CHAPTERS 1-2, WRITING FIRST

COMPONENTS OF WRITING

Sentences Subject Verb Complete Thought

Paragraphs Essays

PARAGRAPHS

3 components Topic Sentence Support Concluding Statement

Formatting Indent first line 1 block of text

A paragraph consists of a topic sentence and support. The topic sentence states the main idea of a paragraph. This idea unifies a paragraph. The other sentences in the paragraph provide support for the topic sentence. These sentences present details and examples to help readers understand the main idea. At the end of the paragraph is a concluding statement, a final sentence that sums up the…main idea. Many paragraphs follow this general structure.

KNOW YOUR ASSIGNMENT

Be a journalist What Why Who

Who is the audience for this class?

Examples Write a paragraph giving advice to a future

student about your educational experience Write a paragraph about how previous educational

experiences can influence a student’s performance in school

PREWRITING STRATEGIES

Freewriting Focused freewriting

Brainstorming Clustering Journals Venn Diagram

FREEWRITING

Man, I cannot believe Lost is over. I really need to get these notes typed up for English 90. I wonder what Crestor is. There are always advertisements for medications that I don’t know what is cured by using them. Music is an interesting thing. People like lots of different music. I’m not sure what my favorite song is—probably my wedding song. It’s always been my favorite. Red leather, yellow leather.

BRAINSTORMING (TOPIC: MUSIC)

Types of music•Country•Rap•Rock•Heavy metal

Favorite bands•Genesis•Queen•Nirvana

Instruments I would like to play•Violin•Drums•Guitar

Concerts•Genesis•Orchestral

Favorite Songs•Let My Love Open the Door•Falling Slowly•Smells Like Teen Spirit•Black Horse and a Cherry Tree

CLUSTERING

Music

Diff Genre

Fav Songs

Fav Bands

Concerts

Instruments

Falling Slowly

Let My Love Open the Door

Rock

Country

Violin

DrumsGenesi

s

Pittsburgh

Aug 2008

VENN DIAGRAM (DOUBLE BUBBLE DIAGRAMS)

oShow possible similarities and differencesoMost helpful for Compare and ContrastoIntersect points show the most relationships

JOURNAL

Various types, purposes Handwritten Electronic In-class writings www.hotmail.com

FROM PREWRITING TO ORGANIZING

Divine main idea What do findings

support?

Organize support Time Spatial Logical

Outline ideas

TOPIC SENTENCE

First sentence Main idea Unifies paragraph

Characteristics Full thought Not an announcement

Avoid “In this paragraph, I will discuss…” or “Here is how you…” “Here is my story about…”

Not too narrow, not too broad…it’s just right!

SUPPORT

Proves main idea Organization depends on type of

assignment Process of elimination

WRITE

First draft Revise Edit/proofread

Don’t skip this step!

CHARACTERISTICS OF WELL-WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS

Unification Development Coherency

UNIFICATION

Support sentences further main idea in a relevant fashion

Page 27 in Writing First

DEVELOPMENT

Well-developed assignments have enough support to prove main idea

Details and examples Be specific

Example: A lot of students pass nursing board exams. VERSUS Ninety-eight percent of students pass the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) to become a registered nurse.

COHERENCY

Writing needs to make sense Organization

Time Spatial Logical

TYPES OF ORDER

Time Order Most common:

chronological Assignment types:

Narrative Process

Spatial Order Left to right, top to

bottom, inside to outside

Assignment types: Description

TYPES OF ORDER

Logical Most common: least to most important Assignment types:

Exemplification Compare/Contrast Cause/Effect Classification Argument

ORGANIZED WRITING

Transitions Time: first, second, next, then, finally Spatial: in front, behind, next to Logical: first, most importantly, then

Transitions move reader from point to point in a way that makes sense

OVERVIEW OF WRITING PROCESS

Start with an assignment Generate ideas for what you can write From your ideas, pick a focus and a

main idea Organize the points you want to discuss Write your first draft Revise Edit