Brainstorm: Let Ideas Flow!
Don’t edit thinking during brainstorming — just let it all flow.
Cluster
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Use a web, or a “cluster,” to go from general ideas to specific details; this works for visual learners.
Discuss/Think
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Participate in class discussions, using notes, journals, and lists of questions to help when not able to think of
anything to say.
Think about what others are saying, and craft opposing arguments or develop alternate points of view.
Talk about outlines and essays with a tutor or with a professor, so that they can help by asking questions to help
develop ideas or by pointing out things that were not clear enough for the reader.
Freewrite
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Write by hand for 10-15 minutes about the topic without stopping or editing.
Choose the strongest ideas from the first freewrite, and then do another freewrite based on them.
Journal/Blog
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Keep an idea journal in a small notebook or on a phone that can fit in a pocket.
Write down potential essay ideas as they come and work out thoughts, concerns, and questions about each idea
later.
Blogs allow others to respond to ideas, like a virtual classroom; respond to their comments to keep the
discussion going.
List
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Make a list of potential topics; sometimes one list item can lead to other ideas (or list items).
Put ideas in order of importance or relevance at the end of the listing session.
Question
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Write a list of questions using the words who, what, when, where, why, and how about the topic.
Try to answer questions to develop ideas about all facets of a topic.
Raise relevant questions in class discussions about the topic.
Read/Respond
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Keep a notebook while reading and making notes responding to what is read with questions and comments.
Write summaries of chapters to process and recall what is read.
Writing Resource Center
Assessing the Writing Situation: Practice
First, briefly read through the passage below:
Advertising affects our lives, as well as the practice of business in significant ways (Kilbourne,1999). Today more than
ever before, companies use nudity and alcoholic appeals in advertisements for their products (such as half-naked young
and beautiful women). Strasburger and Donnerstein (1999) charge advertising with a number of ethical breaches, most
of which focus on its apparent lack of social responsibility. Pollay (1986) suggests that advertising has profound
consequences due to its pervasiveness, stereo-typical portrayals, manipulative and persuasive alcohol and nudity appeal
sure, preoccupation with materialism and consumption, frequent use of sex appeals, and lack of information. These
fundamental psychological judgments were also posited by Kagee (2009). Klempner (2004) argued that advertisers
cynically use a world of fantasy and illusion in an attempt to control the buyers. He established that advertisers sell
dreams and entice customers into confusing dreams with reality. Zailckas (2006) asserts that advertisers pander to
people’s desires for things and manipulate customers into wanting things that they do not really need.
– Dubihlela, "Youth Attitudes towards Advertisements"
Now, read the prompt below:
Every day, we are surrounded by advertisements. We see them on television and on billboards, hear them on the
radio, and read them in magazines. Choose one trend you’ve noticed in advertisement, and discuss what effect you
think it has. Does it have a positive influence or a negative one? Does it target a particular segment of the population?
What strategies make these ads effective or ineffective? Your paper should be at least 500 words.
On the lines provided, list the goals and limitations of the writing assignment. What is the subject of the assignment,
what is the purpose of the assignment, and what are the requirements?
Writing Resource Center
Exploring Your Subject: Practice
Using the text passage and prompt from the last practice section, apply some of the brainstorming techniques
mentioned above.
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Fill-in the cluster-web on the next page. Feel free to add more bubbles as needed!
(Main Idea)
Writing Resource Center
Forming a Thesis: Practice
Using the same text passage and sample prompt from the previous practice sections, develop a thesis and write it on the
lines below:
Writing Resource Center