & Brandon, K. (2008). Paragraphs & Essays with Integrated Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Chapter 13 Comparison and Contrast: Showing Similarities and Differences

Writing Comparison and Contrast

Defining Comparison and Contrast
Comparison and contrast is a method of showing similarities and differences between subjects. Comparison is concerned with organizing and developing points of similarity; contrast serves the same function for difference. In some instances, a writing assignment may require that you cover only similarities or only difference. Occasionally, and instructor may ask you to separate one from the other. Usually, you will combine them within the larger design of your Paragraph or essay.

Working with the 4 Ps
Regardless of nature of your topic for writing, you will develop your ideas by using a procedure called the 4 Ps: purpose, points, patterns, and presentation.

Purpose:
In most of your writing, the main purpose will be either to inform or to persuade.

Informative writing:
If you want to explain something about a topic by showing each subject in relationship with others, then your purpose is informative.

Persuasive Writing:
If you want to show that one actor, one movie, one writer, one president, one product, or one idea is better than another, your purpose is persuasive.

Points:
The points are the ideas that will be applied somewhat equally to both sides of your comparison and contrast. They begin to emerge in freewriting, take on more precision in brainstorming, acquire a main position in listing, and assume the major part of the framework in the outline.

Patterns
Two basic pattern of organization: (1) subject by subject (opposing) or (2) point by point (alternating). In long pagers you may mix the two patterns, but in most college assignments, you will probably select just one and make it your basic organizational plan.

Use this basic outline for the subject by subject pattern:
I. Subject X
A. Point 1
B. Point 2
II. Subject Y
A. Point 1
B. Point 2
Use this basic outline for the point by point pattern:
I. Point 1
A. Subject X
B. Subject Y
II. Point 2
A. Subject X
B. Subject Y

Presentation

• Give each point more or less equal treatment. Attention to each part of the outline will usually ensure balanced development.
• Use transitional words and phrases to indicate comparison and contrast and to establish coherence.
• Use a carefully stated topic sentence for a paragraph and a clear thesis for an essay. Each developmental paragraph should have a topic sentence broad enough to embrace its content.
  
  

Source: Brandon, L. & Brandon, K. (2008). Paragraphs & Essays with Integrated Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Chapter 12 Classification: Establishing Groups

Writing Classification

To explain by classification, you put persons, places, things, or ideas into groups or classes based on their characteristics. Whereas analysis by division deals with the characteristics of just one unit, classification deals with more than one unit, so the subject is plural.

To classify efficiently, try following this procedure:

• Select a plural subject.
• Decide on a principle for grouping the units of your subject.
• Establish the groups, or classes.
• Write about the classes.

Selecting Subject
When you say you have different kinds of neighbors, friends, teachers, bosses, or interests, you are classifying; that is, you are forming groups.

In naming the different kinds of people in your neighborhood, you might think of different grouping of your neighbors, the units. For example, some neighbors are friendly, some are meddlesome, and some are private. Some neighbors have yards like Japanese gardens, some have yards like neat – but – cozy parks, and some have yards like abandoned lots. Some neighbors are affluent, some are comfortable, and some are struggling. Each of these sets is a classification system and could be the focus of one paragraph in your essay.

Using a Principle to Avoid Overlapping
All the sets in the preceding section are sound because each group is based on a single concern: neighborly involvement, appearance of the yard, or wealth. This one concern, or controlling idea, is called the principle. For example, the principle of neighborly involvement controls the grouping of neighbors into three classes: friendly, meddlesome, and private.

Establishing Classes
As you name your classes, rule our easy, unimaginative phrasing such as fast/medium/slow, good/ average/bad, and beautiful/ordinary/ugly. Look for creative, original phrases and unusual perspectives.

Using simple and complex forms
Classification can take two forms: simple and complex. The simple form does not go beyond main division in its grouping.

Outline:

Subject:
Principles:
Classes: I. Class one
II. Class Two
III. Class Three

Complex classification are based on one principle and then subgrouped by another related principle.


Source: Brandon, L. & Brandon, K. (2008). Paragraphs & Essays with Integrated Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Chapter 11 Cause and Effect: Determining Reasons and Outcomes

Writing Cause and Effect

Cause and effects deal with reasons and results; they are sometimes discussed together and sometimes separately. Like other forms of writing to explain, writing about causes and effects is based on natural thought processes. The shortest, and arguably the most provocative, poem in the English language – “I/ Why?" – is posed by an anonymous author about cause. Children are preoccupied with delightful and often exasperating "why" questions. Daily we encounter all kinds of causes and effects. The same subject may raise questions of both kinds.

Example:

The car won't start. Why? (Cause)

The car won' start. What now? (Effect)

Exploring and Organizing
One useful approach to developing a cause – and – effect analysis is listing. Write down the event, situation, or trend you are concerned about. Then on the left side, list the causes; on the right side, list the effects. From them you will select the main causes or effects for your paragraph or essay.

The outline should look like:

Causes Event, Situation, or Trend Effects
1. ...................................................1.

2. ...................................................2.

3. ...................................................3.

4. ...................................................4.

As you use prewriting techniques to explore your ideas, you need to decide whether your topic should mainly inform or mainly persuade. If you intend to inform, your tone should be coolly objective. If you intend to persuade, your tone should be subjective. In either case, you should take into account the views of your audience as you phrase your ideas. You should also take into account how much your audience understands about your topic and develop your ideas accordingly.

Composing a Topic or a Thesis
You have listed your ideas under causes and effects, you are ready to focus on the causes, on the effects, or, occasionally, on both. You controlling idea, the topic sentence or the thesis, might be one of the cause.

Writing an Outline
Your selection of a controlling idea takes you to the next writing phase: completing an outline or outline alternative. There you need to

• Consider kinds of causes and effects.
• Evaluate the importance of sequence.
• Introduces ideas and work with patterns.

Paragraph of causes

Topic sentence
I. Cause 1
II. Cause 2
III. Cause 3

Essay of effects

Thesis
I. Effect 1
II. Effect 2
III. Effect 3
IV. Effect 4




Considering Kinds of Causes and Effects
Causes and effects can be primary or secondary, immediate or remote.

Primary or Secondary
Primary means "major," and secondary means "minor.” A primary cause may be sufficient to bring about the situation (subject). For example, infidelity may be a primary (and possibly sufficient by itself) cause of divorce for some people but not for others, who regard it as secondary. Or, if country X is attacked by country Y, the attack itself, as a primary cause, may be sufficient to bring on a declaration of war. But a diplomatic blunder regarding visas for workers may be secondary importance, and, through significant, it is certainly not enough to start a war over.

Immediate or Remote
Causes and effects often occur at a distance in time or place from the situation. The immediate effect of sulfur in the atmosphere may be atmospheric pollution, but the long – range, or remote, effect may be acid rain and the loss of species. The immediate cause of the greenhouse effect may be the depletion of the ozone layer, whereas the long – range, or remote, cause is the use of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons, commonly called Freon, which are found in such items as Styrofoam cups). Even more remote, the ultimate cause may be the people who use the products containing Freon. Your purpose will determine the causes and effects appropriate for your essay.

Evaluating the Importance of Sequence

Order
The order of the causes and effects you discuss in your paper may be based on time, space, emphasis, or a combination.

• Time: If one stage leads to another, as in a discussion of the causes and effects of upper atmospheric pollution, your paper would be organized best by time.
• Space: In some instances, causes and effects are best organized by their relation in space.
• Emphasis: Some cause and effects may be more important than others.

Introducing Ideas and Working with patterns
In presenting your controlling idea – probably near the beginning for a paragraph or in an introductory paragraph for an essay – you will almost certainly want to perform two functions:

• Discuss your subject. For example, if you are writing about the causes or effects of divorce, begin with a statement about divorce as a subject.
• Indicate whether you will concentrate on causes or effects or combine them. That indication should be made clear early in the paper. Concentrating on one – causes of effects – does not mean you will not mention the other; it only means you will emphasize one of them. You can bring attention to your main concern(s) – causes, effects, or a combination - by repeating key words such as cause, reason, effect, result, consequence, and outcome.

Source: Brandon, L. & Brandon, K. (2008). Paragraphs & Essays with Integrated Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Chapter 10 Process Analysis: Writing About Doing

Writing Process Analysis

If you need to explain how to do something or how something was (is) done, you will engage in process analysis. You will break down your topic into stages, explaining each so that your reader can duplicate or understand the process.

Two Types of Process Analysis: Directive and Informative
Directive process analysis explains how to do something. As the name suggests, it gives directions for the reader to follow.

Informative process analysis explains how something was (is) done by giving data (information). Whereas the directive process analysis tells you what to do in the future, the informative process analysis tells you what has occurred or what is occurring. If it is something in nature, such as the formation of a mountain, you can read and understand the process by which it emerged. In this type of process analysis, you do not tell the reader what to do; therefore, you will seldom use the words you or your.

Working with stages

Preparation or Background
In the first stage of directive process analysis, list the materials or equipment needed for the process and discuss the necessary setup arrangements. For some topics, this stage will also provide technical terms and definitions. The degree to which this stage is detailed will depend on both the subject itself and the expected knowledge and experience of the projected audience.

Informative process analysis may begin with background or context rather than with preparation. For example, a statement explaining how mountains form might begin with a description of a flat portion of the earth made up of plates that are arranged like a jigsaw puzzle.

Steps or Sequence
The actual process will be presented here. Each step or sequence must be explained clearly and directly, and phrased to accommodate the audience. The language, especially in directive process analysis, is likely to be simple and concise; however, avoid dropping words such as and, a, an, the, and of, and thereby lapsing into "recipe language." The steps may be accompanied by explanations about why certain procedures are necessary and how not following directions carefully can lead to trouble.

Order
The order will usually be chronological (time based) in some sense. Certain transitional words are commonly used to promote coherence: first, second, third, then, soon, now, next, finally, at last, therefore, consequently, and – especially for informative process analysis – words used to show the passage of time such as hours, days of the week, and so on.

Basic Forms
Consider using this form for the directive process (with topics such as how to cook something or how to fix something).

Example: How to prepare Spring Rolls

I. Preparation

A. Suitable cooking area

B. Utensils, equipment

C. Spring roll wrappers

D. Vegetables, sauce

II. Steps

A. Season vegetables

B. Wrap vegetables

C. Fold wrappers

D. Deep-fry rolls

E. Serve rolls with sauce

Consider using this form for the informative process (with topics such as how a volcano functions or how a battle was won).


Example: How Coal Is Formed

I. Background or context

A. Accumulation of land plants

B. Bacterial action

C. Muck formation

II. Sequence

A. Lignite from pressure

B. Bituminous from deep burial and heat

C. Anthracite from metamorphic conditions

Combined Forms
Combination process analysis occurs when directive process analysis and informative process analysis are blended, usually when the writer personalizes the account.

Useful Prewriting Procedure
All the strategies of freewriting, brainstorming, and clustering can be useful in writing a process analysis. However, if you already know your subject well, you can simply make two lists, one headed Preparation or background and the other steps or sequence. Then jot down ideas for each. After you have finished with your listing, you can delete parts, combine parts, and rearrange parts for better order. That editing of your lists will lead directly to a formal outline you can use in Stage Two of the writing process.

Source: Brandon, L. & Brandon, K. (2008). Paragraphs & Essays with Integrated Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Chapter 9 Analysis by Division: Examining the Parts

Writing Analysis by Division
Procedure
If you need to explain how something works or exists as a unit, you will write an analysis by division. You will break down a unit (your subject) into its parts and explain how each part functions in relation to the operation or existence of the whole. The most important word here is unit. You begin with something that can stand alone or can be regarded separately: a poem. The following procedure will guide you in writing an analysis by division: Move from subject to principle, to division, to relationship.

Step 1. Begin with something that is a unit (subject).
Step 2. State one principle by which the unit can function.
Step 3. Divide the unit into parts according to that principle.
Step 4. Discuss each of the parts in relation to the unit.

Example:
You might apply that procedure to writing about a good boss in the following way:

1. Unit – Manager
2. Principle of function – Effective as a leader
3. Parts based on the principle – Fair, intelligent, stable, competent in the field
4. Relationship to the unit – Consider each part in relation to the person's effectiveness as a manager

Organization
In an essay of analysis by division, the main parts are likely to be the main points of your outline or main extensions of your cluster. If they are anything else, reconsider your organization.

A basic outline of an analysis by division might look like this:

Thesis: To be effective as a leader, a manager needs specific qualities.
I. Fairness
II. Intelligence
III. Stability
IV. Competence in the field

Sequence of Parts
The order in which you discuss the parts will vary according to the nature of the unit and the way in which you view it. Here are some possible sequences for organzing the parts of a unit:

Time: the sequence of the parts in your paragraph or essay can be mainly chronological, or time-based (if you are dealing with something that functions on its own, such as a heart, with the parts presented in relation to stages of the function.)
Speace: If your unit is a visual object, especially if, like a pencil, it does nothing by itself, you may discuss the parts in the relation to speace.
Emphasis: Because the most emphatic location of any piece of writing is the end( the second most emphatic point is the beginning), consider placing the most signigicant part of the unit at the end.

Two Uses of Analysis by Division
From the wide range of uses of analysis by division mentioned in the introduction, two are featured in the chapter: the restaurant review and the short story review.
Restaurant Review

Definition
The restaurant review is an article of one or more paragraphs that describes three elements: ambiance, service and food.

• Ambiance is the atmosphere, mood, or feeling of a place. For restaurant, it may begin with landscaping and architecture. Ambiance is certainly produced by what is inside, such as the furnishing, seating, style, upkeep, sounds, sights, smells, behavior of other customers, and management style - whatever produces that mood or the feeling, even if it is franchise plastic and elevator music.
• Service is mainly concerned with food delivery and those who do it: their attitude, manners, helpfulness, promptness, accuracy, and availability. Self-service or pickup establishments would be judged by similar standards.
• Food is the emphasis--its variety, quality, price, and presentation.

Writing the Review

• Use first person (I) as you relate your experience in a particular restaurant chain.
  
• If possible, base your evaluation on more than one item.
  
• While you are dining, use a simple outline or listing to make sure you have information on ambiance, service, and food.
  
• You need not separate comments on ambiance, service, and food or present them in a particular order, but be specific in your details and examples.
  
  

Shot Story Review
A short story is a brief, imaginative narrative, with numerous functional elements (all of which can be analyzed): setting, conflict, character, plot, theme, and point of view.

The overarching element of the short story is usually the plot. In the simplest terms, the plot begins when a character in a setting experiences (with or without being aware) a conflict. The plot develops as the character deals with the conflict in a single scene or sequence of scenes. All of the narrative is related from a first person (I) or a third person (he, she, they) point of view. The entire presentation has a theme, the underlying generalization or fictional point.

Short stories are fiction, meaning they are a report of what has actually happened, though they may be based squarely on an author's experience.

Writing the Short Story Review

• Develop your ideas by referring directly to the story; by explaining; and by using summaries, paraphrases, and quotations. Avoid the temptation to oversummarize.
• Use the present tense in relating events in the story. For example, "Jude is trying to survive," not "Jude was trying to survive." Use quotation marks around the words you borrow and provide documentation if directed to do so by your instructor.
• A short story review is mainly analytical; it may include your speculation and call forth references to your personal experience.

Source: Brandon, L. & Brandon, K. (2008). Paragraphs & Essays with Integrated Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Chapter 8 Exemplification: Writing with Examples

Writing Exemplification

Exemplification means using examples to explain, convince, or amuse. Lending interest and information to writing, exemplification is one of the most common and effective ways of developing ideas. Examples may be developed in a sentence or more, or they may be only phrases or even single words, as in the following sentence: "Children like packaged breakfast foods, such as Wheaties, Cheerios, and Rice Krispies."

Characteristics of Good Examples

As supporting information, the best examples are specific, vivid, and representative. These three qualities are closely linked; linked; collectively, they must support the topic sentence of a paragraph and the thesis of an essay.
Techniques for Finding Examples: Listing and Clustering
Writing a good paragraph or essay of exemplification begins, as always, with prewriting. The techniques you use will depend on what you are writing about.

Number and Order of Examples

The order and number of your examples will depend on the purpose stated in your topic sentence or thesis.

Source: Brandon, L. & Brandon, K. (2008). Paragraphs & Essays with Integrated Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Chapter 7 Descriptive Narration: Moving Through Space and Time

Writing Descriptive Narration

As patterns of writing, description and narration are almost always associated. You would almost never describe something without relating it to something else, especially to a story, or a narrative. And you would seldom narrate something (tell the story) without including some description. A narrative moves through time; a description usually moves through space. In this chapter the two patterns are linked as descriptive narration.

The Narrative Defined
What is the Narrative? The narrative is an account of an incident or a series of incidents that make up a complete and significant action. Each narrative has five parts: situation, conflict, struggle, outcome, and meaning.

Narrative Patterns

• Situation is the background for the action.
• Conflict is friction, such as a problem in the surroundings, with another person, or within the individual.
• Struggle, which need not be physical, is the manner of dealing with conflict.
• Outcome is the result of the struggle.
• Meaning is the significance of the story, which may be deeply philosophical or simple, stated or implied.
  

Verb Tense

Two generalizations may be useful as you work with verb tense.

• Most narratives (often summaries) based on literature are written in the present tense.
• Most historical events and personal experiences are written in the past tense.
• The generalizations about verb – tense selection (using past for the historical and the personal and using present for fiction) are useful.
• The verb tense in a passage should change only when the shift is needed for clarity and emphasis.

Point of View
Point of view shows the writer's relationship to the material and the subject, and it usually does not change within a passage.

If you are conveying personal experience, the point of view will be first person, which can be either involved (as a participant) or detached (as an observer). The involved perspective uses I more prominently than the detached perspective does.

If you are presenting something from a distance – geographical or historical (for example, telling a story about George Washington) – the point of view will usually be third person, and the participants will be referred to as "he", "she", and "they."

Dialogue
Dialogue is used purposefully in narration to characterize, particularize, and support ideas. It shows us how people talk and think, as individuals or as representatives of society. Not every narrative requires dialogue.

Descriptive Patterns

Description is the use of words to represent the appearance or nature of something. It is not merely the work of an indifferent camera: Instead, often going beyond sight, it includes details that will convey a good representation. Just what details the writer selects will depend on several factors, especially the type of description and the dominant impression the writer is trying to convey.

Types of Description
Effective objective description presents the subject clearly and directly as it exists outside the realm of emotions. If you are explaining the function of the heart, the characteristics of a computer chip, or the renovation of a manufacturing facility, your description will probably feature specific, impersonal details. Most technical and scientific writing is objective in this sense.

Effective subjective description is also concerned with clarity and it maybe direct, but it conveys a feeling about the subject and sets a mood while making a point. Because most expression involves personal views, even when it explains by analysis, subjective description (often called emotional description) has a broader range of uses than objective description.
Descriptive passages can be a combination of objective and subjective description; only the larger context of the passage will reveal the main intent.

Techniques of Descriptive Writing

As a writer of description, you will need to focus your work to accomplish four specific tasks:

• Emphasize a single point (dominant impression).
• Choose your words with care.
• Establish a perspective from which to describe your subject (point of view).
• Position the details for coherence (order)
  

Dominant Impression

The dominant impression emerges from a pattern of details, often involving repetition of one idea with different particulars.

Word Choice: General and Specific, Abstract and Concrete

To move from the general to the specific is to move from the general to the specific is to move from the whole class or group of items to individual ones.

Point of View

Point of view shows the writer's relationship to the subject, thereby establishing the perspective from which the subject is described. It rarely changes within a passage. Two terms usually associated with fiction writing, first person and third person, also pertain to descriptive writing.

Order

• To indicate space, use terms such as next to, below, under, above, behind, in front of, beyond, in the foreground, in the background, to the left, and to the right.
• To indicate time, use words such as first, second, then, soon, finally, while, after, next, later, now, and before.
• Dominant impression: good food (images, figurative language, other diction). The reader experiences the incident as the writer did because of the diction.
• Word choice: general or specific; abstract or concrete. The general and abstract have been made clear by use of the specific and the concrete. Of course, not all abstract words need to be tied to the concrete, nor do all general words need to be transformed to the specific. As you describe, use your judgment to decide which words fit your purposes – those needed to enable your audience to understand your ideas and to be persuaded or informed.
• Point of view: first person, involved.
• Order: chronological (time) for the eating; spatial (space) for the grill and neighborhood.
  

Suggested Topic and Prompts for Writing Descriptive Narration

Text – based writing requires you to read a source or sources critically, write an analytical reply, and give credit to the author for the ideas you borrow and the words you quote.

The reaction, the most common form of text – based writing, has there features:

• In the reaction, the meaning of the text is central to your topic sentence or thesis and your development.
• Although the reaction is not a personal narrative by itself, it may include personal experience to explain elements of the text.
• The reaction may incorporate a summary to convey a broad view of the text, but the summary is never the main part of your reaction.
  
  

Reading – related writing requires you to read a source and to use it as a model of form and treatment of an idea.

Text – Based Writing topic are marked with “TBW” and Reading – Related Writing topics are Marked with “RRW”.

Source: Brandon, L. & Brandon, K. (2008). Paragraphs & Essays with Integrated Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Chapter 6 Writing the Essay

The Essay Defined in Relation to the Developmental Paragraph

The main parts of the developmental paragraph are the topic sentence (subject and treatment), support (evidence and reasoning), and, often, a concluding sentence. Now let us use that framework to define the essay: The essay is a group of paragraphs, each with the function of supporting a controlling idea called the thesis. These are the main parts of the essay:

• Introduction: presents the thesis, which states the controlling idea - much like the topic sentence for a paragraph but on a larger scale.
• Development: introduces evidence and reasoning - the support.
• Transition: point out division of the essay (seldom used in the short essay).
• Conclusion: provides an appropriate ending - often a restatement of a reflection on the thesis.

Special Paragraphs Within the Essay

Introductions
A good introductory paragraph does many things. It attracts the reader's interest, states or points toward the thesis, and moves the reader smoothly into the body paragraphs, the developmental paragraphs. Here are some introductory methods:

• A direct statement of the thesis
• Background
• Definition of term(s)
• Quotation(s)
• A shocking statement
• Question(s)
• A combination of two or more methods on this list
  

Conclusions

Your concluding paragraph should give the reader the feeling that you have said all you want to say about your subject. Like introductory paragraphs, concluding paragraphs are of various types. Here are some effective ways of concluding a paper:

• Conclude with a final paragraph or sentence that is a logical part of the body of the paper; that is, one that functions as part of the support.
• Conclude with a restatement of the thesis in slightly different words, perhaps pointing out its significance or making applications.
• Conclude with a review of the main points of the discussion--a kind of summary. This is appropriate only if the complexity of the essay makes a summary necessary.
• Conclude with an anecdote related to the thesis.
• Conclude with a quotation related to the thesis.

There are also many ineffective ways of concluding an essay. Do not conclude with the following:

• A summary when a summary is unnecessary
• A complaint about the assignment or an apology about the quality of the work
• An afterthought – that is, something you forgot to discuss in the body of the essay
• A tagged conclusion – that is, a sentence beginning with such phrases as In conclusion, To conclude, I would like to conclude this discussion, or Last but not least
• A conclusion that raises additional problems that should have been settled during the discussion

The conclusion is an integral part of the essay and is often a reflection of the introduction. If you have trouble with the conclusion, reread your introduction. Then work for a roundness or completeness in the whole paper.

Source: Brandon, L. & Brandon, K. (2008). Paragraphs & Essays with Integrated Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Chapter 5 Writing the Paragraph

The Paragraph Defined

Defining the word paragraph is no easy task because there are four different kinds of paragraphs, each one having a different purpose:

• Introductory: Usually the first paragraph in an essay, it fives the necessary background and indicated the main idea, called the thesis.
• Developmental: A unit of several sentences, it expands on an idea.
• Transitional: A very brief paragraph, it merely directs the reader from one point in the essay to another.
• Concluding: Usually the last paragraph in an essay, it makes the final comment on the topic.

The following paragraph is both a definition and an example of the developmental paragraph.

The developmental paragraph contains three parts: the subject, the topic sentence, and the support. The subject is what you will write about. It is likely to be broad and must be focused or qualified for specific treatment. The topic sentence contains both the subject and the treatment – what you will do with the subject. It carries the central idea to which everything else in the paragraph is subordinated. For example, the first sentence of this paragraph is a topic sentence. Even when not stated, the topic sentence as an underlying idea unifies the paragraph. The support is the evidence or reasoning by which a topic sentence is developed. It comes in several basic patterns and serves any of the four forms of expression: narration, description, exposition, and argumentation. These forms, which are usually combined in writing, will be presented with both student and professional examples in the following chapters. The developmental paragraph, therefore, is a group of sentences, each with the function of supporting a controlling idea called to topic sentence.


Basic Paragraph Patterns

The most important point about a developmental paragraph is that it should state an idea and support it. The support, or development, can take several forms, all of which you already use. It can:

• Give an account (tell a story).
• Describe people, things, or events.;
• Explain by analyzing, giving examples, comparing, defining, showing how to do something, or showing causes.
• Argue that something should be done or resisted, that something is true or untrue, or that something is good or bad.

You will not find it difficult to write solid paragraphs once you understand that good writing requires that main ideas have enough support so that your reader can understand how you have arrived at your main conclusions.

Usually the developmental paragraph will be indented only one time. However, you will note in your reading that some writers, especially journalists, break a paragraph into parts and indent more than once in developing a single idea. That arrangement, called a paragraph unit, is fairly common in magazine and newspaper articles (frequently with each sentence indented) but less so in college writing.

Two effective patterns of conventional paragraph structure are show below:

Pattern A
Topic Sentence
Support
Support
Support

Pattern B
Topic Sentence
Support
Support
Support
Concluding Sentence

Source: Brandon, L. & Brandon, K. (2008). Paragraphs & Essays with Integrated Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Chapter 4 The Writing Process Stage Three (Writing/ Revising/ Editing)

Writing the First Draft

In StageThree of the writing process, you work begins to assume its final form. Use your outline, or organization, as a guide in composing your paragraph or essay. For college work, your controlling should almost always be clearly stated early in the paper. The Roman – Numeral parts of the outline will provide the framwork for the main ideas in an essay. Supporting information – details, examples, quotations – is likely to be used in approximately the same order as it appers in the outline. Keep in mind that you should not be bound absolutely by the outline. Outlines often need to be redone.

Most writers do best when they go stright through their first draft without stopping to polish sentences or fix samll problems. Try that approach. Using the information in your outline and ideas as they occur to you, go ahead and simply write a paragraph or an essay. Do not be slowed down by possible misspelled words, flawed punctuation, or ungraceful sentences. You can repair those problems later.

Whether you write in lonehang or on a computer depends on what works best for you. Some writers perfer to do a first draft by hand, mark it up, and then go to the computer. Computers save your time in all aspects of your writing, espectially revision.

Revising

What you do beyond the first draft is revision and editing. Revision includes checking for organization, contet, and language effectiveness. Write and then revise your paragraph or essa as many as necessary for coherence, language (usage, tone, and divtion), unite, emphasis, support, and sentences (CLUESS)

Coherence

Coherence is the orderly relationship of ideas, each leading smothly and logcially to the next.
You can achieve effciently by using the following:

• Overall pattern
• Transitional Terms
• Repetion of key word and important ideas
• Pronouns
• Consistent point of view

Overall Pattern
Three basic pattern prevail: time (chronology), space (spatial arrangement), and emphasis (stree on ideas). Sometime you will combine patterns. The coherence of each can be strebgthened by using transitional words such as the following:

For a time pattern: first, then, soon, later, following, at the point
For a space pattern: up, down, right, left beyond, behind, above, below
For an emphasis pattern: first, second, third, most, more

Transitional terms
By using transitional terms, you can help your readers move easily from one idea to another.

Example:
First, I realized I had to get a job to stay in school.
At the same time, my track coach wanted the term to spend more hours working out.
We were, after all, the defending champions.
Finally, I dropped one of my courses.


Repetition of Key Words and Important Ideas
Repeat key words and phases to keep the main subject in the reader’s mind and to maintain the continuity necessary for a smooth flow of logical throught.

Pronouns
Pronouns, such as he, her, them, and it, provide natural connecting links in your writing. Why? Every pronounce refers to an earlier noun (called the antecedent of the problem) and thus carries the reader back to that earlier thought.

Example:
I tried to buy tickets for the concert, but they were all sold.

Assertive people tend to make decision quickly. However, they may not make the wisest decisions.

Roger painted a picture of his father’s pickup truck. It was so good that his professor asked him to enter it in an art show.

Consistent Point of View
Points of view shows the writer’s relationship to the material, the subject, and it usually does not change within a passage.

If you are conveying personal experience, the point of view will be first person, or I, which can be either involved (a participant) or detached (an observer).

The second person, you and your, is usually reserved for how –to writing in college assignments.

If you are presenting something from a distance, geographical or historical, the point of view will be third person, and the participants will be referred to as he, she, and they.

Along with the consistence of perspective, you should avoid shifts in number (she to they) and verb tense (is to was)

Being consistent in these matters will promote coherence.

Language

In the revision process, the word language takes on special meaning, referring to usage, tone, and diction. If you are writing with a computer, consider using the thesaurus feature, but keep in mind that no two words share precisely the same meaning.

Usage
Usage is the kind or general style of language we use. Usage is n important part of writing and revising. Judge what is appropriate for your audience and your purpose. What kind of language is expected? What kind of language is best suited for accomplishing your purpose.

Tone
Tone means that the sound of the speaker’s voice and maybe the language choices conveyed disrespect to the listener. The tone could have represented any number of felling about the subject matter and the audience. The tone can have as many variations as you can have feelings: it can, for example, be sarcastic, humorous, serious, cautionary, objective, groveling, angry, bitter, sentimental, enthusiastic, somber, outraged, or loving.

In speech, feeling and attitudes are represented by inflection, loudness, word choice, and language patterns. In writing, tone is conveyed mainly be word choice and order; it is closely related to style – the variations in the way you way you write, depending on your purpose. Your purpose is simply to present a particular idea in a particular context. The context implies the audience; it is important to use the tone appropriate to your audience.

Diction
Diction is word choice. If you use good diction, you are finding the best words for a particular purpose in addressing a certain audience.

Another aspect of diction id freshness and originality of expression. To achieve those distinctions, you should avoid clichés, which are trite, familiar phrases. Good diction, however, reflects the writing as an individual and is fresh, original, and clear.

Unity

A controlling idea, stated or implied, establishes unity in every piece of good writing. Unit can be strengthened and made more apparent if you restate the topic sentence or thesis, and it should all be subordinate to the topic sentence and thesis at the end of the unit and if you repeat key words and phrases from time to time. Unity means staying on the topic.

Emphasis

Emphasis, a feature of most good writing, helps the reader focus on the main ideas by stressing what is important, it can be achieved in service ways but mainly through placement of key ideas and through repletion.

Placement of Ideas
The most emphasis part of any passage, whether a sentence or a book, is the last part, because we usually remember most easily what we read last. The second most emphasis part of a passage is the beginning, because our mind is relatively uncluttered when we read it. For those reasons, among others, the topic sentence or thesis is usually at the beginning of a piece, and it is often restated at the end in an echoing statement.

Repetition of Key Words and Important Ideas
Repetition is one of the simplest devices in your writer’s toolbox. The words repeated may be single words, phases slightly altered sentences, or synonyms. Repetition keeps the dominant subject in the reader’s mind and maintains the continuity necessary for a smooth flow of logical thought.

A word of warning: The effective use of word and phase repetition should not be confused with an irritating misuse of word repetition.

Support

A good developmental paragraph fulfills its function by developing the topic sentence. An essay is complete when it fulfills its function of developing a thesis. Obviously, you will have to judge what is complete. With some subjects, you will need little supporting and explanatory material. With others, you will need much more. Incompletion, not overdevelopment, is more common among beginning writers. Besides having enough support, be sure that the points of support are presented in the best possible sequence.

Sentences

In the revision process, the word sentences refer to the variety of sentence patterns and the correctness of sentence structure.

Variety of Sentences
A passage what offers a variety of simple and complicated sentences satisfies the reader, just as various simple and complicated foods go together in a good meal. The writer can introduce variety by including both short and long sentences, by using different sentence patterns, and by beginning sentences in different ways.

Length
In revising, examine your writing to make sure that sentences vary in length. A series of short sentences is likely to make the flow seem choppy and the thoughts disconnected. However, single short sentences often work very well. Because they are uncluttered with supporting points and qualifications, they are often direct and forceful. Consider using short sentences to emphasize points and to introduce ideas. Use longer sentences to provide details or show how ideas are related.

Variety of Sentence Patterns
Good writing includes a variety of sentence patterns. Although there is no limit to the number of sentences you can write, you may be pleased to discover that the conventional English sentence appears in only four basic patterns.

Each of the four sentence patterns listed has its own purposes and strengths. The simple sentence conveys a single idea. The compound sentence shows, by its structure, that who somewhat equal ideas are connected. The complex sentence shows that one idea is less important than another; that is, it is dependent on, or subordinate to, the idea in the main clause. The compound – complex sentence has the scope of both the compound sentence and the complex sentence.

Variety of Sentence Beginnings
Another way to provide sentence variety is to use different kinds of beginnings. A new beginning may or may not be accompanied by a changed sentence pattern. Among the most common beginnings, other than starting with the subject of the main clause, are those using a prepositional phrase, a dependent clause, or a conjunctive adverb such as therefore, however, or in fact.

Problems with Sentences
A complete sentence must generally include an independent clause, which is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and can stand alone. Some groups of words may sound interesting, but they are not really sentences. Three common problem groupings are the fragment, the comma splice, and the run-on.
A sentence fragment is a word grouping that is structurally incomplete
A comma splice consists of two independent clauses with only a comma between them.
A run – on differs from the comma splice in only one way: It has no comma between the independent clauses,

Editing

Editing, the final stage of the writing process, involves a careful examination of your work. Look for problems with capitalization, omissions, punctuation, and spelling (COPS)

Source: Brandon, L. & Brandon, K. (2008). Paragraphs & Essays with Integrated Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Chapter 3 The writing Process: Stage Two (Writing the Controlling Idea/ Organizing and Developing Support)

The most important advice this book can offer you us state your controlling idea and support it. If you have no controlling idea – no topic sentence for a paragraph or thesis for an essay – your writing will be unfocused, and your readers may be confused or bored. But if you organize your material well, so that it supports and develops your controlling idea, you can present your views to your readers with interest, clarity, and persuasion.

Defining the Controlling Idea

If you tell a friend you are about to write paragraph or an essay, be prepared to hear the question “What are you writing about?" If you answer, "Public schools,” your friends will probably be satisfied with the answer but not very interested. The problem is that the phrases public schools offer no sense of limitation or direction. It just indicates your subject, not what you are going to do with it. An effective controlling statement, called the topic sentence for a paragraph and the thesis for an essay, has both a subject and a treatment. The subject is what you intend to write about. The treatment is what you intend to do with your subject.

Example: (subject / treatment )

Glendora High School offers a well- balanced academic program.


Writing the Controlling Idea as a Topic Sentence or Thesis

The effective controlling idea presents a treatment that can be developed with supporting information. The ineffective one is vague, too broad, and too narrow.

Example: (subject / treatment )

Vague: Public schools are great.

Better: Publish schools do as well academically as private schools, according to statistics. (Made more specific)

Too Broad: Publish schools are too crowded.

Better: Bidwell Elementary School is too crowed. (Limiting the subject to a particular school)

Too Narrow: American public schools were first established in Philadelphia in 1799. (Only a fact)


Better: The first publish schools in America were founded to meet certain practical needs. (Made more specific by indicating aspects)

Organizing Support

Three tools can help you organize your supporting material: listing (a form of brainstorming), clustering, and outlining. You will probably use only one of these organizing tools, depending on course requirements, the assignment, or individual preference.

Listing

Lists are the simplest and most flexible of the organizing tools. Listing need be nothing more than a column of items presenting support material in a useful sequence (time, space, or importance). As you work with your supporting material, you can cross out words or move them around on the list. By leaving vertical space between items, you can easily insert new examples and details.

Clustering

Chains of circles radiating from a central double – bubbled circle form a cluster that shows the relationship of ideas.

Outlining

Outlining is the tool that most people think of in connection with organizing. Because it is flexible and widely used, it will receive the most emphasis in this stage of the writing process. Outlining does basically the same thing that listing and clustering do. Outlining divides the controlling idea into section of support material, divides those sections further, and establishes sequence.

An outline is a framework that can be used in two ways: (1) It can indicate the plan for a paragraph or an essay you intend to write, and (2) it can show the organization of a passage you are reading. The outline of a reading passage and the outline as a plan for writing are identical in form. If you intend to write a summary of a reading selection, then a single outline might be used for both purposes.

The two main outline forms are the sentence outline (each entry is a complete sentence) and the topic outline (each entry is a key word or phrase). The topic outline is more common in writing paragraphs and essays.

The Outline should look like:

Main idea (will usually be the topic sentence for a pargraph or the thesis for an essay)
I. Major support
A. Minor support
1. Explanation, detail, example
2. Explanation, detail, example
B. Minor support
1. Explanation, detail, example
2. Explanation, detail, example
II. Major support
A. Minor support
1. Explanation, detail, example
2. Explanation, detail, example
B. Minor support
1. Explanation, detail, example
2. Explanation, detail, example


Source: Brandon, L. & Brandon, K. (2008). Paragraphs & Essays with Integrated Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company.

The Writing Process Worksheet

Source: Brandon, L. & Brandon, K. (2008). Paragraphs & Essays with Integrated Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Chapter 2 The Writing Process: Stage One (Exploring/ Experimenting/ Gathering Information)

The Writing Process Defined

The writing process consists of a set of strategies that will help you proceed from idea or purpose to the final statement of a paragraph or an essay. As presented here, the different strategies move from

Stage One: Exploring/ Experiment/ Gathering Information
to
Stage Two: Writing the Controlling Idea/ Organizing and Developing Support
to
Stage Three: Writing/ Revising/ Editing

The process of writing is recursive, which means "going back and forth." In this respect, writing is like reading. If you do not understand what you have read, you back up and read it again. After you reread the entire passage, you may still go back and reread selectively. The same can be said of your writing. If, for example, you have reached stage Two and you are working with an outline only to discover that your subject is too broad, you may want to back up and narrow your topic sentence or thesis and then adjust your outline. You may even return to an early cluster of ideas to see how you can use a smaller grouping of them. Revision, in Stage Three, is usually the most recursive park of all. You will go over your material again and again until you are satisfied that you have expressed yourself the best you can.

The Writing Process Worksheet

The blank Writing Process Worksheet on page 6, with brief directions for the three stages of the writing process, is designed to be duplicated and completed with each major writing assignment. It gives you clear, consistent guidance and provides your instructor with an easy format for finding and checking information. Customarily this worksheet is stapled to the front of your rough and final drafts.

The Assignment

Particulars of the assignment, frequently the most neglected parts of a writing project, are often the most important. If you do not know, or later cannot recall, specifically what you are supposed to do, you cannot do satisfactory work. An otherwise excellent composition on a misunderstood assignment may get you a failing grade, a sad situation for both you and your instructor.

As an aid to recalling just what you should write about, the writing process worksheet provides space and guidance for you to note these details: information about the topic, audience, pattern of writing, length of the paper, whether to include a rough draft or revised drafts, whether your paper must be typed, and the date the assignment is due.

At the time your instructor gives that information, it will probably be clear; a few days later, it may not. By putting your notes on the assignment portion of the worksheet, you remind yourself of what you should do and also indicate to your instructor what you have done.

Your Audience

More so than most points on the assignment portion of the worksheet, the matter of audience requires special consideration. At the outset of your writing project, you should consider your readers. Their needs, interests, and abilities should determine the focus of your subject, the extent of your explanation, your overall style, and your word choice. We usually make those adjustments automatically when we are speaking; it is easy to forget to do so when we are writing.

Stage One Strategies

Certain strategies commonly grouped under the heading prewriting can help you get started and develop your ideas. These strategies - freewriting, brainstorming, clustering, and gathering information - are very much a part of writing. The understandable desire to skip to the finished statement is what causes the most common student-writer grief: that of not filling the blank sheet or of filling it but not significantly improving on the blankness. The prewriting strategies described in this section will help you attack the blank sheet constructively with imaginative thought, analysis, and experimentation. They can lead to clear, effective communication.

Freewriting

Freewriting is an exercise that its originator, Peter Elbow, has called "babbling in print." When you freewrite, you write without stopping, letting your ideas tumble forth. You do not concern yourself unduly with the fundamentals of writing, such as punctuation and spelling. Freewriting is an adventure into your memory and imagination. It is concerned with discovery, invention, and exploration. If you are at a loss for words on your subject, write in a comment such as "I do not know what is coming next" or "blah, blah, blah," and continue when relevant words come. It is important to keep writing. Freewriting immediately eliminates the blank page and thereby helps you break through in that idea kit will include some you can use. You can then underline or circle those words and even add notes on the side so that the freewriting continues to grow even after its initial spontaneous expression.

The way in which you proceed depends on the type of assignment: working with a topic of your choice, working from a restricted list of topics, or working with a prescribed topic.

The topic of your choice affords you the greatest freedom of exploration. You would probably select a subject that interests you and freewrite about it, allowing your mind to wander among its many parts, perhaps mixing fact and fantasy, direct experience, and hearsay. A freewriting about music might uncover areas of special interest and knowledge, such as jazz or folk rock, that you would want to pursue further in freewriting or other prewriting strategies.

Working from a restricted list requires a more focused freewriting. With the list, you can, of cause, experiment with several topics to discover what is more suitable for you. If, for example, "career choice," "career preparation," "career guidance," and "career prospects" are on the restricted list, you would probably select on and freewrite about it. If it works well for you, you would probably proceed with the next step of your prewriting. If you are not satisfied with what you uncover in freewriting, you would explore another item from the restricted list.

When working with a prescribed topic, you focus on a particular topic and try to restrict your freewriting to its boundaries. If your topic specifies a division of a subject area such as "political involvement of your generation," then you would tie those key words to your own information, critical thinking, and imaginative responses. If the topic asks for, let's say, your reaction to a specific poem, then that poem would give you the framework for your free associations with your own experiences, creation, and opinions.

You should learn to use freewriting because it will often serve you well, but you need not use it every time you write. Some very short writing assignments do not call for freewriting. An in-class assignment may not allow time for freewriting.

Nevertheless, freewriting if often a useful strategy in your toolbox of techniques. It can help you get words on paper, break emotional barriers, generate topics, develop new insights, and explore ideas.

Freewriting can lead to other stages of prewriting and writing, and it can also provide content as you develop you topic.

Brainstorming

Brainstorming features important words is to ask the big six questions about your subject: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Then let your mind run free as you jot down answers in single entries or lists. Some of the big six questions may not fit, and some may be more important than others, depending on the purposes of your writing. For example, if you were writing about the cause of a situation, the why? question could be more important than others; if you were concerned with how to do something, the How? question would predominate. If you were writing in response to a reading selection, you would confine your thinking to questions appropriately related to the content of that reading selection.

Listing

Simple making a list of words and phrases related to your topic is another effective way to brainstorm, especial if you have a define topic and a storehouse of information. This strategy is favored by many writers.

Even if you do not have a focused topic, you may find a somewhat random listing useful, merely writing phases as they occur to you. This exploratory activity is similar to freewriting. After you have established such list, you can sort our and group the phrases as you generate your topic and fine its natural divisions. Feel free to accept, reject, or insert phases.

Clustering

In clustering, double – bubble your topic – that is, write it down in the middle of the page and draw a double circle around it – and then respond to the question “What comes to mind?” Draw a single bubble around other ideas on spokes radiating from the hub that contains the topic, any bubble can lead to another bubble or to numerous bubbles in the same way. This strategy is something used instead of, or before, making an outline to organize and develop ideas.

Gathering Information

For reading – related writing – especially the kind that requires a close examination of the selection – you will gather information by reading print or electronic source, such as the internet; make notes; perhaps outline or summarize. Of course, you may also want to make notes for other topics to write about as they occur to you. This kind of note taking can be combined with other strategies such as brainstorming and clustering. It can even take place of them. It can also be sued in conjunction with strategies such as outline.

Source: Brandon, L. & Brandon, K. (2008). Paragraphs & Essays with Integrated Readings. Houghton Mifflin Company.