ENGLISH 101
Basics of Writing
INVENTION STRATEGIES
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Free writing
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Blind writing
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Listing
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Mapping
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Questions
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Double Entry Listing
FREEWRITING
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Write without stopping for five or ten minutes. It is usually helpful to have
the topic heading or a focusing phrases or sentence in front of you, just to
keep on track. But what is most important is NOT to edit. Ignore mistakes;
ignore false starts—just keep writing.
BLIND WRITING
Go to a computer, turn off the
monitor, and type. Keeping the
topic in front of you with a post it
works well.
LISTING
Talk aloud about the assignment and
list ideas, phrases, and such. In
another column on the page, associate
items on the list with each other.
Gradually, a structure for the paper
will emerge.
MAPPING
Mapping is a graphical, nonlinear version of
listing. As you talk about an assignment, write
down key words. Start with the general topic, the
broadest key word for the topic. From there add
other key words, linking them to each other or to
the general topic as seems most appropriate. Just
discussing how to draw the map may allow you to
think about relationships between ideas, relative
weight of ideas, and relevancy of ideas.
HDWDWW
How Does Who Do What and Why
Basically, this is a variation on asking the
traditional 6 journalistic questions (where, when,
why, who, what, how). Start with the general
topic at the top of the page; then draw a column
for WHO, a column for DOES WHAT, and a column
for WHY. Under each column list ideas related to
those sub-areas.
DOUBLE ENTRY LISTING
Essentially, this is just a double-column format
that helps writers think about oppositions. In the
left hand column you may put major points; in the
right-hand column, you’d put down either related
points or opposing points. This technique is very
good for comparison/contrast papers and for
“rebut and argument” papers.
RHETORICAL STRATEGIES IN
COMPOSITION
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Develop one primary strategy in a
writing, or include a combination to
develop an idea.
ARGUMENTATION
Convince others through reasoning.
Are you trying to explain aspects of a particular
subject, and are you trying to advocate a specific
opinion on this subject or issue in your essay?
CAUSE AND EFFECT ANALYSIS
Analyze why something happens and describe the
consequences of a string of events.
Are you examining past events or their outcomes?
Is your purpose to inform, speculate, or argue
about why an identifiable fact happens the way it
does?
COMPARISON AND CONTRAST
Discuss similarities and differences.
Does your essay contain two or more related
subjects? Are you evaluating or analyzing two or
more people, places, processes, events, or things?
Do you need to establish the similarities and
differences between two or more elements?
DEFINITION
Provide the meaning of terms you use.
Who is your audience? Does your essay focus on
any abstract, specialized, or new terms that need
further explanation so your readers understand
your point? Does any important word in your
essay have many meanings and need to be need
to be clarified?
DESCRIPTION
Detail sensory perceptions of a person, place, or thing.
Does a person, place, or object play a prominent role in
your essay? Would the tone, pacing, or overall purpose of
your essay benefit from sensory details?
The primary purpose of descriptive writing is to describe a
person, place, or thing in such a way that a picture is formed
in the reader's mind. It does not tell the reader that the flower
is beautiful; it shows them the flower is beautiful.
DIVISION AND CLASSIFICATION
Divide a whole into parts or sort related items
into categories.
Are you trying to explain a broad and complicated
subject? Would it benefit your essay to reduce
this subject to more manageable parts to focus
your discussion?
EXEMPLIFICATION
Provide examples or cases in point.
Are there examples - facts, statistics, cases in
point, personal experiences, interview quotations
- that you could add to help you achieve the
purpose of your essay?
DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPH
EXAMPLE
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Gregory is my beautiful gray Persian cat. He walks with pride and grace,
performing a dance of disdain as he slowly lifts and lowers each paw with the
delicacy of a ballet dancer. His pride, however, does not extend to his appearance,
for he spends most of his time indoors watching television and growing fat. He
enjoys TV commercials, especially those for Meow Mix and 9 Lives. His
familiarity with cat food commercials has led him to reject generic brands of cat
food in favor of only the most expensive brands. Gregory is as finicky about
visitors as he is about what he eats, befriending some and repelling others. He
may snuggle up against your ankle, begging to be petted, or he may imitate a
skunk and stain your favorite trousers. Gregory does not do this to establish his
territory, as many cat experts think, but to humiliate me because he is jealous of
my friends. After my guests have fled, I look at the old fleabag snoozing and
smiling to himself in front of the television set, and I have to forgive him for his
obnoxious, but endearing, habits.
NARRATION
Narration is a situational account that includes conflict.
Are you trying to report or recount an anecdote, an
experience, or an event? Does any part of your essay
include the telling of a story (either something that
happened to you or to a person you include in your
essay)?
Narration is the ONLY part of a composition that may be
first person.
PROCESS ANALYSIS
Explain how to do something or how something
happens.
Would any portion of your essay be more clear if
you included concrete directions about a certain
process? Are there any processes that readers
would like to understand better? Are you
evaluating any processes?
COMPOSING THE ESSAY
SENTENCE TO PARAGRAPH TO
ESSAY
SENTENCE = a grammatical unit that is structurally independent and has a subject
that is expressed or, as in imperative sentences, understood and a predicate that
contains at least one finite verb
PARAGRAPH = a distinct division of written or printed matter that begins on a new,
usually indented line, consists of one or more sentences, and typically deals with a
single thought or topic or quotes one speaker's continuous words
ESSAY = a short literary composition on a single subject, usually presenting the
personal view of the author
DEVELOPING A TOPIC AND A
THESIS STATEMENT
General or specific topic is provided for each assignment. Student abides by all
instruction to complete the essay.
THESIS STATEMENT =
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tells the reader how the writer interprets the significance of the subject matter under
discussion
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is a road map for the paper; tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper
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directly answers the question asked of you
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makes a claim that others might dispute
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is usually a single sentence somewhere in the first paragraph that presents an
argument to the reader
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result of a lengthy thought process
EVOLUTION OF THE THESIS
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Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.
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In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river
and life on the shore.
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Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain's Huckleberry Finn
suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must
leave "civilized" society and go back to nature.
STUDENT WORK
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This is my favorite class.
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Better –
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Even Better –
HABITS TO AVOID IN ACADEMIC
WRITING
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Contractions
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Beginning a clause with “There are,” “There is,” or “It is”
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Beginning the concluding sentence of a paragraph or a conclusion with the
words “in conclusion”
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Shifts in verb tense and person
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Superfluous, wordy phrases (redundancy) such as “for all intents and
purposes”
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Unnecessary repetition
TWO-POINT PARAGRAPH
DEVELOPMENT
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Topic Sentence
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Introduce topic one
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Comment upon topic in two or three sentences.
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Transition into topic two
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Comment upon topic in two or three sentences.
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Concluding Sentence
ESSAY FORMAT
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Introduction
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Body Paragraph
Topic sentence
Introduce point one and develop
Introduce point two and develop
Concluding sentence
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Body Paragraph (repeat above format as often as necessary to meet the
required length)
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Conclusion
COMPOSITION TITLES
• Title all prompts and essays creatively and originally.
• The title MAY NOT be the name of the literary work.
• Use capital letters for only the first letters of the words; do not
capitalize the articles ( a, an, the) and small prepositions (two
letters) in titles unless the words are the first words of the titles.
• Punctuate titles of literary works within an essay correctly.
Italicize or underline the titles of long works (novels, plays);
quote the titles of short works (poems, essays).
• Center, but do not underline, the title. Exception: Titles literary
works in essay titles are punctuated.
EXAMPLE TITLES
Symbolism of the Landscape in Wuthering Heights
Historical Importance of “The Recessional”
Understanding Thematic Importance
Street-Wise Angels and Book-Smart Demons
Voices Within
The Ominous Warning in 1984 and Brave New World
COMMON GRAMMAR MISTAKES
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Subject-verb agreement
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Pronoun-antecedent agreement
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Incorrect pronoun case
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Run on sentence / fused sentence
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Fragment
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Comma splice
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Parallelism
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Passive Voice
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Ambiguous Pronoun Reference
VAGUE WORDS NOT TO USE IN
ACADEMIC WRITING
• a lot
• say, says, said
• aspect, factor
• get, gets, got
• sort of, kind of (for
somewhat)
• good
• stuff
• happy
• thing
• interesting
• okay
• very
PRONOUN REFERENCE
Specify meanings of pronouns, especially “which,” “this,” “that,”
“those,” “these,” “it.”
Place a noun between “this,” “that,” “those,” “these” + a verb.
Use “that,” “which,” “who,” and “whom” correctly
Who: subjective, refers to people
Whom: objective, refers to people
Which: refers to nonessential things (uses a comma)
That: refers to essential things
VERB TENSE (SHIFTS)
Maintain a consistent verb tense.
Write about literature in the present tense.
Write about history in the past tense.
PERSON (SHIFTS)
Use third person to analyze literature.
Use first person only when writing a personal
narrative.
Never use first person in a literary analysis.
NEVER USE SECOND PERSON in an academic
paper.
CHOICE OF VERBS
Do not use a “be” verb ( am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been ) if you can use
another word in the place of it. Use an action verb such as the following in the
place of the vague “be”:
acknowledges
adds
admits
agrees
argues
asserts
believes
comments
compares
confirms
contends
declares
denies
dispute
emphasizes
endorses
grants
illustrates
implies
insists
notes
observespoints out
refutes
rejects
suggests thinks
reports
writes
reasons
responds
COLLOQUIAL LANGUAGE
Conversational language is not always
incorrect. It is mostly unsuitable for
formal writing because it is too
familiar and trite. Use direct language
instead.
blow money—spend money break—unfortunate
busted—caught
catch some z’s—sleep
cheap—inexpensive
cinch—easy
cop out—quit
cop—police officer
down in the dumps—depressed
figured out—decided
goof off—waste time
gross—disgusting
gypped—cheated
hang in—persevere
hanging around—associate
hassle—bother
hit the books—study
pinch pennies—save money
pretty good—acceptable
pumped up—excited
put down—insult
rub the wrong way—irritate
CONCISENESS
Brevity of expression aids emphasis no
matter what the sentence structure.
Unnecessary words detract from
necessary words. They clutter
sentences and obscure ideas.
at all times  always
at this point in time  now, today
because of the fact that  because
before long  soon
call your attention to  remind you
by means of  by
come in contact with  meet
destroyed by fire  burned
due to the fact that  because
during the time that  while
for the purpose of  for
I would appreciate it if  please
in a hasty manner  hastily
in order to  to
in order to utilize  to use
in the direction of  toward
in spite of the fact that  although, though
in the event that  if
in the final analysis—finally
in view of the fact that, -> because
for the reason that because
of an indefinite nature  indefinite
one of the things  one point
prior to  before
subsequent to  after
until such time as  until
would seem to be, is an example of  is
there is no doubt  no doubt/doubtless
with the exception  except
REDUNDANCY
Eliminate needless repetition of words or
ideas.
1:00 am in the morning
basic essentials
blue in color
circle around
close proximity
consensus of opinion
cooperate together
fellow colleagues
final outcome
important essentials
inexperienced novice
large in size
new beginnings
puzzling in nature
repeat again
round in shape
square in shape
surrounding circumstances
the future to come
transparently clear
true facts
two in number
widow woman
TRITE EXPRESSIONS / SLANG /
CLICHES
Do not use trite/cliche (those phases that are dull
due to overuse) or slang expressions (coined
words and standard words used to mean
something other than their standard definition)
in writing unless you are using them to make a
point. Make every effort to use original phrases.
Use of clichés shows your audience that you have
little ability to think for yourself.
add insult to injury
after all is said and done
almighty dollar
as luck would have it
better late than never
bite the bullet
breakneck speed
burn the midnight oil
busy as a bee
by the same token
cool, calm, collected cut a long story short
dead as a doornail
depths of despair
diamond in the rough
easier said than done
eat like a bird / pig
face the music
fat as a cow
fate worse than death
few and far between
food for thought
from rags to riches
gentle/meek as a lamb
goes without saying great minds think alike
hard as a rock
heavy as lead
hit the nail on the head
hour of need
in this day and age
it dawned on me
ladder of success
last but not least
leave no stone unturned
light as day
long arm of the law
method in his madness
no place like home point with pride
needle in a haystack
poor but honest
ripe old age
sadder but wiser
shadow of a doubt
sharp as a marble
sharp as a tack
shoulder the burden
sing like a bird
skinny as a rail
slow as molasses
sneaking suspicionsober as a judge
stand in awe
stands to reason
strong as an ox
tried and true
up the creek
wee small hours
went the extra mile
white as snow
wise as an owl
word to the wise
work like a dog
birdbrain—unintelligent
blow the whistle—tell
blow top—lose temper
blue/bummed—sad
broke—out of money
bum—doesn’t work
chewed out—scolded
chicken—coward
chick—girl
chow—food
cool—good
crashed—slept
creep—obnoxious
ditch—leave
dude—boy
dukes—fists
dumbbell—stupid
floored—surprised
flunked—failed
grand—thousand
jerk—foolish person
kick the bucket—die
kids—children
kiss off—brush off
kook—crazy person loaded—drugged
neat—great
off the rocker—insane
rat race—job market
ripped off—stolen
ritzy—classy
sharp—smart
shrink—psychiatrist
sweet talk—persuade
wheels—car
DELETE THE FOLLOWING PHRASES
I believe
I feel
I figure
I mean
I think
in a very real sense
in as a matter of fact
in fact
in my opinion
it seems that
the point that I am trying to make
type of, kind of
what I mean to say is
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