Field, Pre-Writing 2.4 Position
Pre-Writing 2.4: A Pre-Draft
This exercise in revision should enable you to specify your claim and concentrate on
depth instead of breadth (i.e. don’t tell me something is important-tell me WHY it is
important.).
Please go back and re-read what you wrote in PW 2.1 and 2.2; think about the comments
I made. At this point, you need to decide on 4 or 5 reasons you will use to support your
claim. Please consider your sources, your audience and your claim as you make this
decision. Now you will explore every angle and corner of the reasons you choose.
1. State your claim: in one, concise sentence, explain the claim you will defend in
your essay.
2. Decide on 4 or 5 reasons that will help you support and defend this claim. Write
each reason in a concise sentence. Underneath your reason, write as much as you
can in an attempt to deeply analyze this reason. Here are some questions to
consider: Where did this idea come from? Do you have personal experience with
this reason? Is there any other current debate to which this reason can be
compared? Is there any well-known historical event or movement to which you
can compare or contrast this reason? Can you develop a visual image for this
reason (and would that be effective)? What sort of evidence do you have to
support this reason-where does this evidence come from? What would the
opposition say to this reason and how would you rebut them? Do Carden or
Bittman say anything about this reason in their essays? What do your sources say
about this reason? Does the Nature article mention this reason? Can you give a
specific example (from pop culture, history, your life) associated with this reason?
Do you have any questions about this reason? What kinds of reasons do you
think your readers will have about it?
There are two requirements for this part of the assignment: tell me as much as
you can about your reason and refer to your sources whenever possible.
Basically, I want you to use this exercise as a means to explore, research,
challenge and learn about the reasons you choose. You will likely not use
everything you write (in fact you probably shouldn’t) in your draft. However, the
more you write, the more you will have to choose from when it is time to draft.
This exercise must be submitted with the audience/claim/reasons “Do Now”. We
will use this exercise during peer-editing the next time we meet.
Required Format
Claim: There is a need for stricter gun control.
Reason #1: It is too easy to order a gun on the Internet.
Blah blah blan There are so many gun Internet sites. Blah, blah, blan, guns are bad if you
order them online. Blah Blah Blah.
Reason #2: There are too many unregistered guns in society already.
Blah, blah, blah, there are so many guns floating around. Everyone has one under their
bed. Blah, blah blah, I read this article once about it.
Reason #3: Too many innocent bystanders are killed by illegal firearms.
Too often people who are not involved in a feud are killed by guns and they are often
children. They have already banned some kinds of guns, they should just ban them all.
Reason #4: There is a metal shortage and guns are made of metal.
I heard there’s no more steel. It’s all going towards making guns. How are we going to
make strong safes to store our valuables in now? Blah blah blah.
Note: This assignment requires you to use your 2 individual and 3 shared sources.
Pre-Writing 2.5
Create a Works Cited page for your essay. Your Works Cited page should include:
-the article from Nature
-Our Class texts by Carden and Bittman
-Your 2 found texts
-Any texts from Unit 1 you intend to use.
Please concentrate on formatting this works cited page correctly. Remember the
following:
-Works Cited is centered on the first line of the page. It is not underlined, big or bold.
-Each works cited entry is single spaced.
-There is one space between each entry.
-The first line of each works cited entry starts all the way at the left margin of the page. -All subsequent lines are indented once.
-Entries are listed alphabetically.
Works Cited
Field, Susan. “How to Make a Halloween Costume.” Mothering Magazine Oct. 2012:
37-82. Print.
Robinson, Melinda. “Creating a Rhythmic Dancer Olympic Champion Costume.”
Crafty Grandmas Oct. 2012: 78-112. Print.
Refer to Hacker Page 119 for more help. Another very useful site is:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/