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Prewriting Techniques
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Read the Writing Center document on
Prewriting.
Choose two techniques that you think will work
best for you and explain why.
Use those techniques to generate at least 4
ideas for your draft.
If you have any references to sources in your
post, be sure to use appropriate APA citations!
Mention any questions you have about your
draft or the prewriting/drafting process.
Respond to at least two classmates’ original
posts (150-200 words each)
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Freewriting
 Brainstorming
 Bubbling
 Clustering
 Listing
 Informal outlining
 Annotating
 Questioning
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Note: see p. 35-43 of the handbook for more on prewriting.
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Another resource :
Brainstorming website
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Main points
Support
from
sources?
Audience
Examples I
concerns to could use
address
Cigarettes
are bad for
everyone’s
health,
smokers and
non-smokers
alike
Surgeon
General
(warnings),
medical
reports on
second-hand
and thirdhand smoke
effects
Should the
government
outlaw
everything
that is bad
for us (fast
food, etc.?)
Childhood
asthma and
allergies,
even ear
infections,
often tied
into parents’
smoking
Those
horrible
pictures they
showed in
elem. School
of black
lungs of
smokers!
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We can use an outline because it provides the structure
we need to create an organized essay.
Although our writing can use creativity, the essay that the
outline will help you write is not creative writing. It is
persuasive writing based on your own ideas. However,
you must use facts, examples, expert opinions, and
quotes from experts to support any claims that you
make!
An outline can help you decide what to include and
where it would be most effective to place particular
points.
Another purpose of an outline is to determine how
outside sources will fit into your paragraphs.
You could use the formal (Roman Numeral) outline
structure or a less formal version of the outline.
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I. Introduction: The United States should ban smoking.
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A. Danger to health of smoker
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B. Danger to health of non-smoker
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C. Contributions to rising health costs in U.S.
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II. Smoking is dangerous to the health of smokers.
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A. Lung cancer risks
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B. Asthma and other breathing disorders
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C. Heart problems
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Used when reading potential sources
 Be a critical reader—ask questions and
take notes as you read!
 You could also keep an “annotated
bibliography” of each source as you
read it. Create an APA-style citation,
then write a brief paragraph that
summarizes the main points and notes
whether the source will be useful in your
paper.
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Plagiarism
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Derived from the Latin word plagiarius
(“kidnapper”), plagiarism refers to a form
of cheating that has been defined as
“the false assumption of authorship; the
wrongful act of taking the product of
another person’s mind, and presenting it
as one’s own” (Alexander Lindey,
Plagiarism and Originality, 1952).
Taken from the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed. (2003, p.
66)
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Provide quotation marks, in-text citations (name, year,
page number or paragraph #), and reference page
citations for direct quotes.
Provide in-text citations (name, year) and reference
page citations for paraphrases and summaries.
Use signal phrases to introduce quotes and
paraphrases.
Use your own writing style for paraphrases and
summaries—do not use the style, order of ideas, or
specific language of the source material!
Cite anything that is not common knowledge.
Make sure that you have in-text citations for all sources
listed on your reference page and vice-versa!
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Sources can
1.
support our own reasoning and logic with expert
opinion
2.
add credibility to an idea
3.
provide additional information
Sources cannot
1.
be the entire essay
2.
string together to create entire paragraphs
Above all, do not use a series of paraphrases and
quotations as your whole paragraph. Paragraphs
are not compilations of sources; we are writing
original work, not repeating our sources’ ideas
only.
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Citing, Paraphrasing and
quoting
How do I
decide what
I need to
cite in my
paper?
Is this information that most
people would know?
 Is this information that would
be known by those outside of
a particular field?
 Is the information readily
available in general reference
sources like encyclopedias?
 If the answer to all three is
“Yes,” then you might not
need a citation.
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For more information:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/02/
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There are 5,283 hospice
programs in the United States.
 The critic Stephen Greenblatt
argues that the religious
conflicts of his period,
especially those that occurred
during his youth, had an effect
on Shakespeare's work.
 The freezing point of water is 32
degrees Fahrenheit or 0
degrees Centigrade.
 The teen pregnancy rate
declined by two percent
between 1999 and 2000.
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Which of the
following
would NOT
need a
citation?
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“Borrowed information”
must always be cited,
whether it is paraphrased
in your own words or
directly quoted.
Always provide citations
for numbers!
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This includes dates, numbers,
scientific or legal or medical info,
percentages, dollar values, or any
statistics.
› Citation is at the end of the
sentence.
› In 2001, there were 50 million
cases of the flu (Green, 2004).
Quotes – word for word –end of
sentence or within the text
› “All papers must be in APA
manuscript style” (Levine, 2004, p.
12).
› Levine (2004) stated, “all papers
must be in APA manuscript style”
(p. 12).
Paraphrases.- end of paragraph if
only one source is cited.
› Mrs. Horninger (2004) says we must
follow standard APA manuscript
style to accurately give credit to
author’s whose writing we borrow.
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Require three pieces of information for quotes:
 Author’s last name
 Year
 Page number (for direct quotes)
(Thompson, 2007, p. 345).
Sample quote with signal phrase - According to Thompson (2007), “50
percent of the population have computers” (p. 345).
Only the first 2 for paraphrases:
(Thompson, 2007).
According to Thompson (2007), “50 percent of the population have
computers” (p. 345).
Remember, if you don’t have an author’s name, use the title, and if you don’t have a
date, use “n.d.” If you are quoting a web site with no pages, use a paragraph#.
According to “The Growth of Cyberspace,” “50 percent of the population have
computers” (n.d., ¶ 5).
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Paraphrasing is putting a source’s ideas in your
own words and sentence structure. The idea still
belongs to someone else, but you have expressed
it in your own writing voice. This is useful because
the style remains more constant throughout the
essay with paraphrasing than frequent quoting. No
more than 3-4 words in a row like original source.
 Quoting is using the exact words, enclosed in
quotation marks, of the source. Use these sparingly;
only when so eloquent or full of statistics.
 Paraphrasing uses your own words, quoting uses
the source’s words, but both provide source
support and require APA citation to give credit to
sources.
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Ask questions as you read: Be a critical reader!
When you take notes, DO NOT use the language of
the source—write notes in your own words and list
sources!
Ask yourself what you need to include and exclude
in your paraphrase.
Write the main idea of the passage in your own
words without looking at the quote.
The paraphrase should use your own style and
language. Do not merely substitute a few
synonyms. The order of ideas should also be
different, especially if the source contains lists.
Include the author’s name in a signal phrase.
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Language is distinctive
 Tough to paraphrase in your own words
 Important as authoritative support for
your argument
 Reader needs to see the original
because the quote itself is open to
interpretation
 Be sure not to over-quote! The primary
voice in the paper should be your own
 Try to limit quotes to 40 or less words!
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Be accurate!
-check and recheck spelling, grammar, and word
placement.
-don’t let your spellchecker change a peculiar spelling
in the quote (i.e. British spellings of colour, flavour, etc.)
Don’t EVER use quotes as a thesis statement or a topic
sentence
Do use quotes as evidence to support an argument
you have constructed
Integrate your chosen quotes into YOUR writing (signal
phrases—don’t leave quotes “hanging”).
Cite religiously!
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According to the American Heart
Association (2011), “Every minute that
passes before returning the heart to a
normal rhythm causes the chance of
survival to fall by 10 percent”(p.3).
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Polls confirm that these World War II-era children
have aged into the most war-and casualty-averse
Americans, the most ardent supporters of the UN,
and the biggest advocates of committee-scripted
process.
This passage comes from Howe & Strauss, 2002, p.
31.
Statistics demonstrate that these World War IIera children have matured into the most
battle and victim-averse American citizens,
the most enthusiastic defenders of the United
Nations, and the largest supporters of
bureaucratic process (Howe & Strauss, 2002).
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Why is this
paraphrase
better than the
one on the
previous slide?
What differences
do you notice
between the
two?
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The generation now in
the their 60s and 70s
remember World War II
from their childhoods;
therefore, they are
violently against war and
the casualties it inflicts.
They believe in the
power of the United
Nations and other
bureaucracies to solve
world conflict (Howe &
Strauss, 2002).
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As the newest incarnation of the ESEA**, the
No Child Left Behind Act has expanded the
federal role in education and become a
focal point of education policy. Coming at a
time of wide public concern about the state
of education, the legislation sets in place
requirements that reach into virtually every
public school in America. It takes particular
aim at improving the educational lot of
disadvantaged students.
Published: September 21, 2004
“No Child Left Behind” on Edweek.org
Paragraph 2
**ESEA: Elementary and Secondary Education Act
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Description and directions
 Write a first draft of your persuasive essay and post it in
the unit 6 dropbox. Directions:
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› Your draft must be at least three to five pages long (not
including the title page and references page) and contain
a brief introduction and conclusion.
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Make certain that your introduction includes your
revised thesis statement, one to two sentences that
identify your big idea, the problem the big idea will
address, and why your solution/idea should be
implemented. You must include at least three sources
in this draft (in the text itself, not including the references
page), one of which must be an academic source from
Kaplan's Library.
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Your sources, of course, must include in-text
citations in the body of the paper as well as
full citations in the references page
following the APA format. If you do not
include the appropriate citations, your
paper will be considered plagiarized.
 In addition to at least three pages of text,
you must also include a title page and then
a references page at the end. The title page
and reference page are in addition to, not
included in, the three to five required
pages.
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Use the Kaplan Writing Center’s resources!
Use online resources:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/56
0/01/
Handouts in Doc Sharing
This essay will be persuasive, not informative.
The essay must have a solid thesis statement
that expresses the main argument you are
making in your essay.
Each body paragraph has three parts: a topic
sentence, supporting sentences, and a closing
sentence that wraps up the paragraph.
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The Kaplan Guide to Successful Writing book is
a helpful resource, so go back over the section
on writing persuasive essays (p. 357), sample
persuasive essays (p. 397 & p. 402), how to
write a strong paragraph (p. 169) and
introductions and conclusions (p. 181).
Review Writing Center handouts on areas of
concern.
https://kucampus.kaplan.edu/MyStudies/Acad
emicSupportCenter/WritingCenter/WritingRefer
enceLibrary/ResearchCitationAndPlagiarism/In
dex.aspx
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The following are web sites which will give you more details
on plagiarism and paraphrasing:
› http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/619/01/
› http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01/
› http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/apa/s
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›
ources/intext.html
http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/researchsources/inclu
dingsources/paraphrasing/index.cfm
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/QPA_paraphrase
2.html
http://library.duke.edu/research/plagiarism/cite/paraphra
se.html
http://www.utoronto.ca/ucwriting/paraphrase.html
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The following are web sites which will give you a mini handbook for
APA documentation style.
›
www.owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/research/r_apa.html
›
www.rpi.edu/dept/llc/writecenter/web/apa.html
›
www.wooster.edu/psychology/apa-cirb.html
›
www.wcu.edu/WritingCenter/isource.asp?page=apa_format.html
›
www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citapa.htm
›
www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/bibliography_style_handbookap
a.htm
›
http://linguistics.byu.edu/faculty/henrichsenl/apa/apa01.html
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