Pre-Writing Techniques, Thesis

Statements, and Organization of an

EssayENG 102: Professor Bailey-

Kirby

Types of Pre-Writing• There are many kinds of strategies to help

you generate ideas. However, we will only focus on the following four types of pre-writing today.•Brainstorming•Clustering •Free-writing•Journalistic Questions

BrainstormingBrainstorming involves

capturing all of the thoughts, ideas, and fragments in your head and writing them down on paper. Often, brainstorming looks more like a list. Here is an example:

Environment Problems Future Cars Alternative fuels Hybrid cars Costs Benefits?

Clustering/Mapping/WebbingWith this technique, you

start with a circle in the middle that contains your main idea, and then, you draw lines to other, smaller circles that contain sub-ideas or issues related to the main idea. Try to group like ideas together so as to organize yourself.

 

Example:

Goals in Life

Go to Colleg

e

Get a job

Travel

Earn B.A.

Degree

Egypt’s Pyrami

ds

Great Wall of China

Married

Kids

House

Free-writingFree-writing involves jotting down on paper all of

the ideas you have on a particular topic before you even begin to read about it or do research. You are not worried about complete sentences, proper spelling, or correct punctuation and grammar. Instead, you are interested in “dumping” all of the information you have on paper. You should write everything that comes into your head—even if it doesn’t necessarily make sense yet. Give your self a set amount of time (maybe five to ten minutes), and write down everything that comes to mind about your topic.

Free-writing ExampleI have no idea where to start! I have to write about some

sort of environmental problem, but I don’t know much about it. My biology professor is also really into the environment, so maybe I’ll ask for his help. I remember he was talking about hybrid cars in class the other day and how much better those are for the environment. What is a hybrid car? I don’t know anything except it uses some sort of alternative fuel, but I must learn more about it. What are some sorts of alternative fuels out there? Maybe I could write about…

Journalistic Questions

By answering questions that journalists use, you can provide the most important information about an event, issue, or problem to the reader. You would begin each question with one of the following: Who, What, Where, When, Why, or How? For example, your instructor asks you to write about the political conflict in the Middle East. Using the journalistic technique, you could begin working on the paper by asking yourself questions and answering them like in the examples in the next slide.

Example Journalistic QuestionsWho is involved in the conflict? What issues most clearly divide those engaged in

this dispute? When did the troubles in the Middle East begin, and

how have they developed over time? Where does the conflict seem most heated or

violent? Why have those living in this area found it so

difficult to resolve the situation? How might this conflict be resolved?

Thesis Statement• It is a carefully worded statement that draws a

conclusion that your research can support. • It is meant to give your paper a clear focus and

direction as well as shape your material.• It is the main idea or central point your essay

supports.• It is a declarative statement that makes an assertion

about the purpose and the main points/reasons to be covered in your essay.

Checklist for Identifying an Effective Thesis

• Does your thesis express your essay’s main idea?• Does your thesis communicate your essay’s

purpose?• Does your thesis suggest the approach you will take

toward your material?• Is your thesis more than a title, a statement of fact,

or an announcement of your subject?• Is your thesis clearly and concisely worded?• Does your thesis give a realistic indication of your

essay’s content and emphasis?

Audience• An audience is a set of readers that you are

addressing in your writing.• Beware that the idea of keeping your audience in

mind from the beginning of any piece of writing does not block you in your writing. • Sometime before you finish your writing, you must

figure out your meaning and think about your audience and then revise strenuously in terms of this focus.

Audience Checklist• Is your audience an individual, a member of a group,

specialized, or general?• Can you identify your audience’s needs, interests,

biases, and expectations?• Do you need to supply your audience with examples,

definitions, overviews, or analogies?• What special conventions does your audience expect

concerning format, documentation style, methods of collecting and reporting data, systems of formulas and symbols, specialized vocabulary, and writing style?

Four Main Organizational Methods Spatial Organization: appropriate for describing a place,

object or a person by moving through space from a chosen starting point to other features of the subject.

Chronological Organization: reports events as they occurred in time usually from first to last.

Organization for Emphasis: Discussion unfolds from a general idea to a more specific one or vice versa (Most familiar to least or simplest to most complex).

Compare and Contrast: Point-by-Point presents one point about A, and then goes to the parallel point about B or Subject-by-Subject (Block) format presents all the information about A, and then presents parallel information about B.

Principles of a Formal Outline• Group main headings under Roman Numerals (I, II,

III, IV, etc…) and flush with the left-hand margin.• Indent subheadings under the first word of the

heading above. Indentations indicate order and relative importance.• Use capital letters for major points and numbers for

subtopics, and capitalize the first letter of the first word of both topics and subtopics.

Principles of a Formal Outline Continued

• All headings and subheadings at the same level should be stated in grammatically parallel terms (all beginning with the same parts of speech). For example, if Roman numeral “I” is stated as a noun, “II,” “III,” and “IV” should be likewise stated.• Each heading should contain at least two

subdivisions. For example, if you have a one, you need a two, or if you have an “a,” you need to have a “b.”• The introduction and conclusion may be omitted (of

course, not from the essay).

Example of a Formal OutlineThesis:________

I. (Main Topic) A. (Subtopic of I) B.

1. (Subtopic of 1.B) 2. a. (Subtopic of 1.B.2) b. (1) Subtopic of 1.B.2.b) (2)

(a) (b)

C.D.

II. AND SO FORTH….

Arrangement of An Essay

IntroductionBodyConclusion

I. Introduction (Thesis) II. Reason 1

A. Support/EvidenceB. Support/Evidence

III. Reason 2 A. Support/Evidence B. Support/Evidence

IV. Reason 3 A. Support/Evidence B. Support/Evidence

V. Conclusion

Introduction• Situated at the beginning of an essay in order to

acquaint the audience with the purpose and main idea of the essay. There are several ways to begin your essay:• Thesis & Main Idea/Background• Anecdote• Question• Quotation• Speculation• Surprising Statistic or Fact

Body• Situated between the introduction and conclusion, and as the

middle of an essay, it explains, supports and gives evidence, or elaborates on the thesis statement. Three necessary factors to be incorporated in the body paragraphs:• Unity: means that every sentence directly relates to the main

idea of the paragraph in the topic sentence (first sentence of each paragraph).• Well-Developed Paragraphs: means the paragraphs contain

examples, facts, and discussions.• Coherence: means creating fusion or smooth flowing

connections, and it’s achieved through the following:• Repeat key words to carry concepts from once sentence to

another; “ECHO IMPORTANT TERMS.”• Use pronouns to refer back to key nouns in previous

sentences.• Use transitional sequence, such as “moreover,” or “next” and

so on.

Conclusion• Situated at the end of the essay, it wraps up the

main ideas of the essay and does not introduce new points or materials that you did not discuss earlier in the body. There are several ways to end your essay:• Reiterate your thesis & review the main points•With a prediction•With a Quotation• Recommend a course of action or solution.• Provocative Insight

Keep in Mind Introductions should state a clear thesis. Body paragraphs should have a topic sentence (1st

sentence) refer to a point from your thesis statement; then, the next sentence should be an example to support this point; next, you may provide a quote from a source to strengthen your argument and/or further back up your example; afterwards, the sentence that follows the quote will explain the quote’s relevance; and the final sentence will sum up the paragraph’s point while announcing the next paragraph’s point in order to create coherence and unity between paragraphs.

Conclusions should reiterate the main points of your essay.