The Writing Process
4.
1.
Prewriting
2.
Drafting
3.
Revising
Editing and Proofreading
5.
Publishing
Prewriting
Collect Ideas
•
To collect ideas think about:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
People you’ve met or talked to.
A funny, strange, or confusing memory.
Favorite people.
An imagined or overheard line of a dialogue.
A book that you’ve read: plot, characters,
setting, pieces or dialogue.
Choose your topic
• Make sure you narrow your topic so that it
is not too general, for the kind of writing
you’ll do.
E.g.
Page 20 of your Good Writer’s Guide.
Choose your audience
• When you know your audience,
you can choose the appropriate
style and tone for your writing.
Page 21 of your Good Writer’s
Guide
Audience
Tone
Language
Your best friend or someone
your own age
Very informal
Hey Karen, What’s up? You
ready for Frank’s party on
Thursday?
An older relative
Somewhat informal
Hi, Uncle Terry,
Do you have any Hawaiian
shirts I could borrow? I need
one for a party Thursday.
Thanks
Your teacher
Somewhat formal
Dear Mrs. Smith,
I wonder if it might be
possible for me to turn my
paper in on Monday instead of
Friday. I have an important
after school event on
Thursday night.
Someone you don’t know
Very formal
Dear Tropical Paradise Staff:
Do you carry Hawaiian shirts
in size Large? I’m looking for
something under $25. I’d
appreciate any information
you could give me. Thank you.
Choose your purpose
• What do you want your audience to know
or to do? That’ll be your purpose, or
reason for writing. Choose your words and
tone to fit your purpose.
Page 22 of your book
If you want your audience
to…
Your purpose is…
•Learn something new.
•Understand something better
To inform or explain
• laugh
•Feel a deep emotion
•Enjoy reading your work
•Believe something
•Do something
•Take action on an important
issue
To entertain
•Know how you feel
•Know what you think
To express
To persuade
Choose your Form
• Writing is like going on a trip. Your topic,
audience, and purpose are your map. Your form,
or the type of writing you’ll do, is the vehicle that
gets you where you want to go.
• Are you writing a….?
Biography
Personal narrative
Essay
Poem
News story
Recipe
FATP Chart
• Form:
• Audience:
• Topic:
• Purpose:
Let’s practice…
•
Read the following prompts and
complete the FATP charts
1. What is something you dislike about
yourself?
2. What would happen if you could fly
whenever you wanted? When would you
use this ability?
3. What do you think the world needs now?
Drafting
“A blank page is like a blank face –you fill it in.
And, like faces, the moods of the writing may
change. You’ll have laughter on one page, and
two pages later boiling anger. Or you may
have faces that are downright ugly! Or way,
way pretty!”
-Gary Soto
Getting Started
•
•
•
•
Get comfortable
Tools ready: pencils, paper, computer.
FATP chart
Find your own technique to start writing
– Quick burst
– Spending time on opening paragraph before
developing the body of the essay.
– Work out of sequence. Start with the body and
then back and add the introduction.
Read page 41 from “The Good
Writer’s Guide”
• Write down your favorite drafting
technique.
• Explain why you like it.
• Do you use a different one?
• Share with a partner.
• Report back to the class.
Staying on Track…
• If order for you to know if your paper is
finished ask your self:
•Would my opening paragraph grab a
reader’s attention?
•Does my writing say what I want it to say? Am
I getting my message across? Do I need to cut or
add anything?
•Does the ending seem tacked on, or does it flow
smoothly from the rest of the piece?
Knowing When You’re Done
Read the following statement:
“I used to think I had to______. In fact,
that’s just a myth. The truth is, I write
best when I__________.”
Read Page 45 from your book and
complete the statement above.
Drafting from beginning to End
• Read page 46 from your “Good Writer’s
book”
• What are the three things you can’t miss
when you write?
How to Hook the Reader in the
Beginning.
• Read Page 47
• Which one is your favorite type of hook?
• Look at the overhead examples.
Introductions
• Suppose you are introducing a friend to your brother
Joe. Would you say "Hey, Joe, this is Tina," and then
walk away leaving them there together? Of course
not! You would tell Joe a little about Tina's
background: where she's from, where she went to
school, where she works, and any other important
information that will make Joe want to get to know
Tina better, right? Well, introducing your paper to
your reader is the exact same thing. You want the
reader to want to know more about your paper. You
want to get the reader interested in what you might
have to say.
There are several ways to write a good
introduction or opening to your paper
• Thesis Statement Opening
This is the traditional style of opening a paper. This is a
"mini-summary" of your paper.
For example:
Gallaudet University, the only liberal arts college
for deaf students in the world, is world-renowned in
the field of deafness and education of the deaf.
Gallaudet's charter was signed by President Abraham
Lincoln. Gallaudet owes its rich history and fame to
two men: Amos Kendall and Edward Miner Gallaudet
• Opening with a Story (Anecdote)
A good way of catching your reader's attention is by sharing
a story that sets up your paper. Sharing a story gives a paper a
more personal feel and helps make your reader comfortable.
This example was borrowed from Jack Gannon's The Week
the World Heard Gallaudet (1989):
Astrid Goodstein, a Gallaudet faculty member, entered the
beauty salon for her regular appointment proudly wearing her
DPN button. ("I was married to that button that week!" she later
confided.) When Sandy, her regular hairdresser, saw the button,
he spoke and gestured, "Never! Never! Never!" Offended, Astrid
turned around and headed for the door, but stopped short of
leaving. She decided to keep her appointment, confessing later
that at that moment her sense of principles had lost out to her
vanity. Later she realized that her hairdresser had thought she was
pushing for a deaf U.S. President.
• Specific Detail Opening
Giving specific details about your subject appeals
to your reader's curiosity and helps establish a
visual picture of what your paper is about.
For example:
Hands flying, green eyes flashing, and spittle
spraying Jenny howled at her younger sister Emma.
People walk by gawking at the spectacle as Jenny's
grunts emanate through the mall. Emma sucks at her
thumb trying to appear nonchalant. Jenny's blond hair
stands almost on end. Her hands seemed to fly so fast
that her signs could barely be understood. Jenny was
angry. Very angry.
• Open with a Quotation
Another method of writing an introduction is
to open with a quotation. This method makes
your introduction more interactive and more
appealing to your reader.
For example:
"Deaf people can do anything except hear,"
President I. King Jordan stated in his acceptance
speech as thousands of deaf students and staff of
Gallaudet University cheered. President Jordan's
selection as the first deaf president of a university
proved to be a monumental event for Gallaudet
University and for deaf people all over the world.
• Open with an Interesting Statistic
Statistics that grab the reader help to
make an effective introduction.
For example:
American Sign Language is the second most
preferred foreign language in the United States. 50%
of all deaf and hard of hearing people use ASL. ASL is
beginning to be provided under the Foreign Language
Department in many universities and high schools
around the nation.*
*The statistics are not accurate. They were
invented as an example.
• Question Openings
Possibly the easiest opening is one that
presents one or more questions to be
answered in the paper. This is effective
because questions are usually what the
reader has in mind when he or she sees your
topic.
For example:
Is ASL a language? Can ASL be written? Do you
have to be born deaf to understand ASL completely?
To answer these questions, one must first understand
exactly what ASL is. In this paper, I attempt to explain
this as well as answer my own questions.
Let’s practice
• http://www.eslflow.com/academicwritng.ht
ml
• http://www.edb.utexas.edu/pbl/ESOL/intro.
htm
Conclusions
The conclusion to any paper is the final impression
that can be made. It is the last opportunity to get
your point across to the reader and leave the reader
feeling as if he or she learned something. Leaving a
paper "dangling" without a proper conclusion can
seriously devalue what was said in the body itself.
Here are a few effective ways to conclude or close
your paper.
• Summary Closing
Many times conclusions are simple restatements of the thesis. Many times these
conclusions are much like their introductions
(see Thesis Statement Opening).
For example:
Because of a charter signed by President
Abraham Lincoln and because of the work of two
men, Amos Kendall and Edward Miner Gallaudet,
Gallaudet University is what it is today - the place
where people from all over the world can find
information about deafness and deaf education.
Gallaudet and the deaf community truly owe these
three men for without them, we might still be "deaf
and dumb."
• Close with a Logical Conclusion
This is a good closing for argumentative
or opinion papers that present two or more
sides of an issue. The conclusion drawn as a
result of the research is presented here in
the final paragraphs.
For example:
As one can see from reading the information
presented, mainstreaming deaf students isn't
always as effective as educating them in a
segregated classroom. Deaf students learn better in
a more one-on-one basis like they can find in a
school or program specially designed for them.
Mainstreaming is just that; deaf students get lost in
the mainstream.
• Real or Rhetorical Question Closings
This method of concluding a paper
is one step short of giving a logical
conclusion. Rather than handing the
conclusion over, you can leave the
reader with a question that causes him
or her to draw his own conclusions.
For example:
Why, then, are schools for the deaf
becoming a dying species?
• Close with a Speculation or Opinion
This is a good style for instances when
the writer was unable to come up with an
answer or a clear decision about whatever it
was he or she was researching.
For example:
Through all of my research, all of the people I
interviewed, all of the institutions I visited, not
one person could give me a clear-cut answer to my
question. Can all deaf people be educated in the
same manner? I couldn't find the "right" answer. I
hope you, the reader, will have better luck.
• Close with a Recommendation
A good conclusion is when the writer
suggests that the reader do something in the
way of support for a cause or a plea for them
to take action.
For example:
American Sign Language is a fast growing
language in America. More and more universities
and colleges are offering it as part of their
curriculum and some are even requiring it as part
of their program. This writer suggests that anyone
who has a chance to learn this beautiful language
should grab that opportunity.
Let’s practice
• http://www.edb.utexas.edu/pbl/ESOL/concl
u.htm#8
Revising
What’s It Like?
You’re going to a party and you know what
you’re going to wear. But you want to look your
best, so you take the time to consider you’re
appearance : Is this just the right shade of
lipstick? Would a blue shirt go better with those
pants? Revising is like that: you know what you
want to say in your writing, but you want to be
sure you’re saying it most effectively.
Put a Listener on It (pages 52-55 “Good
Writer’s Guide”)
• Read your paper aloud to yourself.
• Read your paper aloud to a partner.
• Read your paper aloud to different people.
• Practice: pages 17 and 18 from your
workout book
Make Your Changes
• GWG pg 55
• Teaching Visuals 7a-7B
• Practice pgs19-20 (workout book)
Improve Your Writing: Elaboration
• GWG Pg 58 and 59
• Visual writing prompt 40
Improve Your Writing: Idea Flow
• GWG pgs 60-63
• Visual Writing Prompt 42