THE WRITING PROCESS
ENGLISH
Brian Jacobs
What is writing?
What is writing?
• Writing transforms ideas into words and it is a
delightful on-going process that NEVER ENDS!
Diagnostic Rubric
SCORE?
Proficient (PLUS passing)
Fair (CHECK passing)
Below/Far Below Basic (CHECK Minus fail)
WHAT TO DO NOW? What does this mean?
Essay Requirements:
Need to show proof of the writing process
50% PLANNING
• -brainstorm/prewrite
• -outline
• -rough draft
• -edit/revise/proofreading
50% PUBLISHED PIECE
• Typed/No mistakes/Proper Format
Four Bases (to be continued)
Things to think about while writing!
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Unity
Support
Coherence
Sentence Skills
First Essay: Description
• Write a Description of yourself using your
Mindwrite!
• Use a Thesaurus!
• ADJECTIVES! Descriptive words!
• More to come on Description next week…
• Today we will Prewrite/Brainstorm
What is a descriptive essay?
• The descriptive essay is a genre of essay that asks
the student to describe something—object, person,
place, experience, emotion, situation, etc.
• This genre encourages the student’s ability to create
a written account of a particular experience.
• This genre allows for a great deal of artistic freedom
(the goal of which is to paint an image that is vivid
and moving in the mind of the reader).
• One might benefit from keeping in mind this simple
maxim: If the reader is unable to clearly form an
impression of the thing that you are describing, try,
try again!
All Essays Usually:
• -5 paragraphs!
• Paragraph 1: Hook, Opening Statement, Thesis
• Intro: Three topics
• Paragraph 2,3,4
• Body: Talk about topics
• Paragraph 5
• Conclusion:
• Summarize your topics: DIFFERENTLY! Judgment,
opinion
This Essay?
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One Paragraph 10-15 sentences long
Outline has:
Hook/Opening Statement
Thesis
Supporting Evidence
Proper Outline
I.
Thesis/Topic statement (roman numeral for main
head)
A. ____________________________ (capital
letter for subhead)
1. _________________________ (arabic
numeral for second
2. _________________________ subhead)
a. ______________________ (lowercase
letter for third
b. ______________________ subhead)
B. ____________________________
II. _______________________________ETC
Paper Boundaries
• Understand the boundaries of the assignment….
• What kind of paper do I write?
• How long should it be?
• Determine your audience, purpose, tone and the
point of view (POV)
PURPOSE?
• What do you want the essay to accomplish?
• You want to inform, entertain, persuade or
convince.
• Paint a vivid picture with words: Imagery
Audience!
• Writing is a social act thus implying a “reader’ or
an “audience”
• Take the readers expectations into account.
• 1. readers age, sex, edu
• 2. What do I need to tell and not tell!
• 3. political pov, religious, beliefs,
• 4. biases? Culture, religion, politics
• 5. values? What do we share or not share…etc.
TONE
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Attitude
Emotional states like…
Enthusiasm, anger neutral…voice!
Tone is important to meaning.
Word choice conveys tone…
Point of View (POV)
• The person you decide to be as you write?
• -first person: I, me, mine, we, us, ours: personal
experience
• -second person: you, your, yours
• -third person: outsider, they, omniscient
narrator
LET’S WRITE!
• Please take out a sheet of paper
• We will begin prewriting today for your
description essay
• Today we will prewrite using all five techniques
• On other assignments you only need to pick one
form of prewriting
PREWRITING/BRAINSTORMING
• Generate ideas before starting
• Ideas need to be general, but limited ideas.
Types of Brainstorming: Questioning
• Ask as many questions as you can think of about
your subject.
• For example? What kind of car do I want to
buy?
Types of Brainstorming: Free-writing
• Write without stopping: Don’t worry about
mistakes-they don’t matter…just focus on
getting the words down on paper.
Types of Brainstorming: Making a list
• List as many items about your topic as you can
think of or muster!
Types of Brainstorming: Diagramming
• Use circles, boxes, shapes to show the
relationships between ideas and things
Types of Brainstorming: Outline
• In a brief outline, show the point of your paper
and number 1,2,3 the items that support your
point
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For example:
I. TV can have real benefits?
A. Relaxing
B. Entertaining
C. Education
The Writing Process:
Revising, Editing and
Proofreading
4 BASES
UNITY, SUPPORT COHERENCE AND
SENTENCE SKILLS!
UNITY
-all materials are on the same
target..same point
SUPPORT
-enough specific evidence?
COHERENCE
-is the paper organzied, transitions,
tied together…DOES IT MAKE SENSE?
Sentence Skills
- look for grammar errors
Evidence
-support, reasons, facts, details,
statistics, quote, anecdote,
observation, interview, library,
RELEVANT! Unified, adequate,
dramatic, accurate,
Evidence Continued…
Check…Tone, attitude, style, avoid
cliché, word choice, avoid
redundancy, wordiness, avoid slang!
Use complex sentences
TRANSITIONS!
-additonal signals, first of all furthermore
-space signals, next , below,
-change direction, but, however, yet , in contrast
-illustration- for example, for instance
Conlusion- therfore, consequently, thus , as a result, finally
Think about…
Have an Editor’s Mindset
Revising
Editing
Proofreading
Layers of Effective Writing
Content
Organization
Style
Appearance
Rewriting
Revising
Editing
Proofreading
Don’t Forget:
Elements of the Essay
Thesis Statement/Hypothesis/Objectives
Introduction/Body/Conclusion
Topic Sentences for each paragraph
Writing the Thesis Statement
HOOK
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CREATING AN EFFECTIVE THESIS
An effective thesis includes the following features:
Clarity of word choice (considering proposed audience);
A clearly defined topic which is suitable to the length and medium of the assignment;
A strong position about the topic. Your position should not be obvious (ex. Women are important in society). A thesis is something about which reasonably
informed people can disagree.
The Sheridan Baker Thesis Machine*
(* slightly revised)
This type of thesis "making" is provisional and mechanical. Therefore, the result of this procedure
should be polished, and the method itself is designed to be outgrown. It does,
however, offer the writer a method to begin thesis development.
Question (topic and issue)
State the general topic of the paper.
Recognize and state the specific issue you will address by formulating a question about the topic.
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Example: Are grades necessary in high school?
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Example: Has Thailand progressed economically?
Position (your answer)
Give your position on the issue of your question.
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Example: Grades are not necessary in high school.
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Example: Thailand has progressed economically in certain areas, but still trails behind other developing nations.
Because Clause (rationale)
Add three main reasons in a "because" clause.
By using a "because" clause, you can covert your answer into a sentence that states your position on the issue while providing three rationales, or reasons, for
your position.
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Example: Grades are unnecessary in high school because they reduce a student's interest in authentic learning, they are subjective according to an
individual teacher's preferences, and they encourage cheating.
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Example: Although Thailand has progressed economically in certain areas, its progress is stunted because its educational system is poor, it has
environmental problems, and there are many failures in its management of economic resources.
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• Question (topic and issue)
• State the general topic of the paper.
• Recognize and state the specific issue you will
address by formulating a question about the
topic.
▫ Example: Are grades necessary in high
school?
▫ Example: Has Thailand progressed
economically?
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• Position (your answer)
• Give your position on the issue of your question.
▫ Example: Grades are not necessary in high
school.
▫ Example: Thailand has progressed
economically in certain areas, but still trails
behind other developing nations.
• Because Clause (rationale/reason)
• Add three main reasons in a "because" clause.
• By using a "because" clause, you can covert your answer into a
sentence that states your position on the issue while providing
three rationales, or reasons, for your position.
▫ Example: Grades are unnecessary in high school because
they reduce a student's interest in authentic learning, they
are subjective according to an individual teacher's
preferences, and they encourage cheating.
▫ Example: Although Thailand has progressed
economically in certain areas, its progress is stunted
because its educational system is poor, it has environmental
problems, and there are many failures in its management of
economic resources.
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THESIS:
• Question (topic and issue)
• Position (your answer)
• Because Clause
(rationale/reason)
What is it?
• for most student work, it's a one- or twosentence statement that explicitly outlines the
purpose or point of your paper.
• It is generally a complex, compound sentence
What does it do?
• it should point toward the development or
course of argument the reader can expect your
argument to take
Where does it go?
• because the rest of the paper will support or
back up your thesis, a thesis is normally placed
at the beginning or near the end of the
introductory paragraph.
What does it contain?
• The thesis sentence must contain an
arguable point.
• A thesis sentence must not simply make an
observation -- for example, "Writer X
seems in his novel Y to be obsessed with
lipstick."
• Rather, it must assert a point that is
arguable:
• “Writer X uses lipstick to point to his
novel's larger theme: the masking and
unmasking of the self."
What it determines
• The thesis sentence must control the entire
argument.
• Your thesis sentence determines what you are
required to say in a paper.
• It also determines what you cannot say.
• Every paragraph in your paper exists in order to
support your thesis.
• Accordingly, if one of your paragraphs seems
irrelevant to your thesis you have two choices:
get rid of the paragraph, or rewrite your thesis.
Is it fixed in concrete?
• Imagine that as you are writing your paper you
stumble across the new idea that lipstick is used
in Writer X's novel not only to mask the self, but
also to signal when the self is in crisis.
• This observation is a good one; do you really
want to throw it away? Or do you want to rewrite
your thesis so that it accommodates this new
idea?
A contract
• Understand that you don't have a third option:
you can't simply stick the idea in without
preparing the reader for it in your thesis.
• The thesis is like a contract between you and
your reader.
• If you introduce ideas that the reader isn't
prepared for, you've violated that contract.
It provides structure for your paper
• The thesis sentence should provide a structure for your
argument.
• A good thesis not only signals to the reader what your
argument is, but how your argument will be presented.
• In other words, your thesis sentence should either directly
or indirectly suggest the structure of your argument to
your reader.
• Say, for example, that you are going to argue that "Writer
X explores the masking and unmasking of the self in three
curious ways: A, B, and C.”
• In this case, the reader understands that you are going to
have three important points to cover, and that these points
will appear in a certain order.
Other Attributes
• it takes a side on a topic rather than simply
announcing that the paper is about a topic (the
title should have already told your reader your
topic). Don't tell readers about something; tell
them what about something. Answer the
questions "how?" or "why?”
• it is sufficiently narrow and specific that your
supporting points are necessary and sufficient,
not arbitrary; paper length and number of
supporting points are good guides here.
More Attributes
• it argues one main point and doesn't squeeze
three different theses for three different papers
into one sentence;
• And most importantly, it passes The "So What?"
Test.
An Equation
• thesis statements are basically made up of your
topic and a specific assertion about that topic,
therefore,
• THESIS = TOPIC + SPECIFIC ASSERTION
(reason)
• QUESTION-ANSWERRATIONALE(Reason/Because)
Summary
The four “shoulds” of a
thesis statement:
 a good thesis statement should take a
stand - don't be afraid to have an opinion; if
after your research, your opinion changes,
all the better - means you have been
thinking; you can write a new thesis
statement!
 a good thesis statement should justify
discussion - don't leave your readers
saying to themselves "So what" or
"duh?" or "like what's your point?"
 a good thesis statement should express
one main idea or a clear relationship
between two specific ideas linked by words
like "because," "since," "so," "although,"
"unless," or "however."
Example
• Poor: Stephen King writes readable books.
• Good: Stephen King’s books are so good
because they are about normal people who get
into supernatural situations.
• A good thesis statement should be restricted
to a specific and manageable topic - readers are
more likely to reward a paper that does a small
task well than a paper that takes on an
unrealistic task and fails
Ways of Constructing Thesis Statements:
The Umbrella
• Contains essay’s topic, point, and
alludes to reasons why the reader
should believe you.
• Do not directly state the
supporting reasons, but instead
allude to them.
• Example: “Although thought to be
humane and necessary, animal
testing [topic] for medical and
cosmetic purposes does not live up
to it’s promises [point and
reasons].”
• Do NOT use language like, “There
are many reasons people don’t like
chocolate ice cream.”
Creating a Thesis Statement
1. Determine essay’s topic (what you’re talking about)
Example: Pixar’s film Up
2. Determine what kind of paper you are writing and what
kind of thesis statement you need to use: analytical,
persuasive, or expository.
Example: Persuasive=It’s not really a “kid” movie.
3. Determine the way you will construct your thesis: list or
umbrella?
4. Put it all together!
Example: Pixar’s most recent film, Up, should not be considered a
“kid” movie because its character conflicts and main theme of loss
are too complex for children to understand.
The Writing Process: Revising,
Editing and Proofreading
Outline
An Editor’s Mindset
Revising
Editing
Proofreading
An Editor’s Mindset
Essential component of the writing process
Similar to, yet different from, drafting
Same goals
Usually a different process
Polishing rather than creating
Depends if editing for yourself or a peer
Self Editing Issues
Give yourself some space...
...But not too much
Learn your tendencies
What are your goals?
Peer Editing Issues
Degree of help needed
Amount of time before submission
Balance criticisms with compliments
Procuring Peer Editors
Writers need readers
Good editors are worth their weight in gold
Don’t abuse them; give them your best work
Revising For Organization
Moving around and adding/removing major
pieces of text
Most important aspect
Hard, but rewarding
2: Logical Flow
Linear process: A → B → C → D
Does the content build on itself?
4: Audience Appropriateness
Will the content be clear for the intended
audience?
Revising Yourself
A detached perspective is essential
Get to the essence of the text
Revising Peers
Keep a safe distance
Ask specific questions, don’t rewrite
Clarity
If it can be misinterpreted, it is wrong
Make changes to vague, absolute, misleading,
and commonly misinterpreted words
Conciseness
If words or phrases can be removed while
maintaining meaning, do it
Change passive voice, negative form
General Editing Tips
Read aloud
Hard copy vs. Electronic
Tracking changes
Proofreading for Appearance
12 Times New Roman Font: Single Space for now
Grammar, spelling, formatting
Spellcheck and grammar check are not enough
Read each word and sentence carefully
Usually the last step
Proofreading Yourself
Best results when rested
Learn your common mistakes
Last thing you do before handing in or
submitting